A 4runner has always been my dream truck. When I was in high school I had a Ford Bronco with a 33's and a lift and all the toyota's with no lift and leaking oil everywhere out wheeled my rig every time.

6 years ago I started looking to sell my Ford Ranger to be able to get rid of some debt and find myself a 4runner. In talking to my mechanic uncle about it he told me a family friend had one for sale. It was a 86 white 4runner with about 420k miles on it. Which sent up red flags, but my uncle swore I had to see it. Ya it had a boat load of miles on it but, so many things were RIGHT about this rig. First being how well such an old and well run motor ran. All the interior parts were there and in decent shape for their age. The fiberglass top had NEVER been taken off, a rarity with these rigs. I am only the third owner and the original owner drove it almost all highway miles from Sacramento to San Francisco. I have a stack of records the size of a book.

After driving it for 5 years (being a broke ass student) I only fixed what had to be done and mostly with JB weld. I finally have a few bucks in my pocket and I am working fixing all the things that aren't broken but, aren't up to par either. This truck is bone stock so far.

The next year or two will see a small lift, gears, a locker, trail armor and 33's.

Oh BTW my rig has 515,xxx miles on the original motor, never been rebuilt. I drive it everyday for work and still runs like a champ!!!

Many photos and writeups to follow soon.

 

The first thing that had to be done was replace some bad wheel bearings. Of course that went from a simple project to 5 simple projects. When I took the rotors in to be turned and have the bearings pressed in the tech pointed out how bad my rotors were. Amazing how blind I was to that fact. So new rotors, no big deal it was time. Well when moving the brake rotors I found out that the rubber sleeves for the pistons were bad and tore when I moved them to take the rotors off. Next I noticed that the CV boots had ripped because of letting the A-arms hang and moving everything. Obviously they were due anyway. So a new front end.

One thing I really learned on this job was how to remove bolts. It seems no amount of breaker bar, impact wrench and liquid wrench would loosen them. What finally did it was hitting the wrench with another wrench and slowly the beating caused the bolt to loosen. Hopefully it wont be so hard next time. I also broke a bolt on the hub, which you can see is missing. Nothing is leaking and seems solid. So it will be replaced when I upgrade to some new hubs. Suggestions?

I learned a lot about the front end of my truck doing this work. I really learned that ever single piece of rubber and all the bushing could stand to be replaced very soon. I also need new shocks. Good thing Rancho has a 50$ rebate going on!

 

impressive mileage

it deserves some TLC and new parts too

truck pics?

 

My speedometer had wobbled and done funny things since I bought it but, was generally in the ballpark as far as actual speed went. So one day I am driving along and it just shoots p too 100 and sticks then flies down to 20mph and all over the place. This meant something had to be done. I had read about oiling and replacing the speedo cable and that seemed like a pain in the ass.

So being the tech guy I am I decided on a better?? option. I took an old smart phone (a t-mobile My Touch 3g to be exact), wiped the memory and using WIFI alone I downloaded a speedometer app that works on GPS. Contrary to what some people think you DO NOT need service for the GPS to work. Turn your phone to airplane mode first to save battery then, turn on the GPS separately through your settings. I used an app called Ulysses Speedometer. I call this an upgrade really because while it looks terrible on the dash it does a lot in a tiny package. It is always correct, it has the date and time, it can keep track of your trips for the day, week, month, forever. It has elevation and a compass. SO MANY FEATURES. Be sure you have a charger setup if you want to do this because GPS eats the battery like no ones business. Here is the app https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ys.speedometer

Of course you could also just use this on your everyday phone but, I wanted something setup that I didn't have to take out every time I leave the car. Be sure not to put the velcro up high as it will get goopy and slide down ruining your plastics.



And this of course because this is the fastest the truck has ever gone in my hands.

 

Here is the old girl as she stands. I have some add-a-leafs I plan on installing very soon to get that saggy ass off the ground. It is riding hard on that helper spring. Going to replace that different rim and tire back with stock next week as well.

 

I have a fishing addiction and want to keep some gear with me all the time. I mostly fly fish and have a good case for those rods but, wanted to keep a spinning rod in the truck at all times. All my searching for rod racks and other holders were for carrying a lot of rods. I might need that some day but, I wanted something that can keep things in the truck and out of the way all the time. So I bought a small rod and reel and found some Command clips at Wal-mart that seemed about perfect. I just used one clip, the roll bar and the edge created near the fiberglass top to hold the rod in place. Pictures speak more volumes here.

If you are going to leave the rod in your rig all the time there is one thing I haven't done yet but, I will and highly recommend is to change out the nylon line for some flourocarbon. Yah flouro is expensive but, nylon line degrades very quickly in the sun. No point to loose a good fish because of going cheap on the line.

 

Thanks, the mileage is really a testament to what these trucks can do. The thing that impresses me on this rig is how solid some things still feel, like the windshield switch and turn signal switch.

Ya it looks real bad underneath at that time because I work in the TX oil fields and everything is a fine gray dust. After a drive in the rain it already looks a lot better. She is slowly getting the love she deserves.

 

I work 24hr shifts so I have every other day off. Far away from my jack stands and garage I decided it was time to work on a few creature comforts. One of the first things I did was add some 12 volt jacks. I wanted them to be on all the time (the cigarette lighter only works with ACC on and it sucks to charge a phone) so I made sure to run a new 12v cable all the way to the battery. This worked out very well since I wanted the CB radio to be able to be turned on at any time as well. As anyone who has tried to mount anything in the cockpit knows there is crap for a place to put just about anything. Hope these pics help other people figure it out. I put the CB on the passenger center console with some of the click velcro to hold it. I didnt want to mount it to permantly since it is still slightly in the way. As a metal head Sirius radio is a must. I just drilled the mount right into the dash. So far I am really happy with everything inside.

I also ordered a new shift boot cover. It was only 20$ with free shipping and such an improvement over the worn out one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-TRUCK-4RUNNER-SHIFT-BOOT-for-SHIFTER-STICK-1984-85-86-87-88-1989-NEW-/130610449018?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1986%7CModel%3A4Runner&hash=item1e68fd4a7a&vxp=mtr
Lastly I put a cell phone holder in. Cheap one from Autozone but it works. I doubt it will do so great on a rough road but, it works for long drives.

 

looks nice and clean. cant wait to see more. Im in the same boat also, on a budget with my build too

 

Thanks, it's in good shape for how old it is. I looked at a lot of rigs in way wise shape before I found this one. My budget is expanding but there are a lot of things that need replacing before any upgrading can be done. I'll be home this week and hope to get the last of the FIXES done and move onto upgrades.

86 4runner, 515,xxx miles on the original motor never been rebuilt, currently stock, mods planned as soon as I fix everything wrong.

 

Nice looking runner, just have 2 questions. In the pic showing how fast you were going 74mph it shows you charge light and ebrake light on, are they on normally when driving? And the other in that pic shows your temp. It looks kinda high

 

That was when my alternator took a crap on me. Seemed just like the battery as first, but the truck was still running on the battery. It ran hot when this happened, maybe someone can explain why? Got it replaced and all its running well. I guess both those lights coming on were the cars way of telling me what was going on.

86 4runner, 515,xxx miles on the original motor never been rebuilt, currently stock, mods planned as soon as I fix everything wrong.

 

OK so you already know about the dash telling you about a bad alt the reason it was running hot when that happened is because the alt and water pump are run on the same belt, so when your alt went bad it probably caused the belt to slip causing the water pump to not be able to work properly.

Just wanted to make sure you knew about them and knew how to fix them, good luck with it

 

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

Well I know about the lights now haha. I had replaced the alternator not that long before so I didn't think it was that and replaced the battery (a good excuse to go with Optima Red Top!). Once it finally totally gave out I realized that every sign in the world told me it was the alternator. Nothing like changing it in a highschool parking lot in the dark! Every repair is a learning experience. Thanks for looking out for me and my dangerous high speed pictures haha.

 

Nice looking runner. Crazy amount of miles!! Pretty cool to see that it's still going strong.

 

Thanks! I wish I could convey how well it still runs too. I mean it feels far from new but, I feel like it is still very reliable. I drove it from CA to TX then been driving it all around TX for work. I have put another 15k miles on it in the last year and still runs great.

 

Nice rig!!!

1st gens rule.

 

That's awesome!! I would keep driving it to see how any miles you can put on it. It's a true testament to the reliability of these 22re engines.

 

I have no intention of changing the motor until I feel I just have to. I feel like Toyota owes me a badge or cake as least

86 4runner, 515,xxx miles on the original motor never been rebuilt, currently stock, mods planned as soon as I fix everything wrong.

 

Awesome thread and great truck! Looking forward to reading more!