87 Xtracab, first Toyota
09-04-2019, 05:14 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
87 Xtracab, first Toyota
Hey everyone, I bought my first Toyota just over a month ago after wanting one for a really long time. My dad and uncles had them when I was a kid, but growing up in Wv they were tough to find not rotted to pieces. Since moving to Sc a few years ago I've been on the lookout, and after I sold one of my Vw's a while back decided I would really start hunting one. I wanted either a 4runner or an xtra cab for the room, and when I came across a blue 87 xtra cab on facebook marketplace that "needed some work" and started looking at the pictures I was pretty well sold.
It's a 22r (someone stuck an Re engine in it at some point in it's life), G52, gear driven case and 4.10 opens (I'd like to eventually do 4.88s) truck. It already had the body lift (I have plans in the future to either change it out to a nicer one or get rid of it and just do suspension, not sure yet which way I'll go). The kid that had it had traded a cherokee for it knowing it needed front end work and ended up not wanting to put the money into it and fix. (It was SHOT, full death wobble by 35mph and 1/2 turn play in the steering), but when I went to look at it it ran BAD. It's really solid though for a truck that's spent it's life in a swamp in North Carolina, with some rot in the bed being the only real rust in the truck. It has really neat patina, especially on the stripes. I ended up buying it for a pretty decent price.
It had been someones hunting truck in it's day, and was pretty well neglected but oddly straight and rust free for how it seems to have been treated. Basic plans for the truck are just a neat driver that I can hit some dirt roads and do some exploring with, something reliable and fun but no hard core trail killer.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
Upon getting it home I figured out just how jacked the suspension was, and Ray Charles ordered a ton of parts to basically redo everything in the front end. New ball joints, all new shocks, fresh wheel bearings, new cv axles, all new inner and outer tie rod ends, pitman arm, new brakes etc. I didn't order anything fancy or expensive because I'm really not sure which direction the truck will go in. Found a ton of REALLY scary wiring issues at that point as well, seemed like every time they blew a fuse they just pulled a new wire directly off the battery (yikes!). Also started looking into why the truck ran bad and figured out that it had eaten a couple of cam lobes. Started planning a rebuild at that point in time.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
While I was handling the suspension I bought a fresh set of 33x12.50 Nankang mud stars for the truck (cheap, noisey and old school cool looking!) and when that was complete I started into the engine. It was pretty unhappy with it's life, and would have probably started to spin bearings within a short time. Amazingly the crank didn't look bad! The 22re that's in the truck had been rebuilt before, and already had .025 bearings in it.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
So at this point I set about cleaning everything up, cut and lapped the valves, and started reassembly. New cam, rockers, valve seals, rod and main bearings, oil and waterpumps, thermostat, head gasket and all the other gaskets I could get, new stock exhaust besides a cat, new marlin crawler 1600lb clutch kit and a new flywheel, some hoses, some belts, and I had a running truck again.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
In the process of doing all of this I had been slowly sorting out the wiring in the truck, thankfully most of the original harness was uncut, they had just pulled a bunch of unfused hot wires to random places. I stuck a cd player in the dash, fixed the speaker wires up, put a new (junkyard) hvac control panel in because the levers were broken completely out of mine, and generally put some things back together. It had a bunch of sheetrock screws in places they didn't belong and I did my best to fix that. A cheap seat cover and a cool shift knob and it was good enough to at least drive. I'm still hunting small trim pieces.
This spaghetti mess is all the wire I pulled out of the truck. The extension cord was running the plate lights lmao.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
So now, with the truck running pretty good (with oil pressure!), with it's front wheels both pointing in the same direction, and with a whole lot less of a fire hazard inside I had a legal, running driving 87 toyota 4x4 with a Dale Earnhardt front plate and some knobby mud tires. I still have a ton of things to do, it's going to get a new master and clutch master in the next few weeks, get the rear tube bumper mounts removed, and generally get driven and enjoyed.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
It's a 22r (someone stuck an Re engine in it at some point in it's life), G52, gear driven case and 4.10 opens (I'd like to eventually do 4.88s) truck. It already had the body lift (I have plans in the future to either change it out to a nicer one or get rid of it and just do suspension, not sure yet which way I'll go). The kid that had it had traded a cherokee for it knowing it needed front end work and ended up not wanting to put the money into it and fix. (It was SHOT, full death wobble by 35mph and 1/2 turn play in the steering), but when I went to look at it it ran BAD. It's really solid though for a truck that's spent it's life in a swamp in North Carolina, with some rot in the bed being the only real rust in the truck. It has really neat patina, especially on the stripes. I ended up buying it for a pretty decent price.
It had been someones hunting truck in it's day, and was pretty well neglected but oddly straight and rust free for how it seems to have been treated. Basic plans for the truck are just a neat driver that I can hit some dirt roads and do some exploring with, something reliable and fun but no hard core trail killer.
Upon getting it home I figured out just how jacked the suspension was, and Ray Charles ordered a ton of parts to basically redo everything in the front end. New ball joints, all new shocks, fresh wheel bearings, new cv axles, all new inner and outer tie rod ends, pitman arm, new brakes etc. I didn't order anything fancy or expensive because I'm really not sure which direction the truck will go in. Found a ton of REALLY scary wiring issues at that point as well, seemed like every time they blew a fuse they just pulled a new wire directly off the battery (yikes!). Also started looking into why the truck ran bad and figured out that it had eaten a couple of cam lobes. Started planning a rebuild at that point in time.
While I was handling the suspension I bought a fresh set of 33x12.50 Nankang mud stars for the truck (cheap, noisey and old school cool looking!) and when that was complete I started into the engine. It was pretty unhappy with it's life, and would have probably started to spin bearings within a short time. Amazingly the crank didn't look bad! The 22re that's in the truck had been rebuilt before, and already had .025 bearings in it.
So at this point I set about cleaning everything up, cut and lapped the valves, and started reassembly. New cam, rockers, valve seals, rod and main bearings, oil and waterpumps, thermostat, head gasket and all the other gaskets I could get, new stock exhaust besides a cat, new marlin crawler 1600lb clutch kit and a new flywheel, some hoses, some belts, and I had a running truck again.
In the process of doing all of this I had been slowly sorting out the wiring in the truck, thankfully most of the original harness was uncut, they had just pulled a bunch of unfused hot wires to random places. I stuck a cd player in the dash, fixed the speaker wires up, put a new (junkyard) hvac control panel in because the levers were broken completely out of mine, and generally put some things back together. It had a bunch of sheetrock screws in places they didn't belong and I did my best to fix that. A cheap seat cover and a cool shift knob and it was good enough to at least drive. I'm still hunting small trim pieces.
This spaghetti mess is all the wire I pulled out of the truck. The extension cord was running the plate lights lmao.
So now, with the truck running pretty good (with oil pressure!), with it's front wheels both pointing in the same direction, and with a whole lot less of a fire hazard inside I had a legal, running driving 87 toyota 4x4 with a Dale Earnhardt front plate and some knobby mud tires. I still have a ton of things to do, it's going to get a new master and clutch master in the next few weeks, get the rear tube bumper mounts removed, and generally get driven and enjoyed.
Last edited by VwsandToys; 09-04-2019 at 05:16 PM.
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5 Fists (09-05-2019)
09-06-2019, 11:49 AM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Got a day off of work because of the hurricane yesterday so got the truck out a bit more.
09-15-2019, 12:32 PM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
Bought a roll bar for the truck, cleaned up well enough to match the rest of it's patina. Also put a new master cylinder on the truck, and bought a new clutch master and slave cylinder for it but haven't gotten around to installing it yet.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/crestfallen68/, on Flickr
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10-05-2019, 07:22 AM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
Nope, it's vinned as a 22r truck. I had my go with aircooleds, still have family into them but too hard to get good parts for them anymore
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