Terrys87 88 4Runner Restoration/Build thread
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Hello kornhuskerwizard.. My 88 Runner has a rear heater. My 86 doesnt have that option. I am still on the fence about adding it to my 86 as it heats the truck up faster and I like the heat coming from the rear and it isnt blowing from the front as you can shut the front heater off.
Being in your part of the country in winter time it is something you might like real well. It is an option on some. The thing about not having a rear heater is it gives you alot of options for a different arm rest and cupholder options. If I leave it out, I would have several more options for a center console that would be more usable but I am still in the air on that one. I am eventually going to extend all of switches to under the ashtray where there are some empty slots. One is where an electric antenna is an option.
Chefs has that option on his and one I have seen on a few trucks on the internet but not actually in person. The antenna switch must of been a rare option.
Being in your part of the country in winter time it is something you might like real well. It is an option on some. The thing about not having a rear heater is it gives you alot of options for a different arm rest and cupholder options. If I leave it out, I would have several more options for a center console that would be more usable but I am still in the air on that one. I am eventually going to extend all of switches to under the ashtray where there are some empty slots. One is where an electric antenna is an option.
Chefs has that option on his and one I have seen on a few trucks on the internet but not actually in person. The antenna switch must of been a rare option.
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I went and got another tranny for the 88. The one I installed fairly recently is not bad at all, but it isnt as quiet as the orginal one was. I am in no hurry to switch it out as it is still colder then what I want to deal with, but I can say is the 88 is just fun to drive. I really like this little truck. I just hope I can get my 86 to the fun that the 88 is at now.
A friend of mine I hadnt seen in awhile was asking about the piece of junk I was driving a year or so ago and I said this is it. He couldnt believe it was the same truck inside an out. I seen the PO about 6 months ago and he is happy to see it to be in the shape that it is in now and I know he would like to have it back, but it is a keeper.
This cold has really taken it out of me on working on these trucks. I got plenty that I want to do and am disappointed that I havent gotten to do anything on my 85 extra cab, and from the looks of it I wont be doing anything to it anytime soon. I had to go have some test run on my heart and the test came back with flying colors so I know that I am on the list to go back overseas and am expecting to get the phone call anytime soon as the first test had some questions in it they were concerned about or I would of been told to go then.
As a rule on my projects I keep my spending at $20 a week average and when it comes to a daily driver will do what I need to get the repairs done. If I do go overseas I will bump my spending to about $40 a week as it gives me something to look forward to when I get to order some parts or tools. I am not excited about going but on the bright side I know there will be plenty of things that I can do when I get home and get these trucks to where I want them so that part does excite me.
A friend of mine I hadnt seen in awhile was asking about the piece of junk I was driving a year or so ago and I said this is it. He couldnt believe it was the same truck inside an out. I seen the PO about 6 months ago and he is happy to see it to be in the shape that it is in now and I know he would like to have it back, but it is a keeper.
This cold has really taken it out of me on working on these trucks. I got plenty that I want to do and am disappointed that I havent gotten to do anything on my 85 extra cab, and from the looks of it I wont be doing anything to it anytime soon. I had to go have some test run on my heart and the test came back with flying colors so I know that I am on the list to go back overseas and am expecting to get the phone call anytime soon as the first test had some questions in it they were concerned about or I would of been told to go then.
As a rule on my projects I keep my spending at $20 a week average and when it comes to a daily driver will do what I need to get the repairs done. If I do go overseas I will bump my spending to about $40 a week as it gives me something to look forward to when I get to order some parts or tools. I am not excited about going but on the bright side I know there will be plenty of things that I can do when I get home and get these trucks to where I want them so that part does excite me.
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Hello kornhuskerwizard...There isnt much to do when I get some down time over there and luckily I will have access to the internet. When I first went over there, I didnt know anything about Toyotas. I was tired of domestics breaking down on me and was looking at Nissans and Toyotas and got to liking the looks of Toyota and they are easier and cheaper to work on. So I started learning all I could about them. That is how I discovered Yotatech.
As much as I dont care to be over there, I have always benefited from it. I use that time to learn as much as I possibly can in several different areas and not just trucks. Between what is on the internet and what books you can buy online, there really isnt much that you cant teach yourself. Some of the things I want to learn on this go around is welding and rebuilding manual transmissions. I will spend alot of time researching and it wont make a whole lot of difference til I get hands on experience and then one day it will all click at once.
I have used that time as well for bargain huntin as well on lots of other things. I am always sending the wife to go pickup things for me or I have it sent in the mail. I have found some really good deals. I found the Downey truck bed while over there and didnt think I had a chance at it on ebay. One of these days I will do a build for it but to me Jim Sickle had a nice piece in Toyota history here in the states. He was going out of business and took it off of his company truck and decided to sell it. I lucked into that. Learned something about ebay. If you see something that you want. Dont bid on it and it might not get noticed. Once the bidding expires, and nobody bids on it, send a question to the owner and see if they are still intrested in selling it. That has worked for me a few times. Keep it in your watch list so you can at least get ahold of the owner. Usually they will sell.
Thanks Cyberhorn.. I wont be going til a couple of more months. It does get a little rough over there. All but one time we went over and didnt lose anybody and no one got hurt until we got back and a guys wife had him whacked for his life insurance. That woman is now making big rocks into little rocks Each time I get back I am just that much more grateful for what I have. My wife is always saying I never have a bad day and I pretty much agree with that. Awhile back she was fussing about our matress and I was just fine with it. Told her I knew some that some people just slept on the back of a flat bed truck in a sleeping bag in the snow (me) and they would love that old matress. She just told me to shut up and we wound up getting a new matress.lol..She gets my sense of humor. Guess I need another reminder at how good we have it back here in the US. It is a rat hole over there.
As much as I dont care to be over there, I have always benefited from it. I use that time to learn as much as I possibly can in several different areas and not just trucks. Between what is on the internet and what books you can buy online, there really isnt much that you cant teach yourself. Some of the things I want to learn on this go around is welding and rebuilding manual transmissions. I will spend alot of time researching and it wont make a whole lot of difference til I get hands on experience and then one day it will all click at once.
I have used that time as well for bargain huntin as well on lots of other things. I am always sending the wife to go pickup things for me or I have it sent in the mail. I have found some really good deals. I found the Downey truck bed while over there and didnt think I had a chance at it on ebay. One of these days I will do a build for it but to me Jim Sickle had a nice piece in Toyota history here in the states. He was going out of business and took it off of his company truck and decided to sell it. I lucked into that. Learned something about ebay. If you see something that you want. Dont bid on it and it might not get noticed. Once the bidding expires, and nobody bids on it, send a question to the owner and see if they are still intrested in selling it. That has worked for me a few times. Keep it in your watch list so you can at least get ahold of the owner. Usually they will sell.
Thanks Cyberhorn.. I wont be going til a couple of more months. It does get a little rough over there. All but one time we went over and didnt lose anybody and no one got hurt until we got back and a guys wife had him whacked for his life insurance. That woman is now making big rocks into little rocks Each time I get back I am just that much more grateful for what I have. My wife is always saying I never have a bad day and I pretty much agree with that. Awhile back she was fussing about our matress and I was just fine with it. Told her I knew some that some people just slept on the back of a flat bed truck in a sleeping bag in the snow (me) and they would love that old matress. She just told me to shut up and we wound up getting a new matress.lol..She gets my sense of humor. Guess I need another reminder at how good we have it back here in the US. It is a rat hole over there.
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I will be picking up new seals for the transmission I got the other day. The next warm days we get which looks like it will be a week or so from now, I will swap it out with what is in it now. I will have the tranny ready to go and should have done in a few hours. Getting really good at pulling trannys now.
The 88 pickup that I sold to my brother for some reason is smoking from number one cylinder. He has been driving it for about 6 months now and doesnt drive it hard at all. Dont know what really caused it to start but he was asking me about helping him to rebuild it. We ran compression test on it and for some reason I think the rings just let go in it or something. My dad had a car that ran great and then the tranny went out and it sat for several years. When he finally got a tranny in it, it too ran well for awhile and the rings stopped working in it. I am thinking for some reason that when a motor has sat for a long period of time and then you start running it, that can happen. This truck sat for 3 years that I know of from what the PO told me that I bought it from.
He was asking what it would cost to just do a complete rebuild on it and I told him that it would take sometime that it really just happen in a few days. I then mentioned to him about unitedengine.com and they are having the 22re on sale this week for $795, plus shipping and tax, it came up to $1038, and what a rebuild kit and machine work would run him that he may as well just buy a new motor. After he saw that, he wasnt the least bit intrested in rebuilding it but just replacing it. I have used 2 other of their motors in other trucks and they have always been great little motors. I wont put that much effort into rebuilding a motor from the ground up at that cost and he agreed.
All I did was get the pickup running and did a tune up on it and didnt do any other motor work to it. He drove it quite few miles over a 6 month or so period and didnt have any problems with it. I really dont know what caused it to go bad all at once. Luckily he doesnt blame me for selling him a bad truck. He really likes the little truck and is willing to fix it right. He has no plans of ever selling it. It does irritate me that it ran so well and now is needing replaced. So I will be swapping a motor out as well and doing a tranny just as soon as we get some warm days.
The 88 pickup that I sold to my brother for some reason is smoking from number one cylinder. He has been driving it for about 6 months now and doesnt drive it hard at all. Dont know what really caused it to start but he was asking me about helping him to rebuild it. We ran compression test on it and for some reason I think the rings just let go in it or something. My dad had a car that ran great and then the tranny went out and it sat for several years. When he finally got a tranny in it, it too ran well for awhile and the rings stopped working in it. I am thinking for some reason that when a motor has sat for a long period of time and then you start running it, that can happen. This truck sat for 3 years that I know of from what the PO told me that I bought it from.
He was asking what it would cost to just do a complete rebuild on it and I told him that it would take sometime that it really just happen in a few days. I then mentioned to him about unitedengine.com and they are having the 22re on sale this week for $795, plus shipping and tax, it came up to $1038, and what a rebuild kit and machine work would run him that he may as well just buy a new motor. After he saw that, he wasnt the least bit intrested in rebuilding it but just replacing it. I have used 2 other of their motors in other trucks and they have always been great little motors. I wont put that much effort into rebuilding a motor from the ground up at that cost and he agreed.
All I did was get the pickup running and did a tune up on it and didnt do any other motor work to it. He drove it quite few miles over a 6 month or so period and didnt have any problems with it. I really dont know what caused it to go bad all at once. Luckily he doesnt blame me for selling him a bad truck. He really likes the little truck and is willing to fix it right. He has no plans of ever selling it. It does irritate me that it ran so well and now is needing replaced. So I will be swapping a motor out as well and doing a tranny just as soon as we get some warm days.
#1049
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I wish you luck Terry, you seem to keep your head up and have good spirits. As for learning how to weld i think youll enjoy it. I do. Bummer on the truck breaking down, atleast hes got you to help him get in going again. Im sure you have alot on your plate all the time but im sure youll make the best of it! Have a great day and good luck withh your tranny, hopefully by the day ill have me a new one purchased too for my 85 build!!!yay!
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PS> I'm glad I rebuilt mine, bottom to top. ... BUT, its a time killer for sure... Just feel more secure knowing I triple checked every thousandth of it, more than once... and that it doesn't leak a single drop (ask socal85toyota, redeth or jason, hahahaa) ... buttttttt, if I was in a crunch? And, if a shop used all I likely would at a price like that withhhhhh a guarantee???? Yeah, thats tough to pass up! I really would love to build one with the putneys and doa and lce and more stuff, or just grab a 22reperformance.com motor.... but OUCHHHHH! Lol. 1800 $ on the cheap end..... BUTTTTT, almost all OEM and longevity AND power?? I feel like the putneys have a decent corner on that for the dollar. Just too easy and reasonable to grab one ready to go, slap ur stuff on.... drive off and smell the stuff seating up! hahaha
#1052
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Yeah Terry, take care over there in the Sandbox. If you don't mind me asking, what's your job in the service, and how long will you be deployed?
You post are always insightful. I wish I had more time to keep up with all your threads or had something constructive to add when you hit a snag (not often lol).
You post are always insightful. I wish I had more time to keep up with all your threads or had something constructive to add when you hit a snag (not often lol).
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Cool thread, I read most of it tonight. I don't know how much you've spend on used trannys but a fresh one from Marlin Crawler is like $899 or something like that. I'm in the process of rebuilding my 88 pickup and my W56B has definete bearing noise in gears 1,3,5. 2nd and 4th are pretty quiet. I plan on getting a W56B from Marlin Crawler when the time comes. Should save me some heartache instead of trying to get a decent used one for like $250 or something like that.
#1056
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Cool thread, I read most of it tonight. I don't know how much you've spend on used trannys but a fresh one from Marlin Crawler is like $899 or something like that. I'm in the process of rebuilding my 88 pickup and my W56B has definete bearing noise in gears 1,3,5. 2nd and 4th are pretty quiet. I plan on getting a W56B from Marlin Crawler when the time comes. Should save me some heartache instead of trying to get a decent used one for like $250 or something like that.
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Hello Mark.. I have thougt about doing another complete rebuild someday, it is something that I do kind of miss saying that I did the motor 100%. The runner is running great.
Hello Zelephant.. I built bridges in Iraq and this time will be taking some down in Afghanistan. There are several different styles that we do. Last time I was in Afghanistan I was in the 18 wheelers running all over the country. I have a greater appreciation for pavement, those roads and the heavy armor there just isnt any suspention on them. It is a rough ride. It will be from May '13 to 'May 14, Now we only have to do 9 months in country where it used to be a full year. Will do 3 months in states for training. There are alot of new guys that have never been over so have to train them up. The time seems slow over there,but when it is over it seems like it went so fast.
When I was active Navy I was radar for the big guns. Also got some missle experience, if you watch the military channel I was involved in the RAM missle system test platform that they showed on that show. Havent seen it in awhile, but got to see and do quite a bit.
I remember being new to Toyotas and what I have learned on here, I try to pass it on just remember being in those shoes. I appreciate the compliment.
Hello Cyberhorn.. I think you may be right. I think from now on if I have a motor setting, I am going to just rotate it a few times and then soak it in Marvel Mystery Oil and for a few days at a time just periodiacally rotate it again. I have seen this happen to others when a motor sat for awhile. Seems like they ran for a long time before starting to smoke. I was really impressed how well it first ran when I got it going. Steve understands that is a chance you take on an older truck and now has another motor in it and agreed that after 4 months or so it wasnt really anything I could of done and I know he doesnt drive hard, just something that couldnt be forseen.
Hello ehenson99. Welcome to Yotatech. Made my day to see you enjoyed my thread. I am trying to make it a thread that has alot of the problems I have found on these trucks and most are easily fixed.
I agree with you on the tranny form Marlin. I have plans on buying one myself just to have a spare if I need one. A salvage around here wants $500 for a used one and for a few more dollars, you are money ahead to just buy one off of them as they have an excellent reputation.
Hello kornhuskerwizard...I hadnt heard of the wait time. I will have plenty of time to wait for them to ship one out.lol I am really hoping to learn how to rebuild these trannys.
Hello Zelephant.. I built bridges in Iraq and this time will be taking some down in Afghanistan. There are several different styles that we do. Last time I was in Afghanistan I was in the 18 wheelers running all over the country. I have a greater appreciation for pavement, those roads and the heavy armor there just isnt any suspention on them. It is a rough ride. It will be from May '13 to 'May 14, Now we only have to do 9 months in country where it used to be a full year. Will do 3 months in states for training. There are alot of new guys that have never been over so have to train them up. The time seems slow over there,but when it is over it seems like it went so fast.
When I was active Navy I was radar for the big guns. Also got some missle experience, if you watch the military channel I was involved in the RAM missle system test platform that they showed on that show. Havent seen it in awhile, but got to see and do quite a bit.
I remember being new to Toyotas and what I have learned on here, I try to pass it on just remember being in those shoes. I appreciate the compliment.
Hello Cyberhorn.. I think you may be right. I think from now on if I have a motor setting, I am going to just rotate it a few times and then soak it in Marvel Mystery Oil and for a few days at a time just periodiacally rotate it again. I have seen this happen to others when a motor sat for awhile. Seems like they ran for a long time before starting to smoke. I was really impressed how well it first ran when I got it going. Steve understands that is a chance you take on an older truck and now has another motor in it and agreed that after 4 months or so it wasnt really anything I could of done and I know he doesnt drive hard, just something that couldnt be forseen.
Hello ehenson99. Welcome to Yotatech. Made my day to see you enjoyed my thread. I am trying to make it a thread that has alot of the problems I have found on these trucks and most are easily fixed.
I agree with you on the tranny form Marlin. I have plans on buying one myself just to have a spare if I need one. A salvage around here wants $500 for a used one and for a few more dollars, you are money ahead to just buy one off of them as they have an excellent reputation.
Hello kornhuskerwizard...I hadnt heard of the wait time. I will have plenty of time to wait for them to ship one out.lol I am really hoping to learn how to rebuild these trannys.
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I didnt realize this thread had gotten moved up, the runner has been running great. Once I got my shifter cover on I havent noticed the whine, but since I know it isnt as quite as it can be, I will still eventually change it out, most probably wouldnt mess with it but this truck is my fav. Really using this runner as the bar for my 86.
The weather just wont warm up for very long at all and when I have gotten a few days I have been trying to make the most of it. I know I have one or maybe two lifters that need to be readjusted. I bought a stethoscope to try and make sure I get the right one and will check all of them whennn the weather warms up.
My newest toy to start looking for any other kinds of noises. Will start looking for noises on the 86 as well.
The weather just wont warm up for very long at all and when I have gotten a few days I have been trying to make the most of it. I know I have one or maybe two lifters that need to be readjusted. I bought a stethoscope to try and make sure I get the right one and will check all of them whennn the weather warms up.
My newest toy to start looking for any other kinds of noises. Will start looking for noises on the 86 as well.
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I did have to swap out the alternator. The regulator was acting up so I just swapped it out to be on the safe side. It would just pegged the guage and then go back down. I will look into seeing if replacing the regulator. I am considering about doing the GM alternator upgrade.
One of my wifes friends needed a jump start and I used the 88 to jump start it. Seemed like it took longer then it should of. The Toyota alternator barely puts out enough for itself and if it is needed for more electricity, I think it is being put to its limits.
One of my wifes friends needed a jump start and I used the 88 to jump start it. Seemed like it took longer then it should of. The Toyota alternator barely puts out enough for itself and if it is needed for more electricity, I think it is being put to its limits.