i lost 2 hg's on my "early" 3.4. and toyota would not replace the second one, im still a little bitter. ill post the link again, i believe this covers only one of two recall campaigns recall info

 

I have had both. A 99 taco 4 banger and my currenet 98 3.4 taco. The 99 had 12000 miles on it when I sold it and my 3.4 has 152000! The 2.7 got around 20-21 mpg and my 3.4 gets around 19-20 so its pretty even. Get a 98 or newer. If you look around on ebay you can get one with around 100k on it for 8-9 grand. Before I bought my 99 2.7 (4x4 extended cab 5spd) I had a 88 4runner 4 banger with 32's and a 2 inch lift. I abused that truck Rolled it a 120k put it back together and sold it a few years later with 197k still going strong. The guy that bought it from me 3years ago still drives it every day no rebuild just the time chain has been replaced. So I dont think you can go wrong either way. But if you pull a trailer or a boat get the 3.4!