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I saw this 1987 4runner on Craigslist and was drawn to it. Mostly because it needed an engine and I have a 22re waiting in my garage. And the price seemed reasonable, and the owner had listed a bunch of work already done to it. Photos were poor and few. And it was just close enough to be a reasonable distance away…. more on that later…
It was listed in Arlington, VT, about 3 hours from my house and no easy way to get there…perfect. It had rained and snowed all night and every tree between Boston and Arlington looked like you were on the summit of a ski resort.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 07-13-2023 at 02:20 AM.
It had been listed for only a couple hours before i jumped at it and spoke with the owner Wednesday night. We made arrangements to go up Saturday morning and he agreed to give me first refusal. So my plan was to see it, likely buy it and secure a truck and trailer for next weekend to retrieve it. But then I decided to reserve a Uhaul truck and trailer up in VT and just do it in one shot.
Left Melrose, MA at 6:30 am, Westbound and down. Arrived VT right about 10am. Owner had mentioned a bunch of extra parts with it so we spent some tiime moving those out of his garage and then paid him and set off 40 minutes farther north to where the Uhaul truck and trailer were.
Get there about noon, find a car trailer buried in snow and no truck. Uhaul guy apologizes, truck won’t be back until Monday, but he helps me secure a 15ft truck, 45 minutes farther north in Rutland.
More driving, eventually find the truck frozen in snow, they dig it out and we head south back to the first office where a guy pulls the trailer out of the snow with a skidsteer. 20 minutes of rigging and off we go back to get the 4runner.
Spend more time digging the straps out of the ice on the trailer deck and more rigging. The whole Uhaul mistake adds 3 hours to the trip.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-24-2023 at 04:30 AM.
Now about 3:30pm, we hit the road and i think I’d rather take a highway route home towing, even if it takes longer. Only problem, there isn’t one.
Now, I’m seriously wondering how people in Vermont survive because I have been driving all day and only seen a Dollar General store and a couple gas stations! Where the heck are the grocery stores? Hospitals? Restaurants? Home Depot?
We eventually find a grocery store abuzz with Apres skiers and grab a bag of deli fried chicken for lunch/dinner.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-24-2023 at 04:31 AM.
Back on the road another 2 hours and the Uhaul Ford is really doing a pretty good job of pulling the 4runner up and down twisty mountain roads and also has this towing feature where if you hit the brakes fairly hard, it downshifts to have the engine help you brake.
We get home about 8:30 pm and find lots of cars on our normally quiet street because a neighbor is having a party. Unload before a fire truck tries to get through, then it’s off to return the Uhaul.
They have this after hours dropoff procedure that you are required to follow and involves signing into your account, or creating one, answering questions, taking photos, and so on. Or, they charge you $20 extra to make them do their own jobs. 14 hours into this odyssey. screw that, just take the $20.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-25-2023 at 02:40 AM.
Now it’s Sunday and I finally get a chance to start looking closely at the truck. I have decided to call it “Half Full” because it’s really going to test my normal optimism. It needs a lot, but at the same time, it has some good parts on it like the door panels, wheels, altimeter, and i got a spare tailgate, two rear windows, other small parts with it.
And here’s the kicker, the owner advertised it as a DLX, but the interior panels, gauges and graphics and black door frames made me think it might be an SR5.
I believe it says RN61LV-PSEA
Does anyone have a decoder for the bottom line?
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-23-2023 at 02:47 AM.
That is an adventure! I could go on and on about U haul! The first time when we picked up Herbie I rented a U-Haul and they only set it up for a couple hours even though I was going from Connecticut to Long Island with it so I said yeah okay I'll be back in a couple hours and then didn't answer a phone calls for the next couple of days. The the guy at U-Haul was like "yeah just don't bring it back in that time " and I'm like " that's what I'm going to do" I like the way you think he said. I've done it half a dozen times now and each was something! That was the best part of my recent project vehicle delivery was part of the deal for less than the asking price and the guy got it to me in a timely manner. The Comando tho is testing my patients like U haul would.
New projects are always exciting. Pretty much always the case that when you get it home it's worse than it looked in the ad, but really it doesn't seem bad at all.
U-Haul is apparently really hit and miss. I've had fairly decent luck with them but heard plenty of stories. I ended up buying a car dolly just so I wouldn't have to deal with them. I paid $850 for a decent used one so it'll take a few jobs to pay it back if all you consider is the cost, but I gain infinite flexibility in terms of always having it, not having to worry about where one is available or what time they open/close.
Wow, great start, if it was just, oh hey I picked up this 4runner down the street it would not be a STORY. Looking forward to watching you rescue this one, you did great work on your white one.
Also what is this thing here I have circled on tailgate?
New projects are always exciting. Pretty much always the case that when you get it home it's worse than it looked in the ad, but really it doesn't seem bad at all.
U-Haul is apparently really hit and miss. I've had fairly decent luck with them but heard plenty of stories. I ended up buying a car dolly just so I wouldn't have to deal with them. I paid $850 for a decent used one so it'll take a few jobs to pay it back if all you consider is the cost, but I gain infinite flexibility in terms of always having it, not having to worry about where one is available or what time they open/close.
so true and then you get the project home and you're thinking what was I thinking LOL. My friends even ask me that " what were you thinking?" then they see it a few years later and get the final picture.
Tom, I still can't believe you found this one in Vermont though other than that beautiful stock example that we see on Route 9 up there all the time. Most of what I've seen up there is and really rough shape as expected with the salt belt.
when we got our 85 home 4 years ago my son kept calling it the flea Runner because it was so disgusting inside haha. Good luck with this new project looks great!
it is an sr5. my source for decoding also confirms that. nice score! appx price if you are willing to share that?
well, the asking price was $3k.
if it turns out all I have to do to fix the intermittent rod knock is roll in a bearing, I may have paid reasonably. If I do have to pull/swap the engine, maybe i paid too much.
The engine is an ebay rebuilt with approx 75k on it. The top end was new last year. I haven’t had time to get into it yet.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-26-2023 at 02:36 AM.
that seems like a pretty fair price for what you got, even if you need to drop in the other engine. if nothing else, you'd have yourself a winter driver.
I think they are also susceptible to people grabbing for a latch to open the tailgate!
could be that, too. but on all 4 of my tailgates, the metal bulb fixtures/housings are rotten/missing metal/have holes, etc. purely from corrosion. three from new england, one from NC. the ABS plastic, and the keyswitches are all just fine.
could be that, too. but on all 4 of my tailgates, the metal bulb fixtures/housings are rotten/missing metal/have holes, etc. purely from corrosion. three from new england, one from NC. the ABS plastic, and the keyswitches are all just fine.
Mine had one bulb fixture broken out. No rust at all, but not a New England truck. I have to guess somebody squeezed it.
So far, the game plan for the project is still a bit hazy. I think it’s going to be my son’s summer truck. But, I’m going to start with engine diagnosis and go from there. What I know so far: the oil is black, whatever is in the radiator looks crystal clear like straight water, I’m afraid to look at the trans dipstick, but it goes right into gear and moves no problem and the owner said the trans was great and I know from receipts he had it powerflushed a few years ago. Also has new rear brake drums and wheel cylinders, some brake lines and hoses, axle bearings and the back window works well and there are 5 aluminum rims with the same size tires(4 are a couple years old). The fuel pump is new and I think the tank is also. The heater core is new but the a/c pump is gone.
I also got a complete but dented rear gate with all the guts, a spare rear window with good track, 2 brake drums and some other parts I havent tallied yet.
can anyone decipher the option codes on the bottom line?
I’m seeing:
3D7 which i know is red paint
GR11= ?
G282 = ?
A340H = automatic transmission
Last edited by Melrose 4r; 01-27-2023 at 05:31 AM.
01-22-2023, 01:05 PM
