Thinking about geting an old Toyota truck, and thoughts?

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

I've found someone selling an '85 toyota 5 speed 4X4 (first year of fuel injection, last year of solid front axle) in my price range . The bed rusted off and was replaced with a wood one (yeah it's in my price range alright).
It seems like an ideal vehicle for me in many ways. From what I've read it will likely get about the same mileage as my POS Subaru.
I was thinking since the bed is already wood, drastic aero mods would be simple to make.

I do know I could get much better mileage with a compact car and a trailer, but I only have on-street parking, and I treat my car's like old beater trucks.

Any suggestions or insight on these trucks, before I buy it, would be great!
Thanks

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

oops, that should be "any" not "and" in the title, I guess it works both ways.

[GasSavers_Erik]

If the bed rusted away, you'd better take a good look at the frame too.

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Originally Posted by Erik

If the bed rusted away, you'd better take a good look at the frame too.

Thanks, I do plan too. The ad said it had some resent frame repairs, so I'm hoping they did a good job, I should probably have a professional look at that too.

[theholycow]

It's not a big commitment; it's not like you're getting a 5 year note on a $30,000 vehicle. It's what, $500? $800 at most? By your description it's probably not worth more than that, assuming everything is in good repair.

It probably has the 22re engine. That engine is the source of Toyota's reputation of longevity; 20 years ago you could abuse and neglect a 22re as much as you want and it would just keep on ticking. 25 years later everybody's standards are raised, it has 25 years of rot/wear, and it has replacement parts that are manufactured much more cheaply by aftermarket suppliers. The rest of the truck was no picnic, as evidenced by the frame repairs it has already had.

There should be loads of information freely available for working on and modifying that truck and its engine. There's probably still plenty of aftermarket support. For an antique beater project, it should be pretty decent. At that age, you may have difficulty finding parts in self-service junkyards; the selection is a little lame for my 1980 Buick (then again, you may have better junkyards).

AFAIK, even by pickup truck standards, those 4x4 Toyotas were never very efficient. It's EPA-rated 18/22, so maybe I remember wrong.

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Thank you all!
I looked at it today and it needs more work than I'm willing to put into it. So, not this time, but I'm still looking for a little beater truck. It would be nice to find a diesel (maybe Isuzu Pup) , but few have the extended cab (for my dog).

[kamesama980]

I've got a 91 and I'm about ready to blow it up for rust issues. the frames solid and it pulled a 5k lb trailer (with the 4 banger 22re) but the cab leaks at the firewall/fender seams and I just had to take hte bed off to deal with the fuel lines rotting away halfway from home-home to school-home (300+ miles between them)

FYI the strength of the trucks is from the fully-boxed frame but so is the downfall, they usually rust from the inside out and you don't know till it's too late.

2WDs are great on gas (for being trucks) but the 4x4s (as mentioned) aren't quite so hot.

[VetteOwner]

yea around here the frames will rust in half while the body doesnt look half bad (for a 20 + year old vehicle mind you) but its kinda like buying a house where the drywall looks great but has termites haha

i know chevy had a diesel s10 option back in the mid-early 80's...nearly impossible to find tho. if you just need a beater truck i see 93 and older s10's for $500 and less all the time, body rusted to hell but the 4 banger 5 or 4 speed option is diehard. plus parts are very cheap and very plentiful.

any vehcile around 20+ years is gonna have fuel/brake/exhaust etc issues. steel dont last forever unfortunately...if it doesnt its been replaced already and if original gonna want a pretty penny

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

VO,
I'd love an S10 if I found the right one. Didn't know about the diesel possibility...

I would really like to get out of the uni-body rust bucket I have now into something with a rusty frame. By comparison, that's a strait forward problem.

As for exhaust systems, I've decided that I can bring a car/truck to a shop for those problems (only thing I ever have) as I don't have a lift and torch.

[VetteOwner]

ive never seen an s10 with a rusted thru frame... ONE i saw the welds rusted thru for the upper A arm but it looked like it was abused hard so whos to say