Are Toyota 4 runners good trucks?

[slakjaw]

I looked at a 1995 4 runner today its a nice truck. Anyone here have experience with these things? He wants 3800 for it. Its kind of underpowered I think. seems like it would make a good daily driver though. It drove nothing like my old 83 Land Cruiser.

So what do you know about 4 runners?

[Danimal16]

These are great trucks. I have a 91 with a four cylinder. 327,000 miles. The best bet with one of these is to make sure they are not covered by the head gasket recall (v6 but not sure what year). Also, they came from the factory with fairly low gear ratios, swap them out and the little thing will get quick. Also, convert to electric fan.

Hope that helps. These trucks can take a beating.

[m21sniper]

I had an 86? 4Runner, the cyl head warped and flooded the pistons with coolant, and the whole motor locked up.

Before it blew up, it was what i'd call horribly underpowered.

[slakjaw]

That's what I was worried about. Just googled it and found that the recall was for all V6 4runners from 1988 to 1996. This one has the 3.0

I did a head gasket once on a 96 and I thought it was only the 3.4s that had that problem.

[DavidI]

My wife had a 1995 4 Runner. It was nothing but problems and underpowered.

My sister in law had a 1997 4 Runner. It also had several problems.

I do not recommend them at all, David

[wcc]

The best ones are the next gen. I have a '98 with 111000 miles on it and all it's had done is tires. No brakes, no suspension, NOTHING! I've pulled my 930 on a trailer from MI to VIR just recently and no issues. I have a friend that pulled his 911 (3.2) for 5yrs to many different tracks throughout the Country with no issues. This '98 SUV of mine is by far the best vehicle I've ever owner. Of course my brother thinks a '07 jeep liberty is better. Is it? I doubt it.....

[Shaun @ Tru6]

here's mine with 200K + on it. I love it. I've towed many cars on trailers with it, goes anywhere, gas mileage sucks, but I've got 31s and autohubs on the front. Rust is a big issue. Most of my truck is gone, someday I'll put the new rear quarters on.

If you are going to drive a lot, do two things: ditch the front seats and put in BMW sport seats (or similar) and get a real steering wheel. These two things make the truck a joy to drive. I picked up a rare Irmscher sport wheel (nice thick grip) on eBay and a pair of 2002 330i heated/electric sport seats at a junk yard for $450. Also pulled the dash apart, dyed the top black, painted the fascia stainless steel, and put in a dealer-new gauge cluster window and while it was out, replaced all the sickly green lamps with red lights (made a big difference in overall feel). A few other new parts and the cockpit is brand new and in style. The red lights really make a difference. Those green lamps are awful!

Only breakdown in one year/17K miles was last night, coolant line running to the rear heater blew off from the clamp rusting away. Fixed it today in 3 minutes.




Working on dash, wiring up steering wheel



Bad pic of BMW seats. super comfy! heated seats cannot be beat!






$3800 is A LOT for a 95. if the body is perfect and has low miles and all records, I still think the most you should pay is $3K. I'd consider a '96-on if you are willing to spend $4k+.

if you are dead set on a 90-95, go here and see if people can give you some advice. good active board.

http://www.yotatech.com/f116/

[m21sniper]

Yeah, that's WAY too much money.

[slakjaw]

I think I am going to pass this one up. I dunno. Its completely rust free, I looked everywhere and I cant find any rust. Its got 122000 miles on it but looking around, you can get them for cheaper. Thanks for the input everyone!

[onewhippedpuppy]

In an SUV, you cannot do any better. 4Runner or FJ80 Land Cruiser are the toughest and most reliable you can buy. Also, they both have impressive off road ability, even stock.

[billyboy]

They tend to tip over onto their roof when driven by a 20 year old doing donuts in the mud! "Dad, I don't know what happened, I was just driving along and it flipped over!"

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by billyboy

They tend to tip over onto their roof when driven by a 20 year old doing donuts in the mud! "Dad, I don't know what happened, I was just driving along and it flipped over!"

I bought a '90 in September. When I was scrounging for some parts at the wrecking yard, all three 4Runners they had were rollovers. I keep that in mind.

Mine has 348k kms, and runs like a top. It ain't pretty, but I didn't want a pretty one. I wanted something I could beat & thrash mercilessly. So far, so good. I paid $1100 and have about a grand into it, with lots of free labor.



It's got the 2.4 22RE. Yeah, it's underpowered, but it replaces a suzuki samurai with a vw 1.6 diesel. It's getting either a VW 1.9aaz or Toyota 2.4 2l diesel in the next couple of months. I am enjoying being able to go 70mph while I can.

One thing to check out: Mud & slush collect above the rear coil perches, and will rot out the frame. It's an awkward spot that's easy to miss, and you won't spot it unless you get your head right up by the rear axle. I think there's an access plug on the outside of the frame rail though, and you could push a screwdriver through to the other side to see if it's soft.

Mine was rusted through on both sides, and it is a real awkward spot to weld. I ended up dropping the gas tank rear axle to get at it. Not much fun

[billyboy]

One nice point is that they are so common that there are lots of parts available in junk yards. I got a whole new body for my son's car. Junk yard price, 600 bucks. About 3 days work and he had a new car.

[jhynesrockmtn]

My ex bought a 96 for her and my son to share. In very nice shape overall. It was underpowered compared to a 96 Explorer I had with a 4.0. He tipped it over on a slick road making a left doing less than 30mph. Totalled it as it damaged every panel on that side of the car and hydrolocked the motor.

[TimT]

One thing to check out: Mud & slush collect above the rear coil perches, and will rot out the frame. It's an awkward spot that's easy to miss, and you won't spot it unless you get your head right up by the rear axle. I think there's an access plug on the outside of the frame rail though, and you could push a screwdriver through to the other side to see if it's soft.

This is true.... I don't remember where I heard that first, it was a long time ago

I had an 89 or 90 w/V6, and it was the daily driver/construction site dweller for me. I sold it to a guy I work with when it at about 250K on the clock, He drove the truck for another year or more before he gave it to his bro, now it has 280-300K on the clock...

Found out it was sold to another guy for $500 and driven till it fell apart ala "blues bros" on Rte 80 in Pennsylvania.

The truck was reliable and the only maintenace done was what was required by owners manual... never needed to have the head gasket replaced..... besides belts... afaik the engine was never opened

bit underpowered though..

[Turboo934]

Had a 97 ,when I first moved to Taos , worst handling vehicle I ever owned . Bought a old VW to replace , no regrets .

[mattdavis11]

Tough, real tough.



A few scrapes, and bruises. That's a L/C.

[IROC]

I owned an '87 and now own a 2001. The '87 saw double duty as a daily driver and a four wheeling vehicle. I finally traded it in (on another Toyota) with 170k miles on it. Pretty much an indestructible vehicle. Our 2001 4Runner is a 2WD family vehicle. In 94k miles the ONLY thing that has gone wrong with it is the power antenna quit working. That's it. Wonderful vehicle.

Toyotas are not known to be "overpowered", but if you want a reliable vehicle that is built like a tank, they are hard to beat.

[RWebb]

the A pillars are NOT tough - I recommend that you do not roll one

other than that - great truck