Author Topic: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000  (Read 2771 times)

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Plekto

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1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« on: Sep 29, 2010, 07:38:25 PM »
It's a white 87 4Runner SR5 with all the options you could get at the time.  Only one noticeable small dent in it.  Paint is a bit old but fine(original, never repainted).  Note - will consider a possible trade for a 1975 or earlier FJ55 that's safe to drive (ie - engine, brakes, etc all work well enough to handle highway and city use)  Mileage is high, but almost everything on the truck has been replaced at least once or twice.

Stuff done to it/mods:
* It has Smittybilt nerf bars/sliders and bull bars.   Class 3 hitch.  Tow mount/ball is installed - tows fine.  Has wiring for trailer installed as well.

* Transfer case replaced with a brand new non rebuilt unit 6 years ago by the previous owner.  

* 2nd engine - Brand new crate from Japan ~10 years ago(NOT rebuilt). Roughly 200K on the engine now, with most of that being highway miles.  Previous owner had a 40-50 mile a day commute for 6 years on the engine before I got the truck four years ago.  Gets a reliable 17-18mpg combined, just as it should.  Almost all of the rest of the engine sub-components were replaced when the new crate engine was put in.  My friend spent $6K on a 22RE crate engine and aux compnents from Japan instead of rebuilding - just silly, IMO, but I'm not complaining.  The engine runs very well for its age.  I'd drive this to Oregon and back without flinching or worrying in the least.

* Marlin Crawler Heavy-Duty transmission. Heavy Duty non-ceramic Marlin Crawler clutch. (3 years old)  New Clutch master and slave as well.(done at the same time).  Transmission makes a LOT of mechanical noise.  This is 100% normal.  This is not a quiet truck. :)

* Thorley Header and Cat-back exhaust(3 years ago).  CA smog legal parts.($600 in mods here)  Has no power issues.  Can get up a 2-3 percent grade in 5th at 70mph without down-shifting.  Roughly a 15-20HP increase in power as near as I can tell at 3000+ rpm.(or to be more exact, the stock manifold takes 15-20hp *off* of the engine it's such a terrible design)

* Entire new front brakes.  Rotors, pads, and calipers.  Entire new rear brakes.  Also a new rear proportioning valve.  (3 months ago)  Front brake lines were replaced 4 years ago.  Stops very well.

* New interior rear carpet and rear seats.  This was done 4 years ago when I got the truck.  Almost $800 for this alone.(originals were unusable)

* Heater and AC works fine.  Rear seat heater also works properly.

* New blower fan.  (3 years old)  New fan resistor/arrray (all four fan speeds work properly - 1 year old)

* New belts(2 years ago) and alternator(6 months ago).  New battery(6 months old, same time  as alternator).  New spark plug wires and plugs and rotor/cap/etc(this year)

* New windshield. Factory Toyota Glass, not aftermarket. (3 years old)  Windshield wipers replaced 6 months ago(last spring, when it rained), front and rear.

* 6 month old rear diff and axle seals.  New breather valve.  4.10 gears.

* All of the major buttons and knobs and such work fine, except where noted.  Power locks and windows, too.  Rear window wiper also works.

* BFG Mud Terrain Tires.(bit over a year and a half ago)  Roughly 1/3 of the tread is gone.  30K or more left.  New spare tire (regular street tire, but maybe 20 miles on it - 4 years old - I can verify it works - used it when my past tires died)  Tires rotated and balanced every 3K miles.
NOTE - Tire pressure for MT tires should be 29/32 Front/Rear(while warm, not cold).  The door says 27/35, but the tires don't wear correctly and the handling is bad unless you set them to 29/32.

* Oil changed every 3K.  (do oil and tires at the same time)  I recommend and use Lucas Oil Conditioner every time as the engine runs notceably quieter.  Oil should be standard cheap/on sale 10/30 due to the higher mileage.   Save money and use the conditioner instead of spending money on high mileage or special oil.

* Cleaned and fixed the headlight switch.  High-beams work properly.  Headlamps are SilverStar sealed-beams.  9 months old.

* Cleaned and replaced all of the bulbs in the tail lights and replaced the front blinker bulbs(20 minute+ job with the bull bar)

* Cleaned and fixed horn.  Steering wheel makes a slight squeeking noise from the contacts, but horn works 100% of the time. (though it is small and weak sounding - needs replacing, IMO, with a louder horn from a late 70's Cadillac or similar)

* New Kenwood radio(4 years old, Plays MP3s) and Pioneer speakers(5 months old)

* Removed old front carpet as it was dead.  I have nice heavy-duty rubber floor mats in there.  Never got around to rhino-lining the interior, but I'd suggest something like it.  Never having to worry about spills, rain, snow, or kids is a huge plus.(not a fan of carpet as a rule)

* Flushed and replaced trans gear oil 9 months ago.(needs to be done roughly every 2 years - cheap but messy job)

* Replaced rear shackles.(1 year ago) - OEM shackles are surprisingly hard to find...

* Replaced speedometer cable 2 years ago as it was squeaking.

* Sheepskin covers for front seats. (from my old Mercedes - fit and look great)  Just washed in a comercial washer.  Showing signs of wear, but clean enough to eat off of and good for another 2-3 years.  I also cleaned and washed the floor mats.  The entire interior has been cleaned, including the plastic.  I use Novus - nothing is better that I have found and it won't kill your plastic like Armor All will.  Few things are more gross than buying a new vehicle and having to spend 2 days detailing it and removing other people's funk.

* Rear suspension leafs replaced 6 years ago by previous owner(broke).  Rear is about 1 inch higher than the back.  No rear-end sag at all, even when modestly loaded.

* Engine is not steam-cleaned.  WYSIWYG.  No Armor-All, either.

***JUST PASSED SMOG valid CA smog certificate.- This has been my daily driver for four years now.***

***Clear title, have pink slip.  Registration is paid up and good for 11 1/2 more months(expires Sept 2011)***

***Have receipts for most of the work***

*****to fix/known issues*****
I'm a firm believer in notifying potential owners of every issue so that they have no guesswork or surprizes. This is especially true of old "classic" vehicles.  We all know they have their issues.  Nothing worries me more than "everything is fine" in a description.  So here goes.

- Starter/ignotion relay is a bit weak.  You have to turn off the lights/fan/radio/etc and put it in neutral to start it sometimes. Starter is 100% fine.  The issue is the relay is getting old and more than 1-2V drain sometimes is enough to keep it from triggering.

- Passenger side door lock cylinder does not work.  Appears to have been damaged at some point in its life by a child.  Door does unlock from driver's side switch and from the inside manually.(just the lock cylinder itself is frozen)

- Passenger side window switch is damaged.  Driver's side button for it works fine, though. (switch still works if you press the contacts with your fingers).

- Center console foam pad needs replacing.

- Missing one piece of interior trim around the passenger side rear window.

- Oil pressure/temp gauge assembly in the dash needs replacing/repairing.  Rest of the cluster works perfectly.  Truck has proper pressue and temp.  Just the gauge reads wrong.(temp reads hot when it's normal and hot is straight up(appears to be working but off by 45 degrees).

- Seats don't slide forward.  Needs a new cable for each seat.  They do flip forward though.  Tracks work fine if you fix the cable.  I dont ever use the rear seat, so getting back there every day asn't a high priority.

- NOTE - to pass smog again easily, you will need to restrict the exhaust down to 1.5 inches from the 2.25 - the new exhaust has a bit too low backpressure/is too efficient.  I suggest a home-made restrictor plate (piece of sheet metal with a hole cut in it) inbetween the header and the cat connection/joint, then remove it after the test. It passes easily at 25mph, very close on the 15mph test.  The issue is that the 15mph test is in 2nd gear at 1600prm.  At 1800rpm+  or in 3rd through 5th, the EGR valve has enough back-pressure to trip and works fine.  I never drive the truck in 1st or 2nd at such low RPMs, so it's just a matter of making the stupid smog test happy.

- NOTE 2 - I found this out but still passed smog with the setup as-is.  Just a plate to add more back-pressure would make it idiot-proof to pass instead of a bit of a nail-biter.(NOx drops a lot once EGR system engages - roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the maxiumum allowable limits)

- Cruise Control is disabled/cable is disconnected under the hood.  No big deal, since I never use it.(short off-road gearing and cruise is a "why?" in my book)  It was disconnected back when the truck was having exhaust issues and couldn't hold 5th gear reliably(Cruise in 4th is worthless, really)  Never hooked it back up after fixing the transmission and the exhaust.

- Toyota dealer mangled the oil pan drain plug.  They fixed it, but you need to unscrew the *smaller* plug in the center and not the bigger outer one(which is re-threaded and JB welded - very nice job by them).  Works fine, you just need a small 10-12mm wrench.  I was planning to replace it when I put SAS on the truck, but it's been this way for three years with zero problems.  

- Rear heater is missing the switch knob.  Works perfectly fine - just I think my son yanked it off and "lost" it in his room or something.

- CV boots are cracked.  Not an issue, IMO, since 95% of people buying this will rip out the stock front suspention and SAS it anyways.  I was going to SAS it myself, but never got around to it.  I don't wheel it enough as it is to have it become an issue yet.  This truck is a perfect SAS candidate as all you need to do is put the SAS in and the rest of the truck is good to go other than maybe installing a locker on the rear and a couple of skid plates.  4WD and auto-locking hubs do engage/work properly.

- Power steering pump leaks.  Works fine, just leaks a bit.  I also figure that this will be addressed when it gets SAS, since you have to alter the power steering assembly anyways.  As it is, I just put some extra oil in it every 2-3 months.  It's been this way since I've had the truck, so fixing it isn't critical.

- Windshield washer pump doesn't activate.  Pump appears to work - looks like a relay needs replacing somewhere.  I wash my windshield every 4-5 days when I fill up(it is my daily driver, after all), so it's not been a real issue.  We don't get much bad weather here in So Cal.

*****
So why am I selling it?  Money(and wanting a new project to work on, like a FJ55).  I'm in a situation where I don't really need a vehicle(job is in town, kid's school is in town - 2 and 4 minute city bus/shuttle ride that comes every 15 minutes, respectively).  I love this truck, but I use it off-road 2-3 times a year, if that.  It really needs to go to someone who will appreciate it and use it.  If you have a few weekends, you can cherry this rig out and SAS it for probably $1000 in parts.  I have zero welding skills and know nobody who does, so SAS just never happened.

This was my family's only vehicle for four years and had to work every day.  I figure I have 5K spent on the truck in the last 4 years.  
« Last Edit: Oct 02, 2010, 05:21:22 PM by Plekto »

Plekto [OP]

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #1 on: Sep 29, 2010, 07:39:32 PM »
:Pictures:



« Last Edit: Oct 02, 2010, 07:08:56 PM by Plekto »

AaronB

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #2 on: Sep 29, 2010, 07:46:12 PM »
thats a ton of info.  :gap:
"Never make your passion your occupation. it will loose it's luster and become work. that's why i never wanted to become a gynecologist!"

I also taught him how to put in 5min of hard work and then spend 15min staring and admiring what you have done...

Coastie

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #3 on: Sep 29, 2010, 08:13:51 PM »
nice rig, 

Plekto [OP]

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #4 on: Oct 04, 2010, 10:16:49 AM »
Bump. 

KNIFECOOP

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #5 on: Oct 05, 2010, 11:58:01 AM »
could you email me at kcoop77@yahoo.com

Plekto [OP]

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Re: 1987 4Runner - So Cal, Daily Driver. $3000
« Reply #6 on: Oct 06, 2010, 12:55:02 PM »
Truck has been sold.   

 
 
 
 
 

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