85 or 86 model or does it even matter.

[deepsouth]

 Recently purchased a toyota 4x4.Going through the truck I foundthe owners manual and old insurance cards. They both show the truck as being a 86.The tag on the doorjam shows Dec 85,but faintly stamped next to that date is feb of 86.Anybody know whats up with that?I assume that a 85 and 86 are so close together that buying parts want be a  problem?

[yotarunner85]

I would guess that if it has a solid front axle it's an 85. If is has an independent front end than it's an 86. By the door jam date my guess is it's an 86.

[79coyotefrg]

if it has a solid front axle its a 85, if it has independent front suspension then its an 86.

besides the front axle there is virtually no difference

[deepsouth]

 Thanks guys for the help,now I know why the 85 fsm doesnt have a ifs breakdown.Sorry for posting in the wrong section.

[junya92toy]

It was more of a joke..........

[Sparkplug]

big differences between 85 and 86. Interior, steering, brakes, frame

[79coyotefrg]

big differences between 85 and 86. Interior, steering, brakes, frame

WOW ya think, since the frame, brakes and OMG NO the steering too is different on IFS rigs than on solid axle rigs 

[Snowtoy]

Recently purchased a toyota 4x4.Going through the truck I foundthe owners manual and old insurance cards. They both show the truck as being a 86.The tag on the doorjam shows Dec 85,but faintly stamped next to that date is feb of 86.Anybody know whats up with that?I assume that a 85 and 86 are so close together that buying parts want be a  problem?

Production date and model year are often different.  With the '86 model year being the change over from SA to IFS here in the U.S., the Dec '85 production date would have put it almost 6 months into the '86 model year.  This is why the owners manual, insurance, and registration would have it listed as an '86.  When looking for parts you want to look for them for an '86 truck, this will make things easier for you.

Given the production year run and shipping time to the U.S., I would think that the last SA model bound for the U.S. would have a had a production date no later than March 1985.

[deepsouth]

 Thanks snowtoy,thats what i was wondering.I had never seen the dates done like that before.

[Rocksurfer]

In 85 you could find both the IFS 86 and the SA 85 on the showroom floors next to each other, the 86 IFS trucks/4Runners were released early.

[Squeebs]

Late 85 models were ifs or sa. Straight axle models probably stopped production around november 85.

[Rocksurfer]

All 85 models are SA, they did an early release of the 86 model so for a short time you could find both an 85 SA and the 86 IFS sitting brand new next to each other. My brother happened to be looking for a new truck back then and we saw this exact scenario. He ended up getting an 86.   The 86's were better equipped.

[BadnewsBob]

To add further to the confusion an 86 can be fuel infected or carb.     My first Yota was an 86 IFS carb and had a one ton rear axle in it....boy did I have fun finding parts for that thing.

[Snowtoy]

Actually, the 22re(efi) engines started with the '84 model year trucks and Runners, most of them were on SR5 models, and you could still get a carb on 2wd models(maybe 4x's) through the early 90's.

[79coyotefrg]

Actually, the 22re(efi) engines started with the '84 model year trucks and Runners, most of them were on SR5 models, and you could still get a carb on 2wd models(maybe 4x's) through the early 90's.

from August 84 and newer the engine were designed so they could be efi or carb, the heads were no different.  A local parts house had a 94 Toyota 2wd base model with a 4 speed manual and a carb.