Topic: Worth it?

[KSTacoBoy]

Hey guys, new to this forum but been on ttora for a long time.  I posted this up over there but no one has chimed in...opinions are welcome.  Is this a good deal or should I pass?  Plus, how reliable are the first gen auto's? 

Alright, seeing what you guys think.  I've always wanted a old school sfa yota but never really had the chance to find a decent one for the right price.  Stumbled across this recently and have talked them down to $1400 firm. 

Specs:
1985 Deluxe Long bed 4x4 22RE 197K miles
Automatic (really prefer 5spd, but its a selling point against the :wife: )
Power steering
A/C (needs recharged)
Starter needs a new solenoid (clicks)
Front axle looks like it needs a good rebuild
Minimal rust (was a Cali truck half its life)
Will need new tires soon
Was used as a farm truck so it isn't mint, but should clean up decently

I don't really need another vehicle but thought if I got it cheap enough it would keep the miles off the taco and (maybe) save on gas since the I have to put 91 - 93 octane in the taco.

Opinions?

[BigMike]

Hello and welcome to our Crawler Land!

You know, trying to find a EFI solid axle around here is really tough. Especially XtraCab models which still get $4k-$5k in stock form here.

It has always been my opinion that if you want a 5-speed then you should buy a 5-pseed. Less you'll have to cut the firewall and mount a clutch pedal & slave assembly, replace the radiator, amongst other things. So I'd like to ask you a question about the 22R-E. What are your thoughts regarding the engine? Are you looking to convert it to a newer 2.7-liter 3RZ-FE or 2TR-FE, or even a 5VZ-FE 6cyl? If so, then you'd be doing enough custom work that what I consider a blemish of installing a manual transmission into an auto truck would be greatly overshadowed.

Otherwise, expect to have poor performance and gas mileage with the automatic setup. The early autos have an additional viscus coupler in the non-divorce-able transfer case which robs addition power from the drivetrain. With stock tires it may be bearable, but anything oversized and you'll be looking at 10-14 MPG for city driving.

Looking at the pictures I think this is a good buy at $1,400: EFI & solid axle. It seems to have everything present down to the factory engine bay skid plate. Does it have a tilt wheel and is the A/C stock or aftermarket? No moon-roof and a no sliding rear window (which might be a benefit as they are more difficult to break into).

If you are looking to build a wheeler out of this, you'll out-climb many people with the nice long wheelbase.

Regards,
BigMike

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

Hey Mike,

Thanks for your opinion.  Well, at the time being I would keep the drive train stock (engine/trans).  Not really what I wanted to hear about the auto robbing power, but I knew it would a little.  I read a post where some auto's have TC that are not separable and others that can be unbolted.  Not sure if that has any effect on performance with the different types of TC's though.  I don't think my tire size will ever be bigger than 33x12.50x15's.  I've considered swapping it over to 5spd (just haven't researched into it real hard yet).  Putting a 2.7 tacoma motor and manual transmission would be awesome but it would be awhile before I could get around to it.  Mainly, just looking for a good run around beater truck (money pits as my wife calls them... ) that is capable of going anywhere I need.  I would like to restore/build it up a little but nothing crazy.  The A/C is stock and I'm not sure on the tilt-steering (I'm going this week-end to check it out/buy it).  Anything else that you can think of that I need to take a closer look at?  I appreciate your time.

Thanks,
-Chris   

[BigMike]

I don't really need another vehicle but thought if I got it cheap enough it would keep the miles off the taco and (maybe) save on gas since the I have to put 91 - 93 octane in the taco.

Does your Tacoma have a TRD Supercharger? If not, you'll only going to loose a little on performance and fuel mileage by running standard 87oct fuel. I realize Toyota "recommends" premium, but it's only recommended for optimal performance and to reduce issues in longevity and warranties. Read reduce not prevent. It's all how you care for the vehicle after all. Marlin's 2001 8-cylinder Tundra "requires" premium fuel but he runs absolutely the cheapest watered down standard grade fuel he can find and after 350,000 miles we've had to replace the alternator and starter contacts once. We've had no other issues. Running at high altitudes is in a way part equivalent to running lower grade fuel, and because engines are designed to run at any altitude they can find oxygen at, the computers are more than capable of controlling spark timing and fuel curves to cope with lower octane fuel.

As for the auto, yes, you can switch to a 6-cyl auto trans+t/case which is more efficient design than the 4-cyl counterpart, as well as having a divorceable transfer case. Moreover, Inchworm Gear, a company out of Shingle Springs, CA, makes an adapter to replace the old auto t/case with a more efficient gear drive unit. So two options: Change to a better V6 auto drivetrain (preferred method but requires more money and labor), or change the t/case to a better one. Check out this thread for more info on that, specifically reply #2: http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=88940.0

Regards,
BigMike

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

Thanks for the link, I'll check into it.  My Tacoma is supercharged so I do need premium but the extra power is well worth it.

[2manytoys]

Just some input on the auto trans. My first Toyota and new vehicle was an 86 4runner with 22RE and auto trans. Wife had to have an auto.

Truck was gutless with stock tires and even worse going a little bigger. I hated it. It ran forever though.

It had 450 K miles on it when my kid rolled it. Parted it out and a friend stuck the trans in his truck and ran it for many more years. All I ever did was change the trans fliud out every 100k miles. It never even leaked.

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

Thanks for the input.  Glad to hear they at least have a good track record even if it is gutless and slow.  I'll probably look into swapping a 5spd into it at some point.

[Sparkplug]

I dd a stock 86 auto 4runner. Everything is stock, event he tire size. it moves around just fine, gets 15 city, and believe it or not, 22-24 highway. Its right at 2600 rpm doing 70 mph.

That said, I just did some wor on a biddies auto 4runner, on 33s, and its a gutless turd, but I feel doing 529s would help it out alot.

[Snowtoy]

If the engine is strong and light rust means only surface rust, $1400 isn't a bad price, here in my area of N. CA it would only be worth about $1k based on the pics.

Since you have an SC'd Taco your speed needs are basically filled, so living with the auto+22re shouldn't be too unbearable, especially if you avoid running bigger tires w/o matching gears(1 size taller is needed for auto's than 5-spds).

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

Thanks for the input guys I appreciate it.  I'll see if I can talk him down a little more when I check it out closer this weekend.  I'll let you know what happens.

[Rocksurfer]

My 85 4Runner Auto with 31's currently gets 18mpg all day long, yes it does lag a little in the take off power over a stick but I can run it down the freeway at 75 to 80 mph all day long no problem. Sure there are tcase upgrades unavailable but with the auto trans it makes up for it. I take mine everywhere and with the auto trans can use it to crawl trails. I say with the cost of old Toys these days it well worth the price if it is in decent shape. Also with the auto it should come with 4.37 diffs.

[BigMike]

I dd a stock 86 auto 4runner. Everything is stock, event he tire size. it moves around just fine, gets 15 city, and believe it or not, 22-24 highway.

My 85 4Runner Auto with 31's currently gets 18mpg all day long

Very good to know!

[H8PVMNT]

It's an '85 longbed with EFI and a solid axle, you need to buy it.

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

That's what I figured...lol

[Vang530]

My SR5 truck was originally an auto. It sucked even with 30x9.50s on... swapped in a 5 speed (one of the first major things I've ever done wrenching and even then it was a pretty easy direct remove & replace). You get to use so much more power of the 22re and actually keep it in its powerband better. I felt like I gained 30hp in the butt dyno.
The only thing I miss is the no effort crawling in the auto.

[KSTacoBoy [OP]]

Good to know, thanks for the input!

[WarSaw]

Like Mike said, the 85 is the most sought after Toyota out there. Id buy it and mod it out to suit my needs later, or better yet restore that bad boy for future generations of wheelers to marvel at!