Topic: How long have you had/been wheeling your toyota?

[toyodaaddict]

I thought it would be cool to hear how long everyone has owned and been wheeling the same rig. If you've owned yours a long time maybe give a bit of history. 

[toyodaaddict [OP]]

Im just a noob, Iv only had my 80 pickup 7 years. took me a year to get it road worthy and iv been wheeling and upgrading ever since.  No before pic but heres how it sits now.

[Nimyad]

I would have the same rig but it got stolen so I've had my current rig 2 and a half years, had my first gen 2 years before it got stolen. So 4 and a half years total, but that's a pretty good ratio for my age.

[OOPS]

Bought it in 97, stared wheeling it the next weekend and still wheeling it. It has changed a bit over the years!!!!!!

[Rockcrawlintoy]

I got my rig in 1999 when I was 16. I started wheelin it then. Like Oops my truck has changed a lot over that time.

[cencalwheeler]

I got my runner in 09, and have made a lot of changes to it since. I was lucky because someone had put some quality time in it and I'm just trying to keep it going.

[zembalayan]

I actually copied my dad, who bought the family's first 4Runner (a 1989.5 4 cyl. 2nd gen. model) in 1992.  I got to borrow it enough to the point that I really wanted it.  I basically, pried it away from him to use as work truck beginnning in 2001, first using it as telephone contractor/tech installers truck, then as a rural letter carrier's vehicle starting in 2003, which just about ruined the 4Runner.  Don't let anyone tell you 87 miles per day, 6 days per week of stop and go rough dirt road driving in 110 degree heat while hauling mail packed to the gills is at all easy on a truck, even a Toyota.  I saw the likes of Ford Exploders die off under such conditions within 2 to 3 weeks and their drivers quit the substitute carrier job cause these routes just chewed their vehicles up.  Honestly, besides mine, the best vehicles of the station were a 1993 Toyota Corolla wagon and a 1990s Accord, although I never understood how they fit all the mail and parcels in those cars. 

So how did i get my current Toyota, a 4 cyl. 1993 Runner in 2003?  The 1989.5 Runner started to blow the EFI fuse intermittantly, leaving me stuck (without fuel pump power) on the route and even once while making a left turn at a light in the city.  I tried so hard to chase this short down, tightening grounds, isolating EFI components with 7.5 fuses.  It came to the point of me running out of time: fixit or get something more reliable or possibly lose my job.  So I found and bought my 1993 4runner off of Auto Trader in 2003 from a fire fighter who was selling for his father-in-law from Sierra Vista.  Back then it was cherry; even by the standards one has when looking at the fine rust free garage stuff you often seen in AZ.  I should mention that I discovered Marlin Crawler and Pirate threads in 2003 when learning more about my Runners online, but little did I know then of what would become of my truck.

Dad and I fire road wheeled it, and camped with it, but not nearly as much as we had done with his 1989.5. 

I then moved from AZ to CA in 2005 and brought the 1993. The 1989.5 went to my neighbor's son to tinker with.

Here it is around the time I first got here in CA:


I caught the exploring CA mountains bug, and then it snowballed.
  Here she is in 2008 getting prepped for her final voyage on stock suspension and 29" tires (she did already have a turbo trans and a single 4.7 swapped in and some trips to Hollister, South Cow, and Praire:


Here she is later that same week getting chopped like everyone else's:


Then on first trip to Moab in 2009:


A couple more recent ones (a few more mods later):

[ajordan1975]

i started in this 10 years ago. wheeled it for a few years



then moved to this for about 6 years.



Mr. May All Pro calender 2010!









got married almpst 3 years ago. got a step daughter in the process and my wife had our son. now i've had the "station wagon" crawler for the last year.

[TacoRunner]

Way cool idea for a thread. Its original. Hard to do these days.

I purchased this one in 99' and a year later started wheeling it. Like so many others have said its been a long overhaul of parts and mods. I first had the stock axle, then the IFS axle. Both with AllPro springs. I had the stock front axle with 2" spacers for about 2 weeks before I decided I wanted a Diamond. Again with All Pro leaves. I tweaked those around by adding a make shift lateral shackle on the front with a Panhard for less stress and more flex on the leaves. Then purchased the ORS 3link kit. Under went 5years of R & D to get a link suspension work right and here we are now many years later with the end nearly insight.

[Snowtoy]

23yrs with my '90, first wheeled it in the snow two weeks after it left the dealership, and then hit Fordyce creek trail in August of 1990.
Then(only pics of it stock)



Now

It has pretty much been a Timex of trucks, it has been t-boned, in a head-on collision, and sank in creek that was more of a river at the time I tried to cross it.   It now it shares trail time with my '91 that I have had for 8yrs(2yrs to build).

[46&2]

Bought my 1985 4Runner back in early 2005. Wheeled it like this for a bit.



Then did this for a bit.



And now it looks pretty much like this.




Hasn't seen much action the last couple years though.

[StrangeR4WD]

Wow! Those are some nice rigs, seeing them from bone stock, semi stock to full transformation with many many years of hard work and pride to building our Toyotas. Toyota 4WDs will last forever! Well mines is a 89 x cab 5spd, had it for 18years in the family. I finally took it from my dad about 7 years ago when it was going to get sold. We wheel it occasionally every year since we had it from stock to built. Brought truck back to life and since then its just getting bigger and better. Ill have to get some pics in here!

[H8PVMNT]

I bought mine new at the end of high school in 1994 as a red regular cab pickup and started wheeling it right away.  It got some rims, bling nerf bars, shackle lift, bilstiens and some swampers over the next year or so. It wheeled OK for a punk and it was good for picking up chicks. 

I spun the splines off an axle and a side gear doing a low range smoke show in a parking lot and then put in a lock rite which quickely made me the local wheeling hero as no one in my area was running any decent traction devises at the time. 

Then I got tired of whiping out bedsides and built a flatbed for it.  Made some heavy wall square tube sliders, all pro cage kit, EMU rear springs, heim joint steering... Then came 33s, 5.29s, a front locker.  I got a 4.7 t-case from Marlin. 

We started putting on 4x4 Trials competitions (early style rock crawl comps) in abour 1998 or 1999 and then I started busting CV axles pretty regular.  A buddy rolled it in a competition and then bought me a white 2WD body to fix it.  While the body was off I did an SAS with the EMU spings up front and 3.5" lift chevy 63" rears. This was about 2003... Then it was a white '94 pickup SAS with a bed on it again.

Wheeled it that way for a few years and stepped up to 35s. Really started enjoying the deep snow.  By this time we had I kid and I probably did some of the best and most frequent wheeling of my life with him in a car seat.

We had another kid, got shut down at the mill I worked at because of cheap import plywood.  Went to school in Washington and drove it over there weekly and spun a rod bearing at the top of 4th of July Pass. Swaped in a good used 22re.  Moved to the other side of the state and started a new career as an appraiser.  Got really broke getting into that. That first winter over here I spun a rod bearing while being layed over in a coollie (dirt v-notch).  Then I decided to do a 3RZ swap and got a bunch of parts for that, which got put on hold for about three or four years due to lack of funds and too much work.  We put on a few more trials comps in our new area and started some local mud truck/derby guys crawling.

Over those few years my pickup sat in stasis but I trade my brother in law a car for a long travel IFS '87 extended cab which I wheeled for a while and then sold. Picked up an '80 longbed 4x4 which I still have and probably will get buried in .  Had a buddy with a wrecked '89 4Runner that wanted to trade bodies for my white '94 pickup body, so I traded him and did the resto-mod 4Runner body swap on the '94 pickup frame and 3RZ swap all at the same time. Now the whole family can wheel in comfort and I can pull hills with the 3RZ. It has become our daily driver and weekend wheeler with a crawl competition here and there. We won 1st in it at our local club's crawl event last summer with my older boy, now 10 as my spotter.

The original parts of my '94 pickup that I bought brand new are the frame and I think the shifters and shift knobs... Almost 20 years, probably logged over a half million miles, countless trails, a rollover, several mild flops, 3 or 4 engines, maybe 3 trannys and a few sets of ring and pinions. Bult it in about 5 different ways and it's been four different style vehicles, shiny new red pickup, flatbed yoder, white stripped down trail pickup, and now my built 1st gen 4Runner...  Still my Toyota though!

I will try to get some pics up of the slow evolution.

[BigMike]

Bought it in 97, stared wheeling it the next weekend and still wheeling it. It has changed a bit over the years!!!!!!

OOPS, the only difference I can see is the faded red paint. Do you even have set of wrenches?

I actually copied my dad, who bought the family's first 4Runner...

Really cool story Bill! That 4Runner was clean and still is!

Congrats on the calendar entry. We need more bikini pics!

23yrs with my '90, first wheeled it in the snow two weeks after it left the dealership, and then hit Fordyce creek trail in August of 1990.

Wow first owner! Soo cool!! I have two friends who are first owners of 1979 longbeds! And they are still wheeling em to this day!

Way cool idea for a thread. Its original. Hard to do these days.

Agreed! This is very nice! I pretty much Liked every reply here. I think I need to go punch a wall to regain manliness.

My truck started out as a slammed 2WD truck I picked up from my friend who is a Caterpillar mechanic. He kept it really clean:


Then I converted it to 4WD, lifted it a bit for 33s and did this for a while:




Then I lifted it a little more and did stuff like this:


Then I lifted it a little more and did stuff like this:


Nowadays it does quite a lot, it rescues broken down Jeeps:


And it pretty much an all around vehicular badass

Regards,
BigMike

[bigarms23]

bought my 884runner in 02 wheeling ever since changed the ifs to full width sas to duals and a 4.3 swap and still dd/wheel

[Dirt Mover]

Bought my 85 4Runner in Oct. of 98. First thing I bought was the dual case adapter #257. Had Marlin install gears and lockers next. Still running the transfer cases and front third member with an ARB in it today. Back in the day we would drive our rigs to the Hammers from Fresno while still using the push pull steering. Back when All Pro would have their 4Runner jamboree.

[mudmaster]

I bought my 83 pickup about 8 or 9 years ago with a blown engine, extra front end, rear end, t-case and xmsn for 500 bucks. Since then I put on a 4" lift with a 2"  BL, locally made in cab cage, some Corbeau suspension seats with Crow harnesses, GM Ho alternator, Headman header, Weber carb, 36" Swamper TSLs, Marlin front bumper and 4.7 t-case, Warn 9.5 XP, 5.29 gears, rear Detroit locker, front is a lunch box (don't remember which brand), TG sliders (I know). There might be more I'm forgetting. I'm collecting parts for a 4.3/TH350 swap.

[mudmaster]

More pics in it's current state

[Ghettofab88]

Wow, bunch of newbs in here!  Just kidding!

My dad originaly bought my truck back in 1990, its an 88 and we were the second owner.  He still says today that it was the best purchase he ever made vehicle wise.  It was our first 4wd and even though my dad wasn't into offroading he took me out to the hungry valley ohv park up on the grapevine.  I was probably 14, he let me drive some dirt roads, its been a rocky road ever since!

I've pretty much wheeled this thing all over the southwest, from colorado, moab to deathvalley and the rubicon.  Its great for trips like dusy ershim.  Its got 255,000 on it now and it still runs good, but it is getting tired and the trans needs a rebuild.  I've finnally got my jeep buggy done so I'm starting to work on developing a plan for it.

I've had people leave notes on it before asking if I'd want to sell it.  I have told everyone I know that I would part with any of my other vehicles first, this one stays!






Kevo

[daniresch]

^ I just got really excited, really liking the paint scheme! 

Here's my 1988 bought in 2010 with 32"s and a 2inch bodylift. My first 4x4 and wheeled it like that for a year.

Then came the SAS,duals and lockers with 35s:



Then 38s:



how it sits now:

[Stevsie]

^^^^One of my favorite truck's to look at. Did you do the LC rotor swap an all that?

[daniresch]

^^^^One of my favorite truck's to look at. Did you do the LC rotor swap an all that?

thank you, and yes with sky's IFS hub adapter

[dropzone]

1981 Toyota Trekker:  Bought it in April of 2007 after getting permission from the missus:

I was doing a little too much damage trying to stuff my Tacoma between trees








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made the top removeable and bobbed it

it needs a 2,7





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[boomtacoma01]

I have had my 85 Xtra Cab since 2010 when I bought it as a birthday present to myself and more importantly before I got married  It had some Marlin 4.7's in it, a R151 tranny, an All Pro TC x-member, Marlin rear bumper and only a little bit of rust in the usual places. The truck came with a full service history and a good running  22-RE.





I decided to start modifying it before wheeling it and under some guidance from some of my wheeling buddies it turned into my present day wheeler. I added Longs, 5.29's, HP front diff, V-6 rear diff,  Detroits front and rear, 37" SSRs,  Dual 23 spline Ultimates, Twin Sticks, IFS rear axle, Marlin  Hi-steer, Race Ace hood louvres, Marlin front bumper, Warn M8000, 63's, PSC hydro assist, 4x innovations roll cage, HIDs, LC front discs and calipers, rear disc brakes off a Fj Cruiser and a whole mess of other stuff.

Initial tear down for suspension







1st phase kinda done



Duals





Cage



Present Day  kinda done



Wheeling

[BigMike]

Love your truck boomtacoma01, '85 EFI XtraCab liveaxle FTW!

[boomtacoma01]

Thanks Mike.

[Toymin8r]

Bought my 89 pickup in 1995.



Did the SAS with All Pro stuff in 1999. 


Did the 1uz-fe swap in 2010


Same cab but 3 body's later and this is how it looks today.

[rapier46]

I miss my old Toyota.  I should have kept it for a crawler.  I got this back in 2009.


It came from utah.  My family got it in pretty darn clean condition.  Bone stock on ifs.  We sasd it, then I bought it from my sister. It was on 34" Swampers.  I sold those, bought the 35" mtrs.  Changed the wheels and some other little things.  Wheeled it a lot! Loved that thing.

Sold it to buy this
 




I just bought this a month ago.  Thinking of selling the long box and giving this new tacoma the treatment.
 


That's my Toyota truck history.

[R.DesJardin]

Well at the young age of 53, I have been driving off road since I was around 14 or 15, we had a stock CJ2A that I would use to run around our ranch to fix fences, I tried to drive everywhere I could and learned a lot.
My current wheeler I bought in 2004, and have been building on since. And I will probably never stop building on it.
Almost as purchased:


The latest pic:

[banana81]

That's a sweet yota toyodaaddict. I have a 80 Toyota pickup like yours. Iv only had her three years, no wheeling. My bro crazyyota helps me with my yellow banana with any problems. Thanks bro.  But a pair of mud terrains would be nice. keep the 80s going.