87 Toyota Van 4x4
- Thread starter pmorin35
- Start date
JasonRedwood
Explorer
Pictures? Do you know the history/maintenance, mileage, etc...
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
If the body's in good shape I'd jump on it. Those are very cool little vans. IIRC they had the same running gear as the 89-94 Hilux or 2nd gen 4runner, typically a 22r 4 cyl engine and a 5 speed with a 2 speed t-case.
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
upcountry
Explorer
I have seen one of these endure years of serious abuse as a windsurf adventure wagon in my hometown on Maui. Miles and miles of pineapple and sugar plantation roads, numerous "safety" meetings, and gallons of salt water later it has some rust holes but keeps running despite attempts to kill it. Downside is it is hard to fit a bigger tire than a 30" without sheetmetal fab.
The vans didn't share anything in common with the IFS pickups other then the Toyota name. They had the 3y or 4y engine. I don't remember the transmission family. The transfercase was a drivers drop. If it was a manual it had the 2 speed case, auto was just a single speed transfercase. Both front and rear differentials were closer to the 7.5" so it could share the same gears as an IFS front and 2wd rear. It is a unibody. The IFS is similar style of the pickup but has no matching parts. Steering is rack and pinion. Take care with what you do and what you throw away as parts are getting hard to source.
Even if it is so different from the pickup, i would buy one for a great camping rig. The man with no name is right, very cool machine. Try to find the parts to add the center console refrigerator if not already equipped. I have seen some guys get creative and build a bracket lift for the front end, not sure what they did to the knuckles.
upcountry
Explorer
JasonRedwood
Explorer
There's a user on expo named "death metal" I think, who highly modified a 4x4yota van. Not sure how road safe it is now but it definitely interesting. I lov the body style of those vans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxoqTaH75gs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxoqTaH75gs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
Great post, I thought there were commonalities but stand corrected.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Yup, I made the same assumptions.
I think this was Toyota's first foray into the minivan field. I still see a few of them around.
The 80's were an interesting time for vehicle development. Lots of 4wd cars, too, like the Tercel 4wd wagon, the Nissan Stanza, the Honda Civic 4wd wagon, the Mitsubishi Expo LRV, and some funky little van/station wagon looking vehicles from Mitsubishi/Dodge.
Thanks for all the great info, everybody. The van is ugly as sin yet it appeals to me. Gonna take a look at it later this week. Out of curiosity, when you say parts are hard to come by, does that mean junkyard expeditions or is it still possible to get parts at an auto store. Thanks in advance.
Most parts are no longer in production for the OEM. So if you go into a Toyota dealer they will not stock parts for sure and might not be able to order them. The dealers might still be able to get some of the more common parts. As for aftermarket, I'm sure you can still get the parts to keep it running.