advice on an older toyota truck, 22re for son

[colotaco]

I need some advice from anyone that has or had an older toyota truck say with the 4 cyl engine, I am starting my hunt for one for my soon to be driving son, what are some things I should be wary of or check for in these little gems, also if anyone knows of one for sale close to the front range of Colorado please, do tell.

Thanks

 

[Grim Reaper]

Maintenance records and original owners are a plus.
If they cant produce a receipt for a timing chain done in the last 80K plan on it and a water pump. As long as the Valves are adjusted they are pretty well bomb proof. Avoid the Carbed models. The FI is easier to work on.

They are a small motor and if you put over sized tires on it you MUST re-gear. With the IFS 4.88 was a factory option on V6 Automatic trucks with the 31 inch tire option. The rear diff is bigger but a direct bolt in top the 4 cyl truck.
Brakes are weak for over sized tires. any year 4cyl from 86-95 can easily be upgraded. Just spec 92 V6 rotors, caliper and Master. You will need to find a reservior or buy the Master from www.marlincrawler.com. Otherwise a bolt on and a BIG improvement in braking. See my truck build thread in my Sig.

Edit:

Well it seems all the pictures are gone in my build thread with the server issues. Ohh well.

 

[Cackalak Han]

What's your budget?

 

[TEJASYOTA]

The 22re engine is a tough engine...the only major thing for the Toyotas is the timing belt replacement, rust and general care for the truck.

Once you find one...you and your son, can use the following link for more information on care and modification to the truck.
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Plus, there is a Chapter in the CO region.
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=99

Contact them on their messageboard and I bet they would be glad to help you inspect the truck too.
Good luck!

 

[4Rescue]

Personly... I'd head over to Yotatech.com for ALOT more info than any other board...

Like everyone says, things to look out for are frame rust, body ust and service records indicating the last T-chain service/change.

Teh 22RE while not a power house is about as durable as a petrol motor comes and still mores these little (but horendously over-built) trucks around adaquately. Where it falls flat is out on the highway. It just doesn't have the oomph to stay in the hogher gears if there's any sort of inclne. Fortunatly if yu're nice to it, it will rev fairly hapily. THis however leads to dramaticly decreased fuel milage.

Hope you find a good truck for your son, you may end up wanting to keep it for yourself

Cheers

Dave

 

[Tumbleweed]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=459180
There is more usefull info here on the Toyotas. I would suggest reading through this faq to learn about them. In 1986-Toyota went to the IFS front end. Late 1985 was the first years for EFI. 22R is a carbed motor, 22RE is the EFI motor.
My 85 is very highly modified, but still street legal. I have done just about every mod you will read in that faq. I have 260k on the truck but everything has been rebuilt. Dependable rig, smallish cab.
There are tons of write ups available on about any mod you would like to do to a Toy minitruck.
Shoot, just come over to Idaho and buy mine for around 8k-over 12k in it.
Give me a reason to get a larger more expo friendly rig.:sombrero:

 

[red87]

it is possible to get a carbed model after 85. mines an 87 and has the 22r. i think it was just the base model though, i mean I even have manual steering.

 

[colotaco]

What's your budget?

My budget is $3500.

 

[atavuss]

it is possible to get a carbed model after 85. mines an 87 and has the 22r. i think it was just the base model though, i mean I even have manual steering.

I also had an 87 22R that had a carb. that truck had 283k miles when I sold it and it did not leak, burn, or use any oil. the only reason I sold it was because it was too easy to steal it. it was stolen twice and recovered.

 

[BLKNBLU]

it is possible to get a carbed model after 85. mines an 87 and has the 22r. i think it was just the base model though, i mean I even have manual steering.

In the trucks, yes. Don't quote me on it but I think the 4runners went EFI exclusively from '85 on but the trucks had both types available.

To the OP, the only thing I can add to what has been previously posted is to do a compression test if you can. Not really necessary, but a nice bit of extra info if you can get it. The 4cyl engines are so stout they can run pretty well on 3 cyl potentially leaving you with a problem brewing that is not obvious just in a test drive.

 

[red87]

I believe you are correct about the 4Runners. I sure was surprised when I saw the valve cover on the truck I was about to buy said 22R though.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Timing CHAIN not a belt... MMMMM to replace them and only use a quality version, like the double chain from LC engineering.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Keep an eye on the timing chain covers for the 22 series motors. When the chain gets old, it gets loose and the original plastic guide wears out-the chain wears a groove into the cover. If not a hole or crack. The newer replacement guides should be metal.

 

[4Rescue]

Keep an eye on the timing chain covers for the 22 series motors. When the chain gets old, it gets loose and the original plastic guide wears out-the chain wears a groove into the cover. If not a hole or crack. The newer replacement guides should be metal.

I used to agree with you, now honestly I say go with a complete Toyota Factory Set-up. If it goes 100K from them, I'll take another 100K worry free, and besides at that point the chain NEEDS to be replaced wether the guides do or not. I've also unfortunately seen too many sets of teh "High Performance" metal guides fail and screw up more than they were suposed to be "protecting" . yes the T-Chain cover will start to leak when the guides let the chain flail, but they're cheap and you need to take them off to replace the chain at that point. Having just gone through puting a new 22RE in my 894Runner adn then having a freak T-Chain Failure at only 500 miles I'm getting to be REAL familliar with these motors. Engnbldr.com is a great builder of these motors depending on what you want to do.

After all my searching and perplexing, and mostly after I decided I couldn't swing the 1KZ-Te Diesel swap I went with a bone stock 22RE and I'm not dissapointed. I'd love to have some more power, but honestly it's smooth like a sinnger sewing machine except for the typical "22RE noises" and once I get my gearing worked out and the new tires on it'll be more than willing to do what I ask it to do. To me it's fun to putter around in the thing rowing through the gears enjoying the "truckish" ride... I tend to chose winding through the hills and back roads here in Portland enjoying driving the truck rather than speeding down the freeway (unless I'm headed to work), that's how much I love driving these older toyota trucks (or just old trucks in general).

The key is coming to terms with the fact that these are heavy little trucks that are way over-built and powered by a 4cyl motor... they're not going to win drag races, and gearing is crucial. Stay away from the auto tranny's as, IMO, they pretty much sap what ever performance the older 4 and 6cyl motors have to give.

Any news on the truck for your son???

Cheers

Dave

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

In my opinion the LC engineering is actually superior than OEM. It's a double chain, and I have a photo somewhere of the bits of OEM time chain guide I've pulled out of a 22RE oil pan, not good... Luckily it didn't take out the engine. One of the few places on the internals of an engine where aftermarket is actually better. Hope it helps, Andre