1993 Toyota Pickup

[tanglefoot]

Have you driven the earlier trucks much? I would do some extended test-driving to see if it's really what you want in a primary vehicle.

I love the '85 with the 22RE but it's a hobby, camping, snowplowing rig. I notice when I drive it very much that I need a few days' break in between. I find it too tiresome to drive very often at all. I try to keep it off the the highways as much as possible--traffic is just way too fast these days. :ylsmoke:

Have you considered two vehicles? Quite a few years ago, I figured out that I don't enjoy driving trucks on the road on a regular basis--I much prefer smaller cars. Insurance for both ended up being less than just insuring the newer of the two, and you get the best of all worlds, and a backup vehicle when needed.

 

[Dr. Cornwallis]

Have you driven the earlier trucks much? I would do some extended test-driving to see if it's really what you want in a primary vehicle.

I love the '85 with the 22RE but it's a hobby, camping, snowplowing rig. I notice when I drive it very much that I need a few days' break in between. I find it too tiresome to drive very often at all. I try to keep it off the the highways as much as possible--traffic is just way too fast these days. :ylsmoke:

Have you considered two vehicles? Quite a few years ago, I figured out that I don't enjoy driving trucks on the road on a regular basis--I much prefer smaller cars. Insurance for both ended up being less than just insuring the newer of the two, and you get the best of all worlds, and a backup vehicle when needed.

Two vehicles is not in the cards for me, one because of storage and two because I can't afford it. I have to have a truck for work too so most of what I drive is going to be the truck. I've never driven an early 90's Toyota but I would assume it would be very similar to the early 90's Ford Ranger I drove for seven years growing up? I'm not much one for "amenities" and I really like the simplicity of older vehicles. It may sound weird but I miss having roll down windows, I miss how loud my ranger was when it was raining... You could hear the rain really beating on the thin uninsulated metal roof. I miss how everything felt "solid" in that old truck.


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[Arktikos]

I love driving my 90's pickup with the 22RE, stick shift and roll up windows. It will easily accelerate to and maintain 60-65 MPH on level highways, which is as fast as I want to go. Up a steep hill, no. Who cares? I don't.
Unless you're looking to own a pampered classic or a rock crawler, I would avoid the earlier pickups before EFI because they're more expensive and not as user friendly.

 

[DaveInDenver]

If you're dead set on it, I prefer the 89-91, in 1992 Toyota started adding complexity. The 89-91 still used a cable driven speedometer cable, had OBD-I, no ABS at all, manual hubs, etc. In 1992 the truck production began in Fremont, CA, at the NUMMI plant, although all the way through 1995 the production was split. All Tacomas were made in the U.S. (or Mexico more recently). But Pickups began in Japan and Toyota used the tail end of production to dial in the NUMMI plant. The first digit of the VIN tell you the country of origin, J=Japan and 5=US.

This raises an interesting point, the EPA and DOT rules started kicking in during production of the 3rd gen 4wd trucks and they are in many ways hacks. They are pretty simple but you still need the books to diagnose them correctly, particularly with EFI and emissions systems. There are a lot of confusing work arounds they did to prolong the 22R-E, which ceased U.S. use in 1995, conflicting troubleshooting paths. That's why I picked the 1991 instead of something newer, more of the truck systems were retained from earlier trucks and interchangeability is somewhat better. It looked like to me that you have to treat the 1992+ a bit more like early Tacomas than late Hilux. The 1992+ trucks started seeing more auto diffs, power stuff, etc. Very few 1991 and older trucks got creature comforts.

The word "solid" is something I'm not sure would use with my truck. The frame is stiff for sure, but the door seams don't flex but don't close with authority either and it get buffeted around pretty good. I guess it's solid in the sense that nothing rattles too much, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as substantial as the 2nd gen Taco, which floats over potholes and trail obstacles more. My '91 bounces off stuff rather than absorbing it. I think the word tin can is appropriate for the cab. But it doesn't hum or vibrate or anything like really cheap car, but if you want to hear road and wind noise, you will do so for sure.

Since my truck doesn't have A/C in the summer on longer trips I drive with the windows down and ear plugs on the highway, if that gives you any frame of reference, like I do on my KLR. That's partially why it's so tiring, the wind noise drains me.