Concerns with a 91 taco im looking at.. what do I look for?

[bkg]

I was totally thinking that is a "Dave" truck. (well everything but the auto)

Of course BKG is a little too soft handed for a DLX and needs the SR5.

It’s the seats. I still have a set of 87 front SR5 seats that I bought in 95. Just can’t give them up. Soon... will be made into an office chair. ?

 

[DaveInDenver]

It’s the seats. I still have a set of 87 front SR5 seats that I bought in 95. Just can’t give them up. Soon... will be made into an office chair. ?

I had 2nd gen 4Runner sport buckets in my '91 - tilt back, tilt base, lumbar, side wings. They were sweet and 7-of-8 bolts lined up perfectly to the 60/40 spit bench that came out. Probably slightly less supportive than my Tacoma buckets but the range of adjustments were embarrassingly better for being 15 years older.

 

[goldenfiber]

Lets talk about the v6, that 3slow. It goes through head gaskets and a water pump, get new ones. It it suck a dog of a motor that it cant make it over some obstacles or get unstuck?

What about the 4 cylinders, the 22re and the 2.4?

 

[Clutch]

Lets talk about the v6, that 3slow. It goes through head gaskets and a water pump, get new ones. It it suck a dog of a motor that it cant make it over some obstacles or get unstuck?

What about the 4 cylinders, the 22re and the 2.4?

Once the minor problems are addressed the 3.0 is a fine engine...people really blow the under powerness out of proportion. It will get you where you need to go off-road...it just isn't a rocket ship on the highway, is what I think people are complaining about.

Same thing with the 22RE...I have had 2 of those. One in a 4Runner another in regular cab pickup. Driven both all over the US and down into Mexico. Great offroad in low-range, hi-range is "ok" but livable...you can drive it 80-90 mph on the highway (I have), but you have to keep the rpms up around 3500. Why I think most typical people believe they are slow...used to big V8's where you can lug them.

They won't snap your head back in the seat when you stand of the throttle you have to plan your passes on the interstate. But honestly driving the interstate is awful, much more to see on the back country bi-lane roads. Where those trucks are more at home driving 50-55.

Really need to go test drive them and see if it will suit your needs. On a side note...there are plenty of early 2000's domestic/import full sizes out there for sale on the cheap right now. Problem with these Toyota mini-trucks is they are starting to become collectors vehicles...but no one wants an early 2000 full-size. They were generally owned by old men that didn't beat on them. Think I would get one of those instead if I was in your situation, really hard to beat an 8' bed for cargo storage. All of them are about the size of the current 3rd gen Tacoma...but with V8's. Or if you can find it...some of the 1st Gen Tundras had a V6 manual trans. Super rare bird is the RCLB 4.0 manual trans that came out in 2005 IIRC, was the 3.4 in the earlier models.

These are great sized trucks...not too big, not too small. Plenty of room for gear with a topper.

Nice Silverado here with only 90K 4.6 V8 and a manual trans...man, rare bird!

https://twinfalls.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2004-chevrolet-silverado-1500/6644917103.html

 

[DaveInDenver]

Lets talk about the v6, that 3slow. It goes through head gaskets and a water pump, get new ones. It it suck a dog of a motor that it cant make it over some obstacles or get unstuck?

What about the 4 cylinders, the 22re and the 2.4?

Neither engine is powerful by today's standards. In fact the 3RZ 2.7L 4 cylinder in Tacomas has as much power as the 3VZ-FE 3.0L did (swapping a Tacoma 4 cylinder into a 79-95 truck is a sweet setup, Google "Marlin Crawler" to see a beauty).

As an off highway engine the 22R-E I think is good but benefits from low gears compared to a modern engine. I don't have a lot of experience off road with the 3.0L to compared, but the 1GR-FE 4.0L I have now in stock form, with stock gearing, the V6 is much more forgiving of being lugged.

In my old truck I ran 5.29 gears in the axles and a 4.7 low range in the transfer case, crawl ratio of 98:1 (W56 first is 3.95). The 22R-E *loved* that. They are happiest being 2000+ when you're asking them to do work. And as low as 5.29 is, with 33" tires it was nice on the highway, just as long as you didn't need to go more than 65 MPH. Cruising speed was 60 MPH with those (4.88 + 33" is perfect). In my Taco I have a crawl ratio of 42:1 and I rarely stall it, although I haven't taken it on super technical trails. It needs lower gearing, but that's more because I have a stick than the engine's low RPM torque curve.

On the highway, merging is an exercise in rowing through gears and praying. It's been 3 years since I have had one daily and it's probably only worse now. This is compounded when you lift, add armor, etc. It was adequate stock but even just putting the WilderNest on hurt, particularly at altitude. I did eventually lower the truck, cut off sliders, build it down to make it more daily friendly.

 

[goldenfiber]

I did watch some 22re supercharged videos last night, Super charge 22r and cammed 22r to give me ideas of building a carbed 22re up. No way I can leave the truck stock. Power numbers with that.. I havent seen a thing so it just makes cool sounds at this point.

To give everyone an idea about some things, I was looking heavily at getting a Vanagon Westfalia (2wd) to explore in. Those have no power to begin with and get weighed down a lot. If it came down to it, I would explore in a baja bug.

I dont even know what any real world MPG numbers are for any v6 or 4 cyl. I would be ok if it came down to getting a 22re, but it would get some power adder.

@Clutch, Im currently trying to get rid of my diesel Silverado, Im tired of owning Chevys... or them owning me.

 

[Clutch]

I did watch some 22re supercharged videos last night, Super charge 22r and cammed 22r to give me ideas of building a carbed 22re up. No way I can leave the truck stock. Power numbers with that.. I havent seen a thing so it just makes cool sounds at this point.

To give everyone an idea about some things, I was looking heavily at getting a Vanagon Westfalia (2wd) to explore in. Those have no power to begin with and get weighed down a lot. If it came down to it, I would explore in a baja bug.

I dont even know what any real world MPG numbers are for any v6 or 4 cyl. I would be ok if it came down to getting a 22re, but it would get some power adder.

@Clutch, Im currently trying to get rid of my diesel Silverado, Im tired of owning Chevys... or them owning me.

I used to have a '73 Westy for 8 years....under powered ill handling turds....but man, it did put a smile on my face every time I drove it. One of those vehicles wish I never sold...

Well...deezul...they do own you. Their gassers are good though, coupled to a manual trans, pretty hard to beat. The Cheby's do like to eat ball joints...but fairly easy fix.

 

[Pappy]

Lets talk about the v6, that 3slow. It goes through head gaskets and a water pump, get new ones. It it suck a dog of a motor that it cant make it over some obstacles or get unstuck?

Your solution is the 3.4L 5VZFE from a 1995-2004 Tacoma or 4Runner. Common swap and very supported in the aftermarket. It's still a swap with the work involved, but going from 3.0 to 3.4 is easier than 2.4 to 2.7.

https://www.toyonlyswaps.com/

 

[goldenfiber]

Something about the under powered vw anything makes you smile. Hitler had it right. The main issue with the gm full size is tie rods and balljoints. Then comes the brick of gold driveline. When it breaks, it breaks and you are out a brick of gold. In the diesel sense anyways.

@Pappy, what about swapping from a 22r or whatever the other 4 banger is in the 1st gen tacoma to the 3.4?

So if I go for one of the 80s pickups I will be either swapping a 3.4 in or build up a 22r, if I got a 89-05 id be looking to swap a 3.4 in from the 3slow. Whats the 4 banger the 90-05 has?

 

[Clutch]

So if I go for one of the 80s pickups I will be either swapping a 3.4 in...

In the end probably better off buying a 1st Gen Tacoma with a 3.4 already in it at that point.

Another thing to consider is with the torsion bar front suspended trucks, you're kinda limited on what you can do. With the Tacomas, and the coil-overs it opens up more options. I like the rack and pinion steering better on the Tacomas than the erector set style on the pre-95 trucks. Considered a bit weaker, but feels more precise.

 

[Pappy]

@Pappy, what about swapping from a 22r or whatever the other 4 banger is in the 1st gen tacoma to the 3.4?

In the end probably better off buying a 1st Gen Tacoma with a 3.4 already in it at that point.

This. Why torture yourself?

 

[goldenfiber]

I love pain?

Is the swap hard to do? Im no stranger to doing engine or trans swaps... 95 taurus 5spd conversion, 98 blazer motor swap, 87 Fiero with 3800 supercharged series 3 swap, 70 Deuce and a Half trans and diff swap, 08 aveo trans swap... not afraid of building a new harness or welding a bracket from some oddball wrenches no one uses

 

[Clutch]

I love pain?

Is the swap hard to do? Im no stranger to doing engine or trans swaps... 95 taurus 5spd conversion, 98 blazer motor swap, 87 Fiero with 3800 supercharged series 3 swap, 70 Deuce and a Half trans and diff swap, 08 aveo trans swap... not afraid of building a new harness or welding a bracket from some oddball wrenches no one uses

Not much gain (if any) doing a swap into a nearly idententical vehicle...that already exists. I can see it if you already owned a pre-95 truck and the engine blew, but...

Some guys like to make things hard on themselves though. Nothing wrong with that...I rather load up and be out exploring than bloodying my knuckles in the garage anymores. I used to like tinkering...now that I am older, feel like I am running out of time.

Kinda the same thing happened with a VW bus I had before the Westy...it was a basket case, buddy of mine found a Westy sitting on a corner,..he said hey you need to come look at this before you dive in with the one you have. Went it looked at it...it was already done and in pretty damn good shape...so I bought it and sold the basket case to some sucker...

 

[tacollie]

I agree with clutch. Get a gen one taco. Still plenty of mods to do but a lot more modern in a good way.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Whats the 4 banger the 90-05 has?

The 79 to 87 trucks had the 22R, a 2.4L carb'd 4 cylinder. Some 85 to 87 had an early 22R-E, fuel injected version of the engine. A very few of them had a 22R-ET, turbo charged version of the EFI engine. This is a very rare one.

By 1988 the trucks all (well 4WD anyway) had 22R-E or the 3VZ-FE, 3.0l V6.

BTW, the first generation 4WD is 1979 to 1983. The 2nd generation is 1984 to 1988.

The 3rd generation 4WD trucks are 1989 to 1995. These all had either the 22R-E or 3VZ-FE.

In 1995 the Hilux truck was replaced by the Tacoma in North America. The 1995 to 2004 represents the 1st generation of Tacoma. They had the 3RZ-FE 2.7L 4 cylinder or 5VZ-FE 3.4L V6. Some 2WD trucks may have had the 2RZ-FE 2.4L 4 cylinder. All of these have a power bump compared to their previous engines.

What is different here is the drivetrains. The 22R-E and 3RZ got a G-series or W-series transmission and RF1A transfer case (in the 95 and older). The V6 engines (and the turbo 4 cylinder) got an R-series transmission behind it and a VF1A t-case (the Tacoma also got a chain t-case on both engines). The difference is the RF1A is a totally gear driven transfer and the VF1A is a chain driven case. The tranny bell housings and the tailshafts don't mix, either.

Point here is swapping a 4 cylinder for a V6 requires a lot of work, moving motor mounts, moving the cross member under the t-case, moving the holes in the floor for the shifters, etc. It's quite a bit easier to swap a newer 4 cylinder for an older one. If that's not of interest and you're dead set on ditching the 4 cylinder altogether it makes just as much sense to think beyond Toyota, a 4.3L Vortec V6 from a GM, a 2.8L Cummins, a small block Chevy.

FWIW, I agree with Clutch, if you want a 3.4L V6 get a nice 1st gen Tacoma and do other mods (such as beef up the frame) rather than ******** with trying to get the right combination of drivetrain parts and troubleshoot the wiring harness you had to hack out of a wrecked 4Runner to get the 3.4L. If you already had a decent 79-95 it would be a different story.