"New" Truck yesterday

[ttravis5446]

I have been lurking around the forums for a while, mostly in the Rover section. Trying to get excited about building up my Disco, but for the past two years I have been regretting selling my 85 Toyota. I was going down to the Auto Parts store to buy some oil change stuff for my Land Rover and this ended up coming home with me. I saw it sitting in the back 40 at the Chevy dealer. It was a trade in that was only there for a couple of days. 1985 Extended Cab, SR5, EFI, 5 Speed. Winch bumper but no winch. Recent lift and brand new BFG Mud Terrains. Only problem I could find is the exhaust is broken. I don't think I did bad for $1500. I'm definately looking forward to starting work on this truck. Not sure what the plans are yet.

 

[toyota_jon]

wow! very nice find! and for $1500 you can't beat that, esp. given the fact thats it's the all mighty '85 w/ EFI! since she's already got some stuff done what are your plans for her?

 

[ttravis5446]

I thought it was a sweet deal. I sold my last '85 for $1500 two years ago and that thing was hammered. It had bald tires, an Auto tranny, rust everywhere, 300k+ miles. And that guy was psyched cause he thought it was a great deal. I'm not sure about the plans yet. I need to replace the exhaust. I'm probably going to go with a Downey system since there isn't a shop that I would trust to do exhaust work within at least a hundred miles. I want to find a Tail gate for it. And probably put a winch in that front bumper. Other than that just start into the maintenance and changing fluids next week.

 

[jh504]

That is an awsome find, I am very jealous. Good luck with the build. Looks like you have the normal bed rust back there. A custom made box for overnighting, to replace that bed would be pretty cool.

 

[ttravis5446]

yeah, its got the usual bed rust. Not sure what I'm gonna do about it yet. The custom box idea is pretty interesting, I'm going to think about that. I was leaning towards a fairly simple flat bead, maybe with some storage incorporated if I'm feeling ambitious.

 

[redbeard]

I must repent of my envy. A friend of mine had the carb'd ifs 85 and he loved that truck, and wished he had a straight axle. That one is an ideal truck.

 

[adrenaline503]

yeah, its got the usual bed rust. Not sure what I'm gonna do about it yet. The custom box idea is pretty interesting, I'm going to think about that. I was leaning towards a fairly simple flat bead, maybe with some storage incorporated if I'm feeling ambitious.

You could do a flat bed with boxes underneath, similar to the utes in Australia.

 

[ttravis5446]

I was looking at some ideas and I came accross this.
http://www.adventurecampers.com.au/camper_trailer_traytop.htm

That is pretty sweet. I really like how it is removable. I'm not sure how hard it would be to build one.

 

[jh504]

I was looking at some ideas and I came accross this.
http://www.adventurecampers.com.au/camper_trailer_traytop.htm

That is pretty sweet. I really like how it is removable. I'm not sure how hard it would be to build one.

That is very cool. If you wanted to build your own you could probably find a box like this one, as a starting place, for fairly cheap. Just add some storage areas where the sides of the bed would be.


This is a JAARS truck in Africa.

 

[ttravis5446]

That would definately be a good starting place. Next time I'm down in Denver I'll look around and see if I can't find a cheap one to experiment with. That mud in that photo looks like fun too. Last month was soaking wet here now all the mud holes are dried up, I looked for some today.

 

[Willman]

Nice truck!!!

welcome to the ExPo!!

 

[ttravis5446]

Thanks

 

[wentz912]

Okay I think maybe I got screwed :violent-smiley-031: BWAHAHA! Anyways yeah, whats all that stuff to the left of the steering column? I see a couple of knobs that I don't have... and the space between the air controls and the hole for the stereo doesn't have anything in it in my truck either.... BUT at least I have buckets and a center console! And why the ****** does my speedo top out at 85mph but yours goes up to near 120? EFI really make that much difference?

Can somebody fill me in why I don't have a bunch of the cool stuff?!?!

By the way, my truck is an 84 SR5 with 22R and 5spd, Std bed and Std cab...

 

[kcowyo]

Welcome to ExPo ttravis - :beer:

Nice find in an area that doesn't seem to love Toyotas. Cummins & 'Stroke country around here, huh? Nice to see your mix of Landrover and Toyota. You must stick out like a sore thumb in Rawlins. Maybe your first mod for it should be a big Halliburton door decal.

One of my favorite trucks was an '85 but it had the 22R. I looked for a long time and could never find an '85 truck with EFI. I think you did really well for $1500. I have a stock rear bumper and receiver hitch off my '85, if you ever have a need for it. No tailgate though and I unloaded most of my other stuff.

We have a great Toyota dealership (Fremont... surprise, surprise) here with a big body shop. Might be worth a call in your tailgate hunt. Yota Yard in Denver might be another good source for body parts.

Glad to see another Wyoming guy on board. I get together with some friends from Rock Springs & Green River, for day trips out into the Red Desert every now & then. Maybe you could join us sometime...? That truck (or the LR) would fit right in.

Congrats again on finding the Holy Grail of Toyota trucks.

 

[ttravis5446]

Its cool to see that there is somebody else in Wyoming. I hear Lander is a little bit better than Rawlins at least. I haven't been to Lander yet but I was up in Riverton a few weeks ago. I had to drive a Cat Loader back to Rawlins from there. Talk about a long slow drive, about 140 miles at 22 miles an hour. I am definately down for some day drips down to Red Desert. I used to have to do some service calls on I-80 out that way and was really trying to resist the urge to do some exploring in my service truck. Definately too many redneck oil field trucks around here. We don't have too much Haliburton in Rawlins, they tend to stay out towards Wamsutter. I would fit in with a Sanjel or Basic decal though. I get to work on some of their heavy trucks at work, talk about junk. There are a fewToyota's in town and one other Disco. There are some oil companies starting to use the new Tundra's too. There is a suprising number of relatively rust free FJ 40's stashed in town, but sadly no one wants to sell them