WTHIJ's '87 4Runner
- Thread starter WhereTheHellIsJames?
- Start date
Gatordoc
Adventurer
Excellent find! I also own a red 1st generation 4runner, though mine is an '88 and considerably more beat-up than yours. The PO of mine rattle-canned the top black, though its starting to fade now. Ive been considering redoing it in white to help keep the temps down in the summer when I have the top on. If you like I can take some pics later and post them so you can have an idea what a black top would look like on your 'runner.
Good job with the paint, it looks amazing for a 22 year old truck.
Good job with the paint, it looks amazing for a 22 year old truck.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Wow! :Wow1:
If I didn't know better I'd say that photo was from a 1987 Toyota Sales brochure. :sombrero:
Nice job, dude!
Not sure what you can do about the top besides repainting. It doesn't look that bad in the photo, I think if I was you I'd clean it, armor-all it and then call it good.
Very nice looking truck. Hard to believe it's 22 years old!
:26_7_2:
If I didn't know better I'd say that photo was from a 1987 Toyota Sales brochure. :sombrero:
Nice job, dude!
Not sure what you can do about the top besides repainting. It doesn't look that bad in the photo, I think if I was you I'd clean it, armor-all it and then call it good.
Very nice looking truck. Hard to believe it's 22 years old!
:26_7_2:
ttora4runner
Expedition Leader
Nice job cleaning her back up.
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
:Wow1: :Wow1: :Wow1: :Wow1: :Wow1: :Wow1:Things are coming along pretty well so far. I picked up a set of 15" Toyota alloys off of craigslist for $150, and they even came with some decent tires on them! I bought them from a guy who had picked them up for his late model 4Runner, but didn't realize he needed 16" rims to fit his front brakes- his loss, my gain I guess.
I spent a couple of days of elbow grease and about $40 worth of 3M products...
...and turned the 23 year old faded paint and broken down factory gold striping into this:
Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with the end result! :victory:
I've also been busy cleaning out the interior. I'm not sure that the folks I bought this truck from ever cleaned out the inside- dog fur, old fries under the seats, sweets and goodies from the last two decades, old pennies stuck to various parts of the interior with copious amounts of random stickiness... on top of that, the interior really smelled. I stripped the interior, gave it a good thorough cleanse, poured baking soda all over the carpets, seats, floormats, etc, then vacuumed. It took 2 times of doing this and several hours of the interior sitting covered in baking soda to get all the smells out, but now it's all put back together, odor free, spotless, and pretty much looks like it did in 1987 when it left the Toyota dealer.
Again, if anyone knows how to get some color back in to the fiberglass top, I'm all ears.
More to come soon.
Holy good god James, that thing looks GORGEOUS!!!!!! Congrats on the new truck and well done on the paint-resto mate!!!!!!!!! Not to mention removing the stripe. I agree with a previous post, it does look like a sales brouchure in one shot.
I need to wash my truck really bad and you're making me want to do it even more now. You're up in Hood River right? We should run across the Bridge of the Gods sometimes up near Stevenson W. there are some good easy access trails to get out on if you're not familliar with them already. If you're ever interested in going out, drop me a line. There's alot of us Oregonians on this board now, we need to have a good spring run.
Cheers
Dave
WhereTheHellIsJames?
Explorer
On Saturday I went to go pick some morels up towards Mt. Hood, and had the pleasure of the first off-pavement trip in the 4Runner. It handles well, has great visibility, and I was generally very satisfied with its performance... that is until I shifted into 4WD.
In one of those steep and loose sections, my rear tires started spinning a bit, so I came to a stop, put 'er in neutral, shifted to 4LO and released the clutch- only to find my rear tires spinning, and I was going backwards. NO 4WD! This was not what I was looking for. Especially since my fiance was in the car, she was a bit nervous to begin with, and also asked the (admittedly valid) question just moments before "are you sure you know this truck well enough to attempt this [unimproved] road?" To which I replied something like "sure, this thing runs like a top."
At the base of this road was a friends' house, and he was home to help me give me a quick look at the front end when we came down. After driving up a very loose and steep grade to the point of spinning, I turned the wheels so he could see the drive lines. Sure enough, when I shifted into 4WD, they were spinning. So, the lack of 4WD can be attributed to those STUPID automatic locking hubs that Toyota put on some of their trucks (including my 4Runner) in the 1980's.
There are a whole pile of issues with the automatic locking hubs from this era, so instead of fixing them, my first 'mod' to my 4Runner will be replacing them with manual locking hubs. The first thing that came to mind was going with a set of Warn hubs. This seemed like a good idea, but after talking to Warn about their hubs, as well as reading up on some opinions from other sources and other forums, I decided that the best scenario was to replace them with a set of Aisin manual hubs- the same ones that many Toyota's came with.
After searching around a bit, I found some folks who sell them 'refurbished' for about $300, or will refurbish ones that you send them for $100. I figured that having mine refurbished sounded like the good way to go, so I called the local salvage yard. They wanted $60 each for the hubs, so I went up to have a look. When I got there he said that he was really sorry, but the ones that he thought he had on the shelf weren't there. However, he does have a front end from an '87 4Runner that he'd go pull them, off of for me if I wanted to wait for a bit. I suggested that instead of waiting, I just go have a look, and if I liked them, I'd pull them off myself. The hubs looked good, so I went about removing them. On top of the hubs, I pulled the bearing retaining washer, the two 52mm axle nuts, and the star shaped locking washer.
When I got home to get the address of the company that I was going to send them to, I realized that they used the term 'refurbished' to describe taking the hubs apart, degreasing them, regreasing them, and putting them back together. It also includes a new powdercoat on the cover and dial. As far as shop time goes, I'm sure it makes sense. As far as $100 plus shipping goes, I'll just do it myself and chock it up to a few hours getting to know that part of the 4WD system of my truck a bit better.
Coming soon- pictures.
In one of those steep and loose sections, my rear tires started spinning a bit, so I came to a stop, put 'er in neutral, shifted to 4LO and released the clutch- only to find my rear tires spinning, and I was going backwards. NO 4WD! This was not what I was looking for. Especially since my fiance was in the car, she was a bit nervous to begin with, and also asked the (admittedly valid) question just moments before "are you sure you know this truck well enough to attempt this [unimproved] road?" To which I replied something like "sure, this thing runs like a top."
At the base of this road was a friends' house, and he was home to help me give me a quick look at the front end when we came down. After driving up a very loose and steep grade to the point of spinning, I turned the wheels so he could see the drive lines. Sure enough, when I shifted into 4WD, they were spinning. So, the lack of 4WD can be attributed to those STUPID automatic locking hubs that Toyota put on some of their trucks (including my 4Runner) in the 1980's.
There are a whole pile of issues with the automatic locking hubs from this era, so instead of fixing them, my first 'mod' to my 4Runner will be replacing them with manual locking hubs. The first thing that came to mind was going with a set of Warn hubs. This seemed like a good idea, but after talking to Warn about their hubs, as well as reading up on some opinions from other sources and other forums, I decided that the best scenario was to replace them with a set of Aisin manual hubs- the same ones that many Toyota's came with.
After searching around a bit, I found some folks who sell them 'refurbished' for about $300, or will refurbish ones that you send them for $100. I figured that having mine refurbished sounded like the good way to go, so I called the local salvage yard. They wanted $60 each for the hubs, so I went up to have a look. When I got there he said that he was really sorry, but the ones that he thought he had on the shelf weren't there. However, he does have a front end from an '87 4Runner that he'd go pull them, off of for me if I wanted to wait for a bit. I suggested that instead of waiting, I just go have a look, and if I liked them, I'd pull them off myself. The hubs looked good, so I went about removing them. On top of the hubs, I pulled the bearing retaining washer, the two 52mm axle nuts, and the star shaped locking washer.
When I got home to get the address of the company that I was going to send them to, I realized that they used the term 'refurbished' to describe taking the hubs apart, degreasing them, regreasing them, and putting them back together. It also includes a new powdercoat on the cover and dial. As far as shop time goes, I'm sure it makes sense. As far as $100 plus shipping goes, I'll just do it myself and chock it up to a few hours getting to know that part of the 4WD system of my truck a bit better.
Coming soon- pictures.
Last edited:
BLKNBLU
Explorer
Good call. Cleaning them up yourself isn't too bad. Here are a couple threads I found useful for the same.
A lot of good actual tips and disscussion here.
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/rebuilding-manual-hubs-what-s-involved-127956/
The thread above also contains these 2 useful links.
http://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyot...ng-aisin-locking-hub-locking-hub-rebuild.html
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/suspensionandaxle/14freewhee.pdf
A lot of good actual tips and disscussion here.
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/rebuilding-manual-hubs-what-s-involved-127956/
The thread above also contains these 2 useful links.
http://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyot...ng-aisin-locking-hub-locking-hub-rebuild.html
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/suspensionandaxle/14freewhee.pdf