Good Winter DD?

[Roman]

Hey Everybody,
Yall might remember my other posts that I had given up on my 3.0 in my 95 and I wanted the 3.4 swap. Well after thinking about it and going through all my oil change reciepts, I have decided not to give up on the motor, it still runs really strong (as far as the 3.0 goes) and I have taken really good care of it. So with the money I put aside Im thinking about getting another 4Runner since the wife drives the 95, and my car is a sled in winter

I found a red 89 5spd 4Runner in MD (non Sr5), I cant decide if its a good beater or not. The owner wants 2k for it but Im not going to pay that much (I want to offer maybe 1700) It has 247k miles and the 22re was rebuilt 60k miles ago. So the first thing I noticed about it was when I started it up, it was really loud for a minute and then quited down, it idled really well though. I read something on here about that could be the valve guides? If thats right is that a hard fix?

The frame looked good with the exception of some moderate rust around the spare tire area and I was able to put the trucks key actually through the rear fender (just behind the rear tire) The fenders are eaten up a little with rust, its got bondo and spray paint that look like fender flares. Im not real concerned with that though, I figure some rust bullet and durabak will take care of the entire paint. Oh yeah the top also has a ton of rust on the "L" (?) shaped moldings (right by the doors) It really doesnt look like rust is under it, just in those moldings, can those be replaced?
It drove really well and the engine looked AWESOME, (No leaks with the exception of the oil pan gasket) Its really clean in the engine bay. Also I let it run with the oil cap off and it splashed oil while I did that, isnt that normall for 22re? The oil cap had just a slight bit of sludge too but maybe thats from being on there for 247k miles?
When I drove it though the tranny makes a really wierd noise in 1st and 2cnd, its like a low whisteling noise? Its a wierd noise, it is not like a grinding or anything. I find 200$ trannys all the time so I dont mind replacing but I really dont want too.
4wd worked great, it has manual hubs. I drove it in 4wd H at about 60 and it seemed to drive better in 4wd than it did in 2wd. (remember I want this as a winter beater)
Also the back window when up and down really well but it shook back and forth a little, I have also read that this could mean rust? The tailgate looked really good, no bubbles or rust or anything.
I can go pick this car up right now if I wanted too but Im just not sure...Any thoughts? I would like to go pick this up today but Im just not sure
(If anyone is wondering I think the owner said the truck is in Oregon in this pic, said something about he drove it to San fransico or diego last summer)

[Roman]

Any thoughts? I want to be impatient and go pick it up but I don’t want to pick up a wreck

[bbagwell]

Sounds like a pretty good deal. The noise you heard when you started it could be the valves, sometimes they make a little noise when cold. If it had not been started in a while the oil may not have circulated through the top of the engine yet. I had a Nissan that did that the first time you started it for the day it would make have a slight valve tap for a second or two when you first started it. Sounds like maybe a bad bearing in the tranny. With that many miles I wouldn't be suprised. If you can pick up a tranny for cheap then you still wouldn't be in it that much money.

[Roman]

thanks bbagwell,
I like the truck but I dont like the idea of replacing the tranny, I guess if it was to last this winter I would be happy, It looked really easy to get to everything, I could just about see all the bolts in the bell housing

*edit*
I was thinking about it, I think I described the way it started wrong, When I started it, it didnt make any odd noises, it was just louder from being idled higher, and it quit after a minute or so. My 95 does that when its cold, but I read something on here about the valve guides possibly being off so I was just curious if anyone on here had any thoughts about that

[KToy]

could of been the lifters they can make some wierd noises but the motor can be just fine.

[bbagwell]

Tranny swap is pretty easy. The hardest part is the top two bolts on the bellhousing.

[Roman]

What about the sputtering of oil from the oil cap when I had it off? Is that anything to be worried about or is that normall?

[Roman]

Well, I just talked to the owner, 1650$ and its mine tomorrow. :redspotda Im happy with that, Im sure if I sell it later I can get my money back out of it

Now to look into a 3" body lift, 33's and a welded rear and I think this will be a bad little runner

Whats the best 5spd tranny to get?

[bbagwell]

Sputtering oil with the cap off just means you have good rings/compression. I would replace it with the same tranny that is in it. Check www.marlincrawler.com for tranny questions. Tons of information on that site.

[Roman]

Well thats awesome to know about the cap, I looked on the Marlin website, that seems like a good deal
...I know this is a little off Topic but do I want to run 33's on a 15x8 rim, is a 3" body lift too much, should I just do a 2"?

[KToy]

3 inch is just fine for ifs toyota. 15x8 are just fine.... 15x10 are better.

[bbagwell]

You can do either a 15 X 8 rim or 15 X 10. I usually end up with whatever rims I could find used and cheap.

[Roman]

I just want the basic black rims, I have found those online for cheap (like 40$ a rim) How come 15x10 is better?

Also how come the 4Crawler Off Road body kit is so special? I mean it looks nice and the site seems really knowledgeable but how come so many people recommend it? Also what all is really needed for there body kits, the "typical" kit only comes with three things and they sell all this other stuff like radiator drop brakets, wouldnt I need that automatically or is it just a case by case deal ( http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Toyota4RunnerBodyLift.shtml#GenI )

[KToy]

i buy performance accesories cuz its a bit cheaper. i have put my truck through hell and my friend has rolled his truck 3 times. body mounts are still in tact and the body pucks are fine and still alined. i have bent my bolts on rocks underneath the pucks and sure enough there still fine. i have rammed the front of my truck into a rock and the puck hits and no bendeing or shearing yet.


but my .02

[Roman]

Well I appreciate all the info everyone, Im on my way to go pick it up right now, Ill take a few pictures and put them in here later. :grin:

[bbagwell]

I had a performance accessories body lift on a truck I once owned. I never had any problems with it. 15 X 10 rims would be better because the tires will fit the rims better so they will wear more evenly on the road.

[Roman]

well I just got home (wife spent all day looking at x-mas crap) Its dark now so I will take some pics tomorrow. Im going to look into thie performance accessories body lift kit because this truck is just my winter beater and will probably never see rocks, it may see a few trails though.
I just ordered up Rust Bullet, so the first thing Im going to do is work on getting the rust under control, and then I will work on the body lift and tires and rims

[Roman]

Here is the beater,

...anyone interested in the wheels?

[vigilantejustic]

interesting fender cuts hehe, is that body lifted or is it jus tthe cuts making it look bigger?

is that a V6?

that's a good price for an 89 any how, I paid 2k for my first 87 runner, I over paid but I beat the 2000 bucks out of that pile hehe

[Roman]

:lol: Yeah arent the fenders crazy. They starting rusting so the PO before the Owner I bought it from filled them in with bondo and spray painted them black... :rofl: There isnt a lift...yet, Im still looking at body kits
Im going to try to pick up some new fenders for the front and Im not really sure what to do with the back, I want to eventually paint the whole truck with a red durabak finish...I think it will be cool (I know Im probably wierd I have gotten this far with it :1shifty: lol)
Im suppose to get some rust bullet in next week and Im going to get the rust off the bottom and undercoat it. Ill take some pics of that process

[Roman]

These are from a 1990 full size GMC jimmy, would these work on the 89 4Runner? I know the lug pattern will but what about the spacing? Thanks

[bbagwell]

The center hole where it goes over the hub will be too small I am pretty sure. You could try to bolt one up to verify that. You could also have the center hole machined out larger.

[Roman]

Would that throw off the balance? There a little ways away from me but maybe Ill try to see if they will work

*edit**
The center bore is too small, you were definetly right, I called a local wheel repair shop about opening it up and they said it was extremly unstable and dangerous...oh well...Ill find something, these were only 300$

[vigilantejustic]

get some steel black rock crawler rims, you used to be able to get em for 50 bucks a wheel, but the price of steel is going up

[Roman]

Yeah thats all I really want. I went yesterday to the local truck accessories shop and they quoted me 400 for the american racing 767, I know I can get something cheaper than that. I have a little bit put aside for some rims and tires but not that much