Toyota wood hauler?

[goosegunner]

Looking at some older Toyota trucks To maneuver through the woods.

How are the 91-94 3.0 v6 engines?

How big of tires can you get under them without a lift?

Anyone have site for dump bed kits?

Have seen a few locally for $2500/offer.

gg

 

[jbighump]

stay away from 3.0 v-6's lots of head gasket and head probs. stick with 22re or 22r 4cyl. i have one right now w/ 256k on original bottom end had to replace head due to previous owner running it hot.

 

[Patrick62]

Pretty good idea

The V6 is powerful, and the trucks are built very well.

However, my choice would be:

find yourself a reasonably decent 79-84 Toy truck. The advantages are that they came with a solid front axle. The 22R engines are underpowered, but very tough. For a woods crawler this would be a great package. I did not haul much with my 83, but did wheel the thing on some ridiculous roads.

-Pat

 

[howellhandmade]

Had a 93 4X4, extra-cab, 3-liter V-6, 5-speed. Loved it. Mine was recalled for a head gasket, might want to check on that, but I never had any trouble with the engine, put 130K on it and sold it when I moved to NZ. Wish I could have kept it. Motor maybe not as much of an anvil as the 22R 4-cyls., but decent power and quiet, very good on the highway. Moved a couple of times pulling a U-Haul trailer cross country, no problems. Sorry not to help on the tire question, but if I found one for $2500 that ran well and wasn't rusted I'd buy it.

Jack

 

[warjohn]

The V6 is powerful, and the trucks are built very well.

However, my choice would be:

find yourself a reasonably decent 79-84 Toy truck. The advantages are that they came with a solid front axle. The 22R engines are underpowered, but very tough. For a woods crawler this would be a great package. I did not haul much with my 83, but did wheel the thing on some ridiculous roads.

-Pat

I agree, the solid front axle 22R trucks are ideal for firewood bit they are getting harder to find. My son and I have been looking for one but no luck. We settled on a 91 with the 3.0 V6. We picked it up cheap because it had a bad head gasket. He is a Toyota tech so fixing it was no problem. Hauled our first load of firewood with it yesterday and we were pleased. Today we got another load. It has a camper shell on it and we had it packed with wood and had a 6 x 9 trailer full of wood behind it. It new it was working but handled it well.

 

[deerlakejens]

If you can find a 90-96 Mitsubishi Mighty Max 4x4 or the Dodge badged equivalent, you will really love it. They have a beefy 3.0 V6, oversized clutch and are rated one ton capacity. Pretty plain but really well built and easy to work on. I run a small landscape business with mine and have had over a ton of stone or gravel several times and it still handles great. My Toyota would get a little squirrely over 1250 lbs.

 

[NMman]

yep--go with the old toyota!

 

[jbighump]

my brother has a mity max with the v-6 and that thing is stout

 

[foursaps]

i had a 97 with the 2.7L engine and 4x4. i used to wheel that thing daily (and hard), and it held up just fine untill the last month or so. with 210K on the odometer the head gasket blew, power steering went out, and reverse went bye bye. but that thing started every day and ran like no other. the toy's are hard to beat, and i'll second getting one with a solid front axle. they are easier to modify and last forever.
as far as the tires go, i had 35 x 12.5 on my 97, but i took a sawzall to the fenders and made room for them. 33x12.5 fit with minor fender trimming in front and behind the front tires so i could turn. some of the toy's came from the factory with lockers in the rear, they are pretty decent too, so if you can find one, it would be a plus.

 

[ktm250rider]

I had a 94 SR5, stock 31x10.5 tires that I sold with 186K on it. You can almost fit 33's. Still ran good just not a lot of power behind it. Could have had something to do with the california emissions. My BIL had a similar truck that seemed to have much more grunt. Wish I still had it.

 

[epicklein22]

Looking at some older Toyota trucks To maneuver through the woods.

How are the 91-94 3.0 v6 engines?

How big of tires can you get under them without a lift?

Anyone have site for dump bed kits?

Have seen a few locally for $2500/offer.

gg

My buddy has 2 early 90's 'yotas with the 6 cylinder. One has 275k and still runs great. They may has some problems, but my buddy has had no problems with the engines, and he works them hard.

Don't know about tires, but I have seen quite a few with body kits and some big tires.

I see quite a few with flat beds, so I wouldn't think a electric over hydraulic setup wouldn't be too hard to put in.

These toyota trucks are just great! Especially in the woods, they are very nimble.

 

[bullittman281]

Hello,
Toyotas are my specialty. I buy them cheap with toast engines and rebuild them. The old R series engines were killer engines. This includes the 22r/ 22re. The newer ones are more powerful than the older/smaller 18R/20R but none are fast. The solid axle lived until 85 and 85 was the first year for EFI. 85 is THE year to have. The second gen trucks will clear 31's OK. The inner fender well my need massaged but its really close. The First gen 4x4 will clear bigger tires better but are getting hard to find. The gear boxes in the later trucks are also a bit stronger than the older ones. The w56 in the 85 and new trucks is better than the older ones. I would not touch an auto. The 22re lasted until 94. All R engines are good. I would avoid the 3.0 like the plague. Mediocre power and mileage with mediocre durability. The 3.0 also got a chain drive T-case that isn't as good as the 4cyl gear drive. In 95 the tacoma came out and both engine options are great. you prolly won't find a 4x4 taco for 2500 though.

For a long time my ride was an 84 i put back on the road with a rebuilt motor. I spent 900 on the truck and about 1200 going through the motor. It was a great little truck. They are slow though so they take some patients to drive. All and all they are bullet proof and you cant go wrong with any of them.

Bullittman

 

[Brushwacker]

I bought my 87 2wd longbed with the 22r 4 cyl with something like 275,000 miles and the owner assured me the engine and drive chain were 100% original. At a little under 300,000 I had to replace the starter. I was normally hauling 1/3 cord on it, using it in the woods and hardly use the big dump any more. Started pulling a trailer w/ wood also and after a couple months the clutch was slipping. Used it light duty until a brake pad fell out and its been in my project line up since. I have most the brake parts to replace and the clutch all bought and need to get to fixin. Its great on gas, easy to load and unload and since most my customers buy 1/3 a cord at a time its just right for a majority of my wood deliveries. Another advantage it fits in tight places both getting and delivering wood saving carrying or throwing the wood. I have it set up w/ a tow bar too which is very handy when I want to leave a tractor in the woods or travel long distance. Used it about 3 years with little over the $350 I paid for it. I imagine I hauled for sale 15 to 20 x that + I was paid mileage on a summer job another time for using it. The old girl never let me down yet, even though I ve been expecting it because of the mileage ( thats why I carried the tow bar when traveling ).

 

[stihlcountry]

I,ve had a few older Toyotas, I don,t think the newer ones will be as dependable. But the ones built in the 80,s and early 90,s were tough little trucks.:greenchainsaw:

 

[cableguy256]

I used to have a '97 taco 5 spd/ 4x4 with the 2.7l 4-banger in it and lemme tell ya that thing was a little beast! Mine had stock 31x10.50 15's on it as someone else previously said.. not sure how much bigger you could get under it without a lift though. I will say this, as far as hauling goes, my suspension would start cryin lonnnggg before the engine would even start to notice the weight... Mine had 99k miles on it when I traded it in on my dodge and not a day goes by that I don't regret trading that thing in... I always say even if I still bought my dodge I shoulda kept that 'yota.

 

[fishercat]

I don't mean to hijack................

but I am thinking of selling my 85.

I won't take a penny less than $2500 for it though.lot's of new stuff like a Weber carb,windshield,exhaust,timing chain,stock Goodyear tires.

starting to bubble at the bed seams.Frame is solid.

I'll try and get some pics.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I had an 87 Toyota PU with a 22R engine. I sold it at 196K for $400. Just in time apparently as the head warped on it a few thousand miles later. They shaved the head and it warped again. I think the guy I sold it to parted it out.

Ian

 

[fishercat]

there are the pics.

in my previous post.

Like I said,it's starting to bubble up on the bed seams.those pics are a couple years old.Right after I painted it.

 

[ktm250rider]

Hello,
In 95 the tacoma came out and both engine options are great.

Bullittman

Yeah the Tacoma 4cyl had just about the same HP rating as my 94 V6. It was eithor 1 less or 1 more, cant remember exactly.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Get a Ranger

Looking at some older Toyota trucks To maneuver through the woods.
gg

Forget Toyota and examine my Avatar. The '96 to '02, 4x4 Ford Rangers with big tires and a 4.0L V6 like mine can run circles around them.