Need Toyota 4 Runner decision help!

fourliterforby

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Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Location
raleigh
I am a newbie in the Toyota market. I am experienced with the Cherokee, and many muscle cars. I have an opportunity with a couple of different four runners and thought I would solicit some expertise. One is a 1986 with 150k miles. Other is a 1993 with 230k miles. Both have been cared for and have had good maintenance done, timing belts, etc. Both are mostly bone stock with the exception of 33's. Which platform is better? Are parts readily available for both? Do the two platforms share parts? My use will be reliable daily driver with occasional trail use. I'm sure lift and tires will come, but I don't forsee anything more serious than that. My Cherokee with 6" lift and 33's was a great truck, reliable, and my favorite part is that I NEVER had a hard time finding a parking space. No curb, hill, whatever would slow it down :driver:
 
There are plenty of pros and cons to both. 84 and 85 have the solid axle so that's nice. Also up to 89 is the removable top. I had an 88 and now have the 93 that's a 4 door. Having a 2 year old I like the 4 door better because it's so much easier to get him in and out, but if I didn't have him I would prefer the 2 door with removable top. Also lots of parts are the same and you can change them out between both body styles.
 
What engine is in the 93? Whatever year you go with, I would only get a 22RE. Stay away from the 3.0. I have built an 89 pickup, 87 runner, and now have a 92 pickup. The runner was fawkin awesome in the summer with the top off.
 
^ x2...22RE is the only engine to have from those trucks.

For a dual purpose rig, the 4Runners are tough to beat. Though the two you are looking at are different in some aspects. The drivetrains will be alike as long as they both have a 22RE but the 93 will have a coil sprung rear suspension vs the 86's. Either one works just fine for what you seem to want to do with it, but the links locating the coil sprung rear axles in the 2nd Gen 4runners are rather thin and undersized for real hard offroad use. My 99 utilized a similar coil/link setup from the factory and I ended up bending both lower links in a very short amount of time.
 
On a budget -

Front Suspension: Ball Joint Spacers lift the front 1.5-2". You can crank the Torsion bars a LITTLE to dial in your ride height, but don't turn them too much or the ride will be very harsh and will start to mess with alignment to where it will be tough to get back into spec. $79
Rear Suspension: Add-a-leaf or shackle for the back - $50-100
Spartan Locker for the rear diff - $265-280 depending on which place on Ebay you get it from or around the $300 mark from ECGS

A set of 33's, small lift and a rear locker and you'll be surprised at where that truck will go. This route is probably the best because everything from the rear end can stay the same if you ever decided to SAS the truck, then you're only out the difference of what you bought/sold the balljoint spacers for.
 
StretchASU said:
On a budget -

Front Suspension: Ball Joint Spacers lift the front 1.5-2". You can crank the Torsion bars a LITTLE to dial in your ride height, but don't turn them too much or the ride will be very harsh and will start to mess with alignment to where it will be tough to get back into spec. $79
Rear Suspension: Add-a-leaf or shackle for the back - $50-100
Spartan Locker for the rear diff - $265-280 depending on which place on Ebay you get it from or around the $300 mark from ECGS

A set of 33's, small lift and a rear locker and you'll be surprised at where that truck will go. This route is probably the best because everything from the rear end can stay the same if you ever decided to SAS the truck, then you're only out the difference of what you bought/sold the balljoint spacers for.
Click to expand...

If I were building a trail riding 4runner again, I would do the 1.5" BJ spacers in the front and a little longer shakle in the rear. Throw a locker in the rear, add some sliders and 33s and have fun.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
If I were building a trail riding 4runner again, I would do the 1.5" BJ spacers in the front and a little longer shakle in the rear. Throw a locker in the rear, add some sliders and 33s and have fun.
Click to expand...

This is what I did for YEARS.
Also consider making a nice thick front skid plate, that goes from the bottom of the front IFS truss to the front frame crossmember. It's really easy to do w/ a rectangle of 3/16 plate steel and weld 4 tabs on it.
That way you can use it as a "scoop" to get over stuff instead of banging that IFS truss.
Oh and I'd also make a rear truss that bolts to the back of the front A-Arms. Also easy to do out of a piece of 3/16 2" sq tube w/ a nutch cut out for the driveshaft.
If you don't, the A-arrm mounts will warp and spread apart and permanently screw the alignment.

The BJ spacers will put the CVs at an awkward angle and make them more prone to breakage, and harder to slip in & out.
Also, if you ever have the front 3rd member out, press out the studs on the ends of the stub shalts and replace w/ 1/2" fine thread bolts. This makes changing CVs really easy.

Oh yeah -another vote for the 86. The removable top is the shizzit.
 
RatLabGuy said:
The BJ spacers will put the CVs at an awkward angle and make them more prone to breakage, and harder to slip in & out.
Click to expand...

When I put the BJ spacers on my runner, I relaxed the Tbars just a little to make the ride softer and flex better.
 
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