I got my first Toyota 4WD vehicle in 1998. It was an ’87 Standard Cab Pickup with the 22R motor and somewhere around 160K Miles. Interestngly enough, it had a shell on it that made it look like it was a 4Runner. Other than a worn set of 31x10.5 BFG All-Terrains on 15x7 American Racing wheels, it was bone stock.

A short while later, I read an article on Outdoor Wire about retrofitting a TRD electric locking differential into the older, pre-Tacoma mini-trucks. Shortly thereafter, an electric locker magically appeared in my truck. I also seized the opportunity to re-gear. I ordered the electric locker with 4.56 gears, and found someone selling a 4.56 front differential for a good price.

I really liked the truck, but I hated the small cab and the fact that I could really only have one passenger. I decided to sell the truck and buy a 4Runner.

I knew that I wanted a 1986 - 1989 4Runner. I like the old body-style and removable hardtop. I also wanted independent front suspension because I do a lot of driving and wanted the comfort and handling it offers over the older solid-axle models. Some other criteria I had were:

Well, my criteria was pretty limiting... in particular the last two items seemed virtually mutually exclusive. I searched and I searched, and searched some more. I made a lot of phone calls and nothing really fit what I was looking for. The prices varied quite a bit, with then newer ones listed for well over what I was willing to spend.

Finally, I found an ad for a 1986 SR5 4Runner that sounded like it would fit the bill. When I asked the owner how many miles it had on it, he said “A lot.” Hmmm... that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear.

“How much is a lot,” I asked. He replied, “213,000 miles.” Yikes! Well, that was way over the mileage I was looking for. I was about to say “Thank you anyway” when he went on to state that he was the original owner and that he had followed the service schedule religiously, always taking it back to the dealer he bought it from for service. It had never been in an accident, and he had all the service receipts. He said that he was selling it only because he just bought a new Tundra. I decided it might be worth checking out.

I drove 70 miles to his house. I checked it out and test-drove it. I looked at the service records. I decided that I wanted it. He was asking $4,800 for it, but I was still really hung up on the mileage. Furthermore, it was the first one I had actually gone to look at. I was also concerned about money I'd have to put into it up-front. I didn't want to sink more than $5,000 into this deal, and I knew that it was due for a new clutch, timing chain, and who knows what else. My common sense told me that I should continue searching, however I had been searching for weeks without any success, which was precisely why this was the first one I actually bothered to look at. I was growing weary of searching. Finding an original owner was also very rare, and knowing that it was well-maintained and practically virgin carried a lot of weight. I decided that if I could get it for $4,200, I’d buy it on the spot.

I am not a very good negotiator, it pretty much goes against my nature. Nevertheless, I told him that I wanted it and I offered him $3,800. He looked at me like I just shot his dog and called his mother a bad name. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but he did not seen too happy about it. He counter-offered something much closer to his original asking price. I was off to a very bad start. I explained to him that his asking price was fair (1986 4Runner were averaging around $4,600), but that I was going to have to replace the timing chain, clutch, etc. due to the high mileage. I told him how much this would cost me. I also had an Ace up my sleeve. In earlier conversation, he told me that he had been trying to sell it for quite some time, and that he had at least two aborted sales due to the buyers failing to come up with the money. I had a big wad of cash in my pocket, and I told him that if he would sell it to me for $4,000, I’d pay him cash on the spot.

I drove it home that evening. It was weird driving an SR5. The hardest thing to get used to was the power steering. “...And power windows, power locks... who needs these luxury items?” I have since become spoiled and couldn’t live without all those fancy gadgets.

The 4Runner had an el cheapo set of 30x9.5 "Pathfinder" tires on SR5 wheels. The first thing I did was swap the tires and wheels with those on my truck. I also swapped the rear axles (for the locker) and the front diffs. Then, I sold my truck. :(

Well, my 4Runner now has nearly 236,000 miles on it, and it runs like a top. I still miss my truck, but I really like the added comfort of the 4Runner. See my Modifications and Add-ons page for deatils on other modifications I have made to my 4Runner.