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Spud

Spud

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Threads
116
Messages
1,339
Location
In a van, down by the river
I Love this truck


Most of the folks on this forum are in to wheeling as a sport. I think my circumstance is a tad different than most here.

This is my 84’ 4Runner. It may not be as pretty as some of the trucks here, and doesn’t really have any modification, but it has really done me right.

My intro to wheeling came long ago when I used to go with my Brother in law and his friends. He had an 89’ SR5 pickup that he would beat the snot out of and I don’t remember it ever not getting through a spot or breaking down. We used to wheel out into the woods to camp. Good times….
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It has always been a dream of mine to have some land in NH and build a cabin to camp. After looking for a lot of pieces over 3 years or so, me and my wife purchased a good size lot off a class 6 road. Being that it was tough to get to, the price was right. It was real rough when we got it, but we saw the diamond that was there and knew if we worked hard we could clean it up and have a paradise.

I needed a good truck to haul all of our stuff up the hill to our place. Remembering my experiences with wheeling in the past, I looked for a Toyota. Fate, (and budget), led me to an add in a small town classified.

When I went to look, it wasn’t pretty. Where it was parked in the garage, there were piles of rust under each wheel well, with big holes to match. The engine and under carriage was coated all over with a 1/2in. thick sludge of oil and dirt mixture. The front axle had puddles under the knuckles. The add said $500 and the woman selling it said it had not been run in a long time. Well it started right up and drove. I returned with the money and saw the title said 84’…well it was advertised as an 85, when I questioned it, the owner said quickly, “just give me $400”, so I was off with it.

My goal was to get it running as cheaply as possible and use it, hoping it would get some work done for us. I put $1,000 in parts plus a lot of time to get it reliable.
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Rebuilt the front axle.
Pressure washed the engine & under carriage.
Tuned it up.
Cheapest mudder 31’s I could find.
Pulled the rear seat & added cubby.
Brakes & shocks.
Water pump & timing.
Put a wrench on everything.
Changed all fluids, etc.
Bondo on body.

That was about 3.5 years ago and since then it has made the round trip to our place, (320miles), many many times loaded, (over loaded), with stuff so we could build a cabin.

It has hauled every piece of material needed to build this 700 sq. ft. cabin, up the hill. I have loaded it so many times with big loads of wood, gravel, cement etc. It has never let me down and she always makes it up the hill. I have driven her in all weather conditions and lots of mud; she always got it done for me….

So anyways, this truck has made it possible for Me, my wife and two dogs to have a real paradise that we value more than anything else. I don’t believe I could have done the work I have done with another truck, she is the one that got it done, and she still goes great.

So this truck got me into wheeling through necessity. I had no choice but to get each and every load up the hill, mud, snow etc. could not stop us.

Recently I made a purchase of two 77’ FJ40’s to use on the hill. One is a project the other a runner…Would not have done it without my experiences with first true love the Red 84Runner.
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That is my boy Bean...Border terrier. He is the cutest & happiest dog in the world. He loves going to the hill, that is the only place I let him off leash and he has a lot of fun there.
 
Spud said:
I Love this truck


Most of the folks on this forum are in to wheeling as a sport. I think my circumstance is a tad different than most here.

This is my 84’ 4Runner. It may not be as pretty as some of the trucks here, and doesn’t really have any modification, but it has really done me right.

My intro to wheeling came long ago when I used to go with my Brother in law and his friends. He had an 89’ SR5 pickup that he would beat the snot out of and I don’t remember it ever not getting through a spot or breaking down. We used to wheel out into the woods to camp. Good times….
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about the 89 sr5 pickup. i have a 90 and have similiar thoughts. i love my little yota and can't kill it! even though i dont beat the snot out of it i still have been able to see what it can do out on the trail. YOU JUST CANT STOP IT! TOYOTA'S CANT BE KILLED!
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That's awesome spud! What a cool place you've got there.

And I'm not one bit surprised that the Toyota held up well for it. In fact, I don't think I'd consider anything else.

Dan
 
great read! :beer:
brings back alot of memorys about my 4runner when i got it

buy the way your house on the hill looks amazing must have been alot of fun to build it
 
Jerod, Nick, Dan and Nat....Hey thanks all. Yeah, it was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Actually it is neverending, I am now in the middle of building a large shed.

My future plans include extending the driveway a long way to the top of the hill and building an off the grid home to retire to. I also want to start making some MTB trails to ride.
 
That's a sweet cabin.
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Yep...And thanks. I am lovin it!

Worked nearly every weekend for 2 years. 1st year finished all the exterior. 2nd was interior.

Most weekends went like this:

Drive 3hrs Friday after work. Arrive and haul loads of materials dropped at end of road up the hill. Work Sat and Sun then drive home 3hrs. During the week I would plan what to do next weekend, gather/purchase tools/order materials etc. Then do it over again.

Camped the better part of 1st year in a tent.
 
Great story man.. I'm not surprised that the 4Runner worked like that for you
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You know it Bro.
 
I looked for 84-85 for years and finally gave in for a 87 creampuff. I had older Solid Axles in the past, they are indestructable. I'd give me eye-teeth for another 85 toy. 1985 last cheap real hard-drivin' factory 4x4
 
awesome, that must've been a blast building that cabin. i'd love to do something like that up in new hampshire one of these days, the 4runners never die! I use my 87 to lug all my band gear around boston, more off roading to come though!
 
GREAT stuff! Where (approximately :D) Is your cabin???
 
i love my truck too. i'm 16 and if i don't wreck it, i'm probably going to keep my 84 4X4 forever. we were lucky cause right when we started looking for one for me (i knew i wanted a toyota truck) my dad was one a forum for his 91 LC and someone on there had an 84 truck 5speed 4X4 for sale. we got pics and asked some questions and we paid for it. about 2 months later we flew to Denver Colorado and drove it back to Ft Worth in the middle of winter. half of the trip we were in 2WD but once we got into OK we put it in 4WD just cause we wanted to be safe and there were people all over the side of the road. we just drove right on by without any trouble.
 
Built a shed....

Here is a shed I built this season & a couple more cabin pics.
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