New '89 for 89s rule - UC version

[89s rule]

This is what I posted over in the truck section, but thought yall would enjoy it just was much since its taking the place of the 62. SwampyCU went and helped me look it over and I hope to run down and pick it up later this week as I didnt have another driver to get it back home. Oh and Swampy introduced me to the wonderful world of a u pull junk yard.

Well in the last 3 months I sold bth my fj62 and my wife's 97 4runner. I needed to sell one of them and then just decided to consolidate and get a cheaper vehicle. So the wife took my 80 this summer and I havent gotten it back. That meant I had to find something to DD and do a few little things to do wheel some mild trails and forest service roads and serve as a light camping rig. The sear began for me to get a pickup a month or 2 ago, but I had to get the 4runner sold before I could buy anything to replace it.
One great thing about pickups is that they are a dime a dozen. You have plenty available, unlike when your looking for a cruiser. Im looking forward to the same concept when it comes to looking for parts and them being much cheaper. I searched the web mostly and called to talk to a few owners, but after I finally decided what I wanted one kept sticking out.

I finally old our 4runner last sunday and then went this saturday to check out the 1989 pickup with 199K miles. The price was right, $2100 and from what I could tell the guy wasnt advertising it much. (Something I learned is a no no in my selling 2 vehicles lately.) Ad as follows:

Price:
$2,100
Summary:
Used 1989 Toyota Pickup 199,000 miles
Location: Grovetown, GA
Body Type: Truck
Transmission: Manual Transmission
Features:
Power Steering, Running Boards
Description
1989 Toyota Pickup extended cab. 4 cylinder gasoline engine. 5 speed manual transmission. 4 wheel drive. White exterior with blue cloth interior. Body has some slight dents and rust. Interior is slightly worn on driver side. Power steering, A/C, Sony radio with MP3 outlet, bed liner, running boards, 31" tires in great condition, slight body lift. Runs well. Contact Marcus @ ###-###-#### for more information.

So after talking to the guy and not being able to set up a time to look at it in daylight until a Saturday (I live about 1.5 hrs north) I was finally able to go check it out. Middle of the week I got paranoid as his ad expired an it said no longer active. Apparently the listing he used only stays active for 4 weeks.

So I get there and its freezing cold (for SC anyway) wind blowing trying to check it out. Truck was originally from UT and he had it shipped over last year. Owner before him used it as a hunting truck and commuted from UT to MT on hunting trips, he also had the engine rebuilt at some point.

While looking it over, I see its got a little rust. Which I knew, but hey for $2K I knew it wasnt going to be perfect. I just didnt want something that was as rusty as my 62 was (it was from MN and made trips to ND for hunting trips). Looking ti over it looked good, few small places I will probably clean up and paint over, but noting that should be a problem for a long while.

I ran an Autocheck before I headed down and noticed it was an sr5 which wasnt in the add, I thought that was sweet as it has more bells and whistles. I notice it has the sunroof option, again, not listed, but I think its really cool. After driving the wrong way on I20 thanks to swampyCU we return after a 15 mile trip on the interstate, it did fine. Got back and after checking the 4wd I came back and looked it over a little more. Then asked the owner, take $1500 CASH? While I am pulling the cash out right in front of him. So after what seemed like forever he says yeah Ill do that. Sweet!!! That was how much I was hoping to get it for, gives me a few extra hundred to do a few small things.

Anyways enough typing, enjoy the pics.

Future plans...remove the factory Toyota running boards, treat some of the rust, tint front windows, and just over all clean it up. Also looking for a camper top for $150 or less, should not be a problem, but I want a nice one, so I will have to shop around some.
I want to sell the rims and tires and pick up a set of the 17" Tundra / Sequoia star rims and a set of 255/75/17 BFG MTs. These tires are takeoffs from a Jeep JK Rubicon and can be had for cheap. I wanna run tall skinnies.
If I can find a set of diffs at the pull a part I may go ahead a swap them as Im used to vehicles with more power and I am sure larger tires will make it a dog even more.
Rear factory e locker is on the list, but may be down the road unless I run across a deal. If there is anything I have learned from other project, have a plan and stick to it. If its a sweet deal and you dont need it then dont buy it and save up your $ for the items you want and need.

I posted a Wanted listing if anyone has some of the items I need / want.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/wanted-par...p-parts-255-tires-upstate-sc.html#post5145266

 

[jleeFJ62]

Congrats Matt!

 

[smkymntn]

that is a good price- good job!!

 

[JMRINS]

I may have a line on an elocker for you. I'll call the guy and get details. Good find!!!

 

[jfz80]

Nice score!!

makes me miss my taco 99 extra cab white 4cyl 4x4.... all i have left is a RB 2'' body lift and a set of rad. hoses.

 

[89s rule]

Thanks fellas, been wanting one of these for awhile and it finally worked out.

I may have a line on an elocker for you. I'll call the guy and get details. Good find!!!

Pm returned, let me know what you can find out. Taco wont fit, but I might be able to trade it out over on TTORA or something.

Little update on the update:

I havent gotten it home, yet, made it to the DMV yesterday so everything will be legal getting it home. SwampyCU was kind enough to let me park it at his inlaws this week until I could get someone to ride down and let me bring it back to DW. Looking at going to get it Friday evening or Saturday AM. Wish it would not rain Saturday so I could swing back by the Pull a part as there are a few other things I want to check out. We shall see.

Hoping to get all my wanted and wish lists on a spread sheet so I can take my own advice with sticking to needed items and budget. Really want this to be a budget build and ecstatic at the cost of pickup parts compared to LC stuff.
-Still researching options on seating after looking back over the pics. Obviously covers would be the cheapest, but if I can get sweet seats from pull a part for $50 a pair, then I think that will fit in the budget. Especially if they are heated

I forgot to post pics from the ad so here they are:

 

[boombapslappy]

Not sure if his truck was the same year or not, but a buddy of mine in college put seats from a Mazda 626 in his pickup. Very comfy and CHEAP and the pull lot. Not fancy as they were mechanical slide (no wires to hook up) but worked out nicely.

 

[Steve97TJ]

Truck looks good matt. If i was to buy a 3rd gen this would be the exact truck i would buy. The grill on this one i think looks better then just the regular toyota symbol. When i get back south and i'm in town i'll have to come check it out. I've been wanting to take the taco wheeling on some easy service roads. My buddy went to the jim timmerman trails right above jocassee awhile back said it was a fun trip.

Are those the 16" taco wheels?

 

[89s rule]

Well its been a month and I've been busy with work. The pickup was running a little funny (more for my wife than me) so I let a friend from church who is a mechanic look it over. I was in and out of town for work so I let him check it out. Turns out my timing was off. The check engine light is off and on, so still have to pull codes on it. (Light didnt come on and stay on until he was bring it back to my house.) I got it back last Saturday and drove to Florence and back on Sunday, close to 500 miles in a day and it did fine.

While I was in Florence I picked up a Topper with Thule load bars and a tool box that mounts inside the rails so I can use it with the topper. Saw it on Craigslist a few weeks back and finally decided to go ahead and get it. No clamps so I had to tie it down and drive back. Cost: $100 for both!

Pics to come still have to get the clamps, any recommendations?

I had been checking Craigslist for items as usual and found a set of Yakima Q towers for a great deal $15 and 2 out of 4 of the clips I need (Q16) for the truck $10. I am hoping to have a rack on the truck as well as replace the Thule bars ad mounts with Yakima stuff so I can swap any attachments throughout the truck as well as on the 80.
I also have been looking around for interior upgrades. I have had a line or two on 4runner seats and consoles, but the seats were either the wrong color or rough condition. So I decided to check out other seating options. So....
I installed 91 Prelude Si seats today. Oh so nice! Still have 1 bolt on each side that I need to make a mount for and also going to make up a spacer to make the rear sit higher. Scored them for $75 off CL. I almost bought some 89 Preludes out of Augusta pull a part last week for $45, but they had some foam breakdown on the drivers side. I am so glad I waited, the Si ones have many more adjustments and these are almost perfect condition. It got too dark on me so I only got pics of the passenger installed.

The seats are from the Prelude Grey interior. However they have blue threads throughout the pattern and it meshes really well. I may try to find some similar material and use it on the rear seats and maybe the door panels to bring it all together. We shall see what I can find.

I also sold 2 sets of tires this week. The set that was on the pickup when I bought it went today so I am riding on almost bald 31s and the rims off of the 4runner. That means...

I now need to find the tundra rims I want for a good deal. ($150 or less)

Also need to find some tires. Looking for 255/75-17 BFG MTs
I hope to make it up for a console I have lined up in Charlotte as well as a 4runner mirror with lights and an OS handle for the drivers side. Also have the Yakima bars and mounts for the topper near that way, if I can get up there soon.

 

[89s rule]

I typed this first part up earlier this week but never got around to posting it here. -

Extra 4runner rims I had from out 97. Tires are almost slick, but since I sold the Taco rims and tires I had to put something on.

Eventful weekend -
I thought I had found an ARB bumper for our 80, but started feeling guilty as I need tires and rims on the pickup so I had to call the guy and pass on it. Then I thought I found an ARB bumper for the pickup with a winch, but the $ was too much or I couldn't get the tires. Then I started thinking I have a winch in the garage, why do't I just sell one of them and then I can afford to buy it. Well I got someone lined up to buy a winch, then called the guy back and it was sold. Urgggh, oh well.

I had gone on the other side of Athens, GA last week to get a stove off of Craigslist as ours has been dead for 3 weeks. (Note to anyone, wife who is 9 months preg, 3 kids and broken stove for 3 weeks isn't a good idea.) On the way back it would not crank and I had to push it and drop the clutch. I thought the battery just needed a charge, but after charging and a few other things it was a no go. So a new battery was needed. I remembered our club had a post awhile back about Optima yellow and red tops for cheap at the interstate battery place. So I got a fellow member to pick one up and I drove up Saturday to get it.
So I found a set of 4 Tundra rims (like listed above) and a set of 5 255/75-17 BFG MT km tires. I was going to get the rims and tires on Saturday, but I went out to take the pickup and it would not crank with a jump or anything. So I made the trip to get the battery instead.

Adding info current -

Ended up getting all kinds of plans changed this week with work stuff. I ended up having to make a trip to Charleston for work.....great now I can pickup the rims and tires within a work trip. However since I did not know until late Monday evening that I was going on Tuesday I was going to have to take my personal vehicle. I cant leave my wife at home with the pickup as she is due really soon. So I set out at 6:30 am Tuesday morning in the truck headed for Savannah to pick up the rims. Made the trip down there fine arriving early (10:45) to meet with the guy. I loaded them up chatted with the guy a short while and then debated on what to do. Tried to meet up with some family friends for lunch, but they were too busy. So since I was only 10 min from Tybee Island and the weather was great I decided to go to the beach for a little while.

Started to head back to the truck and it would not crank. Urggghh Thought I had taken care of that with the new battery install. One guy helped push to try and drop the clutch, but we couldn't get enough speed. So we tried to jump it, to no avail. At this point I am starting to worry. Remember this is now a business trip, I have to be in Charleston changed into coat and tie by 5pm for work. Got another guy to help push and still couldn't get it to start. After what seemed like a thousand times i pulled my battery out thinking about switching them with another guy, in the midst of that flagging down a lady in a Dodge to possibly push me, while doing that the main power wire falls out the back of the battery connector. After being flustered that I had been there for close to an hour dealing with this and then finding out it was a battery cable. Well I was at least comforted that I found the issue and would not have to figure out how to restart it at the HS program. I then left Tybee and headed toward Charleston to drop the rims off to get the tires mounted on them. 5 - 255-75-17 BFG MTs For once I actually got the rims and tires I wanted ad not just whatever I could find cheap.

So enough typing a few pics.

Headed out of Tybee:

On my way to Charleston:

Check out the fog rolling in. You could only see the tips of the Cooper River Bridge when headed from 26.

Overall it was a great trip, eventful, but the truck did fine overall around 600 miles in 18 hours and the odometer clicked over 200,000 miles. I made it home around 12:30am. And even did a little work as well.

 

[89s rule]

I have the flu And have quaranteened myself to my parents lake house so that hopefully no one else gets sick. A few items have arived and several installed. Here is a teaser pic to tide y'all over for a week or so.

 

[89s rule]

Well its been a long 2 weeks. I had the flu, then my entire family and 1 1/2 week old baby got it, she had to go to the hospital, but we are all much better now. Only issue is that I am back at work now so not much free time, man the time off flew by.

I was able to get the rims and tires mounted up and go for a spin down a few local places. They turned out really nice if I do say so myself.

I am just glad that for once I actually bought exactly what I wanted instead of getting something cheap/inexpensive.
I was able to make it out for a Upstate Cruiser club meeting witch never seems to happen anymore.

Saw a post for an ARB on CL right before I got sick and the guy said he still had it, but that he had 4 people saying they were coming Saturday to get it. I was helping at work for a few days after our baby was born so I did not get off till almost 8pm. I called and got up there around 9 and bought it. I am not sure if its an ARB as the bars are different than any ARB I have seen but it mounts up fine and seems to fit fine, so who knows. Not a bad score for $200.

I got the bumper installed and it sits a little bent down in the front as the guy said he flipped his truck with it on. I think I can get it fixed when I figure out what I am doing in regard to lift. (BL or not, etc.) I also have to figure out what I am going to do to mount up lights on this thing. I have 4 Lightforce 240 blitz in my garage and 2 are supposed to go on the truck and the other 2 on the 80 when I find an ARB for it. We shall see what I can muster. No winch install yet. its still in the garage. I hope to get some better pics of the bumper installed over the weekend.

The drivers side is not bolted up in these pics, so it looks very tweaked it is not that bad at all. (You have to think of interesting ways to mount up a heavy bumper when all you have is yourself. Thank goodness for jack stands, blocks of wood, and cement blocks. )

I also wanted to upgrade my stereo. It came with a newer Sony HU and it will do for now, I am not a huge fan of Sony, but its already installed and is a decent little unit, HD ready, Aux in ont he front, etc. I had these speakers in the truck and they sounded OK, but I wanted something a little nicer.

I was having issues with the drivers side speaker going in and out so I took care of that last night as well as installing these:

Polk Audio ex402a 4" Coaxial speakers Picked them up on ebay for $21.20 shipped. I have Polk speakers in my home theater and they sound great so I figured I would give them a shot.
I also picked up a Polk ex10 off of eBay: http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manuals/car/EXIISubManual.pdf Its a 10" sub and I got it for $21 shipped. I plan to install it under the rear seat in the drivers side storage compartment. That way I loose no seating and gain some lower range. I thought about using the side storage panels for some 6.5's but I am going to hold off for now. I have 2 amps that I have to figure where to put one of them as the Prelude seats sit a bit lower and neither amp will fit under them as they are installed now, so we shall see. (Orion 225 HCCA and a Kicker 240zr, both from previous vehicles.)

I also got some sound deadening foam about 40 sqft. ($23.50 shipped) and I am on the lookout for some second skin or dynamat. Keep finding some but man that stuff is expensive! I can only imagine how much better the truck will be to ride in with a little extra sound deadening though. The MTs arent too loud, but you can def hear them. I haven't done sound deadening in the past, but figured with the size of the truck, why not.

I also had a CB that was originally for the 80, but when my wife took it over last summer I figured she would not need it. So it went in the truck.

I dont have the antenna mounted and stuff yet, so its not working yet but with a little trimming of the surround it fit in perfectly! I have a 3' firestick and hood mount in the garage that came off of my fj62, but not sure if that is what I want to do on this truck. Then again, with trying to make this a budget truck it probably will make its way on to it.

I also want to keep a running total of how much I am spending and what can be done with a little time and elbow grease. I hope to be able to post that in the next update as I have the spreadsheet on the other computer. As of now I am just over $2K including the purchase price of the truck and everything I have bought. I thought that was really cool considering there is a guy on another local forum selling a truck just like mine, but a little cleaner and almost stock for $5,900.

 

[89s rule]

Updated my build thread in the Turck forum, click on the link in my sig.

 

[XxBlackout]

Great looking truck, especially with the minimal investment!

 

[scott johnson]

looks like a warn.