Kid got a toy

Ok Guys so the kid has been saving his pennies and we bumped into an 87 SR5 4x4 with a FI 22 RE. It's all stock and we got it for 1k. He is 18 and paid for this all on his own. 3 months working after school at Jiffy Lube and making grilled cheese for his girlfriend instead of taking her out has paid off. He is very proud but not as much as I am of him.:cheer:

It runs and drives great but there are a couple things I know you guys can help with.

When he starts it up it rattles for 2 seconds then gets quiet, chain tensioner maybe?

It has 180k should he start looking for a motor based on the above noise?

V6 Swap major or straight forward?

Of course he wants to life it and put 33’s.
It will be a DD with minor wheeling. SO should he save and do SAS or leave the IFS front?
Any bugs to watch out for on this rig?
Thanks in advance guys

If it runs well other than the rattling, I wouldn't be ready to ditch the motor just yet. It probably is the timing chain and/or tensioner. Take the valve cover off (good time to adjust the valves too) and look at the chain guides in the front... if you can't see them, they're probably broken and the noise you're hearing is the chain slapping the cover on startup before the oil pressure is up and the tensioner takes up slack.

The good news is it's fixable with only about 80 dollars in parts (check out engnbldr.com for a chain and tensioner kit)... the bad news is that it's kind of a PITA to do. Good chance to get him started on doing his own wrenching. Search on Pirate, there's a good guide linked from the Toyota Truck/4runner FAQ on how to do this job. You'll want to get it fixed before the chain wears through the cover and you end up with oil/water mixed though.

to fit 33's, I would go with about a 1" body lift or some longer shackles in the back and some ball joint spacers up front... the SAS is going to get him into the more expensive side of things, overkill for just a mild wheeler... Leave the IFS front end open and lock up the rear somehow with a lockright or some other locker and he'll be set to run plenty of trails in the NW.

I second what NotMatt said. Sounds like the timing chain. Fix that and the motor should be good to go for a long time. This is my personal opinion, but i would not do a v6 motor swap unless your son has a lot more money to spend. The 22RE is a great little power plant. It makes close to the same power as the 3.0L V6 toyota motor but gets better gas mileage and is more reliable.
As far as tires go: I realize your son (as with most 18year olds) probably wants the biggest tires he can fit on there. Jut make it clear to him that his truck is going to feel WAY more sluggish. The 22RE is not the most powerful engine and with stock diff gears, 33" tires are going to make it feel underpowered. After he puts bigger tires on i can almost guarantee that he is going to be coming to you asking how he can upgrade the motor for more power. Again, this is just my opinion, but maybe no lift and some knobby 31" tires would be best.

Also, the SAS is going to cost a good amount of $$$ but i think its a better spend than lifting the IFS. If he spends the money on an IFS lift, a year or 2 from now hes going to be kicking himself saying "should have saved a little more and gone with the SAS"...

SAS, SAS and SAS.......Did I mention to SAS?

Congrats to the kid and the proud dad.....I hope mine get Toys so we can wheel together one day.

Where are the pics.

that rattle you hear is possibly you valves needing to be adjusted. take the valve cover off and wiggle all your little rocker arms and see if any have alo of play in them. you may have to bump the starter to release the pressure on them.

i have a 86 stock with 33s if he is lookin for a cheep lift for naw get him a 3" body lift for X-miss thin have him save and do the SAS

I talked my kid into buying a toy, we found it for $500. put a new bed on it and a fender and the grill and bumper and painted the way he wanted. Its on 33"s with longer shackles in the rear and the torsion bars cranked up

Yeah I finally got my toyota that I dreamed of. I will take a picture of it first thing in the morning when it's not dark so you all can see it. I've heard that if you do a SAS, then it makes the toyota almost impossible to control on the highway? Is this true? Sorry I'm only 18 and will probably ask a lot of dumb questions. Each and every one of your guy's help is really appreciated. I look forward to showing you guys pictures of stuff I do to the truck once you give me the ideas! My total income is about 400 dollars every two weeks, so deduct about 100 to 200 for gas and essentials and I get about 600 a month to spend or so. Any suggestions on what I should and shouldn't buy? Thanks, and like I said, all of your help is appreciated.

Edit: Oh and to correct my dad, I'm not sure if the engine was rebuilt or anything, but the odometer says 324k... Lol

SAS making it impossible to drive on the freeway? Maybe if you do it completely wrong. Granted, its not gonna handle like an IFS truck, but people drive solid axle rigs on the freeway everyday, and they seem to do just fine, lol.

I personally dont have a problem with you asking questions, I know some of the people can get a bit of attitude, but we all start somewhere.

Sounds like you have a little money to play with, just do some research before you go jumping into anything.

Personally, I think you got a great deal, and a good starting point even though its IFS. Some of the upsides are the fuel injection, the wider rear axle, larger rear brakes, larger front brakes, vented front rotors, etc.

Good luck with it!

~T.J.

When he starts it up it rattles for 2 seconds then gets quiet, chain tensioner maybe?
It has 180k should he start looking for a motor based on the above noise?
V6 Swap major or straight forward?
Of course he wants to life it and put 33's.
It will be a DD with minor wheeling. SO should he save and do SAS or leave the IFS front?
Any bugs to watch out for on this rig?
Thanks in advance guys

Click to expand...

The start up noise IMO would be the tensioner. If the spring in the tensioner is worn out, it wont hold proper tension on the chain without the hydraulic pressure to help it out, so therefor the chain rattles a little until the oil pressure tightens it up. Cheap repair, and good practice work on the motor if you want to give it a shot yourself. Heres a link for a good read: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timingchain/
You can get parts cheap from http://www.engnbldr.com or a few other places as well. So, I wouldn't look for a new motor until it dies, lol. Also, I wouldnt go for a V6 swap, just personal opinion. I like the 22R motors, they're simple, and fairly durable. The only V6 I would swap into mine would be a 4.3 liter GM motor which is a fairly common swap, and I dont think thats what you were thinking of, was it?

As for lift, someone else suggested a small body lift for the 33s, I agree with that, but I also like the idea of the rear shackles and cranking the torsion rods up. I wouldnt drop almost a grand into a new IFS lift since that would almost pay for a SAS kit from a few places.

If he's going to hang onto it for a while, I would definitely look into doing the SAS. My girlfriend has an IFS 4Runner, and we really want to mess around with it (get new tires, small lift, etc), but there doesnt seem to be a point if youre gonna turn around and SAS it again soon. For instance, buy 33s for her 4Runner now, but SAS it in the next few months, its gonna need new tires all over again.

Anyway, just my two cents.

~T.J.

Youngbone said:

I've heard that if you do a SAS, then it makes the toyota almost impossible to control on the highway? Is this true?

Click to expand...

I drove mine a hundred miles+ a day for almost 3 years with an SAS. No problems at all except it drives like a truck. Sounds like it is your timing chain as others have said from the description. If you buy a kit from Enginebuilder, get the metal backed guides. The plastic ones have a nasty habit of getting brittle & breaking.
Instead of a v-6 swap spend the money on 529 gears when you do the SAS.

Here is my toyota. I'm thinking of taking a rattle can to it and making it black or something. What do you guys think? Also, I wanted to ask about a wierd rattling noise that I hear when I get to speeds 45 mph to 50 mph. It's this huge rattling noise right behind my head and I can't think of what could be making the noise, because the noise only happens around 45-50 mph and when I hit the gas. Any ideas what that could be? Thanks again for all of your help guys, it's truely appreciated.

Looking good man! Rattle can is SO lame IMO.

Check your U-Joints. Also, look between the cab and the bed, is the bed bent in and touching the cab, thus rattling? That happened to me after hauling an engine once.

~T.J.

one thing im gonna reccomend since your on such a tight income. dont blow every dollar on goodies for the truck. if the engine happens to go, its nice to have the funds in the bank just in case

dont rattle can. youll just look like every other toy out there. you gotta rep' the original decals! just clean up the original paint a bit. bob that bed, get some 31" ltb's or MTRs, lock the rear up w/ a lockright or detroit EZ, and maybe a rollcage if you wanna be safe and youll be wheelin!

Internal rollcage rock sliders, and good tires. Thats all you need for now. :clappy:

Likes others said, just start putting funds in the bank for "just in case"


Your 18, i would assume u have hardly any wheeling time in? Great truck to learn in. Learn to drive without lockers till u reach your limit. Then Lock up there rear till you reach your limit, then sas with a locker up front and 35's. that will make you the best driver IMO.

Nice start by the way! :clappy:

Rattle can looks "ok" right when you finish.. But it doesn't take long before it looks worse then it did before..

Yeah I'm 18, and I've never really went wheeling before. Yeah if I get it painted then I will just sand it all down and have someone paint it good or something, but for now the paint is ok. I was thinking the same thing about keeping a chunk of money in the bank for an engine "just in case" and or I can fix the timing belt. Either way there is so much to do I don't know where to start! I guess first thing is to save up some money and then just drive the truck until the engine goes or something right? God I feel so new....