What to do? 1st Gen 4runner dilema

[TexJeff87]

I have 2 87 4runners.
This one - SAS, 63" Chevy rear, Engine Builder head with RV cam, 5.29's, locked both ends, rolled.


And this one - 250K miles, 3rd row seat, custom electrical, dual batteries, power windows, doors, cruise, great interior, stock suspension.


Do I swap bodies, or move parts from the wrecked truck over? I don't have access to a lift to raise the body (or a garage, for that matter).

Input needed. There are so many pros and cons to both. I've thought about it and stared at it and thought about it so much, I can't make up my mind. What would you do?

Thanks,


J

 

[KeepCruzin]

Wow, I could go either way on this too. If you had a ton of engine and drive train work into the rolled one, I would say swap the bodies. But since most of the stuff is easily transfered from the old one, I might recommend a parts transplant. That option will let you keep the truck in almost fully functioning condition while you transplant one part at a time (lockers one weekend, SAS the next, etc.). Keeping all the wiring intact on the second rig might save you a ton of time aswell. Overall, Id swap the parts.

If you do decide to swap the body instead, I have seen it done with no lift at all. The body itself is fairly light, and it doesnt take too much to lift it. If you want a fairly inexpensive way of doing it, rent a forklift for a day to get it off, and one more to set it back on. The other option is to lift it end by end onto cinder or wood stacks until its up off the chassis, then roll the chassis out from under it.

Good luck! Start a thread for whichever way you end up going.

 

[tanglefoot]

Remove the crumpled portions of the body on the rolled one and just keep driving it, buggy-style!

 

[toyotech]

Body swap. Rent a fork lift once you have both bodies ready to swap


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[DaveInDenver]

Remove the crumpled portions of the body on the rolled one and just keep driving it, buggy-style!

That was my thought, looks like the rolled one was more of a dedicated crawler/toy. Opportunity to do tube work and remove excess weight above the waistline.

If you wanted to meld to two I'd probably retain the rolled frame since you've done some welding and mods (certainly for the Chevy springs). If you know they are solid and are working, that's a fair amount of work. OTOH if you want to change a few things, maybe the spring hangers were never just right or whatever, here's your chance to make one Super Runner. Neither is a spring chicken, so you have a nice collection of parts and could do essentially a frame-up to make one awesome truck starting with a clean and painted frame and low mileage parts. IOW, the black one has a ton of miles but the white one has (it sounds like) a fairly fresh motor. Use the best sheet metal from both, best seats, etc.

Reduce redundancy, focus on keeping one nice OHV and sell the excess to get a good daily driver that's cheaper and less wear and tear on the truck.

 

[austintaco]

Sorry for your loss. Seriously. Pictures like that are always in my head when I am out. It sounds like you had one for wheeling, and one for overlanding/travel? Do you want to have two rigs again, or will you be ok with having one for awhile?

 

[austintaco]

OH crap. Just realized you are down the road from me. Was this Katemcy?

 

[blakeape]

I just did a body swap between 2 97 4runners. It was surprisingly easy and straight forward. I have a 35 hp Kubota tractor that I used, and it was everything that machine had to lift it. Like others have said get everything stripped down and unbolted on both, then rent a machine for a weekend and go to town!
Here's my thread on the 97's:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/122138-quot-THE-RESURRECTION-quot-97-4runner

 

[PirateMcGee]

Part out the white one (what kind of lockers?), scrap the leftovers, keep the black one and leave it alone :sombrero:

 

[zidaro]

buggy it if thats your thing. Or swap the parts you like over to the black runner and sell off the rest. SAS and Chevys are a simple swap, so is the engine if you are loving it

 

[TexJeff87]

OH crap. Just realized you are down the road from me. Was this Katemcy?

Ha...no. Longs Ranch in Llano. 7 years this week.


The white one was my DD. Jacked with it some, thinking I'd just make it a toy, but honestly, it was just too depressing. I got the black one for $1700 4 years back, had a blown diff. I brought it home, pulled the sick diff out, and got one off the shelf.

I'm inclined, I think, to move parts. It can be done a bit at a time, and I never was happy with the rear suspension...plus the motor has only run twice since I turtle'd it. Just seems like there are more possible "gotcha"s with a body move.

Thanks d00ds.

J

 

[austintaco]

That would explain why I have not seen either on the road in South Austin. We just went to Long's in January.

 

[Sam Huynh]

Personally Id keep both and just wheel the rolled one as a buggy. Maybe put a cage in it. I got a question for you though, noticed the second runner int he description says 3rd row seat. Got a picture of that? Im interested to see what it looks like as I thought the space was pretty small back there.

 

[Heloflyboy]

I did the same thing to my 84 PU. I just swapped all the good parts to my 1985 4runner . It was not to bad and was able to do it in the driveway without a lift. When I rolled the 4 runner the wife said no more toyota's so I built a nissan.

Good luck