Rebuilding a rig instead of buying new

[Chama Grande]

I'm kinda outgrowing my truck and new ones are criminally expensive so I've been looking at late 1990s 4Runners as my next daily driver, small trailer hauler, and dirt road rambler. I think I could pick one up for under 5k, get the transmission and engine rebuilt and have a 'new car' for the next ten years at like 15 grand. I could work on anything else that inevitably goes wrong on it so long as the main parts are solid. I know someone here has to have some experience here and just curious - good idea, bad idea? Is there some reality that I'm not thinking about? Is that 15k figure completely crazy?

 

[Beignet]

I basically did that with a 96 Tacoma. Spent $3800 on the truck about six years ago. Needed to replace suspension on all points and well as all front end components. A bunch of other little crap that’s added up to about $10k over the years if you don’t count tires. I’m pretty meticulous about scheduled, preventative maintenance though. Haven’t had to touch the engine or transmission except for regularly scheduled timing belt replacements. I did check valve shim clearance once, all but one was still in spec after all these years and the one that wasn’t wasn’t far off. Bought it with maybe 170k and up to about 290k now. Wouldn’t hesitate to drive it cross country tomorrow if I had to.

Why do you think you need to rebuild engine and transmission? 5VZ-FE and A340F (respectively) are pretty bulletproof if maintained.

Wish I’d have done it all with a 4Runner in retrospect.

 

[Chama Grande]

Why do you think you need to rebuild engine and transmission? 5VZ-FE and A340F (respectively) are pretty bulletproof if maintained.

You're definitely right, the 5VZ-FE is pretty great, but I was thinking I would budget that to start if I'm buying from random guys on FB marketplace and I don't trust the history of it. Just some piece of mind, and knowing it was solid. But if it had a good compression test and ran well, I might wait.

I'm looking to do exactly what you did with your Tacoma. Sounds like no regrets and it worked out, that's awesome. Did you do any aftermarket lifts or just leave it all stock and keep decent tires on it?

 

[brymoore]

My son is slowly rebuilding my old 2000 Silverado. Rebuilt transmission was a little under $3k.

His issue right now is the cost of the engine. 5.3L. Thousands of them out there. A rebuilt engine installed is in the $10kish range. It might have been $12k. It’s a stupid enough price to put the engine replacement on hold.

You might want to check on engine prices.

 

[Chama Grande]

My son is slowly rebuilding my old 2000 Silverado. Rebuilt transmission was a little under $3k.

His issue right now is the cost of the engine. 5.3L. Thousands of them out there. A rebuilt engine installed is in the $10kish range. It might have been $12k. It’s a stupid enough price to put the engine replacement on hold.

You might want to check on engine prices.

I found a shop in CA that was selling 5VZ engines for about 6 grand and it looked like they had a few in stock. This is well taken advice though

 

[Beignet]

You're definitely right, the 5VZ-FE is pretty great, but I was thinking I would budget that to start if I'm buying from random guys on FB marketplace and I don't trust the history of it. Just some piece of mind, and knowing it was solid. But if it had a good compression test and ran well, I might wait.

I'm looking to do exactly what you did with your Tacoma. Sounds like no regrets and it worked out, that's awesome. Did you do any aftermarket lifts or just leave it all stock and keep decent tires on it?

No regrets whatsoever. I love my truck. Just didn’t ever anticipate wanting a kid when I bought it. Now wish I had the 4 Runner so I could throw that tot in the backseat and not risk putting pin stripes on the Subaru stroller puller I bought. Might still hunt around for a trade of some sort, but don’t think most people keep the guts as meticulous I do.

Thought about lifting, but didn’t want to stress the geometry of the thing or splurge on a regear to prevent issues. I put some 4600’s as an upgrade, some Falken 31’s, and everything else OEM. I also put some HD leaf springs on the back and some of those Ride Rite airbags. I have a topper, sleeping platform, and a bunch of gear I used to keep in the back full time before the kiddo made sleeping in the back of the truck more of a part time event. All that junk was heavy enough to contribute to the old taco lean a bit.

In the big scheme of things those JDM engines still aren’t too expensive. Even less than the rebuild place you found. If things did go south on your new rig I’d totally pay to pop one in there over buying an expensive new gigantic rig with less character.

 

[Chama Grande]

In the big scheme of things those JDM engines still aren’t too expensive. Even less than the rebuild place you found. If things did go south on your new rig I’d totally pay to pop one in there over buying an expensive new gigantic rig with less character.

I hear you on the kid thing, the tacoma backseat is good for a dog at best.

And those JDM's are not a bad price thanks for the heads up - https://jdmenginezone.com/products/toyota-4runner-1996-2002-3-4l-jdm-engine-5vz-fe-6-cylinder

 

[jimh406]

I would look for a Lexus GX or LX instead.

 

[mtmuley]

My son is slowly rebuilding my old 2000 Silverado. Rebuilt transmission was a little under $3k.

His issue right now is the cost of the engine. 5.3L. Thousands of them out there. A rebuilt engine installed is in the $10kish range. It might have been $12k. It’s a stupid enough price to put the engine replacement on hold.

You might want to check on engine prices.

That seems really high for an engine replacement. I just Googled 5.3 crate engines and they weren't badly priced. mtmuley

 

[Addicting]

Big ol Burban thread.

There is a lot of hidden costs that you don’t realize. They add up to be quite a bit over the course of a project. My initial 10k budget was blown 6 months into it. Only had 9 more months to figure funding for.

 

[Addicting]

My son is slowly rebuilding my old 2000 Silverado. Rebuilt transmission was a little under $3k.

His issue right now is the cost of the engine. 5.3L. Thousands of them out there. A rebuilt engine installed is in the $10kish range. It might have been $12k. It’s a stupid enough price to put the engine replacement on hold.

You might want to check on engine prices.

If you were closer I could have that done in a week and would gladly take 10k from you. lol

Just a straight swap can be done pretty easily with standard metric tools and an engine lift.

Look at car-part.com for a used engine. You can get a low mileage one for relatively low price compared to new. Those engines are good for a couple hundred thousand.

 

[rideold]

FWIW I would skip engine and trans rebuilds until there are signs that they are needed. They are the most reliable part of old Toyotas...well, the motors are. For the old 4Runner/Tacoma some generations had trans problems. My sister's 2001 Tacoma is on transmission 3 at 330,000 miles. I'm driving an 02 Sequoia that I bought in 2013 with 192,000 on the clock and I'm now at 304,000. The engine and trans are the least of my worries. I rebuilt most of the front suspension 4,000 miles ago and that was very needed (I skipped the rack until it actually goes out). I would find the cleanest, lowest mileage unit you can afford and then assess things from there before doing any major work. Every old vehicle is different and the little stuff that wears out (even on Toyotas) is more annoying than you'd think (seats in mine are getting pretty broken down). Electrical issue on old vehicles can become a much bigger issue than mechanical ones. Personally, I would not go for a 4Runner. They tend to be expensive for what they are (people think they are made of gold). Anything with a 2UZ-FE motor is what I would target.

 

[brymoore]

If you were closer I could have that done in a week and would gladly take 10k from you. lol

Just a straight swap can be done pretty easily with standard metric tools and an engine lift.

Look at car-part.com for a used engine. You can get a low mileage one for relatively low price compared to new. Those engines are good for a couple hundred thousand.

I’ll tell him to shop around harder. He was surprised at the price after early research.

He’s a good mechanic but not to the level of engine replacement.

 

[Addicting]

I’ll tell him to shop around harder. He was surprised at the price after early research.

He’s a good mechanic but not to the level of engine replacement.

When you buy one from car-part they come complete with everything bolted on. Even the manifolds so the exhaust bolts right up.

It’s almost plug and play. It is way easier than people realize. A novice with YouTube can have it done in a weekend with steady work. The only thing he will need to do is take it somewhere to have the A/C charged.

 

[brymoore]

When you buy one from car-part they come complete with everything bolted on. Even the manifolds so the exhaust bolts right up.

It’s almost plug and play. It is way easier than people realize. A novice with YouTube can have it done in a weekend with steady work. The only thing he will need to do is take it somewhere to have the A/C charged.

Good info. I’ll let him know. I’m not sure he has time to swap an engine before he has Army duties for 12-18 months. I don’t want a half fixed truck in my yard.

 

[CT_SD]

Bought a 1999 4Runner a couple years ago for one of my kids. Had ~270k miles on it. Didn’t replace the radiator soon enough and ended up with the dreaded pink milkshake. Flushed tranny and cooling system seemingly forever to get it cleaned out. No issues since and it runs great. My oldest has a 2004 sequoia with 240k and we’ve had zero issues with it. I think your plan for a 4Runner is solid. I’d replace radiator asap and/or use a secondary cooler for the transmission.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

good idea//i had a 2000 tacoma with 3.4 v-6 and manual tranny with very little issues past 400 k,,except for a radiator and redoing timing belt and waterpump.way better than all the money for a new one

 

[HiMtnHntr]

The problem with keeping a truck running that long, especially if it is 90s, 2000s, is it has enough parts that eventually need to be replaced. 70s, 80s trucks, not too bad, pretty simple. On the newer, older ones, it’s a constant struggle to keep up with them. Some are easier than others…. Just a matter of how much time, effort, and money you’re willing to spend…

 

[Bullshot]

I am in the northeast and sadly have faced this dilemma this week. My 2015 4Runner with “only” 183k is going on the sale block in favor of a 2024 that I found with only 12k. It’s the same exact vehicle. For a pretty steep price, true, but I’ll have another decade plus piece of mind. Undercarriage parts on most vehicles here do rust pretty bad and when they get to this age, honestly, a body off restoration is probably the best route. Not what I am looking to do right now. Body is doing great, motor, tranny and transfer case are probably good for another 100K trouble free. But bolts, brackets, brakes, lines, shields, connectors, steering components, exhaust couplings, and a ton of other light and medium parts underneath are scary. I give Toyota a lot of credit for building a truck that just stays reliable despite the hard use and unavoidable salt/chemical onslaught. For me, buying a newer vehicle is probably the more economical option for my daily driver that I can’t have up on jackstands all the time.

 

[grizzly_]

I bought a used 2005 Explorer Sport Trac and put a body lift, electronic locking rear end, and an Eaton Supercharger on it... I thought it was about the perfect hunting rig that could go anywhere. I could even chain all four tires if I needed and that supercharged motor was awesome with tons of low end torque.



But then I got a new stock Ranger FX4 and found that the new technology for traction control and turbos simply beats the older technology, even with the Supercharger and bigger lift/tires.

I sold the Explorer ST and have never looked back... (I guess I do stalk her now and then )



It may be cheaper to fix up an older vehicle, but I don't think it's going to be "better"