Hi All. (86 Toyota Pickup, 5 Speed, 2wd)
 

I joined up a year ago when they took away my 00 Tacoma for frame rust and I got a '98 Legacy Wagon, but I've driven light trucks most of my life, and the car just isn't cutting it for me. A truck pays for itself in fuels and materials if you use it right. Just never come home with it empty.

So a couple weeks ago I got an '86 Toyota Pickup, 1 ton, Scott-Lite flat bed, 22RE, 5 Speed, 2wd. I intend to apply buckets of turd polish.

I've got it to the point where it's inspected, and here in Maine that mostly means no holes in the body and all the lights work. It's got to have an exhaust, but as long as it does, I think I'm free to modify it however I see fit.

First priority is to fix what I hope is an exhaust leak and dirty injectors, but what I fear is a head gasket issue. If it turns out to be the head gasket, I'll do the timing chain while I'm in there.

After that, I need to tweak whatever I can for better mileage, and I'm looking for any pointers I can get. I've never worked on something with this kind of emissions control stuff or with fuel injection.

I've got the 225/75R14s on it from the old truck, just because they're good tires and the ones that came with it are junk, but that also means I have spare rims.

I think I'm getting about 24 mpg right now. I got 35 in summer heat with the Tacoma, and I'm hoping I can beat that.

Welcome! Hopefully some educated people can chime in :)

Buckets of turd polish: funny!

First thing I'd recommend is getting a fuel economy gauge in that puppy - after basic maintenance, and pumping up the tires to a pressure you're comfortable with, real-time feedback & resettable trip MPG is your next best offense.

Assuming it's fuel-injected, you'll be looking at an MPGuino to do that. (Too old to run a ScanGauge. )

Welcome to the forum.

That'd be great. I've got an UltraGauge for the Subaru, but Pablo (the pickup) doesn't have an OBDII. I've been looking for recommendations of what can be easily installed. MPGuino, huh? I'll look into it.

Driving with the UltraGauge for a year has taught me most of what I need to know about driving style, but different aerodynamics will mean a different ideal speed. One thing I've found is that instant MPG isn't as useful as adding the trip odometer and the distance 'til empty. That lets me know what mileage equivalent I've just gotten for a particular stretch of road, or from mucking about in town traffic.

Of course I'm also looking for the definition of "basic maintenance" when it comes to a mid 80's EFI engine with lots of vacuum lines. At least I don't have any accessory items like power steering or AC to deal with, but what do I look over first?

Now that is a cool truck. I always wanted to build one for max economy.

The payload on those was like 2600 lbs. ...compare that to a new 2wd tacoma with a 1200 lb payload. Small frontal area for a truck. And with a change in gearing I bet you could get the Tacoma mpg numbers.

I'm pretty sure you have the 8" rear diff with something like 4.10 ratio which you could swap out for 3.42 or maybe 3.07 and the best 5th gear would be a w58 trans.


Please post pics of your truck

I'll spare you the "change fluids/filter/plugs" lecture :P

I would say from personal experience, look at pretty much every vacuum line and check that both ends are secure, and there are no holes. My grandpa got a hand-me-down 80's Toyota pickup from my uncle and that thing leaked like crazy. We finally took out a rag with Armor-all and wiped down each hose after it passed inspection. That way we knew which to replace.
The nice thing is, most of the hoses were one of three sizes, so you can get some extra tubing and go to town with hose clamps.

Anyway good luck, hope the new truck serves you well.

One more post, and then I can do pictures.

This ought to do it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Stickered2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Stickered5.jpg

I'm still working on body and paint. It's going to be red.

I've got LEDs for all the tail lights, and if I can scrounge a couple more 2" rounds I might restore the forward running lights on the bed sides. I'd like to add another set of ovals: yellow ones for turn signals would show up better than doing multiple use with the red ones. I might stick the yellows in the reverse light holes, then cut new holes and add a second set of headlights (on proper relays) as new reverse lights. I saw some of these rectangular headlights on sale for $3 the other day, and the tail light mounting bar is just 1/8" aluminum.

I'm also thinking of mounting ammo cans under the bed sides where I can, to hold things like the jack, tow strap, tire lug wrench, tire chains (seasonally) and maybe a few other things I never want to have to use but should have along. I'll save cab space for other things. Or I might try to weld up something that will blend into the line of the bottom of the cab. I was thinking about a belly pan too.

I've got stake pocket panels for the back, but I'd like to have multiple options: a big locking tool box, short sides, a complete covered "camper" box, an aero-cap...

It looks like the 3.90 is the fastest thing rated for the 1 ton chassis.