Anyone using Toyota 4 cylinder motors?

[DesertWalker]

Thinking about maybe getting a 80s Toyota pickup for my daily/overland rig. How many of you use one of these trucks with a 4 cylinder motor? I hear they get decent mileage, and I imagine they are fairly simple to work on. The main thing is I'm sure it's not great for towing. I don't tow anything heavy and defiantly not often. I sometimes tow a light Harbor Freight trailer with my rafting equipment. Also our Coleman pop up trailer. My father can tow both of these trailers with his Prius. Think the old Toyota motor can handle that? Also how hard would it be to swap a 3.4 if I needed to?

Any info about driving one of these is appreciated.


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[v_man]

The 22r motor has an excellent reputation for reliability. It's very simple and straightforward to work on and parts are still readily available and cheap. What the motor does not have is power. You're looking at maybe 120 HP out of a fresh engine. Torque is not much higher. Is that sufficient to tow what you're looking to tow? I'm not sure, but don't plan on getting anywhere fast, your gas mileage won't be that great either.

I have a 22re in my rock crawler and it is wonderful. I beat on it regularly. If you want it to have any sort of pep or ability to tow anything, you might want to look into re-gearing your diffs.

There's a lifetime worth of info on 3.4 swaps on the internet and that is a pretty common swap...

 

[DesertWalker]

The 22r motor has an excellent reputation for reliability. It's very simple and straightforward to work on and parts are still readily available and cheap. What the motor does not have is power. You're looking at maybe 120 HP out of a fresh engine. Torque is not much higher. Is that sufficient to tow what you're looking to tow? I'm not sure, but don't plan on getting anywhere fast, your gas mileage won't be that great either.

I have a 22re in my rock crawler and it is wonderful. I beat on it regularly. If you want it to have any sort of pep or ability to tow anything, you might want to look into re-gearing your diffs.

There's a lifetime worth of info on 3.4 swaps on the internet and that is a pretty common swap...

Ok that's what I figured. I will look into how much it takes to tow my trailers. Otherwise the rest sounds good. Thank you for the reply.

 

[mariposa]

I have a 4Runner with a 22r--it's fun on the trails and I would think it could tow what a Prius could. Generally no tow rig though.

 

[Nullifier]

Proven motor. Just don't expect to lead a caravan on the road portion. My 96 taco with 4.88 gears and 33" tires get over 20 mpg on the highway and has plenty of grunt for the trails.

 

[alaskan.lad]

I have had a few 22re’s, all various stages of slow. The biggest thing I would say about them is keep it stock, replace plugs/cap/wires with OEM stuff, gear for anything above 31’s. You won’t win any races, but the 4lo system is truly special.

As far as the 3.4 swap, a more better candidate is the pickup or runners with the 3.0 3vze motor. A 97 t100 3.4 that is backed with a 5 speed will literally bolt onto the r150f tranny’s found behind the 3.0’s.

 

[000]

22re is super reliable and geared correctly for the tires is an awesome setup. Towing a little harbor frieght trailer shouldn’t be too big of a deal, but some of those tent trailer are deceivingly heavy. It Won’t win races but it is hard to kill and is cheap to maintain. If you’re considering a 3.4 swap before buying the rig, maybe just buy something with a 3.4 and save the time and money?


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[Chi]

Little Late: I have a 22re with 255k and it is used as a daily driver for OC to Los Angeles...only minor issues with old age.