US Northwest Looking for a 4 runner to buy !

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KRose

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Looking for 1991 - 2000 4 runner price range of 3,000.00—5,000.00 willing to travel 1,000.00 miles to get it. Looking for 4 wheel drive, limited with auto transmission ,lockers. Roof rack would be nice but not necessary.
 

Chadlyb

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Looking for 1991 - 2000 4 runner price range of 3,000.00—5,000.00 willing to travel 1,000.00 miles to get it. Looking for 4 wheel drive, limited with auto transmission ,lockers. Roof rack would be nice but not necessary.
Will keep a lookout for a cream puff rig in my searches.....

 
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M Rose

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Boort

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Looking for 1991 - 2000 4 runner price range of 3,000.00—5,000.00 willing to travel 1,000.00 miles to get it. Looking for 4 wheel drive, limited with auto transmission ,lockers. Roof rack would be nice but not necessary.
Looking for a diamond there. Around here both the Lockers and Rack will add about $1k to the selling price. (more if triple locked) so getting all of the above might be hard for the $5k limit. There are a few up on T4R this month that meet some of your mentioned criteria:

Be sure to go UNDER any you are considering with a fine tooth comb looking for frame rust Toyota had some big issues with this on the 3rd and 4th gen 4Runners (as well as the Tacos, Sequois and other models). While under there look at the Difs to make SURE they have the lockers! Around here I've seen scammy sellers who go to the junk yard and grab the Diff lock BUTTON for $10 pop it in place then take pics to show it off but there are no lockers!
There is one up on Craigslist down in Denver right now that I would bet is in this condition. Note the listing says "Features include DIFFERENTIAL LOCK BUTTON, ..."

Good luck in your search!
Boort
 

Chadlyb

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Smileyshaun

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Looking for a automatic definitely opens up a lot more options . You could also get a cheap one with a blown motor for next to nothing ( on a second gen ) replace the motor and the horrible crossover pipe and have no worries on the head gaskets again .
 
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M Rose

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Looking for a automatic definitely opens up a lot more options . You could also get a cheap one with a blown motor for next to nothing ( on a second gen ) replace the motor and the horrible crossover pipe and have no worries on the head gaskets again .
I just don’t have the ability to do motor swaps any more, Kallie and I have talked it over and unless it’s here in our valley at a very ridiculous low price, it won’t be worth it to us.
 

M Rose

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Gotcha , are you looking more for a second or 3rd gen ? They both have their pluses and minuses.
We are wanting a 3rd gen, but if a clean second gen had the right price tag we might be interested in getting it and adding factory lockers myself... I do have the abilities to do that kind of work, and like I said if it were more local to me, I might be able to do a motor swap. But that eats the budget. I really don’t want to have to do anything mechanically to get the rig running... been there done that too many times, and this go around we are wanting to more or less just accessorize and explore.
 

Smileyshaun

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Sounds like a 3rd gen would be more what you need . Don’t get me wrong I love love love the second gens but they do have their flaws and finding a 3rd with the factory locker would just save so much time .
 
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M Rose

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Sounds like a 3rd gen would be more what you need . Don’t get me wrong I love love love the second gens but they do have their flaws and finding a 3rd with the factory locker would just save so much time .
I think we found it... we found a second gen for 2,500 with <200 miles on a fresh rebuild. This will leave more to the upgrades budget, but also allows for driving now. How do I tell if the upgraded exhaust was preformed during the engine build? What else are things to look at when we go take a look at it... I am taking my brother (life long welder) and my dad (over 50 years as an ASE certified self employed shop owner) with us when we go look at this one.
 

M Rose

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One more quick question, what are some good 4Runner forums for us to check out for technical information (troubleshooting, diagnostics, and repair. Along with mild upgrades). If we go with this second gen what would I need to install the factory lockers so I can start putting together a shopping list.
 

Smileyshaun

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I think we found it... we found a second gen for 2,500 with <200 miles on a fresh rebuild. This will leave more to the upgrades budget, but also allows for driving now. How do I tell if the upgraded exhaust was preformed during the engine build? What else are things to look at when we go take a look at it... I am taking my brother (life long welder) and my dad (over 50 years as an ASE certified self employed shop owner) with us when we go look at this one.
look for the crossover pipe that goes right behind the heads if it’s still there it hasn’t been done , it’s the main reason the Toyota 3.0 blows the head gasket because it overheads the corner of the head burning thegasket out on #6 . Make sure the trans fluid is nice and bright and doesn’t smell burnt at all .Other than that they are rather bullet proof .
 

Smileyshaun

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Look into the AFM mod , for some dumb reason Toyota used the same size AFM on the 22re and the 3.0 and it’s a big choking point of the motor and changing it out really helps the drivability of the rig and can also gain a few mpg in the process .
 
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Smileyshaun

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The 3.0 has a bad wrap Because of that head gasket issue but can actually be a good little motor , had a buddy that had one in a sas 4Runner on 38s that he had done some head and block work to it and it was a rippin little motor that had no problems moving that thing around and he kept it for over 100k miles after the rebuild and never treated it nicely expecially in the snow . He had two throttle settings idle and WOT .
 

KRose

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This is the one @Slimpartywagon says might be the one. I’m showing these pictures from the guy that has it is is all I have of pictures till we go look at it but @Smileyshaun and @Chadlyb i don’t know if by looking at the pictures you can tell if I has the crossover or not
 

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