I am selling the ol' heavy chevy and am planning to get a used 4runner... A few years back, a friend of mine got one and slowly we "off roaded" it... It's been a long time and I don't remember much... He found someone that had a nice built up one and rolled it (totaled it) and got some good parts from it... heavy duty tortion bars and a few other parts... Anyway, that brings me to my Q's..

I'm looking to get a late 80's to mid/late 90's 4Runner (price will determain) and want to make it "offroadish" Not all super lifted and stuff, just performance wise, slightly bigger agressive tires better suspention etc... Maybe a small body lift if any at all... So that said:

Any recomendations as to what year 4Runner I should look for???

And when I find 1, what should I look at to see if it is worth buying (typical rusty area's etc...)???

What years (if any) came with the heavy duty tortion bars??? I seem to recall certain years/models had them... Not sure...

I thought I read that some years had different/better motors in them as well... True?? If so what years??


Thanks a ton!!!!

Just picked up a '95 for my daughter. It is the last year with the 3.0L V6 (150 HP). After driving it in my neighborhood I see why Toyota went to a 3.4L in '96 (I am also getting 12 mpg, but that's another issue). If you can afford it I would get a '96 or later with a 3.4 L and more HP. My .02 T