No 2door for the 3rd gen, that was only for gen 2 and like you said, incredibly rare. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in person.

A lot of the R50 pathfinders rusted structurally a few years ago. They’re unibody and the strut mounting points in the front rot out IIRC, and I think rear trailing arms can detach as well. 3rd gen 4Runners in the salt belt are beginning to meet their maker via rust as well, the frames rot bad enough where again rear…

My most recent offroad mis-adventure this winter. Dropped through about 4 inch thick ice into a mudhole. Ended up yanking it out with my buddy’s ‘02 4Runner that was following behind.

6pack of aerosol cans:
https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-11-75-Spray-6-pak/dp/B00CLTXPX2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1522968593&sr=8-6&keywords=fluid+film&dpID=51-6QU6jYGL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Wand kit (sprays 4 directions perpendicular to the wand to coat inside of frame rails and other nooks):

A few more glamour shots

Yeah ideally I’d like to pass it on to my first-born as their first car, silly as that sounds. There’s a part of me that wants to upgrade to a more modern SUV just for some more comfort and peace of mind on long trips that we take (10+ hour drives to visit in laws, Outer Banks, etc). But I know I would deeply regret…

The problem when they’re super nice is that you feel bad really romping on them offroad. I feel that way about my ‘96

Mine’s a ‘96 e-locked Limited that I bought with a no-winters-since-2000 99k miles on it back in 2013. Have driven it all over, and it’s been awesome. At 148k miles now, looking forward to the next adventure. Just some adjustable air shocks in the back, all terrain tires, extended rear diff breather and transmission…

Yeah Toyota’s A series motors have a reputation for becoming oil burners past 150-170k, just the nature of the beast. Keep topping it off and it will keep chugging along. But ultimately they are nowhere as overbuilt as the V6s (3VZ’s headgaskets not withstanding). I had a ‘96 Lexus with a 1MZ-FE that was absolutely…

I’ve gotten to experience the 1G-GZE as a passenger in a well worn late 80s (S130 body) Toyota Crown “Super Saloon G Supercharged,” it was our early morning cab to Tolmachevo International Airport in Novosibirsk back in 2004-ish. Through a sleepy haze, seeing the faint green “Supercharger” light flickering on the dash…

That’s my dilemma as well with these super clean old 4WD SUVs/trucks that pop up. I lust after them, then realize it would kill me to put some trail pinstripes down the side or dump a load of gravel in the bed.

It could be the long term owner parked it a certain way that exposed one side of the truck to more sun than the other. It’s obvious the seller treated this thing to some paint correction/polishing to make it look that good, but only so much could be done. Worthy of closer investigation for sure.

I’ll make the argument that the 5VZFE (3.4L DOHC V6) in the gen 1 Tacoma, T100, and 3rd gen 4Runners is a longer-lived and more durable motor than the 22RE, and I think the ‘yota community is accepting this as time goes on. Hino overbuilt the sh*t out of the 5VZFE, tuned for low end torque. The original t-belts last…

*because where I grew up we mostly had these kind of vehicles.

That’d make two of us bud lol. And the ‘94 Ranger I daily drive now doesn’t have airbags.

“Not perfect pickup by any means, underpowered... ...also feels terribly cheap (because it is)”

Seriously what is with these nellys complaining about this Saviero being underpowered and “cheap” feeling. It’s a goddamn utility vehicle. It’ll haul a load of gardening supplies or mulch while doubling as an efficient runabout/commuter during the week. I’ve had a few cheap Rangers (RWD, stick, 4 banger with 110hp,…

Those are birches! But yes the climates and locales are incredibly similar from what I’ve been told. Another similarity is peoples’ love of saunas: Finnish settlers in Minnesota and Siberians alike love a good sweat! Driving southeast through the region of Altai towards Mongolia, you hit some pretty awesome mountains.…

That great uncle of mine had a Izh-manufactured Moskvitch 412 before switching to Ladas, and my grandpa owned a ‘87 Izh 2125 Kombi from new until he got too old to drive. The home-grown Moskvitches were older designs in terms of narrower cabins and using leaf springs over the rear axle instead of coils, but they were…

Well during Soviet times it was primarily the larger Volga although I think 2101s and 2102 wagons did see cab service. After the Soviet collapse it was absolutely no holds barred anything and everything was a cab. A common way to get around was to just hail down random cars in traffic, many were looking to make a…

Thanks! RWD (fiat based) VAZ cars are still the bedrock of working class rural transportation in Siberia, although certainly FWD Samaras and the 2110 families are prevalent, as are older RHD JDM imports for those with a bit more money to spend (parts for old Toyotas are almost as accessible as Russian stuff at this…