To purchase or not 2000 SR5

3:91 is crap for 33"s.

My 4:10s and V6 for 33"s is decent but leaves a lot to be desired.

31"s would be fine no matter the gear ratio.

However if you're planning on adding a locker, it would be about $1000-$1200. It would be more if you decided to swap gear ratios, especially because you have to swap both differential gears as it's 4WD.

 

Thanks for the info man. That is definitely food for thought. I thought I saw locker kits for $400-$500.

 

Powertrax LSD in rear diff $ 400-450 for diff, No involved diff. / gear set up- Had mine for years -works great on & off road-The "spinning" tire rotates about 2 times then engages

 

I'm sure LSD kits (or whatever you call them) are much cheaper than lockers. But I have no knowledge in those.

You won't want anything but a selectable locker in a daily driver. So far there's only two companies that do that. EATON which is an OEM electric locker and ARB which is an air locker. ARB is much more reliable and depending on when and where you get it, is a lot cheaper than a brand new EATON. *HOWEVER* you can very well swap in a TRD axle and if you can do the work and wiring, will be way cheaper than most options. The $500 lockers you see online are not selectable, which means they will lock when they sense wheel slippage. These will wear down tires much faster and potentially be dangerous in rain/snow/ice/etc.

 

Just form my own experience on high miles truck things that will go soon, if not done yet:
- clutch, it would be good to ask how old the clutch is. Mine gave up at 270k (actually not clutch itself but 25 dollars Clutch release fork first bend, then broke in half)
- head gasket. It will go at some point. Mine went at 308k miles by leaking between one of the cooling holes and the cylinder no 1. I don't know if oil leak from the block is the first sign of head gasket giving up or not.

Anyway both are quite expensive items if done by the shop. For clutch I paid 650 dollars (I did not have tools to drop transmission), for head gasket I was quoted a little over 1000 dollars (this one I passed and I did it myself which cost me less tan 200 dollars for all gaskets for the engine top).

 

Rybern, just check out Powertrax No-Slip diffs to get a better idea how they work , no air comp., no wiring , I've run it in snow, mud & on ice w/ no problems -no tire wear. -works great for a DD

 

I'm very much a DIY'er. I replaced the clutch on my old Mazda 4wd years ago. I've also done head gaskets. Main reason I want the 2.7 is that it's easier and cheaper to work on. The clutch feels like it has a lot of life left anyway. Engagement is pretty high on the pedal.

 

You bet. This is small engine inside the huge cavity - easy access from all directions. Well, most of it . I had to do some electrical work on Nissan Versa Note. Hated it all the way. It's like sardines in a can.

 

I'll look into that once I get a truck. I appreciate the suggestion.

I owned a 03 Pathfinder for a short while and it was a great vehicle the short time I owned it. But every time I raised the hood on it, I had nightmares about the day I might have to work on it. I sold it solely due to the fact I NEVER wanted to have to work on it.

 

If you're willing to drive to SW Alabama there is a 2004 4x4 silver taco at a small dealership near my house..tried to get my dad to let me trade my prerunner for it but he wouldn't bite

 

What are the details?

 

http://www.westbayautobrokers.com/m...183&Guid=7ec70971-7f5a-44b1-a29e-0e1d8474b9a4

It may be a limited because it has the chrome side mirrors and you can't tell it in the video but the tail gait has a few dents in it

 

I originally thought the 3:91 gearing was good, but now I see that its not ideal.... even for 31" tires. Truck sticker shows stock tires were 225/75r15.

Thanks for the info man. I can see that I have a good bit to learn about these trucks.

I appreciate the suggestion. But I'm dead set on the longer bed, 5 speed and prefer the 2.7.

 

the difference between a 2.7 and 3.4 are night and day. the 3.4 is a rocket compared to the 2.7, i currently own both.

 

I drove the truck again and had a friend that's a mechanic look at it. Between me and my buddy we noticed a small exhaust leak from the exhaust manifold, small amount of play in the driver ball joint, oil leak from rear of motor, oil leak from front of motor(likely front cover).

I offered the dealer $7300 and went up to $7400 cash in hand and might have gone to $7500. They said their bottom dollar was $7780. I declined and departed. Things that helped me decline was oil leaking on both ends of motor(might have been valve cover), no pwr windows or locks, exhaust leak and I'd prefer silver or sand body color. Oil leak was enough that it dropped on pavement in two spots where it had been parked at dealership.

I really enjoyed driving this truck from dealer to shop. It really helped me know that I'd be happy with a truck like this. Power from 2.7 was fine and cruised up mountains in 4th at 60-65 pretty easy. 3.91 gearing was fine with the 225/75r15 tires.

The search continues.

 

You did the right thing. Good luck on your search.