What would you do if you inherited a 30 year pickup?

So, my Dad is thinking about getting rid of his T100. By getting rid of, he is thinking about just giving it to me. My mother passed away 8 months ago, so he now has two vehicles, her Forester, and his T100.

I very obviously want this truck. I learned how to drive in it.

It's a 1995, 170,000 miles, 5MT, RWD, 3.4V6. Only thing ever done to it was headgaskets. No rust, no wrecks, the paint is... Well, actually, it was pretty good until a few weeks ago when he ran into the support post in the carport and damaged the paint right under the taillight on the passenger side.

What would you do with a truck like this? Keep it entirely stock, and just drive it in the summer? Mod it and make it into something special? It's all original, down to the aluminum hubcap covers on the steelies.

The only thing that I'm not entirely super happy about is the lack of ABS. It's impossible to drive in the snow, it really will just spin out at the slightest change in throttle, no warning.

 

What tires does it have on it? I think a set of quality studless snow tires and 100 lbs of sand in the bed will help it in the snow.

I'd get the paint fixed and keep it stock for now. If you had a specific vision or specific need, I'd say there's nothing wrong with modding it, but better to wait than to install mods because you want to mod it.

 

I would keep it and use it for truck stuff. Maintain as-is, as needed.

 

Maybe do driveshaft ujoints and center bearing so you don’t pole vault yourself. Nice new shocks…

 

It's got some highway rib all season tires. We get snow here once every 2-4 years, so it's pretty much a non-issue most of the time. It usually has 150lbs of sand in the bed during winter. I drove it once, on some ice, and at 10 mph, I reduced throttle slightly and it just spun. It's an access cab with a 6' bed. I did put it on a DOT scale, it's pretty bad for weight distribution, something like 2700 lbs is on the front tires, 1300 lbs on the rear. It's damn near the same exact weight as my Tacoma, but my Taco is 2200 lbs front, 1800 lbs rear. Taco is a DCSB though.

The engine is strong and the transmission is just getting broken in lol

If it had ABS, I would put a 6MT and a 4.0 in it from a Tacoma. If I end up doing the 'upgrade' project to my 2nd gen, I'll have one of each, waiting for a new home. Other than that, I don't really have a vision for it. I guess the first actual mod I would ever do to it is adding ABS.

I've considered this. My Taco is much more of an offroad toy than the T100, the T100 is so much more usable for most things. As in, things that don't require 4X4, but the larger bed, and the bed being lower to the ground, is really helpful. I've hauled way more in the T100 than the Taco, the short bed on the Taco is kind of a killer. The other ironic thing is that the T100 gets so much better fuel economy. It has really short towing gears in the transmission, which makes it pretty easy to drive around town, and I can get 20-23 mpg when I drive it. My Taco usually gets 13-15mpg, but I think there is something actually wrong with the engine in the Taco.

Suspension is Bilsetin, as that was OEM. It's never needed u joints, there's been no play there, ever. I think I'll do them, anyway.

That actually reminds me, the T100 is a 1 owner truck, and there's NO RUST on the frame. At all. Ironic, as my Taco also has a completely rust free frame.

 

Keep it stock, get all maintenance items up to date and drive it in the summer.

As far as not having ABS, it is easier to learn to work within the vehicles abilities than changing the vehicle.

 

Absolutely. I daily a truck without ABS. I drive conservatively and the one time I locked it up, I pumped the brake until I came to a stop.

 

I'll add a +1 to keep it stock. Sounds like it may also have some sentimental value too. TBH, I'd fix up the recent damage as well. Keep it maintained and it could be the last "work" truck you'll ever need giving you the freedom to maybe get something different in the future.

 

2WD, no ABS, 5 MT? Modify it for drifting