Two Taco Dilemma

Hey there folks! I'll try to keep this brief...

This all started because I was looking for snow tires. I moved up to PA from Florida and am entering my first winter. I have a 99 2wd 2.7 Prerunner with 270k on the car and supposedly 80k on the motor. I was looking to spend upwards of 400 on snow tires on CL and I found a 96 4x4 tacoma for 1,000. The purchase would come with a set of newer snow tires...so I bought it!

Now here is my dilemma. Which do I dump money into? My Florida truck has zero rust and extended cab but has a manual transmission and possibly close to 300k miles on the motor. The 96 is a single cab but it's 4x4, 5 speed, with 150k miles. It's pretty rusty.

My original thought was I could swap out the motor and transmission from the white 96 taco and put it in my red 99 taco. But then I have to get a new drive shaft and a cherry picker and do a lot of things I have never done (but would love to learn how to do).

My red 99 taco has a leak in the rack and pinion and probably needs tie rod ends. It doesn't have the secondary catalytic converter so it's loud and I'd like to get that fixed. Other than that all it really needs is the kick down cable replaced or fixed. I managed to melt it after changing out my valve cover.

My white 96 taco has quite a bit of frame rust but most of it was repaired by previous owner. Some pitting and rusting on the shocks and springs. Front calipers look like they need to be replaced. Bed is completely rusted out but has a wooden flat bed on it for the time being. Has a ford leaf spring on one side so it spins whenever it gets a chance. Manual locking hubs. 3rd gear feels like its going to miss (probably needs a new clutch). Fan clutch makes a whole heap of noise when it starts up. Interior and cab are pretty much perfect. Front fenders are rusted out.

Here is my thought process: Eventually I want bigger tires which means bigger suspension. After doing a little research I think I want to get a mid travel suspension. I want to be able to go on trails but have reliability. Like I said before my main concern is rust so if I keep driving around my red taco in the snow I'm afraid it's going to rust out. The white truck isn't really drive-able at the moment.

I don't want to sell the red taco and if I did I would want more than it's probably worth. BUT if I did sell it, then I could have the funds to turn my white taco into a decent rig. I want to learn and wrench I just don't know which option is the most realistic. Either way the snow is here and I have to have a car. If you've gotten this far I am sending you a virtual high five. I've tossed and turned over this. It's like deciding between two hot women. Wanting to pick both but deep down know I should focus my energy on one. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone wants to see pictures I can take a few tomorrow and upload them.

 

Good luck man. It's a tough decision for sure.

 

By the sounds, I wouldn't trade either and just try to get one road worth now, and prep the other as a back up plan.

 

I appreciate the sentiment. I feel kind of crazy spending this much time thinking about trucks but you make me feel a little less crazy haha...

 

Yeah at this point I think that's what I may end up doing. I'm just hoping to get through my first winter and then seeing where I am at then financially.

 

Send the 96 packing and work on the 99, it is a known quantity. You will be throwing good money after bad on the '96 if you are on a budget, much better to sell the 96 then in Spring sell the 99 and buy a southern loved 4 x 4 that will satisfy your needs and wants with a whole let less time, money and hassle invested. You cannot half fix a rusted vehicle, all in or pay the price 10 x over and over