the woes of a prerunner owner

over a year ago i started looking for my first tacoma. it did not go well. i only had a few “must-have” criteria and i really didn’t think it would take me more than a month to track down the truck i wanted. i was wrong. then disappointed.

color - white. tons of them here in az. it was 115 degrees here yesterday, so it makes sense.

double cab - a little tricky. for some reason there are tons of access cabs around here.

trd off road - by itself, not hard to find at all. combine it with #1 and #2 on my list and it gets a little harder.

<$20k - i didn’t want a new finance payment so i set my cash limit to this.

<100k miles - kill me.

4x4 - kill me now.

started looking june 2018. months go by and nothing. not really in a hurry because i had a 2002 f150 as a daily driver. fast forward to about a week ago and the tranny in my f150 starts slipping. i got 227k trouble free miles out of it, so i considered that a win with a ford! but the closest tacoma i could find was a 2011, dcsb, trd off road, white, 90k miles, $17k. excellent condition inside and out. i work in insurance so i ran all kinds of reports on it (carfax is a joke) and it was a very good deal. but what’s missing? yeah, it’s a prerunner.

i don’t off-road that often anymore, but when i do, i’d rather not have to get pulled out by someone else. not really a status issue but rather a pain in the ass issue. i’ve owned 4wd vehicles my entire life going back to high school.

so yeah, i digress........




is the 4wd conversion difficult?

 

Or get a very good winch.

Better to trade and buy a 4X4 than to convert. IMO

 

Fix the Ford.

 

A good winch and e-locker swap will help quite a bit

 

I bought my 1st 4X4 vehicle in 1976. In August 1983 I owned a pretty decent car and a beater 4X4. The car was totaled 6 weeks before my wedding and I was in need of reliable transportation. I used the insurance money and traded the beater 4X4 for a lightly used 2wd truck. Biggest mistake I ever made. For about $1000 more, and a small loan I could have gotten a 4X4.

I hated that truck every minute of the year and a half I owned it. In January of 1985 I was in a position financially to buy another 4X4 truck and wouldn't have another 2wd.

He can use the money he'd pay for those modifications and add it to the trade value of what he has and just buy a 4X4. With good credit a car loan is in the 2-3% range. That is cheaper than paying mechanics $100/hour. Trade it for what you want and don't be afraid of a small loan. It is those who have no down payment, borrow $40K and end up upside down on value that get into trouble. A $40K loan is a $700 payment for 5 years and it would take a couple of years before the truck is worth more than you owe on it. That gets a lot of people who have their vehicles totaled in an accident. They still owe $39K and the insurance company pays you $33K.

You could trade it and borrow $10K for something newer with 4X4. On a 3 year loan @ 3% your payment is about $290/month and the TOTAL interest over the life of the load is under $470. You could even go 5 years at $175/month and still only pay $516 in interest. If you borrowed the money for 5 years and paid it off in 3 you'd only save $46. About a tank of gas. The total interest wouldn't buy a set of tires.

 

I mean, whats the issue? I run my 2wd all over the country. Im locked, regeared, and its a great vehicle.

 

sorry, no real direction. just creating conversation and possibly a support group. lol.

it does have rear locking diff, which does help in some situations. but no good for deep sand and steep climbs.

becoming emotionally invested in your vehicle is always a bad thing.

 

I'm a bit confused. What tires are you running? I run mine out on the beach as well as up some pretty steep inclines. The only issue I've ever had is rock crawling where the front ledge is too steep to get over

 

This makes more sense than buying a $17k truck you don't really want?

 

michelin street tires. but i just had goodyears put on today, from a trd pro. still not super aggressive but way better than michelin steeet tires.

 

Sell it or trade it in, take the loss, and get a 4x4.

 

Sell it. Get a 4x4 sr5.

 

If you are going to spend $17K, then you better get what you want and be happy with dropping that cash. I can't imagine spending that much on anything that was an optional purchase and not get exactly what I wanted.

 

prerunners are just 4x4's on hard mode

 

gotta sharpen up those off-roading skills and choose better lanes!

 

Just dont go places where 4x4 is needed. Problem solved!

 

So wait, did you get a pre-runner and now looking to convert to 4x4 or are you just contemplating getting the pre-runner? If so, I suggest you expand your search to NV and CA. Lots to be had. Just drive back.

 

no. i already got a prerunner because it matched all of my other requirements, except 4wd. now i’m contemplating - upgrading at some point, converting and just dealing with it. lol.

 

Start collecting parts.

 

1st gens are easy to convert to 4wd, it's all bolt on and mechanical if you do it using a manual shift t-case and manual hubs.

2nd gens are more involved and require some fabrication and more wiring/electronics but it can be done... I know a few on here at least have done it

If you aren't capable of at least doing some of the work yourself then it's gonna be expensive