Just bought a 1995 Tacoma

New to the forum, I bought a '95 Tacoma yesterday. It's got the 3.4 liter engine with an automatic. It's in good overall condition with 247,000 miles but needs a bit of work in the coming weeks.

The biggest issue is the front seat belts will not retract at all. Other than that all that is pressing is a driveline vibration when costing/ decelerating, it has a rather rough ride, almost like the springs are too stiff (or shocks rebound too quickly) and the driver's side door handle is broken.

Still figuring out how to navigate here, but any information on fixing the above issues would be much appreciated. Not new to automotive work but this is my first Tacoma

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld!

 

Is the suspension original? If so I would definitely plan on refreshing all of it with new parts - new shocks, coils, leaf springs, upper and lower ball joints, etc. Also the carrier bearing (Will cause gnarly vibrations when bad), tie rods, bushings in the steering rack, new fluids all around... hopefully the previous owner kept up on maintenance, but with a truck this old it's good peace of mind in my opinion to start fresh with these parts.

Welcome to the forum! Lot of good info on here and write ups on how to do this stuff yourself if you're into that sort of thing. 1st gen Tacomas are pretty easy to work on as far as DIY repairs go

 

Welcome aboard. What he said^^^^^

 

also the 3.4l engine uses a timing belt that needs replacing every 100k miles, so it should have been done twice by now on this truck. If not, or if you aren't sure, it's not the end of the world but I'd make that a priority if you think it may not have been.

Usually there's a date marked on the timing belt cover indicating when it was last replaced if it ever was

 

Nice! My seatbelts do the same thing. You can rebuild the seatbelts (I think there might be kits but I'll be shocked), or get new altogether. I'm planning on new because I don't trust seatbelts from the 80's

 

I've also heard that people have had good luck getting the seat belts to retract again by washing them real good. When they absorb a lot of dirt and grime over the years they lose the ability to retract.

 

Thanks for all the quick responses. I’m not sure if the suspension is original or not, is there any good way to see? There’s nothing really poking out to me.

The carrier bearing looks pretty new, it was my first thought though. I’m likely going to grease everything tomorrow. Fluids are getting changed this weekend as well.

mad for the seatbelts, who sells new ones? If I’m taking it all apart, I’d rather just replace them if possible. I feel like it would be safer that way anyhow.

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

If the leaf springs are original then they would likely have a negative arch to them by now...if so then it's time to replace. Flat-ish leafs is normal for these trucks unless they're lift springs.

Shocks...if they're original with that many miles I'm sure you'd be able to tell just by how rough the ride is. But shocks are cheap and probably good peace of mind to replace unless you know for sure they're newer.

 

The leaf springs have a bit of arch to them, and he shocks look like they were replaced at some point but are likely no better than the stock ones. I don't know about the front either, other than the struts have "Made in China" stamped on them. I think is has a small lift as it's sitting on 31's currently with a bit more rooms for larger tires.

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. It's been a busy week.

 

Here’s a couple pictures. We’re starting with the repairs and then will tackle the slight bits rust and body work later this winter