New to Me - 1996 T100 5 Speed 3.4L 4x4

Hey TW, just wanted to show off my latest Toyota acquisition, a unicorn ‘96 T100 SR5 4x4 in 5 speed manual flavor! It’s in great shape for a 27 year old truck, but needed/needs a few things…

I ditched the annoying cold air intake (that whistled like a turbo) it came with and I found a stock airbox and tube on ebay for cheap. The oil pan had a small leak, which i figured I’d have to remove the front diff to re-seal, but thankfully about a 1/2 turn on a few of the pan bolts snugged it up nicely and stopped the leak. I had to recharge the A/C - it was still working but it’s colder than my ‘21 Taco now! The original muffler was shot and rattling inside, so I bought a new cat back system for it that’s on it’s way now. And I have a table worth of parts sitting and waiting to rebuild the front end with (new LBJs, tie rods, pitman and idler arms, steering stabilizer and new shocks all around), which I should be able to tackle this week. Other than that, I just put some fresh fluids in everything, inspected the brakes, greased all the zerks and it should be ready to go for another few decades.

It has 198K on the clock now and runs perfect. It came with new Corbeau bucket seats too! It’s a California truck, so no significant rust. It has lived at the beach most of its life tho, so it just has some minor cosmetic surface rusting here and there on the underside (from the saltwater in the air), but nothing a can of spray paint and a half hour won’t take care of. It came with new 285 BFGs too, but since it’s not lifted (and I don’t want to lift it), it was rubbing just pulling into my driveway, so I took the 33s off, sold em on marketplace for $700 and bought some used 265 Wildpeaks for $300 installed for now.

I bought it as a project to fix up and sell to make a little profit after enjoying it for a few months, but I am totally smitten! I may have to butter up the wife real good so she let’s me keep it (or just ask like $20K for it so it’ll never sell, haha)! But it’s such a fun truck to drive. I had a ‘98 regular cab 4x4 2.7 5 speed Taco for years and I always regretted selling it. This T100 is like the big bro to my old Taco… every bit as fun, but a little tougher, a little more powerful, and it’s really nice to have a full size bed for hauling shit. Anyway, just thought a few of you on here might appreciate this old yota that most people have forgotten about…

 

> a unicorn ‘96 T100 SR5 4x4 in 5 speed manual flavor!

Oh, wow, that is a great find. I want!!!

 

Nice find! I'd keep it too.

 

Forgot to mention the previous owner did a manual hub swap too.

 

considering the mileage (mpg) of these is about the same as a 1st gen taco the bed size makes it a nice replacement. I'd prefer one now.

 

Yes, I’ve been averaging about 15-16 MPG around town in the T… Pretty close to my ‘21 DCSB honestly (and that’s kinda sad that Toyota hasn’t significantly improved their V6 MPGs in 30 years of “advancements”!). I guess the new Taco does have about 90 more HP, but I honestly don’t feel a 90 HP difference in power. Maybe it’s the manual trans, but this T feels pretty close to as powerful (not that the 3rd gen Taco has any reputation whatsoever for being powerful, haha). On the way back from buying it, it only had ~1/3 tank and I made it home 100 miles with the gas light coming on just as I was turning on my street! So I’d say the T can get near 20 MPG on the open road.

On a side note, my wife has started calling the truck “Mr. T”, so she may be developing some feeling for it too (hopefully).

 

That era is the sweet spot of Japanese modern classics. Easy to live with but also easy to work on!

 

A couple more pics. The grey interior is clean… No dash cracks, original carpet and door fabric is nice too. The wheels I think are Toyota OEM 17s, but I haven’t researched what model they’re from (maybe 2nd gen taco, or 4th gen 4runner??). I’m not usually big on chrome or shiny wheels, but I think they’re a good fit for this old ‘90s truck, so I’ll probably keep em.

 

Those whels are great for it. It's a nice larger console also. The only drawbag I've ever considered to them is parts. Million Tacomas out there so parts were made in great quanities. Things like, I dunno, maybe a bumper? I can get a bumper right now at 11:00 at night for a Tacoma. Prob. moot anyway. Whatever I may need tomm. I could be SOL.

 

Great find, love the T 100.

Looks like the wheels are from a fourth GEN 4runner, they fit the truck.

 

Yeah, parts are definitely not as easy to find as a Tacoma, but so far I’ve still found everything I’ve tried to… OEM airbox & tube, cupholder for the dash (original was broken), license plate light housings on Amazon for a Taco fit perfectly (originals were dried out and cracked), and a bed mat for a 1st gen tundra fits perfectly too. Luckily the chassis/suspension/steering is all the same as the ‘90s pickups and 2nd gen 4runners, just with wider crossmembers, so most everything underneath is interchangeable. Drivetrain is the same as a 1st gen taco and early 1st gen Tundra with the 3.4 & R150F trans (and same t-case). So yeah, it’s mostly body and interior parts that could be harder to come by.

I thought I’ve seen these wheels on the 4th gens T4Rs. I think they look better on a T!

 

Good Luck !!

You being on the west coast might make it easier to find parts where I live they are near impossible . Even Napa T100 parts were at least a week out back in 2015

To the Point the owner of The T100 just scrapped the truck and bought a Ford.

 

Very nice, one of my favorite Toyotas, back when Toyota was quirky and didn’t care about chasing the Big 3.

Partial to the 5 Spoke wheels that came on the SR5s iirc, 4Runner ran them too. Like them so much, bought a set for my 1st Gen Taco.

 

Very nice T100, being 4wd and manual, you've got a good one!

I'm a little biased though,