Just picked up this 1995 Tacoma/hilux?

Great truck man, as others have alluded to, no one in the states that I can recall ever referred to this model as a "Hilux" until UK Top Gear became popular here. It's simply the Toyota truck or Toyota pickup, lowercase. Your truck was made in Japan and while the steel is presumably better quality than the tinfoil Dana used to make the frames on first-gen Tacomas, at that age and location, it's still going to be susceptible to frame rot, just like any other truck that age that's been exposed to Minnesota's gratuitous use of road chemicals. Frames rust from the inside out, so you definitely want to check all of the critical points. Stuff likes to collect where the frame dips near the front spring perches. Get down there with a good flashlight and a ball-peen hammer. Once you've determined everything's solid, Fluid-Film the crap out of it.

This isn't meant to be scary, but it will give you an idea of the areas to check on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y_Q5QmSp0Q

Good luck. Might be worth checking with the previous owner to see if the head gaskets were done; there was a recall campaign on those but IIRC it's expired now. YotaTech forums will also be a good resource for you. If the frame is indeed solid and you take some aggressive preventative measures, you should be able to get a lot of service out of that truck. They're really tough and there are quite a few of them still truckin' around here in Wisconsin.

 

My 95.5 was made in Japan

 

Those are the best in my opinion and is what built Toyotas reputation for dependable trucks. Also, their more of what a truck is suppose to be as opposed to the Tacoma's.

 

Can you show us your VIN?

 

1st letter of the vin will tell you where it was made, 1,4,or 5 is the U.S., Japan will be a J. Year is the 10th letter R is 1994 S is a 1995.

 

http://toyota.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7712/~/what-is-the-vin?

More vin info. Not sure why the 4 and Japan build, maybe it has to do with the concentration of American vs Japanese parts in the vehicle.

 

My mistake, made in the US via the 4 number

 

Ate u sure u dont eant to part with the truck? I would hate to see it rust away. I can help u find a good winter beater.

 

These trucks were built in Japan and the new plant at the time, in California, thus the 4 vin beginning number instead of the J. The last couple years of the Pickup were split like this, transitioning for the upcoming Tacoma line being produced for the North American market. So, these last couple of years of the Pickup have the 4 or J vin. These were still Japan designed, Tacoma is NA designed.