What to do with ageing Tacoma

Hey guys. new to the site.. looking for opinions on what to do with my trusty old Tacoma. It's a '98 ext. cab 4x4 3.4L 5 speed manual.

Bought it off the dealer in '01 and it was basically as new, since then my old Pepé has racked up 395,000 km's.

I used it a lot for work back in the day so it's got mostly highway k's, and that truck has also taken me on many back road excursions in the mountains of British Columbia. I named it "Pepé the Goat" because it is so nimble and climbs pretty much anything. This truck doesn't owe me a thing, It's been well used but never abused, and it's the best vehicle I have ever owned, by far. Truck has been very well maintained mechanically over the years.

But now he's old, and has a lot of k's. I don't drive it for work anymore, and I'm now getting leery about taking the truck on long road trips. It's disappointing because this truck is petty much the ultimate adventure and camping vehicle.

It is starting to nickel and dime me a bit. Power steering rack here, steady bearing there... I do some of the work on it myself, but am very unfortunately pre-occupied with old Volvo 240 series so most of my auto knowledge is limited to old Swedish cars :/ The truck is not worth a lot of money and I'd rather keep it and spend some money on it than give it away. Any suggestions of what a guy could do to recondition and extend the life of this purely awesome truck would be really appreciated.. and interested to hear what mileage is "theoretically" attainable for a truck like this.

C.

 

I would keep it and replace high-wear items as they go out. I don't know what-all you've done with it so I can't help you much.

I intend to keep maintaining my 1998 TRD until some fool smashes it or I die. I can do quite a bit of maintenance for the price of a new one ($30K?). Right now it has 72 Kmiles on it and it rides like new.

 

Well theoretically, there is no limit to how far a vehicle will go as long as when somethin breaks, you replace it with new parts. Lol eventually you will have built ur self a brand new truck. In seriousness tho u might as well keep it. Sellin it won't do u any good, just keep it for those "back road excursions".

 

The Tacoma is relatively easy to work on, so just read up and replace what's needed. A few other things that can go at high milage:

ball joints << replace this pre-emptively if you haven't done it already
radiator
driveshaft U-joints
wheel bearings
shocks
ignition coils
fuel pump
starter

However, replacing all these still costs less than replacing the truck with a newer Taco. A 2nd gen Taco, being quite a bit larger, isn't as maneuverable as a goat.

 

Here in the U.S. I've seen several trucks still running strong 'engine-wise' with 250,000+ miles... and knew one guy who had just over 500,000. He felt so confident in his truck that he said he'd be willing to drive cross country in it.

If the frame is still solid - keep on truckin' with routine maintenance.

 

When a part breaks or gets wore out replace it with oem or high quality parts. Seems like most of the cheap reman parts from autozone don't last

 

Highway k's LOLOLOLOLOL. That's so strange to hear. I'd keep it and like everyone else is saying replace worn out parts with quality stuff. I'm a big fan of keeping vehicles and replacing parts, they don't make them like they used to! Just look at your 240 haha

 

My 2002 has 152K and for the most runs like a top. My issue is the room for the family. I though I had a front end issue because everytime I push down on the front passenger side bumper I would get this annoying sqweak. Today I washed the truck, I haven't done it since last spring and all of the sudden the sqweak went away.

 

Thanks for the input guys.. am definitely in favor of keeping it.. as noted the truck owes me nothing and I think it's still got a lot of life left in it. Mainly growing concerned about long road trips more than anything..I do a lot of them and I'm worried about the old guy giving out on me in the middle of nowhere in northern BC.

This was what I was wondering about. I just did the ball joints and replaced the rack not too long ago, U joints and steady bearing done, in the last 100k it's had a water pump, t-belt, brakes all around and new rotors up front, new leafs and shocks in back (probably needs new fronts), starter, and of course regular maintenance.. but now I'm wondering if the fuel pump, or the alternator, or the ECM or something like that is next.

The engine has never been cracked, it still runs smooth, sounds great and doesn't smoke or leak a drop. It's got the original clutch (which has also had me wondering a bit.. but it's still grippy & no bearing noise) 4x4 works flawlessly.. frame is solid, slight rust starting to show up around the rear wells but from 20 feet it still looks good

I don't need a new vehicle.. wife's got an Acura TL which we use for around town stuff, but would really like to keep using the old Tacoma for trips to the mountains. Not interested in a new one.. It's just not the same. I think I'll drop a few grand into the old goat into some pre-emptive maintenance and keep him going for a while yet

 

I agree with the others. Keep your old war horse and do whatever preventative maintenance may be required. It's worth a whole lot more to you than it ever would be to anyone else.

My middle son had a '95 V6 4x4 Toyota pickup that he put 325k miles on. Even though it still ran great he decided to sell it one day. Now he wishes he hadn't. Tries to talk me into selling him my '03 DC V6 SR-5 TRD. I tell him I'm simply not interested!

Think I'll drive this current Taco as long as I need a truck. May never get to the sort of high mileage others have on theirs, but it always gets me there and back again, makes no difference where there and back happens to be..

 

I have an '02 Access Cab 3.4 4x4 with just under 160K miles...I bought it off a friend of mine about 2 years ago..in that time, she has traveled on numerous road trips to TX, Colorado, CA. Its going to cost you a few $$$ now when something happens but overall you will be very happy. Put Mobil1 in her, and just drive.

 

Calling a tow truck is cheaper than buying a new truck

 

I was thinking the same thing about mine, the floor was rotted with rust the engine needed new VC gaskets & a few other things. Started looking at the new Ram 1500 diesels then remembered the '85 pickup I sold to buy the Taco, solid front axle, 22re engine, did anything I asked....then looked at the work I had in the Tacoma already, new oil pan, a deep cycle battery in the bed, a few other mods....got the tools out and fixed up the Tacoma, was a fun project with no monthly payment for a new ride.....keep your truck....even as a bush buggy it's probably better than anything coming out of the plants so far!