Howdy all, Over the last three years I have been forced to rebuild my '84 4x22R dlx xtracab. Forced, mainly because of economics and one thing led to another until I have reconciled to go ahead and complete all the things that are loose, missing or broken. It is a great little truck, emphases on "little", and I just passed the 250k mileage mark and so I have decided to keep it even though a new truck may in the future. Thanks for all help.
For your information, I have had the lower end and head rebuilt. The clutch has been replaced and the driveline was reworked a year before the negine was rebuilt. I jumped all over my mechanic for the way my truck was reassembled. I have found a number of mistakes that have been corrected and are still being corrected, the front drive shaft being one the issues. GRRRRRR!!!!
I have a front driveshaft issue going on elsewhere in this group and I have been asking questions about bed lining the inside of my cab. That will have to wait for awhile. It looks like I will have to rebuild or replace the carb. Now I believe that when I bought this truck in 1984 that I had an automatic altitude adjusting carb. It was one of the many things that I enjoyed about this creative vehicle, for in those days, "creative" was not part of the American manufacturing ideal. Who in their right mind would issue a vehicle with a 6 digit odometer? Anyway, I know there are a few Toyota techs in this group and I would like to know if this feature was actually there or it was a bunch of hooey. I believe it was, only because of all the high altitude trips I took where the engine never faltered even when pitched on a steep angle (near to rolling back over front). I live on the Gulf Coast, BTW. I have priced the carb from Toyota and they want just under 1k which seems very expensive for a carb, even for Toyota. I have been using aftermarket carbs for about 15 years now, but without the feature above. I have done a little pricing around here and the price I get is around $500, but I don't know what I am getting exactly. I have seen a "legal performance kit" from Performance Products that claims 10% more horse power. This kit, as I understand it, is actually a new Weber carb with hardware. I am not a rock crawler, nor do I plan to lift my truck to the clouds. I am a normal user, but I am looking to make this little beauty a little stronger and try to improve some of its weaknesses in stock form.
Suspension is the next issue and I am not looking for a lift. I am looking for replacement springs for my worn out OEM units. I am not impressed with the assemble it yourself Toyota product, nor the price. However, all I can find on the market are lift kits. I don't really want to lift it because it would look silly with 235 tires, plus I don't want the expense of larger tires and rims. I admit that a lift and larger tires do look good and can bring some added stability. However, I did all these things to my CJ-5 many years ago and it really just made a big hole in my pocket. So I vowed not to fall into that trap again. My goal is to replace and strengthen. The only source I have found so far is Alcan Spring Manufacturers. Has anybody dealt with these folks? Do any of you have suggestions or resources?
I have looked through the web pages of