How good are the 80's toyota trucks?

I'm looking for a good, cheap, reliable pickup, that still looks good, and gets decent gas mileage. And I'd prefer one that's lifted a little, and would also prefer a 4X4. I've seen a few old toyotas around on craigs list for around $1000 that seem to be in good condition despite the miles. And according to this fuel economy website, they get very good gas mileage, so I'm just wondering a few things.

1. Do they still have decent power?

2. Does lifting the truck lower gas mileage?

3. When a truck is lifted, does it reduce the power at all, pushing those bigger tires?

4. If something does break, is it still easy to find parts, and are they relatively cheap?

5. How long do the big tires, or boggers last on the road, and are they real expensive to replace?

6. What's the biggest thing I need to watch out for buying a truck like that?

7. Do you think for what I'm looking for, an old toyota is my best bet, or something else?How good are the 80's toyota trucks?u might want to check the engine first if it says 18R on front of engine stay away from those they are seriously underpowered - go with 20R engine . 22R engine was first introduced to toyota trucks in 87 to 88 and they are one of the best and powerful engines to have and for lifting no not by much but if u change the tire size yes it can it can lose some of the power if u are still thinking of putting big tires on u might have to change the axle ratio and parts some parts are still cheap but others are reasonably priced and widely available and u might want to keep mud tires or boggers off the road as much as possible they wear out fast !!! or you can do is get some extra rims and put big tires on it so u can use them when u want to play around in but keep your regular set of tires to use on roads and u might want to check the cab for rust especially on the floorboards because if there is alot of rust the floor board support can collapse and and the cab would feel like they are not attached to the truck anymore(had that happen to me and it is alot of work to fix it right) and make sure there is no rattling noise of the engine at idle(just after tap the pedal to rev it lightly)if there it is it might need a new timing chain tensioner or a new timing chain set. timing chain set about 120 bucks but alot of laborHow good are the 80's toyota trucks?
Toyotas run forever....if you take care of them.

a friend of mine had an 80's truck and when he sold it,it had almost 300,000 miles on it.

some of the bodies tend to rust out easy.



the bigger tires will hurt the performance a little,the 4 cylinder wasn't made to pull that much weight.i wouldn't go to big.



i don't think toyota has ever made a bad car......dependable.....and this is coming from a diehard mopar guy,How good are the 80's toyota trucks?The 22RE engine was a good engine. I wouldn't get carried away too much with the modifications. Those make your truck non-standard and some shops don't like to work on modified vehicles. If you distort the truck design too much, you run into steering, computer, speedometer, tire noise, transmission drive shaft and other problems. Some modifications are not legal for road use. It may look good, but you pay the price in everyday repair and maintenance problems. I would buy an unmodified truck and go from there so you can make your own mistakes and not buy somebody else's mistakes they want to sell out from under.How good are the 80's toyota trucks?
Better than 2007s Ford, Chevy, GMC, and Dodge pos trucks put together.How good are the 80's toyota trucks?Rust...

renova