1980 Toyota 4x4 Pickup review from North America

This is my third 79-81 Toyota 4x4. Here are the typical problems:

1) Front axle seals. There are inner seals at the front axles that eventually seep, allowing gear oil to enter the hubs and mingle with the grease, creating a big mess and leading to premature bearing wear. The fix requires a complete dis-assembly of the front axle hubs. Almost all old trucks have this problem and you can tell by looking at the hubs. If they are covered in grease, you have the problem.

2) Clutch master/slave cylinder/radiator/alternator/brake master cylinder. These are typical items for any old car. Parts are not very expensive and are available.

3) Drivelines. The drivelines have grease fittings and are likely to have been neglected. Symptoms are rough vibration starting at about 40mph.

4) Gas gauge. I don't know why they are so finicky, but there is a good chance it won't work.

5) Seat/dash The seats by now are trashed and need recovering. The dashes are typically cracked.

6) Rust. These truck rust. Take a look under the floor covering in the footwells where the cab mounts to the frame. Look at the frame itself. Look at the seams in the bed.

7) Side marker lights disintegrate and fall out. Still readily available.

8) Exhaust manifold studs tend to pull out of the aluminum head, and the heat shields there tend to crack causing an exhaust leak. Heat shield are no longer available. Make sure the lower braket is in place on the exhaust pipe near the transmission.

9) Steering pulls. Very common, and could be due to a bent front axle housing. A lot of people think these trucks are indestructible, and the front axle is actually bendable. Another cause of a pull is bent frame which is pretty common since one of the corners has probably been hit at one point (almost always one side of the front bumper is pushed in). Structure of the truck is excellent however and these things can be repaired.

10) Rear bumpers are usually flimsy and trashed. The rear mudflaps are no longer available and tend to indicate how the truck was treated.

11) For some reason many of these trucks are missing all of their rear view mirrors. Getting hard to find originals.

12) Hard to find the stock steel wheels since most have been thrown away for monster truck wheels long ago.

13) Dash pieces and door panels. Junk stereo installs were all the rage in 1980, and these parts are now quite hard to find. Shifter boot is no longer available, and is frequently found torn or missing.

14) Engines tend to leak oil at the head gasket, probably due to a warped head. Head needs to be removed and resurfaced.

15) Timing chains on 81 and later need replacement at 100K. Not so for the 20R!

Great truck. One of the best, and best looking of all pickups. Toyota's reputation started with these trucks. Look around today and can't find anything new like it. Small, uncompromising and dependable.