1985 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck SR5 4x4 Lifted 85k Original Miles Rock Crawler

1985 Toyota Hilux

THE FIND:Super clean rare rust free classic 1985 Toyota Hilux 4x4 regular cab pickup truck that runs & drives as good as it looks with only 85,880 original miles from an original owner family in Southern California. It's basically a 1 owner So Cal barn find. There's not another like it on the planet except maybe in a museum or hidden in a fancy private collection.
HISTORY:This amazing truck was born in 1984 in a factory in Hamura, Japan by some of the finest and most dedicated automotive workers in the World. I say that as an experienced Toyota technician coming from a UAW family raised in Chicago in the 70's whose parents worked in Detroit for GM and NJ for Mercury as far back as the 50's.
This rare gem was transported from Japan on a huge freighter to Long Beach, California in 1985 and then delivered to a So Cal dealership who sold it to a gentleman from Santa Anna. He drove it sparingly and wound up deeding it to his son when he passed with 85k miles.
It should be noted that this was the very last year that Toyota offered a live front straight axle mini truck in North America.
The plastic single timing chain guide that Toyota began installing in 22R engines in 1984 (to get better EPA gas mileage) wore out prematurely at 85k so the son who inherited it set out to restore the truck. He had the engine removed and sent it to a machine shop who replaced the timing chain and guides along with the timing chain cover. They refurbished the valve train as well as replaced the front crank seal, the oil pump & water pump, plus removed the oil pan and replaced the engine rod and main bearings.
Next they replaced the rear main crank seal, the clutch disc, pressure plate, throw out bearing & pilot bearing. The flywheel was machined to a new surface.
When I acquired the truck last year the engine was stabbed but all of the belt driven accessories were in boxes along with the stock carburetor. It was obvious the engine had been rebuilt from all the new gasket edges protruding but we had install everything to hear it run. Once we accomplished that it fired right up and sounded quite healthy but several minor problems were immediately obvious. The original 4 cylinder brass radiator was leaky and couldn't be restored plus the original Aisin carburetor had a severe leak at the main shaft bushing that couldn't be repaired. Lastly the power steering pump was leaking at the back.
We immediately replaced the stock 4 cylinder brass radiator with a modern V6 Denso aluminum radiator which fits like a glove (since this body style started installing the V6 motor in 1988) and runs much cooler because it's 1 inch taller and twice as thick.
Next we ordered a genuine (made in Spain) Weber 32/36 Progressive carburetor for the 22R knowing in advance that the stock Aisin carbs are hopelessly unrebuildable, never mind that the Weber delivers more tuneable power and always passes emissions in all 50 States. Once we installed the Weber carb it immediately ran great and idled normal so we left it at that with no further adjustments.
Finally we replaced the power steering pump assembly with a remanufactured unit from Vision.
We then installed a new fan shroud,new distributor cap, new distributor o-ring, new rotor, new Denso plugs, new plug wires, new fuel filter, new crank case breather, new Dayco belts, new radiator hoses, replaced the fluids in every case from stem to stern and lastly we installed a new battery.
DRIVETRAINThis legendarily reliable numbers matching 22R (2.4L) runs like an industrial sewing machine. Excellent oil pressure. These carbureted 22R engines are particularly desirable for Preppers worldwide because they are immune to the electro magnetic pulses of nuclear war.
Starts every time with a click of key. No smoke, no knocks, and absolutely no fluid leaks.
Runs cool. Temp gauge never climbs past 40% even on hot Arizona summer days. Like aircraft engines these 22R blocks are famous for being hardened with more nickle content than old American muscle cars.
5 Speed manual transmission shifts tight and smooth. Clutch action feels new.
2 speed gear driven transfer case operates precisely as designed.
4x4 STRAIGHT AXLE SUSPENSION:5 inch suspension lift. No Blocks. All Spring. Aftermarket drop drag link. 35 x 12.5 x 15 BFG Mud Terrain Radials with 90% tread mounted on 15 x 10 black aluminum rims. 4 new Long Travel Pro Comp shocks. Dual Pro Comp steering stabilizers. Brakes were gone through on all 4 corners. Truck is tight with no rattles. Mud tire noise does transmit through the cab. The factory Aisin manual lockout hubs work as designed and are literally twice as strong as anything Americans have ever designed. Both 8 inch differentials are stock with 4.10 gears, open carriers and no leaks. These Toyotas are one of the only 4x4's ever made with interchangeable front and rear differentials. It was a designed copied from the Dodge trucks of WWII.
INTERIOR:Clean interior. Everything works. SR5 gauge cluster with tachometer, oil pressure gauge, temp gauge and volts. Only the factory radio deck is missing. Factory rear view mirror is missing the brittle lens cover for dome light. Has the factory radio wiring. This is a factory power steering and power brake truck that did not come with air conditioning. The factory side view mirrors work fine but have some clouding on mirror glass due to age. There's a slick new Venitian blind-style sun shade installed. A Grant GT steering wheel was installed along the way. It has a great feel but there is no horn button. The factory seats have some older covers on them that have some cracking vinyl. They fit rather tight and look OK so they were never removed to examine what the factory seats look like. The factory carpet is in tact but has some wear on the driver's floor which is hidden nicely by new thick rubber floor mats. I would presume there is some heat cracking of the stock plastic dash underneath the dash carpet but never pulled it up to check because I prefer the look of the dash carpet.
BODY & FRAME:Original rust free Southern California truck was nicely repainted once some years ago by original owner. Looks gorgeous. No bondo. Zero rust. Underside is as spotless as the exterior. On the left front fender there's an old alarm activation lock which looks like a black dot in pics but has no current relevance.
Original owner installed a roll bar and rock slider step rails along the way.
There's several reasons that these Toyota Hilux pickup trucks are so legendary worldwide.It's no accident that no matter what part of the world you look at whenever you see news footage of a guerrilla fighter soldier with an AK47 in the back of a pickup it's always a Toyota. That's because Toyota truck reliability is 2nd to none. It's what soldiers count on. That's why Toyota is the only import vehicle ever allowed to compete in NASCAR racing.
Unlike American, French, British or Korean vehicles, every Toyota truck from this era comes with a fully boxed steel frame. Not only is the frame boxed, meaning super strong, but also every nut, bolt and fastener is fine machine threaded. So while virtually every American vehicle has coarse threads throughout and a C-channel frame with only the engine and transmissions having fine machine threads - bottom line is except for some exceptional rare American vehicles, like Early Ford Broncos and some Jeeps with fully boxed frames, nobody in the USA constructed 4x4's with as much engineering integrity as the Japanese back in the day, and no wonder since after being bombed into surrender by Uncle Sam after WW2 they had things to prove as a National mission so they built Toyota trucks with an integrity 2nd to none.
PAPERWORK:Clean and clear California title (Santa Anna) is ready to go. I will express mail or FedX overnight the title after payment is made. Buyer can also overnight a cashiers check for balance if they wish so long as it has notes with a phone number on who my banker can call during business to verify funds. That method is cheaper than wire transfer fees or PayPal fees.
Email or Call 52O-Nine 77-O112 for any questions prior to bidding.
FEEDBACK:For those new to eBay and nervous about buying a vehicle over the internet consider this. I've been selling classic early Broncos and antique Toyotas and vintage parts on eBay for 17 years. Some 15 years ago I happen to sell a truck to an eBay seller who runs a large scale pawn shop in Philadelphia with over 100,000 feedbacks and he taught me this eBay rule of thumb. Every positive feedback is worth about a dollar of trust. That means if you're buying something for $500 then ideally the seller will have at least 500 positive feedbacks. This is just an ideal rule of thumb mind you. So if somebody's selling a $10,000 vehicle with only 32 positive feedbacks I'd be leery. Doesn't mean it's not legit, it's just that there's not much track record. By contrast if a seller's asking $10k for a vehicle and has more than 10k positive feedbacks well then you can rest easier for you can ask yourself why would they risk throwing away their decades old hard earned feedback reputation for only $10k? The answer is they wouldn't.
Note that your winning bid constitutes a legally binding contract for sale so please don't start clicking bid buttons if you're not completely serious, meaning, be sure you have wife's permission and funds in position to send PayPal a deposit per terms below:
Inspection prior to bidding is welcome.
A PayPal deposit of $1000 is due within 24 hours of auction close.
Full balance of Payment is due within 72 hours of auction close by either direct bank to bank wire transfer, or you can overnight envelope a Cashiers Check, or pay cash in person, or pay with PayPal or a card over the phone so long as buyer is willing to pay the 2.5% transaction fees.
All shipping arrangements and fees are the responsibility of the buyer. I will store the truck free for 21 days. There is a $15 per day storage fee after that.

• Make: Toyota
• Model: Hilux
• Type: Standard Cab Pickup
• Year: 1985
• Mileage: 85,800
• VIN: JT4RN60RXF5068506
• Color: ALMOND
• Engine size: 22R
• Number of cylinders: 4
• Fuel: Gasoline
• Transmission: Manual
• Drive type: AWD
• Interior color: Brown
• Drive side: Left-hand drive
• Options: 4-Wheel Drive
• Vehicle Title: Clear
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