This is Aaron Genske here,
This is Aaron Genske here,
My truck is a 1996 Tacoma 2wd with the 2.4L Inline 4 cylinder 5 speed manual. I bought it for $800 as a daily driver in Sept. 2014 and took as good care of it as I could. Then after awhile I got carried away and drove it like I stole it, exhaust didn't want to be quiet, got a new muffler put on it and a week later the pipe fell off where the catalytic converter was supposed to be. Welded it back on and another weld let loose. I drove it for 6 months without an exhaust attached. Only exhaust manifolds, surprisingly I ever got pulled over. I would redline 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears like it was nothing. It leaked oil from a small hole I put in the oil pan from running over a small engine and had to put 2-4 quarts in every other week. At one point when money was tight I ran it dry of oil, and at another time there ended up being water in my oil. After a new/used oil pan all was well. Now the truck has been in two TODs and was T-boned by an Astro van, I backed into a bunch of other trucks, rear ended and hit other cars to where the radiator van was pushed up into the engine block. Before the next event I pulled the core support out so that fan could spin freely and fixed the ground to the battery. In the 2nd event I ended up rolling and sliding on my drivers door with the truck still running and got put back on all 4 wheels and get driving her hard. The frame is still intact but not looking good. The bed is all smashed in and looks like hell. But 3 months after I went to drain the radiator and pull the battery before the cold weather came and started the truck up. It started with no issues, had oil pressure right away and it went into gear with no issues. I'm proud of this little bullet proof truck and will always talk highly of older and newer Toyotas. I now drive a 2012 Tacoma and love it just as much.