r/BuyItForLife • u/goingoverallterrain • 17h ago
Vintage My 87 Toyota 4x4 van/kids fort/treehouse.
Here’s my ultra trusty 1987 Toyota 4wd van my kids and i built during the pandemic. It was their treehouse, playroom, mini kid cave on wheels. Designed to hit the snow and then down to the beaches of southern cal. I love this van.
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u/cktyu 16h ago
Toyotas = BIFL
As long as you don’t get bored of it and sell it
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u/questionname 13h ago
Unless it rusts. Not saying Toyotas are more prone to rust than others, but cars are not BIFL in general
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u/goingoverallterrain 16h ago
So true. I working on a couple 4x4 Toyota sunraders and they make All my other rigs irrelevant.
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u/Bubbly_Ranger_5389 17h ago
AWESOME BUILD. Some say this inspired the cyber truck.
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u/goingoverallterrain 17h ago
I’m an 80s kid, so buck rodgers, starwars, transformers, all the Japanese anime… cybertruck does nothing for me.
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u/YoSupWeirdos 13h ago
this type of 4x4 80s van is pretty much my favourite type of car ever
pack your family and friends in it and freaking send it
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u/Aethereal_Crunch 17h ago
I want to do a build like this with a Tercel
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u/goingoverallterrain 17h ago
It doesn’t get much uglier than the Tercel 😆 only thing that stopped me even though it’s a very capable vehicle. Plus i did the whole Landcruiser route.
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u/Klavinoid 17h ago
Holy ... this is awesome!
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u/goingoverallterrain 17h ago
My kids absolutely loved it. Captains chairs swivel so they were always waving to people passing by. Bench seat coupled as a bed. Roof top tent simulated a tree house.
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u/Klavinoid 17h ago
Oof, makes me miss my camper so bad!
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u/goingoverallterrain 16h ago
What did you have?
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u/Klavinoid 16h ago
A Ford Transit Nugget 06. Not nearly as rad as this, but it had charm.
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u/goingoverallterrain 16h ago
Whatever gets you outdoors. Same type of unadulterated space that got you from a to b. My kids really got into fishing. So we’re hitting all the lakes with my Land Cruiser and fiberglass camper but when it came to the beaches. Some places charge 100 to park. So this van because out fishing/adventure vehicle.
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u/triumphofthecommons 16h ago
this is the type of vehicle i would happily dump $20k into, rebuilding what needs rebuilt, upgrading various system like sus, brakes, headlights, and it would last me decades. rather than spend twice that for some newfangled computer on wheels that i don’t trust further than the warranty.
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u/damion789 13h ago
Great job, parts are not easy at all to find on these even a couple of decades ago. Forget finding anyone to work on it, you're on your own.
I remember when these were new and just about everywhere, along with Chrysler minivans. It was before Honda had a minivan and stations wagons still ruled the pavement.
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u/goingoverallterrain 13h ago
Pretty easy to wrench on. Simple 4y Toyota engine that you actually still purchase brand new on amazon. Much easier to work on this than a Land Cruiser.
Biggest issue was they were easy to steal. You sneeze on it twice and it will start. Parts aren’t bad considering. I also have another 4x4, 5spd with hi/lo.
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u/Cannibalizzo 9h ago
I used to drive one of these when I delivered flowers. I absolutely LOVED it. Yours is a thing of beauty.
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u/goingoverallterrain 8h ago
I remember back in the day i just never knew they made in 4x4. With the price of syncros zoom to 60k+ the Toyota version, imo, is being slept on.
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u/notsoDifficult314 8h ago
I was scrolling too fast and just saw the picture. I thought it was an ad and thought "oh look, they're making vans that look like the 80s again.". Then I read your title and got a little sad that no, they will never make them like that again...
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u/goingoverallterrain 8h ago
New cars, imo, just don’t do anything for me. Don’t get me wrong, i love my wife’s 23 black on black sienna hse…but i grew up when you would modified everything. It was cool to put your spin on this. I grew up during the battle of the imports scene. So I’m a little jaded. Plus I’m in SoCal so we see everything…. But you won’t see another 4x4 Toyota van like mine. 😉
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u/Legitimate_Ocelot491 8h ago
That's pretty sweet. I had the regular drive version for a while almost thirty years ago. It's a trip riding around with the engine under your butt. Then having to teach the oil change guys the trick to getting at the engine. Hauled a lot of crap in it and drove it cross country a few times.
Mine was silver as well but ended up with a lot of rust.
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u/goingoverallterrain 8h ago
It’s amazing how many people come up to me telling me their stories about their Toyota van. Then to see it all beefy just ready for adventure. Then you got little kids giving you thumbs up while dad’s blasting 80s music. Literally like a little parade float.
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u/Legitimate_Ocelot491 7h ago
Check out the ending of "Back to the Future" when Marty comes back to 1985. You'll see a silver Toyota Van parked in the background. Coupled with his dream 4x4 also being a Toyota, the movie was basically a big car commercial for the brand.
I loved the quirkiness of the body shape in its regular form but your mods take it to another level, almost like a moon rover or snow beast.
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u/goingoverallterrain 7h ago
For sure. Ratchet from transformers and bloodsport (i know that wasn’t a Toyota van) engrained the love for these vans from an early age. To see my kids use it as their fort, made my heart full.
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u/Neiliobob 7h ago
Do me a favor and enter this in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour so I can get a 1/64 of this. It's cooler than the snow.
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u/paperrblanketss 5h ago
Had one of these and it caught on fire in a blazing inferno, almost killed us
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u/RA242 17h ago
Coming from a Yota guy this is the coolest. Bilsteins? Original powertrain? Details!