Just curious if anyone has ever tried to do this. How the body mounts line up.

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Are you sure you're asking the right question? My goal would be to fit a 1986 - 89 4runner onto an '84 - '85 frame. Which I'm told works quite nicely.

Are you trying to get IFS and rear coils under your 1st gen 4runner? I think they are totally differnt vehicles. -- Matt

if they're anything like trucks the frames should be similar

and why would you want to swap an '86-89 body onto an '84-85 frame? they're the same body <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

So I don't have to modify the frame to have leaf springs in front. The '84 - '85 frame rails are bent more relief to allow more space between the straight axle and the frame. The '86 - '88 frames are flatter (like 2wd frames) because the IFS doesn't need the same clearance. -- Matt

So the question remains, why? They're the same body. Find an 85 SR5 and you'll get all the fancy interior goodies. What am I missing here?

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As soon as I made this post I had a feeling people would wonder why I was asking. I consider 84-89 to be 1st generation 4runners. 89 1/2 - 95 2nd generation. I have an 88 v6 with IFS (wife and kids daily driver) I was gonna sell it, and as soon as it went on the market the tranny went out. It's gonna cost bucks to fix so I was thinkin coil springs in the back and keep it for a while. Not a realistic swap though. I was really just wondering if it could be done w/out any welding(in case I come across a cheap donor vehicle some day.

Thanks guys <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Well, my idea is that there are not too many '85 4runners around, but there are '84-'85 frames (4runner, xcab and longbed) just sitting around in wrecking yards and going to the crushers that could be put under '86 - '89 4runner bodies. It's a lot easier and often cheaper to buy a '86-'89 4runner these days and they are usually in better shape and more likely to have upgrades like the SR5 package. More choices is better and Toyota wrench'n is fun -- Matt

I did it with my 87 Runner. The frame was rotting out behind the steering gearbox and the rest was looking rough but the body was pretty good yet. I found an 85 Runner that the body was pretty rough(not much of the floor left) but the frame was in good shape, The swap was real easy too <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

That's what we like to hear! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />