The best truck I ever owned was a 1988 Toyota 4 Cylinder short bed. It wasn’t much of a truck and was falling apart, but the engine, the Japanese 22R was under the hood. I knew the engine needed to be replaced, so I looked and looked everywhere, but every wrecking yard that got a Toyota with the 22R, the engine had been taken. My wife and I took that truck everywhere together. We went camping, fishing, puddle jumping, picnics and more. We also used it to help others who needed furniture moved, and made a great summer work truck to run around in.
One day we were driving the truck and blew a radiator hose. We stopped at a gas station and I worked on it enough to get us home. Unfortunately, the head gasket had blown on the side and I didn’t have the money to fix it, because it would be expensive. Despite the head gasket, I was able to drive it anyways with little trouble for three years. Oh it had its moments, but when it was time to go, it went. Then finally, after I got a new car, the truck finally began breaking down. It no longer had the get up and go it once had and when I opened the hood, steam shot out from the side. I slowly nursed it home, and finally parked it, but not before the mileage turned almost 300,000 miles.
My wife and I have never forgotten that truck and the times we had in it. One time she even tried to drive it, but she couldn’t manage the concept of clutch and gas. We lurched back and forth, in the parking lot until she gave up. We still laugh about it today. That’s why my Toyota was the best truck I ever owned.