86ish Toy automatic trans opinions

[a77ssii]

I work with a guy who has decided that he wants a Toy after driving mine. He found an 86 xtra cab short bed 4x4 with an automatic. I have 1 J$$P, 2 Toys and 5 Internationals and only 1 Scout II has a TF-727, the rest are standards. SO, I have absolutely no experience with a Toy auto. This one has 201K on it and the 22-RE. What has been everyones experiences with the Toy auto? Good, Bad or really ugly. His intent is for this to be a daily driver replacing his old Blazer so there will be little or no 4wheeling done in it. Any help would be appreciated.

[wheelerfreak]

The auto's in the 22re's of that vintage where pretty stout, especially behind a 22re. They last quit a while with routine maintainance. The draw back is they suck up a lot of the little power a 22re has. They also have a deep overdrive that is only used when going downhill. My 85 came stock with the A340 trans, it was durable and reliable, but it sucked for DD'ing for me. It lasted about 2 years before I yanked it and swapped in a 5 speed. IMHO, a 5 speed is a better way to go unless you just can't drive a stick.

[zj51]

Ive got the auto in my 87 22re 4runner and it hasnt given me any trouble at all. .. the thing about the overdrive is pretty true though especially if you put any size larger tires on it and dont regear... takes a sec for mine to shift from reverse to drive and thats not really anything... its a good tranny... gas mileage will be just slightly lower too i believe but def much better than a blazer anyway....

i do wheel mine a little here and there mainly just through some mud and some easy trails too...

one thing i like about it is that it has normal and power button for how you want it to shift... keep mine on power a lot of the time because unless you are flooring it in normal shifting it will shift when your engine is still low in rpms and still dont have any power, especially is bad when goin uphill from a stop and it does this

but i love mine...

my 2cents

[smalltowncowboy]

i have an 86 ext cab short box (now a flatbed) with the 22RE and an auto. im running 35's and havnt regeared yet (on order), i dont keep my tranny in the power options cause it sucks the gas to fast, but i still have enough power to go up hills and down the freeway. i didnt when i bought it cause my exhaust was junk. i now have a header, 2 1/2 inch exhaust, and a flowmaster and have a ton more power. cant wait to get my new gears in.

[a77ssii]

Thanks for the info everyone. I have printed all these up and given them to him and it looks like we may have another convert. He is going to come up and look at it on Saturday.

[cheap sunglasses]

I am planning on buying an 86 xtra cab turbo and it has an auto. Good thing about the turbos is their drivetrains are beefed up so my auto will be a bit better.. hopefully I figure youre not gonna get much power out of a four banger no matter what tranny you run so run what you like. I dont plan on being able to go fast in my truck.

[Gnarly4X]

I had an auto in my 86 long bed and loved it. It was bullit-proof and neve gave me any problems. It was especially nice wheeling. After the DT header and open exhaust the power was much better. The only negative was wheeling and climbing hills, it would not down shift from 2nd to 1st until the truck was practically stopped.
Gnarls.

[Manson]

I've seen many auto toys with well over 200,000 miles and still working fine. Just keep clean fluid in it and it will work for many more years.

[MT4Runner]

cheap sunglasses, I think the only thing the Turbo auto has that a regular auto doesn't is the v6 third. The trannys are the same, IIRC.

Mine started slipping, so I changed the fluid and added some Lucas oil--shifts great now.

Turbo 5-speeds are stronger from tranny to t-case (23spline) to 3rd.

Nice avatar, Manson. RIP Carson ...he was asking RG and Caleb about Full Traction lifts on Wednesday.