Toyota Mighty-X?

[stejames1975]

I have been looking for a cheapish truck for getting around in. This will include occasional trips with moderate loads, but mostly not too much weight involved. More often than not it will just be used as my run-around.

I know I could get a decent newer truck for 4 or 5 hundred thousand, but I have the chance to buy an old, but very nice condition (and fairly low kilometres travelled) Mighty- X crew-cab type truck from a relative. I quite fancy getting it, but am wary because of the age.

Any opinions on what owning this truck might be like? Are they reliable? Is the AC powerful enough to also feed through to AC the covered truck bed area? Are they fast enough to be okay in modern traffic?

Should I just buy a newer truck?

[Goshawk]

cracking little reliable workhorses.. we got an one our ranch, ageing? yes.. sparse interior? yes.. does the job? heck yes..!

[Semper]

Great cars.

[Gary A]

Yes, I had an old Mighty-X and it was bullet proof, never a problem. It was much better than the much newer 4X4 Toyota lemon that I had.

[NeverSure]

That pickup was sold all over the world with different names, but has always been a winner, no matter which generation it was. In about 1982 I bought one for my company, for employees to use for around town business. We put 200,000 miles (300,000 km?) on that thing with no major repairs and more than 1/2 of that was town driving. Even back then I think it had about 2400 cc and gobs of torque. Was the engine called a 22R and the pickup called an SR5 or something like that?

I'd buy one of those again in a heartbeat if I found one like mentioned in the OP, regardless of year.

[thailoht]

I have been looking for a cheapish truck for getting around in. This will include occasional trips with moderate loads, but mostly not too much weight involved. More often than not it will just be used as my run-around.

I know I could get a decent newer truck for 4 or 5 hundred thousand, but I have the chance to buy an old, but very nice condition (and fairly low kilometres traveled) Mighty- X crew-cab type truck from a relative. I quite fancy getting it, but am wary because of the age.

Any opinions on what owning this truck might be like? Are they reliable? Is the AC powerful enough to also feed through to AC the covered truck bed area? Are they fast enough to be okay in modern traffic?

Should I just buy a newer truck?

Great cars.

Wow, you are about 2 weeks too late .... I just sold my 1996, 2.5 manual trans (with AC) Mighty X! I bought mine from its original farang owner over a year ago, installed gas shocks, put on new Michelin tires and new clutch plate and have traveled all over to: Chiang Mai, Loei, Petchabun, Bangkok and Pattaya, Sukhothai, etc., sometimes carrying 7 people, their suitcases and 2 dogs. This is a nice spacious little workhorse.

My only personal dislike was the M/T. I am strictly an A/T guy. I also prefer the power of the 3.0L over 2.5L, though the Mighty X got me up, over and through the mountain roads even fully loaded. Even though I bought a new MU-7, I had intended to keep my Mighty X 'Green Machine' for local use and to drive in the rainy season until wife's word-of-mouth suddenly brought a buyer to my door.

If you find one with a good motor, go for it or you can even have a rebuilt (or new) motor installed! There are millions of these vehicles on the road. Then again, for a little more than THB 400,000, you are in the brand new truck range.

Good luck!

[stejames1975]

Great replies fellas - thank you. It sounds like maybe I should buy it.

@NeverSure - do you know what other names they were sold under? I would be interested to find out more about them.

@thailoht - if you don't mind saying, how much did you sell that for?

[transam]

If the price is right go for it, reliable truck.

[thailoht]

@thailoht - if you don't mind saying, how much did you sell that for?

http://www.one2car.com/TOYOTA_HILUX%20MIGHTY-X/F20120635 This one is practically the same as mine and it is going for THB 185k. I sold mine for a little more than half that price. As good of condition as it was in, it was my just my luck to have the power steering pump spring a leak just as I was cranking the engine over to show the buyer. He accepted a 'lower asking price' to cover the cost of the power steering pump replacement.

[undercover]

The Toyota Mighty X is basically the same thing sold as a Toyota
Hilux that has been sold around the world since the late 60s, most are
manual, most are diesel there are a few around but hard to find
with petrol / auto gearboxes, also if you want more power the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox fits in like it was made for it.

In my opinion they are a very strong truck.

Edited February 22, 2013 by undercover

[thailoht]

The Toyota Mighty X is basically the same thing sold as a Toyota

Hilux that has been sold around the world since the late 60s, most are

manual, most are diesel there are a few around but hard to find

with petrol / auto gearboxes, also if you want more power the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox fits in like it was made for it.

In my opinion they are a very strong truck.

Though I'm happy with my new 3.0L SUV, had I known about the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox, I would have considered going that route before buying new. Do you have any idea of the price of this 3.0L engine and installation?

[roadrunner300]

@thailoht - if you don't mind saying, how much did you sell that for?

http://www.one2car.com/TOYOTA_HILUX%20MIGHTY-X/F20120635 This one is practically the same as mine and it is going for THB 185k. I sold mine for a little more than half that price. As good of condition as it was in, it was my just my luck to have the power steering pump spring a leak just as I was cranking the engine over to show the buyer. He accepted a 'lower asking price' to cover the cost of the power steering pump replacement.

Going for means sold for ?

First of al we al know one2car is the most expensive website there is it cost the carsellers money to advertise the cars there

So they want some back from this.

Second this car isn t populair under the thai just to farangs because its not a pick up but a stationcar with a fixed backsite so you can t make it easy to a pick up like when it just have a carrieboy mounted on it.

I would say value not over 135.000 Baht

Edited February 22, 2013 by roadrunner300

[roadrunner300]

The Toyota Mighty X is basically the same thing sold as a Toyota

Hilux that has been sold around the world since the late 60s, most are

manual, most are diesel there are a few around but hard to find

with petrol / auto gearboxes, also if you want more power the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox fits in like it was made for it.

In my opinion they are a very strong truck.

Though I'm happy with my new 3.0L SUV, had I known about the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox, I would have considered going that route before buying new. Do you have any idea of the price of this 3.0L engine and installation?

I had one done in a garage here for 25.000 baht straight 24 valve 6 cilinder with an automatic 4 gearbox al included with a vat tax recepe

Only they use a lot of petrol like 1 to 7,5 and on lpg 1 to 5,5

[thailoht]

The Toyota Mighty X is basically the same thing sold as a Toyota

Hilux that has been sold around the world since the late 60s, most are

manual, most are diesel there are a few around but hard to find

with petrol / auto gearboxes, also if you want more power the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox fits in like it was made for it.

In my opinion they are a very strong truck.

Though I'm happy with my new 3.0L SUV, had I known about the Toyota Crown 3.0 straight 6 engine and gearbox, I would have considered going that route before buying new. Do you have any idea of the price of this 3.0L engine and installation?

I had one done in a garage here for 25.000 baht straight 24 valve 6 cylinder with an automatic 4 gearbox all included with a vat tax receipt

Only they use a lot of petrol like 1 to 7,5 and on LPG 1 to 5,5

Thanks for that!

It was all sounding good up until you said it was a, 'petrol'. Too bad it's not a diesel.

What is the equivalent km/L of '1 to 7,5 and on LPG 1 to 5,5'?

[roadrunner300]

A diesel engine has a bit more value I think and the garage has to find a good one for you otherwise you come back right away.

But this 25.000 is a good indication I think incase of just needing an engine and no automatic gearbox.

I mean 7,5 km with 1 liter fuel on petrol and 6 km on a liter lpg.

[undercover]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

Even
a brand new Vigo diesel engine sounds like a bag of nails running next
to the straight 6 petrol. in fact the straight 6 on tick over is
inaudible from within the truck, the only way to know its running is by
looking at the rev counter.

I have no information on fuel
consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be
cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

[thailoht]

A diesel engine has a bit more value I think and the garage has to find a good one for you otherwise you come back right away.

But this 25.000 is a good indication I think in case of just needing an engine and no automatic gearbox.

I mean 7.5 km with 1 liter fuel on petrol and 6 km on a liter LPG.

Got it! That fuel economy is not so good.

The 1996 Mighty X, 2.5L diesel, I just sold got 9.(2-5)/L.

[thailoht]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

[roadrunner300]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

Even

a brand new Vigo diesel engine sounds like a bag of nails running next

to the straight 6 petrol. in fact the straight 6 on tick over is

inaudible from within the truck, the only way to know its running is by

looking at the rev counter.

I have no information on fuel

consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

Its almost same is my experience 13 baht for a liter lpg and 30 baht for a liter diesel.

Where you can save some money specially when you drive a lot is oil and oilfilter changes with a

diesel you need to do this on time always or you get punished sooner or later with a damaged engine.

While with LPG the oil stay clean for a very long time because of the much cleaner combustion inside.

So just a filter change once a year and oilchange every 2 years and your fine.

On the other end the diesel will outrun the Petrol engine when it comes to life expectentie

[roadrunner300]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

Then you better stay on Diesel same go s for me Petrol is to expensive I got one car on diesel and the other LPG

[thailoht]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

Then you better stay on Diesel same go s for me Petrol is to expensive I got one car on diesel and the other LPG

I am looking forward to finding out how much more than 400,000 km (~ 250,000 mile petrol engine life) this diesel will last. I operate it solely on 100% synthetic oil and Shell V-power (Euro-4 low sulfur) diesel.

[undercover]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

You say here in LOS ? is it because you feel Diesel is better than

petrol here ? although personally I prefer a 6 cylinder petrol due to

the smoothness and quietness it does concern me that petrol engines run

hotter than diesels and in a hot country like this the under bonnet

temperatures can get to an alarming state where fuse boxes, wiring, in

fact everything under the bonnet running at a much higher temperature

than I feel happy with.

[thailoht]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

You say here in LOS ? is it because you feel Diesel is better than

petrol here ? although personally I prefer a 6 cylinder petrol due to

the smoothness and quietness it does concern me that petrol engines run

hotter than diesels and in a hot country like this the under bonnet

temperatures can get to an alarming state where fuse boxes, wiring, in

fact everything under the bonnet running at a much higher temperature

than I feel happy with.

Excellent points and once again, I agree, but I also believe the mfgrs have, in general, compensated for the heat factor as far as wiring and fuses, etc. but I do find the weakest component in this area to be the car batteries. Their life expectancy is not what Westerners are accustomed to.

In fact, an inline 6, 4.0L was to be my first LOS vehicle purchase. But as is the case with most other living choices here in LOS, I find that after narrowing down the parameters of any choice - (getting real), the (best) decision ultimately took in the 'realities here on the ground' which in this case came down to be: Diesel engines, like Honda cars and Toyota and Isuzu trucks, rule here via service networks and pricing mechanisms.

[undercover]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

You say here in LOS ? is it because you feel Diesel is better than

petrol here ? although personally I prefer a 6 cylinder petrol due to

the smoothness and quietness it does concern me that petrol engines run

hotter than diesels and in a hot country like this the under bonnet

temperatures can get to an alarming state where fuse boxes, wiring, in

fact everything under the bonnet running at a much higher temperature

than I feel happy with.

Excellent points and once again, I agree, but I also believe the mfgrs have, in general, compensated for the heat factor as far as wiring and fuses, etc. but I do find the weakest component in this area to be the car batteries. Their life expectancy is not what Westerners are accustomed to.

In fact, an inline 6, 4.0L was to be my first LOS vehicle purchase. But as is the case with most other living choices here in LOS, I find that after narrowing down the parameters of any choice - (getting real), the (best) decision ultimately took in the 'realities here on the ground' which in this case came down to be: Diesel engines, like Honda cars and Toyota and Isuzu trucks, rule here via service networks and pricing mechanisms.

This has turned out to be an interesting topic, I like the comment (

reality ) of where we are, our decisions here on many things are far

different to what they would be back where we come from and cars / pick

ups are a good example. there is so much to take into account here as it

would be so easy to throw money away by driving what we really would

like to be driving as apposed to saving money driving whats realistic

here.

[roadrunner300]

Its a case of you get what you pay for, the 3.0L straight 6 petrol engine is super smooth and quiet.

.... I have no information on fuel consumption but I would think the straight 6 petrol on LPG would be

cheaper to run than the Diesel due to the much cheaper price of LPG ?

I agree that LPG fuel economy should generally be better than diesel powered.

But, purely on a personal basis, if I were doing any engine conversion here in LOS, I would more than likely only upgrade to a 'better' diesel, unless it was a hands down high performance petrol, and even then - I would never convert it to LPG.

You say here in LOS ? is it because you feel Diesel is better than

petrol here ? although personally I prefer a 6 cylinder petrol due to

the smoothness and quietness it does concern me that petrol engines run

hotter than diesels and in a hot country like this the under bonnet

temperatures can get to an alarming state where fuse boxes, wiring, in

fact everything under the bonnet running at a much higher temperature

than I feel happy with.

Excellent points and once again, I agree, but I also believe the mfgrs have, in general, compensated for the heat factor as far as wiring and fuses, etc. but I do find the weakest component in this area to be the car batteries. Their life expectancy is not what Westerners are accustomed to.

In fact, an inline 6, 4.0L was to be my first LOS vehicle purchase. But as is the case with most other living choices here in LOS, I find that after narrowing down the parameters of any choice - (getting real), the (best) decision ultimately took in the 'realities here on the ground' which in this case came down to be: Diesel engines, like Honda cars and Toyota and Isuzu trucks, rule here via service networks and pricing mechanisms.

Honda diesels? Thats a contradiction they still have to make there first decent one what they tryed themselve failed.

Its petrol only with them and build in a normal car to.

The 2 others are masters in dieselengine building.

Yes the japanese rule here in Thailand when it comes to cars and bikes.

The popularity of the Isuzu is amazing at the moment guided by the goverment and commercials on tv.

People who bought one secondhand 5 years ago didn t loose any money or can even get more today.

[thailoht]

Honda diesels? That's a contradiction they still have to make their first decent one what they tried themselves and failed.

Its petrol only with them and build in a normal car to.

My statement, 'Diesel engines, like Honda cars and Toyota and Isuzu trucks, rule here...." could have been worded better. Maybe, "Diesel engines, just like/along with Honda brand vehicles and Toyota and Isuzu trucks - rule here", would have been less confusing.

The 2 others are masters in diesel engine building.

Yes the japanese rule here in Thailand when it comes to cars and bikes.

The popularity of the Isuzu is amazing at the moment guided by the government and commercials on TV.

People who bought one secondhand 5 years ago didn't lose any money or can even get more today.

Exactly!!

While we are one the subject, how would you compare/rate the Toyota 3.0L diesel engine to the Isuzu 3.0L diesel engine and the Toyota 2.5L diesel engine with the Isuzu 2.5L diesel engine?

[roadrunner300]

Honda diesels? That's a contradiction they still have to make their first decent one what they tried themselves and failed.

Its petrol only with them and build in a normal car to.

My statement, 'Diesel engines, like Honda cars and Toyota and Isuzu trucks, rule here...." could have been worded better. Maybe, "Diesel engines, just like/along with Honda brand vehicles and Toyota and Isuzu trucks - rule here", would have been less confusing.

>

The 2 others are masters in diesel engine building.

Yes the japanese rule here in Thailand when it comes to cars and bikes.

The popularity of the Isuzu is amazing at the moment guided by the government and commercials on TV.

People who bought one secondhand 5 years ago didn't lose any money or can even get more today.

Exactly!!

While we are one the subject, how would you compare/rate the Toyota 3.0L diesel engine to the Isuzu 3.0L diesel engine and the Toyota 2.5L diesel engine with the Isuzu 2.5L diesel engine?

I m not to much in the new cars myself but if I had to choose now I would still buy a 2.5 liter Toyota.

Its fast enough and use the same amount of fuel as the isuzu does.

I know this because sister of my gf and her dad they both bought a new car in 2008 .

Both 2.5 commonreal diesel engines handgears one D max and the other a Vigo.

The Vigo was cheaper some 65000 baht and they run like 1 to 15 on a liter.

[thailoht]

While we are one the subject, how would you compare/rate the Toyota 3.0L diesel engine to the Isuzu 3.0L diesel engine and the Toyota 2.5L diesel engine with the Isuzu 2.5L diesel engine?

I'm not to much in the new cars myself but if I had to choose now I would still buy a 2.5 liter Toyota.

Its fast enough and use the same amount of fuel as the isuzu does.

I know this because sister of my gf and her dad they both bought a new car in 2008 .

Both 2.5 commonrail diesel engines handgears one D max and the other a Vigo.

The Vigo was cheaper some 65000 baht and they run like 1 to 15 on a liter.

So the Toyota and Isuzu 2.5L diesel engines got 15km/L?!! That's good! And not even close to the 2.5L '96 Mighty-X

[roadrunner300]

While we are one the subject, how would you compare/rate the Toyota 3.0L diesel engine to the Isuzu 3.0L diesel engine and the Toyota 2.5L diesel engine with the Isuzu 2.5L diesel engine?

I'm not to much in the new cars myself but if I had to choose now I would still buy a 2.5 liter Toyota.

Its fast enough and use the same amount of fuel as the isuzu does.

I know this because sister of my gf and her dad they both bought a new car in 2008 .

Both 2.5 commonrail diesel engines handgears one D max and the other a Vigo.

The Vigo was cheaper some 65000 baht and they run like 1 to 15 on a liter.

So the Toyota and Isuzu 2.5L diesel engines got 15km/L?!! That's good! And not even close to the 2.5L '96 Mighty-X

Exactly there is big differents between the old diesels and the new your lucky to get 1 liter 10 km.

While the commonrails use a sofisticated injectionsystem developed by the germans in the past

Wich also alows a little higher compresion ratio and a turbo where the pressure is commanded by the motormanagment.

Optimized inlet and outlet trajects

They are more effective and also a little more powerfull because of this.

[Yo Sup]

If it were me I'd buy it. I'm looking for a cheap, running or not, 4 cylinder (22refi engine, which has been around for 30+ years) toyota truck with or without AC, manual is okay, that runs on petrol or LPG. Enjoy the video! I've owned three of them and you can't kill 'em!