Weirdest highway problem (power cut-out)

Heya fellow 22r owners. I picked up an 87 PU 22R carbed from my teacher (100 bux, what a steal!) aobut a month ago, due to my civic being sandwiched by a volvo.

Anyway, she'd been sitting in the garage for a year, and when i pciked her up she started fine, but idled rough. I changed out the front brakes and the radiator, and sprayed the hell out of the carb with carb cleaner the first few days. Then what happened is one day I was driving down the highway at about 65-70 mph. She was doing fine when all of a sudden, she starts bucking. Kept doing that and losing speed quickly, and when I got her over to the shoulder, she stalled out. When i tried to start her back up, she started as if nothing happened. When i tried to merge with traffic again, she bucked and bucked for a few more seconds, then she stopped and ran fine for the rest of the ride home.

Ive sinced changed the oil, cap and rotor, the wires and plugs, the thermostat (that's a different story), the fuel filter, and have been running carb cleaner through it. When i brought it back to school, I coudln't find anything wrong with her. She's pulling about 20-22 inches of vac at idle and the carburetor seems to be working spot on. The timing is also perfectly fine. My teacher and I are both stumped. SHe hasn't acted up since, but then again, I haven't been on the highway since ;) I was just wondering if you guys know if this a specific problem since i will be needing to make a ~170 mile trip soon, and I don't need any problems. I guess I would say that it felt like the ingition was cutting out or something.

Another thing, I changed the thermostat because the old one was stuck open. Tough i get warm air from the vent's, the temp gauge barely brakes 1/4 of the way up, if that. Maybe 1/5'th would be more accurate. What *should* it be at? I'm going to probe the coolant with my multimeter soon, but I need to know what range the coolant should be at (i'm guessing between 190-200 degrees).

Finally... the seats aren't stock.. but does anyone else have a problem being comfortable in the truck? I'm 6'1 and with the seat all the way back, i'm still squished into the truck, and my right leg gets tired of holding that position for more than aobut 20 minutes of driving. I just have to drive in a very fatiguing position... anyone know any tricks to help with this?

Thanks for any advice guys.

problem with the bucking, I had this happen to me a long time ago, turned out to be these two little valves on the sides of the carb, wish I could remember what they are called. They open during cold weather starts to let in more gas then close, when they wear out they get a little tear and the gas mix gets all F'ed up. The truck will buck at higway speeds, but not always, it'll run rough, etc.
Go to the Toy parts counter and ask for a diagram of the carb, you can identify the parts, they look like mini thermostats, screw right into the side of the carb and have a vac hose attatched to each. Or grab a carb from the junk yard and swipe the valves out of it.
As for the uncomfortable seat, a little flat pillow wedged under your right thigh is about the only solution I've discovered.
Good luck and I'll try to find you the ACTUAL name of the parts.

i am currently fixing that same problem...i started by putting a new fuel filter on it..then a new fuel pump...same thing was happening. mine would cut out at about fifty mph just as i was shifting into fourth. if i slowed down it would run fine....but i had to let up on the pedal. i figured it was starvin for fuel...so i looked at the cute little glass window on the front of the carb and at an idle i couldnt see any gas...when i revved it up...gas would splash all over in there. i went to toyota...they told me it was probably a float issue...so i ordered a float and just now got finished putting it in. now...when i took the float out it seemed to be fine...ie..no gas sloshing around inside it...no cracks..etc. soon after i noticed the little needle that was attached to it was quite dirty...so i cleaned it up and put the new float in it with the now clean needle. i started it up and now i have plenty of fuel in the cute little window. i hope my little story helped you some...

im still having my problems...i even changed the needle and seat in the carb. i am about to go and rebuild it....ill let you know if i fix my little problem.

If the truck was fine something is seized or something crawled into carb like a squirell or some thing or maybe not

ok...i was going to rebuild the carb...but im a lazy turd...so i just replaced the easy stuff. the problem was solved....for a day or so...and it came back. by this time im pretty pissed...so i went back to toyota and the guy told me to change the diaphram that is on the right side of the carb right below the fuel line. apparently if that diaphram isnt good...it sucks the gas out of the bowl into the engine. not only that..but he said it was probably not starting right up because of it. he was right on both counts...i changed that part...which came in the kit i bought...it was less than 40 bucks. so far for the last few days the problem hasnt returned. what a wonderful day! hope that helps...