The 22R (and the earlier versions like the 18R and 20R) are what built Toyota's reliability reputation. The early 5 speed transmissions often needed bearing replacements every 100K miles, give or take 10K. I traded in an '83 22R for a new '89 4WD with the 3.0, and sometime around '96 I received a notice from Toyota about head gasket problems. They extended the warranty, which had already expired years before, for another year, or until the truck reached 100K miles, and offered to reimburse expenses incurred for previous out-of-warranty repairs. My truck never had the head gasket problem, but a friend had a failure on his '90, at just over 100K. No one that I spoke with from Toyota could give me a reasonable explanation for the failures, but I believe they may have been caused by improper servicing of the cooling system. The 3.0 has the thermostat mounted low on the block, and when refilling a drained system the closed thermostat prevents the coolant from entering the block, even with the radiator filled to the brim. The top hose has to be removed from the radiator and held up while coolant is poured in.
The main place where a 22R shines over a 3.0 is ease of maintenance. Changing spark plugs on a 3.0 requires the good part of an afternoon, and replacing the valve cover gaskets takes a hell of a lot more time than an afternoon. A normally simple job like removing and replacing a starter is a nightmare; I just did it this last week. It took a good 2 hours just to squeeze and jiggle and wiggle the starter into place through the only access under the inner fender, and probably a half hour or more just to get the two mounting bolts aligned and tightened down.
