An old Ugly Pickup "Build"

[Tylerhasaphone]

A year or two ago my 3vze did the same idle surge thing for a couple weeks then never did it again, it didn't cause any trouble and I wasn't in a big hurry to take apart my daily driver in the middle of winter. As for TG, I bought their winch plate and was impressed with the construction, especially for the price. I've had it on for a few years now with zero problems. Would definitely recommend!

I just replaced my coolant temp sensor thinking that may have been my problem.. No dice, but while replacing it no coolant shot our or was even near the sensor.. Makes me think air pocket in coolant. Guess ill burp it yet again. Quite a pesty air pocket.

Nice truck! Have to love the Trail-Gear bumper for the price. I've backed into rocks, got hit (low speed) last week and besides some scratched paint the bumper is holding up great. Also have to love craigslist for cheap shells, I got mine for $60!!!

Niceee! Ill search the good ole C list before i pull the trigger.

Super cool truck. These are my favorite era of Toyota minitrucks. I personally think that these early '90s trucks have the best lines of any of the Toyota pickups. I had a '93 reg cab and loved it and ended up selling it after I lost my job. But otherwise I'd still have it for sure. Lots of potential with these trucks. If you keep the IFS they make for very comfortable little exploration rigs with good capability. They are also relatively simple to do a SAS and turn them into killer crawlers. They're just really versatile. Subbed for updates.
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Here's a couple shots of my old one that might provide an idea or two.

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Thank you man! Ive followed your build of your Tacoma on TW for a really long time now and your truck has always been a huge inspiration. Love your blue pickup as well and looking forward to seeing your Land Cruiser come along! You really have a knack for building really really nice rigs!

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

Come on Adam... you always make me feel like my trucks are junk when you post pictures of that blue beast :drool:. (The new 80 is looking great already as well BTW!)

Come on man! Both of your pick ups are drool worthy and inspiring what i do with my old Rojo!!

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

Got a couple small things done to the truck over last weekend. I have to say living in a small apartment with very little room for any tools, no garage or space to work on my truck really blows.
Luckily i have friends with garages near by and my parents house is about an hour 15 away which is where all my tools are, plus a garage so thats where i have to get most things done now-a-days.
Anyway stopped by my parents over the weekend on our way to the coast after camping at big basin national park on saturday night. Big Basin is beautiful. Nestled in the northern California redwoods. New camper worked great on its maiden voyage.. I need to build a sleeping rack though, stat.

Heres a really terrible but looked ok on instagram picture of my truck at our campsite

As some may have noticed, my camper shell is actually for a Tacoma access cab. Overall, it works. It just has its slight issues.
If you look at my previous pic with the white camper on it, you'll see where the camper meets the cab, the angles dont match up. Camper is at an angle forward and cab is straight up and done. Because of the angle differences i cant get the camper to fully sit on that bed rail closest to the cab. Im working on water tight-ing the slight gap between the camper and bed rail near the cab there.
Another issue, is it has a slight overhang where the rear hatch glass is supposed to meet the tail gate. After experimenting with a couple foam options and no real luck, my fiance had the excellent idea of getting under door sweep mounted to the tail gate.. It works perfect! Seals the gap nice and tight and is very sturdy! So if anyone has this same issue, try it!

Heres a pic

Also got the roof rack transferred over from my old rack. Just need a new, bigger, cargo box now!

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

Went out to the coast with my Fiance over the weekend. Weather was in the 70s and it was a beautiful day.
Found a cool little spot with some short little off road "trails" thats wind along the cliff right on the water. Very cool spot to back the truck up and take in the view and hang. All so threw her in 4lo and handled some small obstacles along the way. Was a great time!

All so! Just got my rear add leafs in yesterday. I have opposite sag currently. Will change when i get my sleeping rack built and in and load her up with gear. Stoked! Pics soon

 

[DeskToGlory]

Looks like a fun trip! Man, I've got to get out on the road this upcoming weekend...

 

[Derek24]

Where you go? Looks like nice weather!

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

Where you go? Looks like nice weather!

This was off highway one between santa cruz and halfmoon bay! Weather was amazing!

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

Anyone have input on going with ome front torsion bars for some front lift?

 

[eblau]

I have them on my 90 4runner, mainly because of the extra weight from my ARB, winch and lights. If you aren't planning on putting a bumper/ winch combo I'd say skip the OME torsion bars. They ride really firm with a stock bumper/ no winch and the same "lift" can be accomplished by cranking the stock bars a little (don't go crazy) or adding a ball joint spacer. Make sure to order new torsion bar adjuster hardware if you replace or crank them up. Mine snapped off when I tried to remove them.

 

[juddrussell]

Those pics are awesome man!!!

 

[DeskToGlory]

^^^Yup, both of my bolts broke as well. Good to have a couple on hand when adjusting or replacing torsion bars.

I went with the OME torsion bars on Red but adjusted them for almost stock ride height (maybe got a 0.5in lift). Much better ride than the 4Runner I had with cranked torsion bars (1.5" lift). I avoided a balljoint spacer just to keep the suspension geometry close to stock. The plan with the suspension what to replace and/or upgrade as much as possible without changing too much of what Toyota did in the first place.

Are you looking at the OME torsion bars for a lift so that you can fit larger tires?

I fit 265/75R16 tires with a 1" body lift and stock suspension with a very little trimming of the fenders. The same could be done with 265s and a small crank or 265s and OME bars. As a reminder... 265s with 4.10 gears and a fully loaded truck blows when driving up steep grades.

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

I have them on my 90 4runner, mainly because of the extra weight from my ARB, winch and lights. If you aren't planning on putting a bumper/ winch combo I'd say skip the OME torsion bars. They ride really firm with a stock bumper/ no winch and the same "lift" can be accomplished by cranking the stock bars a little (don't go crazy) or adding a ball joint spacer. Make sure to order new torsion bar adjuster hardware if you replace or crank them up. Mine snapped off when I tried to remove them.

Maybe some day ill run a warn bumper with a winch? Probably not though. Thanks for the tips!

Those pics are awesome man!!!

Thanks man!

^^^Yup, both of my bolts broke as well. Good to have a couple on hand when adjusting or replacing torsion bars.

I went with the OME torsion bars on Red but adjusted them for almost stock ride height (maybe got a 0.5in lift). Much better ride than the 4Runner I had with cranked torsion bars (1.5" lift). I avoided a balljoint spacer just to keep the suspension geometry close to stock. The plan with the suspension what to replace and/or upgrade as much as possible without changing too much of what Toyota did in the first place.

Are you looking at the OME torsion bars for a lift so that you can fit larger tires?

I fit 265/75R16 tires with a 1" body lift and stock suspension with a very little trimming of the fenders. The same could be done with 265s and a small crank or 265s and OME bars. As a reminder... 265s with 4.10 gears and a fully loaded truck blows when driving up steep grades.

Well im thinking small front lift because with my AAL in rear ive got quite the rake going on. Im thinking that will change some with the sleeping platform im building in the bed and of course with weight of all our gear it'll sink a tad. Mainly for aesthetics i was thinking maybe bumping the the front up a tad. I bought 1.5" BJ spacers and installed then removed them a while back. I didnt like the angles it put everything at and i just didnt seem right to me. Maybe a much smaller BJ spacer though?
Or i just leave the rake and leave the front end stock..

 

[Crenshaw]

I've had BJ spacers on my last couple trucks/4runners and am really happy with them. I generally will only run an inch or so over stock height, which actually requires backing off the t-bars quite a bit. The ride ends up being much better than stock and you get just enough lift to run a bigger tire without issue. I have 295/75-16s on my pickup right now and it's a happy camper. 4.88s are are almost mandatory with anything bigger than a 31 unless you live at sea level and never drive in the mountains.

Anyone I've ever talked to with the OME t-bars seemed to feel like they were just too stiff. Besides, if you crank them to accomplish any lift over stock you'll still be dealing with the same funky geometry that you would with stock bars.

 

[Tylerhasaphone]

I've had BJ spacers on my last couple trucks/4runners and am really happy with them. I generally will only run an inch or so over stock height, which actually requires backing off the t-bars quite a bit. The ride ends up being much better than stock and you get just enough lift to run a bigger tire without issue. I have 295/75-16s on my pickup right now and it's a happy camper. 4.88s are are almost mandatory with anything bigger than a 31 unless you live at sea level and never drive in the mountains.

Anyone I've ever talked to with the OME t-bars seemed to feel like they were just too stiff. Besides, if you crank them to accomplish any lift over stock you'll still be dealing with the same funky geometry that you would with stock bars.

Thanks for the info!
Yeah the 1.5" BJ spacers i have sitting in my garage now seem a little much. I may order some slightly smaller ones, just to keep CV angles and everything closer to stock angles.