Toyotally Awesome 94 pickup

Damn. Lawn darted my ranger in Pismo a few years ago as well.

Collapsed cab mounts, bent spindles, busted radiator, etc. It's always Pismo... lol
 
Damn. Lawn darted my ranger in Pismo a few years ago as well.

Collapsed cab mounts, bent spindles, busted radiator, etc. It's always Pismo... lol
Fack... yea man this was pretty gnarly 2nd gear going pretty good to stopped... Pro tip don't follow @Lutz in his baja bug in the the fog haha

If the truck wasn't caged front to back it would have been Bad Times at Ridgemont High.
 
July 30, 2014

Already started the teardown
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Totally Run able!
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Time for a fresh Skid plate! lol
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Finally got back to work on the truck...

Realized why I was putting off pulling it appart the rest of the way as I started to write down notes of what needs to be done while truck was down. Not going to be cheap!


Lower is pretty mangled. (New arm from TC)
Upper looks like it might be bent too (going to TC)
Passenger Spindle is cracked (going to TC)
Strut frame is mangled (going to TC)
King Kong steering center link is bent( new from TC)


Uni balls on uppers are clapped
Heims on lowers will be replaced
bushing on lower and uppers
All new hardware for the front ( Including Splndle bolts !#@@$%#% ( bastards are like $40 a bolt!)
Need new misalignments for passenger side upper
Brake booster/ Brake master cylinder seems to be leaking so going to replace those ( was on my list any way)
Bolts on motor mounts are long over due.

Radiator has gotta come out so i can get to
fan clutch
Belts ( haven't changed them since i caged truck)
Valve cover gasket thats been leaking like a mofo.

Steering box is also coming off.( leaks pretty bad ) Going to look for a remanned or maybe troll the Junk yard.
new lines Custom power steering (only been putting that off for 4 years)

Wheel bearings will be replaced
Wind Shield is cracked pretty bad after that little mishap. might get a new one of those.
Rear view mirror needs to be pulled and replaced.

Shocks need to be rebuild all the way around and revalved (Need a new shock shaft for passenger front)
Also need to Cut tab and reweld for my flag and install tie down point so i can mount the pelican sideways in the bed.

Oh and that skid plate lol probably won't be going back on the truck

They said owning a prerunner would be fun! Actually no big deal... Truck was due for a full tear down any way.


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Good times!
 
Parts Subie

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New to me beefed up sub frame
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Thanks to Campershellfun
Upgraded/repaired spindles
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Race prep
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Shit'llbuffout
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Dont worry new 22re sticker already on the way.
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put that all back together... sorted out what i need bolt wise. then decided together the sub frame on. Crawled under there only to fine more bless from my lawn dart experience

Fawk!

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Splendid!

Should have just beamed it or grafted a jeep liberty front end on to it.

Until next time...
 
No going back at this point!
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Need to pick up the correct misalignments but after I get the those should be able to burn the uniball cups in and everything bolted up for final install.
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The girls working on a little mirror unistall
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All gold everything
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More progress last few nights

Rebuild shock. New seals oil and shaft.
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Picked up new wheel bearings..got those all ready to be installed on spindles... old races had some hairline cracks glad i was replacing these.

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Small personal victory getting that TC pitman arm off. My HF pitman arm pull would not fit over said pitman arm after grinding the hell out of it still nothing. ended up hitting with some heat and little hammer and 2 pry bars. popped right off!


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got it painted along with my spindles

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New center link and repainting the cross member
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This weekend will be back on all 4's!
 
Thanks to Tucker and Scotty and Young maxwell, and Gimmesand. over last few days she's almost ready for battle.

Young maxwell burning those uniball cups. Friday night was up till ? 2ish
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Woke up at 8ish some how not hung over ?

Met up with this character...

What????

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sent the body a few times
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scotty and i rolled back to the house at about 11 am and dropped the hammer

New steering box installed note that it already has dirt miles lol was in the bed of scotts truck on the Death valley trip haha
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fast forward 10 pm

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Still need to bleed brakes and do the alignment. bunch of other small stuff but she should be ready for battle tmw afternoon

Stoked!

E
 
oh dannnng
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Still a few things left to button up.. list to self.

Alignment
Rotate tires
both windows are off the tracks and will only roll have way up
Adjust ride height
Need to swap race radio back over from the rover.
Nut and bolt check
Skid plates need to be reinstalled
new Rear view mirror needs to be installed
Check fluids.
Tools need to be gone through
Load fire wood
Check tire pressure in spares
Gas cans
Water can


Rover Prep

Fluids
bolt in rear seat back
Nut and bolt check
clean out
tire pressure
Load coolers
Fire wood

Yeah both rigs are going out for thanksgiving!

Cant wait to be out in the desert around the fire with a IPA in hand.

Epic Trip.
Only issues I had with anything was my windows are fawked on both sides. need new window regulator on the passenger side window was left rolled up all weekend and passenger door inside handle does not work at the moment so you have to have some one let you out from outside

Pretty minimals consider the overhaul that just went down on this thing... front end feels great. I'll amid at the start of the weekend I was a little timid charging my first whoop sections. I did not notice any difference other than it squeaks less than before with the bushings. maybe a little more road vibration but that might just be in my head.



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Having both trucks out there was cool
Both of my parents took a turn behind the wheel.

My mom getting it on the lake bed. Calls in over the radio "can I tip this thing over"
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She was so stoked on the truck. We did a run to ransburg and back she drove the whole way with Sdcurti lil bro co dawging for her. Talking on the radio,having no issues keeping up with the group. haha while my Dad was piloting the rover with me co dogging lol. Had a blast out there with them. it was really cool seeing them get as much enjoyment as I do from the people and the dirt miles.

My mom took me for a little night run and we came pretty damn close to going over after she blew a turn on a sharp left down hill turn. haha Luckily she listen to me and turned down the little embankment and we just kinda slide sideways down a hill lol Got the blood flowing for sure. My mom "that was pretty close"
me " yea, see how fast shit can get real out here."
Mom "yea, totally"
We both laughed it off and continued to smash through the whoops . Will never forget that hot lap! Good times.



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Stoked truck is back in action.
E
 
March 1 2015
Cruised out to cal city this weekend.... Had a great time. Ended up with a little Coolant leak on top. old hose that I have never replaced cracked right at the top of the clamp... ended up pulling it off cutting it at the split making it a bit short, reinstalled and it was good to go..will probably just replace it just be on the safe side.

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Solo mission back to the highway from Cal city was pretty fun in the rain...
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5 month bump
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Olive and I failed smog a few weeks back.
Picked up a new high flow Cat. Cruised over to TT motorsports
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And boom

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In prepping for this weekends Pismo Trip. Metcho was so kind to point out to me that I needed to replace the sleeves in my steering center link. Ordered those up from TC along with some upper shackle bushings. Changed the oil. Wired up Hids on bumper ( still need another ballast). Gave the steering wheel a full prep with some simple green and a wire brush. Loaded up and shes pretty much ready for battle.

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Hydration is important.
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Crew chief making sure I'm doing things properly.
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Over and out
E
 
New bed cage wrap....
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I need to do that to my truck really bad. That #beachlife really takes a toll on the metal. Assuming you're going with the same color?
Yea. just going with hammered dark bronze again. I have been lagging pretty bad on updates. Pismo for Carlos' Bachelor party was a good time. Truck ran well no issues that i can recall
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Had TTmotorsports (85yota) and only1mikey build a rack for my roof top tent and redo my spare set up. Pretty stoked how it all came out.
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No tent just the rack
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Working on getting everything painted and put back together. So we can go to give the new set up a shake down run Need to replace upper shackle bushings. Change Fluids replace front ballast for Hid Redo rock lights new license plate light reinstall pass door panel Replug sidewall ( safety first)Cooler Tie downs in bed
 
Took truck out for a little shake down run with new rear set up...So stoked! The tent is awesome. The functionality of the new spare set up for Loading and unloading was much easier, definitely going to take a few trips to get a system of where everything goes. As far as performance with the added rear weight, its just what the truck needed to get the rear suspension to work. Instead of bouncing over everything the rear seems to really stay planted on the ground. Can't wait to take it out again.
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The tilt up Tent and rack provides shade in addition to it making life way easier to load and unload
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Rad photos stevyboy snapped
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Thanks Tucker!
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Gotta prep truck for thanksgiving. installing some more tie downs in the bed. Changing Fluids Cleaning Air fliter changing upper shackle bushings Adjust headlights Install new ballast for front HID nut and bolt check Install door passenger Door panel rewire rock lights wire up tent light
 
Nov 22, 2015
Tucker ( Thodges89) and I got a bunch of stuff done yesterday. Tie downs are installed Diff oil and Motor Oil have been changed Front HID Ballast replaced
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Rock lights fixed
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We even installed some work lights under the rack. Should be perfect for unloading and cooking
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Few more things to wrap up before Thanksgiving and she will be ready to rock.
 
10 month bump Thanks Giving trip was solid...
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ended up sending the jump out by the pinnacles one too many times and bent / cracked the housing again at the spring perch. Locker was making all kinds of great noises. Limped it home and still drove it to work a few weeks as i toasted a valve in my subi
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Having Wallace and Olive co dog at the same time was pretty interesting lol
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Finally manned up and pulled the axle in prep for the old man's bachelor party.
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Had TT motorsports weld up the housing. Originally he was going to truss the housing but after getting it over to the shop, he let me know that it wasn't worth putting in money into. He straightened it the best he could and welded it up and told me to find a new housing. Also had the diff gone through. Everything was good to go.
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Back In action for KOH and Old man's last Hoorah
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new set up is rad. So much more room for Items
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tire felt a little low ? I think it's patchable
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We ran from KOH to laughlin. I remember the trail was epic ... some of the softest sand i have ever been in. Had a couple of ohhh shit moments... had to Karate chop the clutch and grab first to get us through haha Good times. Laughlin - home via mojave road. Brakes felt super spongy right at the end of the J tree forest... got out and scoped the truck and sure enough sheared the flare off the rear brake T. Old man and I reflaired the end and slapped it back together and bled the brakes. back in business
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Lets see oh yes. Next trip was cruthers canyon in May did a little write up on >>> https://dirtmiles.com/2016/07/16/caruthers-canyon-to-nelson-nv/had no issues. other than a small coolant leak from the tstat.
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truck sat for a few months while we have been working on the house and taking a few trips. Until a few weeks ago, Kayla's Grandpa was in town. He made mention of wanting to go camping and ride in the truck. So we made it happen. I did a quick prep on the truck changed out that T stat, Nut and bolt. we head up to Gorman for the night.
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sdcurti even cruised up for the night.
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Her grandpa was stoked... 82 years old air force vet. Never been out before. He had an ear to ear smile on his face just cruising around camp. haha my Father in law greg was out on the little run we took...he stopped us so he could get a photo. Bernie ( grandpa) turns to me and says we should give him the bird. lol so we did... we all had a good laugh about it.
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He asked me a few times... soooo if i wasn't in the truck how fast would you be going through this..... I just smiled and said not too much faster. He knew i was taking it easy. haha
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Good times. I do have a new axle housing that I need to get over to TT motorsports. I also picked up rebuild kits for shocks. Need to get the Drive shaft over to shop and have them rebuild it and go through my spare. Should replace the belts and coolant hoses. I also need to drain the gas tank and patch a little pin hole leak. This update is an attempt to get some progress going haha. Can't wait to get back out there soon. Also my wheels have been turning about the next build. With one on the way in just a few months. eventually going to need a rig with a few more seats. Thinking 2004 double cab tacoma with SAS ?
 
Nov 2017
Bump!!!111111
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Great time last week having truck in the dirt for our Thanksgiving trip. My buddy Johnny towed it out for me. Felt like Bob's son..... Truck pulled up on trailer on side of 395. Got in drove it off trailer. Proceeded to have fun driving truck for 3 days. Got a call that he was going to be coming through on his way home Saturday night. Bombed the bonus line down to the road with GimmeSand... Johnny was already there so he pulled the trailer ramps down.... I crossed over 395 and drove right on to the trailer without even stopping lol. Shut down the truck and tossed him the keys. Apparently that's what it's like to be a C list celebrity. Only thing that was missing was my helio back to camp. Good times haha.
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Had a great time at the "calico" DR trip this weekend. Truck did great.. other than a short on my work lights/ rock lights have to track that down and some sand in the bead on the driver rear which seems to have fixed itself?
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Stoked to actually have some motivation to work on this thing..
Need to address the wiring issue for the work lights.
Might pick up a new gas tank mine is leaking from a battle scar years ago on the Grand Canyon Trip
Also had a few people tell me they could barely see my brake lights so I was going to pick up some LED bulbs to swap out the stockers.
Hope to be back in the dirt ASAP.
Over and out
E
 
Brake lights could be bulbs/reflectors covered in dust. Had that before. Cleaned them and all was good
winner lol

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I dont know what everyone was bitching about.
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That bottom bulb is barely dusty...


Cleaned them off and we are back in business for the next few thousand offroad miles.


Still need to get a nut and bolt check and load truck up. Friday Night Glamis bound........!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

Haters will say it's photoshopped

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Exploded the wrap on the passenger side leaf in Ocotillo in March.. This paper weight has been holding down the garage floor since.

Getting her ready to rock for the Cleanup and Thankgiving..
 
November 2019

Fresh prepped springs from Deaver.
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Clean up was fun... Adam and his gain did a great job.

The truck wasn't 100% but still got me around the desert and picked up plenty of trash... and then all the way home.... front shocks need some love. I've also got a clunk coming from the rear. 🤷‍♂️ no idea gotta rip it all apart again.

Nice having the rack option. the first time I've really got the chance to use it.
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Good times
It was great seeing everyone out there it had been way too long. I think we need to put together another big trip sometime next year... Stay tuned!
 
Oct 2020

So after the Clean up this pile was in pretty rough shaped. Had a few clunks in the front ended up
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Torre it down In Feb 2020. Was all ready to order up everything , when the Covid shutdown happened... With all the uncertainty truck took a back burner and held down the garage floor basically until the end up of august. Any way got everything and replaced all the heims and uniballs. .. Made the executive decision after Tommy's ordeal with his tires. The KM1 BFG muds had served enough time
Scope that date stamp
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Got a wild hair to put the 35x10.5 Tensors on the truck had Stevyboy send me over a junk tire to mock everything up..

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After weighing my options seemed those tires were going to last a few thousand miles at best. Not to mention all the work to get them
to clear properly at bump....

Had Only1mikey ( fab lab ) rebuild and revalve shocks
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this is good right ?
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Sat until end of august
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It was time to get geared up...
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Truck did great other than running a little warmer than it usually does. it was 105 going across the desert...

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Couple of nights ago my main man and I swapped out the Tstat and replaced all the coolant hoping that helps with the temp creeping up.

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Stoked to have this thing back on the road. So much fun to drive. Next week going to have Mikey Fablab help me set up the front bumper so I can flat tow truck behind motorhome.

Flat towing sounds like a good idea until you rip a corner off.

I mean I've had a pretty decent track record of keeping the wheels attached to this pile. 11 years of abuse only have had to get carted off the field via trailer once... after this


I drive like an old women with gloves and a mask.🤡

On long trips like Glamis or further, I'll probably rent/ borrow a trailer. Otherwise, there is always the Logan's Chase team... (AAA). Those 4 tows a year aren't going to use themselves.


KM3s are night and day better than the KM1s... I can't tell any difference weight-wise.
 
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