The Mighty Red Truck
One day we decided it would be nice to have a work truck around here. I always liked the early 90's Mini Pickups as they were the last of the old school truck. So the first thing we did was get a straight axle for it all the stuff to convert it over. In the mean time, it was really nice to get in and out of a stock truck and those stock size tires let the 3.0 in the little truck really go to town. So since there is no shortage of straight axle trucks around here, we decided to do something no one ever does. Leave the IFS in place and wheel it STOCK height with stock size 28" tires. The requirements were simple, it had run a 4/5 trail with a skilled driver at the controls and still be very easy to drive around on a daily basis.
1990 Toyota 4WD Mini Pickup/Standard Cab - Short Bed
3.0 Liter V6 Engine with 5-Speed Manual
ZERO 0" of lift
136,000 Original Miles, 43,000 after Toyota Head Gasket Recall (Rebuilt Engine)
Body/Interior:
* 1 Year Old Complete Paint with 2 coats of clear
* 2005 Tacoma Sport Seats mounted on custom brackets
* Full Harness Bar and Two Full 5 Point Pyrotect Harnesses
* 4Runner Factory Digital Clock
* TRD Bed Decals
* Husky Floor Liners
* Dash Designs Dash Mat
* CL Laurence Sliding Rear Window
* AZ Legal Window Tint
* Line-X Sprayed in Bed Liner
Engine/Exhaust:
* Stock, Re-Built under Toyota 3.0 V6 Recall @ 92,693 on 7-29-1998
* Exhaust system redone custom and moved up as high as possible
* Dynamax Turbo Muffler
Maintenance:
* Feb-2008: New Upper and Lower Timing Belt Pulleys
* Feb-2008: New Timing Belt
* Feb-2008: New Drive Belts, Three
* Feb-2008: New Upper & Lower Radiator Hoses
* Feb-2008: New Water Pump
* Oct-2007: New Denso AC Compressor
* Oct-2007: New R12 Freon Charge
* Oct-2007: New AC Expansion Valve & O-Rings
* Oct-2006: Power Steering Re-Seal Kit
* Mar-2006: Relay Rod Recall - Replaced
* Feb-2005: Front Brakes & Adjust Rear Brakes
* Feb-2005: Front Wheel Bearings Replaced
Tires/Wheels:
* 86-95 Stock Toyota SR5 Factory Aluminum 15"x7" Rims (6 Total, 2 Spares)
* 235/75/15 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain Tires - 28's BABY!
Skid Plates/Crossmembers/Trusses:
* Sonoran Steel IFS Truss 17"
* BudBuilt Front 3/16” Steel Skid Plate, Modified to fit this specific truck perfectly
* BudBuilt V6, 5-Speed T-Case Crossmember and Skid Plate modified for the 1983 Gear T-Case
* Beefed up stock gas tank skid with 1/2" x .120 angle iron, inside and out
* Welded On Rear Shell Style Differential Guard
Drivetrain:
* Stock 4.10 Gears
* Toyota 8" V6 Electric Rear Locker from a 2001 Tacoma, Pulled at 14 miles, Retro Fit to the 1990 rear axle tube
* SKY MFG. E-Locker Guard
* Inchworm E-Locker Harness with Relay for Stock RR Diff Lock Switch
* ARB RD90 Front Air Locker, The unit that was originally installed in my 1999 4Runner when it had IFS
* ARB Heavy Duty Air Line Kit
* ARB Compressor: CKSA12
* Small ARB Compressor
* Heat Treated and Cryogenically Processed Front IFS Axle Shafts by Bobby Long
* Full Second Set of Front Axle Shafts
* Rear Driveshaft Re-Tubed with .134 wall DOM tube
* Brand New Marlin V6, 5-Speed Transmission, less than 1K miles
* Brand New Marlin Heavy Duty Clutch
* Marlin Crawler 3.0 V6 Adapter Plate
* Fully Re-Built 1983 Gear Driven Transfer Case with Marlin “Total Spline” 4.7 Gears
* Stock rear axle shafts with Marlin Special Fit Rear Axle Seals
Suspension:
* Bilstein 5125 Front Shocks on custom upper shock towers
* Bilstein 5125 Rear Shocks on custom lower mounts
* Lower rear shock mounts relocated to use 100% of the rear shock stroke
* ARB/Old Man Emu front Torsion Bars, with no lift
* Custom Rear Alcan Leaf Springs, 7 leafs per pack, stock replacement
* Rear U-Bolt flip kit, Under side of rear axle is bare
* Rancho FJ-40 Polyurethane bump stops, Cut out U shape was what we were after here, optimized to use the entire rear shock stroke
* 2" over stock rear shackles for added drop but, still zero 0" of rear lift
* TG Long 3 Hole Anti-Wrap Perches
Steering:
* Total Chaos Fabrication "Caddy" Idler Arm
* Brand new TRE’s all 4 and New Factory Steering Stabilizer
Sliders/Bumpers:
* Sonoran Steel Front Valance Insert with Shackle Hangers
* Stock front bumper fully boxed for added strength
* Custom 1 3/4" DOM Tube Kick Out Sliders with 4 mounting legs to the frame, angled inner supports
* Custom wrap around rear tube bumper following the lines of the factory step bumper, keeping the license plate mounted to the bed
* Sonoran Steel Hi-Lift Jack Bed Mount with two Bicycle Mounts, Includes 48” Red Hi-Lift Cast Jack
Radios/Electronics:
* Cobra CB and Wilson 1000 Antenna
* Panasonic AM/FM/CD/MP3 Stereo: CQ-C9801U
* Kenwood Powered Subwoofer, 250 Watt: KSC-SW1
* JL Audio 300W Amp: 300/2
* Polk Audio Speakers, 6.5”
* Modulite Trailer Light Power Module: Flat 4 Connector
How about some photos?
