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Willia12's 85 Truck (Belated) Build Thread

7K views 23 replies 1 participant last post by  willia12 
#1 · (Edited)
OK, so I bought the truck almost exactly one year ago (Nov 8th, 2008) so I figure it's high time I started a garage thread. Plus, it's raining today (yeah raining in GA imagine my surprise) so I've got a little free time.

The truck was already pretty hooked up when I purchased it. Picked it up from a super cool guy in San Fransisco who was selling his rig to help finance a multi-month expedition through Central America with his "bother, 2 dogs and 8 surfboards in a diesel suburban" :). My best friend and I drove up from San Diego to "look" at it (I had already made up my mind) and the first thing out of Brett's mouth when he sees it is, "No. Are you kidding me? NO;" he had no vision :shame:.

When I bought the truck I had only ever "driven" (lurched) a stick once before, so instead of test-driving it I test-rode it. Toward the end of the drive we happened to pass a cop and the previous owner / driver stiffens in his seat, looks at me and says, "I'm not drunk, but I had a couple with lunch so I'd rather not get pulled over right now." At that point I knew this was meant to be so we headed back to his place and finished the deal. Shortly thereafter, I had the "magical" experience of getting lost at night, in the rain, in SF (never been before this trip), in a stick :rolleyes:. But hey, I had just bought a 1985 Toyota truck so I was stoked!


Here is a list of what was already done when I got her:

Front-
5.29 Yukon gears
High angle long spin CV drive shaft
Rancho 44044s
Marlin High Steer
14" Bilstein 51s
Marlin hoops
Sky shackles

Rear-
Detroit Locker
5.29 Yukon's
16" Bilstein 51s
Extended diff breather
Chevy 63s with overload
Sky shackles and hangers
Functioning e-brake

Drivetrain-
194k on truck
22re with 25k on full rebuild
LCE Header
Flowmaster exhaust
Newish clutch
35" BFG MT KM1's on 15X10 steelies

The rest-
Marlin sliders
Leer shell with padlocks
Custom sleeping platform
Thule roof / kayak rack


Pictures to follow because:
:worthless
 
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#3 ·
Trying to post up pics as I find them and in somewhat chronological order.

Cleaned up the interior a bit; scrubbed the headliner, vacuumed as ton of sand and sunflower seeds (wtf :dunno:) out of it and replaced the floor mats. The seats, dash and carpet are in surprising good condition.

 
#6 ·
Fabbed up a hitch mount tire carrier, to get the tire out of the back. Super simple, no hinge or anything. This was version 1.0; only last one wheeling and one camping trip before I reworked it (could stay to pull it ever time I wanted into the bed :doh:). Plus it hung to far of the back :saw:.





 
#9 ·
Worked up a home brew power tank setup. #20 tank, high pressure welding regular (doesn't ice up as bad as cheaper beverage grade units), and Harbor Fright air line and filler. Total cost $27; I love Craigslist :D. The 20 is big and heavy, but it will fill all four 35s from around 15 psi to 35 psi 10 times! Plus it's super fast and only costs $24 to exchange it.

 
#10 · (Edited)
Took the truck on its first camping trip to Indian Hill and Montro Wash in south Anza Borrego. I piss blood over the sleeping platform eating cargo space for day to day truck use, but it is so nice camping I'm totally ruined now.

Also, what I didn't realize until a week later was that during this trip I had put a couple of good sized thorns through one of my sidewalls; oops :eek:. No biggie though, just took it into Discount Tire who warrantied it (no questions asked) as a "road hazard" and I was out the door with a brand new BFG MT KM2 (because they no longer stock KM1s) for just over $40. Gotta' love Discount!

Note -
Right before this trip I found a guy that was parting out his stock truck and picked up the drivers side black plastic cab vent cover / trim thingie. At the same time I also grabbed two straight front fenders (for the just-in-case.)













 
#11 · (Edited)
Not really part of the truck build, but for the maiden trip I welded up a fire box / grill set up. It's a box that stands up on two legs and has an adjustable / removable grill. Everything comes apart and fits inside the box so it's not super messy to store in the back of the truck. Plus, I can put the lid on it at night and hold coals for the morning fire! Only downside it that it is ass heavy (like 65 lbs.).





 
#12 · (Edited)
Picked up a used Downey prerunner front bumper designed for 86-89 IFS trucks (cost: $40), four new Pro Comp 55 watt driving lights (cost: $10) and a used warn 8274 with 150 ft. of Master-Pull Superline XD rope and new roller fairlead (cost: $250). All I had to do to the winch was throw 4 new Ford starter solenoids in it and it was go to good. Then I fabbed up some new mounts for the bumper. I tied into the stock bumper mounts at two points and then to some custom brackets on the front frame cross-member. I designed the bumper to be totally bolt-on so it will be easy to remove when I get a real (read: expensive) front bumper.

I also zip tied the stock blinkers to the grill (under the headlights) and wired in some extra LED blinkers, sold as side marker lights, and mounted them to the grill for extra visibility. Also, while I was at it I taped up the busted out passenger side marker light (broken by the PO). I though briefly about replacing, but decided I'd probably just end up breaking again at some point in the future and be pissed I spent the money on a new one. This build it definitely not about aesthetics :missingto.

Lastly, I installed "hillbilly key less entry" (white lock box with number pad stuck to the front of the drivers side frame rail).

Two things to note -
One, the kid I bought the bumper from told me, with pride, that he had put it into the face of tons of dunes and it held up great. Well, that was not 100% accurate. When I started working with it I realized that it was slightly racked causing it to droop on the passenger side when mounted; my friend Brett described it as "awkward and misshapen" :rolleyes:. But whatever, it gets the job done :jack:.

Two, I had to make the bumper stick out really far to accommodate the large size of the winch. I didn't want to cut into the grill, like I have seen some people do, because I planned on installing an auxiliary engine oil cooler and some pusher fans, so I needed the behind-the-grill space. Pushing the bumper out so far makes it look a little weak, mounting wise, but I can jump on it and it does not budge, it does not shake doing down the road and it has held up fine so far (four winch pulls and 8k miles). Also, I can slide my body between the bumper bar and the grill / headlight, which makes opening the hood still relatively easy (I just can't gain any weight :p). Finally, it looks like the truck's approach angle is totally screwed now, but I have yet to have a problem with it (maybe I just don't wheel hard enough trails :eek:)

I do like that I chose to mount the winch high up so as to keep it out of the muck and I like the skid plate because I feel like it protects the steering components, radiator bottom and what not.

(these photos were taken before I installed the synthetic rope)




 
#14 ·
Overhauled the stereo system. The truck came with a "decent" Sony (read - excellent by Sony standards) deck and 6x9 speakers cut into the doors. However, the deck was wired entirely to the accessory function of the truck so every time I turned off the ignition I lost all my presets. That was a PITA to rewire because all of the wires were somehow spliced improbably high up in the dash, but I just couldn't stand it the way it was.

Also, the door speakers were missing covers and the driver's side had been kicked out so it was not functioning at all. Thus, I replaced the door speakers with two new Pioneer 6x9s. While I was on the whole stereo trip I remembered that I had a little amp laying around in the garage so I threw it in the truck as well. I couldn't figure out exactly how / where I wanted to mount it (reason for so much excess wire) so for now it's just propped up behind the passenger seat.

Finally, since I already had the deck out I wired in an Autozone 3 port cigarette lighter dealie (the factory one is dead :dunno:) and a red lighted duckbill type toggle switch to control the Pro Comps.





 
#15 · (Edited)
Went on my first TTORA run! The run that started it all :) However, the truck got a little hot, so a new radiator is in her future. Also, this trip made me realize that she needs bump stops, in the front at least, for those unforeseen whoops.

More things to note -
One, before this run I put the synthetic rope on the winch.

Two, I removed the lights from the front bumper because after I mounted them I realized that they would be the bumper's first point of contact. I plan to remount them in a safer spot.

Three, I cut a hinge assembly into the tire carrier (sorry no photos) to allow it to fold down so I can access the tail ate without pulling it from the hitch. It seems ok, but I'm still not 100 % happy with it so I might be making a version 3.0 in the future.

(Credit to SirMarlon for the photos)




 
#16 ·
Installed a Cobra C75WXST hand held remote mount type CB radio and axillary speaker; as well as an antenna on the rear bumper. Again, not sure where I ultimately want to mount them (this seems to be become a trend; the lights, amp, CB... :eek:) so they're also just sitting in the cab for now. When I wheel I just leave the handset in my lap and the speaker seems to pretty much stay put on the center console. Otherwise the speaker lives behind the seat and the handset gets disconnected and fits perfectly inside the center console.

Also, while I was back at the rear bumper I blacked out the "one" nasty rust spot on the truck. Used Krylon BBQ Black spray paint. I love that stuff and I have used it to paint all the armor on the truck; cheap (Walmart sells it), not quite gloss yet not quite semi-gloss and sticks to anything without hardly any prep work.





 
#19 ·
Well I did a lot of research on bump stops and decided my best choice would be a nice set of air bumps, but there was no way I could justify laying down that much money (maybe when I link her :rolleyes:.) So, I decided Timbrens would have to do. Sadly, Timbren bump stops were still out of my price range so I ended up going with two sets of black Daystar EVS Foam Jounce Bumpers.

Before I purchased these I tried to read as much as I could about them, but found very few people running them and only came up with a couple of reviews. Thus, let me say that me experience with them has been very positive. Firstly, they were cheap (cost: $20 per pair and $7 for the install tool), have held up great (12 plus trips and 6k plus miles) and were super easy to install (no measuring / cutting / welding, just pop off one end of the shock, slide the bump stop over the eye and reinstall.) Moreover, they did exactly what I wanted; gave me "pothole insurance." Now I can barely tell when the front bottoms and I have yet to bottom the rear (Chevy 63s with overload :)).

I should point out that the Daystar's aren't for everyone. I imagine they would do little good if you were to jump your truck; which I don't plan on doing (I mean just look at my truck.) Also, when the truck bottoms out the total shock load is still transfered through the shock absorber and its mount points instead of through the axle and frame like a traditional bump stop. Despite this, after running them for a while I have yet to see any stress cracks at these weak points; but again, no jumpy, jumpy. Finally, they do nothing to stop your leaf springs from over arching. My answer to this is that I have Chevy 63s with the overloads and Rancho 44044s. Both spring sets are beefy and were designed for much heavier rigs. Plus, if / when I kill these springs I'm going to link it and get air bumps, right? :D



 
#21 · (Edited)
Did the Mojave Road in the Spring of 2009. Awesome trip! Only saw one other vehicle over the course of four days and, of course, the dog had a great time too. The new bump stops worked great. Plus, I got to picked up a Pull-Pal and a couple of Scepter jerry cans for the trip :cool:. It actually worked out pretty well; turns out the cans fit perfectly under the sleeping platform and the Pull-Pal mounted really nicely to the flat bar portions of the front bumper.

Sadly, tire carrier version 2.0 came to it's end and is no longer with us (literally) :(. Seemed going a little to fast over a few too many whoops :boobies: and a little too much wash board got the better of my fab work causing the carrier to break at the hinge and fall off of the truck :eek:. Luckily, I noticed it right away, the tire was not damaged and we were able to throw it on the roof and head down the trail. Thank god it didn't happen of the freeway! Time for 3.0 :welder:.



























 
#23 ·
Rebuilt the spare tire carrier. I really think it's one of those "third time's the charm" type of deals. I moved the tire a lot closer into the tail gate, beefed up the hinge (previous point of failure) and made it so that the weight of the tire rides primarily on the bumper. Additionally, I designed the carrier so that if I drag it (definitely reduces my departure angle) the tire is protected and the load is transfered to the bumper. Finally, version 3.0 no longer has any play in the hitch so "that shit don't shake!" :dancing:











 
#24 · (Edited)
A few updated photos (covering Feb 2010 through Feb 2014 and from GA to PR and back to CA):


My baby gets picked up from ATL to begin her long journey to the "iceland." Trucker took one look at her and just scribbled all over the diagram on the inspection sheet to signify there was not a straight body panel to be found. I KNOW WHERE ALL THE DENTS ARE! (Feb 2010)


Picked up the truck in San Juan and had to make a quick stop at Costco before catching the ferry back to Vieques. (Fajardo in the back ground)




Pulling into Isabel


What can I say, "I love to shop!"


Locals parking at Blue Beach


Poser shot while exploring my new home (near La Hueca)


Indy, the little big dog :)


Getting in a little "board short welding" which was necessitated by my passenger side tie rod end stripping out while I was hopping a curb (there is no driveway) pulling into the tire shop. After waiting three weeks for Marlin to send a complete new tie rod assembly I decided to just :welder: my shit and get it back on the road. Good fucking thing I did, because I didn't end up getting my new parts for another two months. THANKS MARLIN! (Real thanks goes to Charley for taking this photo and generally being my partner in crime during his time on the island)


Mark managed to convince me to use my truck instead of the work truck. But I guess most people wouldn't call what we did "work" :D (and that's probably because they have never had to frog kick backwards for 30 minutes towing an Asian woman by here gauges while she merrily kicks toward the surfaces and looks around at all the pretty fishies :flipoff4: )


My drive way. It's no wonder the truck got rustier :eek:


My baby makes it back to San Diego safe and sound (well maybe not mechanically sound, but you know what I mean :dunno: ). And, where did all that rust come from?? Must have happen during the four weeks it sat in a customs yard in FL ;) (Arp 2012)


Slipping up John Bull - read: time for new tires and 4.7 gears in the t-case.


New tires and new t-case gears still can't make up for driver error (Pancake Rock trail; just 15 miles from my house :D )


Showing off my new sexy hood vents (thanks Rod Louvers of Vista, CA)


Rolling down the trail feeling pretty good about myself and Megan says to me, "When other guys make it through an obstacle it looks like skill; when you do it... it looks like luck!" THANKS BABE! :slap:


Bronco Peak Trail at Corral Canyon OHV


Spectating Chocolate Thunder at King of the Hammers 2014. (Thanks to Jim for looking after Rico on his first camping trip)
 
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