Project 85 Yota

[escort_gts]

It all started with my brother riding along with me to Bundy Hill in Michigan. The next weekend he bought this

It was a 89 Toyota, not street legal with a locked rear. He played with it for a few weeks around his property and it needed some work. Had broken leaves on both sides and the PO had fixed the frame...

He wanted something street legal he could drive and also wanted a solid front axle...he found this on Craigslist

An 85 Toyota 4x4. Had 31x10.5 street tires and a rebuilt engine. Went with him to bring it home. The next day he found some rust in the frame, ended up being worse than the seller stated. I sold him the 35" Mud Kings I had on my ranger. He put them on with some Chevy wheels. He also put a cap on the back.

Next to my truck.

Here is the spot of rust, we thought this was all there was...

We made some plates to fix and reinforce the frame...

After these pictures he went and plated the rest of the frame...

He decided to make the bed shorter and move the tube bumper 10"... we cut if off and and relocated it

At this point he was just going to make a tube/flat bed

This picture you can see the rest of the frame plated.
He then decided he wanted the truck to look stock and wanted to put the bed back on but shorten it by 11.5".....he didn't want to cut all the tubeing that he welded to the frame so he could easily tie into it when he makes the roll cage. He wanted to just lift the cab two inches to match the bed with the 2" swuare tubing on top of the frame...I said just cut out the bed floor and and make removable bed sides.

So this is as far as of today. He has new brake line ran and mounted a small gas tank to the frame for temp. He will be getting a 20gal fuel cell.
We will be swapping rear leaf springs with 64" chevy springs. My friend own a fab shop and has a plasma table, he made these front spring hangers.

I will update this as I get time. We have worked on it everyday for the last month

 

[kris97ranger]

If the fuel tank is in the bed inboard the the springs to the inside of the framerails. my buddy did it on his toyota crawler it works awsome

 

[escort_gts]

If the fuel tank is in the bed inboard the the springs to the inside of the framerails. my buddy did it on his toyota crawler it works awsome

Oh? Hmmm? What springs did he use? Were they stock

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[kris97ranger]

Nope, all pro 5" springs, with mixed and matched leafs to change spring rate. But i still think the 64s would turn out nice. are you thinking they'll be too long for that?

 

[escort_gts]

I'm sure the Chevy springs will be better than what is on there. They are very stiff, almost no give at all. Plus, I think it has a 3" lift springs.

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[88_Eddie]

sweet build....i want an old toyota on solid axles

 

[jhammel85]

I love those old trucks. It looks like you guys are doing a great job w/ it.

 

[escort_gts]

Thanks, he's doing most of the work. I'm just supervising and taking pictures.LOL

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[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Impressive work!
U know ill ask this, so here it goes: hows the ride on that thing with leafs on the front?

 

[escort_gts]

Impressive work!
U know ill ask this, so here it goes: hows the ride on that thing with leafs on the front?

Let me just say, he doesn't need any shocks.... Haha

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[escort_gts]

It is super SUPER stiff suspension. If we change the spring rate up front it will be a lot better.

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[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Damn! thank God i didnt decide to get toyota srpings for mine then.
i hope mine wont be too stiff. when done.

ok i wont jack this anymore LOL

 

[escort_gts]

I think toy leaf would be ok on a ranger that weighs 1000lbs heavier. Plus, he has 2" lift springs on it that increased the spring rate.

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[legoms013]

Always liked the older toyotas. Maybe one day I have one as a crawler project. You two are doing some cool work on that thang!

 

[escort_gts]

I haven't updated this in a while. He has since been driving this as is with no bed. And, he has painted the whole truck black. Think he said it was POR15? Need to get some more pics uploaded and some updates.