I've been building an 89 hilux that was my first street legal vehicle. My parents bought it new in 1988, and I bought it from them in 95. It it sentimental to me as so many firsts happened in it and it was the first space in this world that was truly my own. Also, I beat the ever loving E36 M3 out of it, and it took it like I was giving it a good wash and wax not getting big air and climbing sand pits with it. I've had it for 22+ years, I learned to drive in it on the power lines near my parent's house when it was new. It took me to the motorcross track for countless races, and to local riding spots every weekend. I Love this little truck, so I thought might as well build a rediculous custom version of it that fulfills my wildest fantasies about what it could become. So here we go.....
Before it all went mad...
Lm7 used for mock up, mounted, fits nice. (Before 95 style front end swap, next/ final iteration will be 4 runner front.) <img src="" />
It's getting a total chaos long travel ifs/irs (yes, I said irs) suspension system, king motorsports remote reservoir coilovers, turbo Ls power, fiberwerx glass everything but cab, lots of fabrication and custom work like a shaved firewall, a cab extension to make room for storage and audio, and lots of mounting points to increase storage and utility.
The irs setup swaps the straight axle for what is basically a second front suspension (including the front frame section from a donor truck z channel welded with fish plates, crazy strong) with the factory front 4 pot fixed calipers and discs. An fzj80 master is a direct swap and works with the 4 wheel discs. I'm using brembo plain rotors for now with goodridge lines and hawk pads. Should stop pretty good
As many of you know, I have a tendency to go all racecar on my builds, this one will have some race car swagger as well but will also have some creature comforts. These trucks weren't high falootin from the factory, so a spartan interior is what we're starting with. The oem dash is getting retained but is getting flocked and has been upgraded to 4 runner spec. 4runners got little upgrades like glovebox lighting, cigarette lighter surround light, ashtray light, key illumination, knee vent for hvac, map light mirror, pillar oh E36 M3 handles, tilt column, intermittent wipers, tach guage cluster, and for now an is300 steering wheel (because my wife stole my momo ). The factory door panels are simplistic so they're a great candidate for carbon door cards and a pull strap. Currently I'm rockin recaro trophy buckets with black leather bolsters and grey valour centers. The long term plan is either a stack data cluster or a tablet based system of some sort.
The body is front halved with a tube structure to support the radiator support/headlight/grill. (When all is said and done it's likely that the radiator will be rear mounted and in it's original location the intercooler will reside). The truck will also be back halved with a tube structure to provide some semblance of rollover protection as well as support the rear bedsides. The glass body (everything aside from the main cab section is replaced) is from fiberwerx and is an Ivan Stewart race truck replica. There will be mounting points for accessories like an aluminum race jack, a high lift jack, and water tight lockable pelican containers for storage. The oem bed and rear frame with ferrera leaf springs and bilseins (stuff that I installed during an earlier evolution of this build) is getting made into a matching adventure trailer with rack holding an arb roof top tent, cooking stuff, potable water containment. It will retain the factory fuel tank to add capacity to the fuel cell that will be the primary fuel source for the vehicle. It'll get matching wheels and will be painted at the same time as the rest of the truck. Basically a fully equipped camping rig as easy as hooking up a trailer hitch and it can function as a bed should the need arise. <img src="" />