- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
So I sold my F-350 in order to purchase a kiddie hauler for the wife-regular cab pickups don't really make much sense for growing families. Neither did her Corolla-two long legged adults, a baby/carseat and a dog in one of those things makes for a pretty miserable trip. She got the new SUV, I got the car as a daily driver, and luckily I still had my 'Yota pickup. I've had it as a spare vehicle for the last couple of years-it was given to me by my aunt after my uncle had passed away. It was his pride and joy and he taught me to drive stick in it, so I was glad to have it. It's bare bones-4cyl, 5 speed, 4x4 with locking hubs, no power options or AC, etc...perfect wood hauler! I kept it stock for a while since there was no reason to really beef it it up with a one ton diesel in the stable. Now I have to do more with less so I've begun to do some suspension work, new tires and wheels, etc...along with a thorough tune-up. This is what I started with:
After a little removal of "unnecessary parts":
The nice thing about the older Yotas is they already have a ton of ground and fenderwell clearance, so removing the plastic fenderwells, front valance, and pounding down the pinchwelds will give you all the clearance you need to run slightly bigger tires. I like a lot of tire but as little lift as possible for a few different reasons, so that's the route I'm going here. The next step was to crank the torsion bars up front for an additional 1.5" of clearance and install coil springs in the rear which is another mod popular with the Toyota crowd. It looks a little strange, but it was pioneered by a guy who builds rockcrawlers for a living out in Arizona. It does wonders for load carrying ability:
Still looks a little goofy with the stock wheels and tires:
That should change once I get these bad boys on there:
The goal is to have a truck that can safely carry a good sized load of green hardwood-these trucks are half-tons and they're capable of carrying quite a bit more than that, but the leaf springs tend to go flat and the brakes aren't really up to the task. I upgraded to T-100 calipers and rotors in the front which makes a MAJOR difference. For short trips hauling around town it will be perfect. In addition, the small size and off-road ability of these trucks make them perfect for cutting wood in hard to reach places. I've heard others compare them to motorized wheelbarrows or quads with pickup beds
I plan to get the tires on it along with some other goodies this weekend-pics to come!
After a little removal of "unnecessary parts":
The nice thing about the older Yotas is they already have a ton of ground and fenderwell clearance, so removing the plastic fenderwells, front valance, and pounding down the pinchwelds will give you all the clearance you need to run slightly bigger tires. I like a lot of tire but as little lift as possible for a few different reasons, so that's the route I'm going here. The next step was to crank the torsion bars up front for an additional 1.5" of clearance and install coil springs in the rear which is another mod popular with the Toyota crowd. It looks a little strange, but it was pioneered by a guy who builds rockcrawlers for a living out in Arizona. It does wonders for load carrying ability:
Still looks a little goofy with the stock wheels and tires:
That should change once I get these bad boys on there:
The goal is to have a truck that can safely carry a good sized load of green hardwood-these trucks are half-tons and they're capable of carrying quite a bit more than that, but the leaf springs tend to go flat and the brakes aren't really up to the task. I upgraded to T-100 calipers and rotors in the front which makes a MAJOR difference. For short trips hauling around town it will be perfect. In addition, the small size and off-road ability of these trucks make them perfect for cutting wood in hard to reach places. I've heard others compare them to motorized wheelbarrows or quads with pickup beds
I plan to get the tires on it along with some other goodies this weekend-pics to come!
) only required about 1.5" of lift in the front and 3" in the rear-not a huge amount, but they'll give me a full 13" of clearance at the front crossmember. As for the trailer it's really not an option-I'd have to invest a whole lot of money in a tip happy off road trailer-better to just beef up what I have and be happy with the bed capacity. GAWR of the rearend on this truck is 3000lbs with stock tires and wheels. You'd have to put the rear end on a scale to get the exact number, but there is MAYBE 800lbs sitting on that rear axle between the weight of the empty bed, frame, spare tire, bumper, etc... I will also be using this truck for hunting-here in NJ we're not allowed to use quads on public land, but you can drive registered and insured street legal vehicles anywhere there's a fire road or old logging road. The trick is that many of the old roads have grown in over the years from disuse. Fullsize trucks can't fit, but small trucks like these can, properly equipped of course.
