It took me about 2 years of searching to find a rust free Hilux (or close to it). I was at the point on jumping on a jet and flying out west to drive one home. I almost pulled the trigger on one in AZ that looked to be in great shape.
I put looking for the truck on hold for a few weeks as I was driving down south to do some surfing and see Pearl Jam in concert. It just so happened that a guy just brought back a Hilux that he ended up not wanting (too tall for the cab) where we were planning on seeing Pearl Jam...
So I said the hell with it, saw Pearl Jam, Picked up the Hilux, And surfed Spanish House... It really doesn't get much better than that.
The truck had 32s, some very rough paint and one of those red neck roll bars on it... Off the top all of those things had to go... After that was done I moved on to fixing the L52, I kicked it to the curb. I went with a W56 and a Dual Ultimate 2.28x4.7. Also removed the stock bumper and added a Marlin Crawler rear bumper, and bent up some sliders. I also started in on fitting the M-8000 up in the front. I like the minimalistic look of tubing so I am trying to keep it low profile.
As for lockers, I installed a FZJ80 High Pinion E-Locker in the front, and Tacoma E-Locker rear. I took the easy way out for wiring and just used 12VoltGuys switches because I was under a dead line for a Tellico trip.
The negatives: I used a Front Range Off Road crossmember, Its a horrible design. It causes everything in the truck to vibrate, it bolts to the back of the t-case so all hits to your t-case skid end up being transferred into the drivetrain. Its my own fault for ordering it before researching more into, but not to many people say to many negative things about it since FROR is a active member on Pirate
It will be replaced by a Bud-Built crossmember it uses a stock tranny mount. The other one would be the 3" Downey Lift, rides great on the road but flexs about as much as stock. I am going to replace the springs (RUF & maybe 63's) and move the front axle a little forward.
Recently I picked up a 2004 2RZ with 15k on it, I have been slowly getting all the little parts to swap in the new motor and make the truck a little more up to date. But, the last PO('s) did not think changing coolant was part of regular maintenance
. Which casued me to blow a head gasket and tear the whole 22r apart, so as I type I am neck deep in 22r parts. I can't leave anything alone so while its all broken down I powder coated the valve cover and exhaust parts and cleaned up the motor and replaced allllll the gaskets, timing chain and threw in a RV Cam. I figure it will be in for a few more months and another run up to GSMTR so I might as well make the 22r a little more manageable.
For the future, I have PSC ram assist to put in,2RZ and some Krawlers for the trail, and rear Tacoma axle...
1983 Hilux
34" BFGs on 16" 2002 Al 4Runner rims
4.10 Tacoma Locker, FZJ80 series HP E-Locker
W-56/ Dual Ultimate 2.28/4.7
Some Tube M-8000
3" Downy Lift
Sorry about posting a little early but I will miss the first on the month for a rock climbing trip(not crawling). That's all for now, there is plenty more but I got some crap to do
pappy
Bushrat
Milli Da'40
liljlandon
Omega
Linear Mode
