1981 Pickup 4 X 4 New Owner (3 Viewers)

[t6dpilot]

So I lowered the spare down to create more room for refinishing the frame rails. What an ingenious little system. Anyway, I get the wheel down and am surprised by the upper half not exposed to the ground. Factory white paint! And the tire has never been used. Still has the little nubs that you see on new tires. It is coming off, but will be saved. Or not. Looking at it, it says “Snow Charger 78”. That is definitely NOT original to a Florida rig I’ll bet. Maybe the inside of the wheel will be white too? So now I just need to clean up and paint the one half. Anybody know what would be a good match?

 

[thetoyotaman]

Dunlop Snow Cruiser 78. Factory bias ply tire that came on Cruisers and 1st gen mini trucks during that era. The wheel is actually getting rare as they were pitched. Same as FJ40 without clips and white.

 

[t6dpilot]

Cruiser, not Charger. Oops. I’ll keep it for the next owner. The person I bought it from installed Mastercraft Courser MSP 235/75R15. I think that’ll fit in the spare tire spot. The Snow Cruiser is H78/15.

So the bumper is all cleaned up to the degree I am going on this truck and the chassis clean up underneath continues. A little at a time. Starting on the RR spring and bushings. Rear shackle was easy, the front is impossible. I tried a clamp to move the bolt and it won’t budge. Tried grabbing the flange and it will not rotate. Damn I wish I could get a BFH on it, but can’t do that without removing the tank. It’s like that flange is welded to the frame even though it’s not. Don’t want to cut it as that assembly is probably NLA. Shoot, maybe I’ll just put it back together and do those bushings another time. Dang. Really would be easier if I could get that spring off to clean.

 

[Beams37]

Not sure if you got that front leaf spring squared away or not, but dropping that gas tank skid plate leaves plenty of room for hammering. LOL

 

[t6dpilot]

Been a while…. Focusing on other things. So I decided that for now the front bushings with that special bolt will have to wait. I want to get this truck finished and off the lift and driving. I can work on that later.

So the right rear is finished and looks great. Time to tackle the left rear and get it cleaned up and painted. Cleaned up all 4 wheels and installed three of them. Looks great now. Can’t wait to get this off the lift and driving so I can do a paint correction and replace the windshield seal.

Question about the seal. Got one from an aftermarket supplier. Are they OK or should I get one from Toyota?