Builds Box Rocket 1980 1st Gen Hilux

[ferg]

If it is bent, that side will leak first.

 

[G-Cat]

News?

 

[Box Rocket]

News?

Just driving it now. Got some plans for the spring/summer though.

 

[Box Rocket]

A few more minor updates. My son, Bjornn, has been learning a lot on this truck. He's learning to weld as well as fix crap on the truck. His first real welding project was a spare tire mount for the bed of the truck. Basic design but nice and solid.


IMG_1863 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_1860 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

After a full axle rebuild and new brakes. Installed these 14" travel Doestch Tech shocks using Ford towers that had to go through the top of the fender a bit.
IMG_1467 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Also never posted any decent photos of the completed bumper. Pretty stoked about his this came out for a homebuilt bumper that feels like it "fits" the style of the truck.
IMG_1874 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_1872 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_1471_b by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Box Rocket]

The boys headed to school yesterday. It's getting driven pretty regularly right now.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Have I mentioned how cool this truck is?!?

 

[dirtdobberoffroad]

Man that thing is looking great!

 

[pappy]

Lots of thumbs up. Very nice.

 

[Box Rocket]

Couple recent photos. We also picked up a pair of '83 doors that have the wing windows. They need some clean up and paint but they'll replace the current doors and the current ones are going to be turned into half doors.

Also, a local guy was sadly rear ended on the freeway a couple weeks ago in his Tacoma. The truck ended up rolling and was totalled. Mechanically its still good and we're buying the whole truck for $800. 3RZ swap is on the docket!

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Box Rocket]

I forgot a couple other things that we did lately. The seats that have been in the truck are some random ones that weren't very good. I was able to pick up an entire interior set from a '93 pickup. The '93 seats were in excellent shape (but blue) and we swapped them in. They've got some cabellas covers on them since the blue didn't match.

We also used the center/shifter console from the '93. Really pleased with how this worked out. We redyed it black (again, the blue wasn't going to work) and recovered the armrest in black. Had to trim the shifter section a bit so it would fit the shifter location and we plan to add a custom boot or other covering to finish off that opening. Needed a cupholder too so we cut out the little square cubby in the front of the console and epoxied in a cupholder using a ABS coupler that is the perfect size. Now to figure out what switches we need to fill those blanks.

IMG_4024 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_4029 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_4026 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Pacer]

Awesome build @Box Rocket, and with your son no less, love it!
He must have coolest rig in the HS parking lot!!!
Just read the whole story...
Glad you extended the bumper wings to the wheel well, looks perfect!

How did you end up leveling the truck front and rear?

 

[Box Rocket]

Awesome build @Box Rocket, and with your son no less, love it!
He must have coolest rig in the HS parking lot!!!
Just read the whole story...
Glad you extended the bumper wings to the wheel well, looks perfect!

How did you end up leveling the truck front and rear?

Thanks.
As for leveling, We've got Trail Gear 3" springs in the front and Chevy 63" springs in the rear. The goal was to keep it as low as possible with good flex. I didn't want to use a custom spring pack in the front with random leaves so we used the TG ones at the shortest height available. We started out with some stock height shackles in the front but they were making contact with the frame so we changed them out for some TG 1.5" over stock shackles that have much better movement and don't contact the frame. However, this put the front end a bit taller than the rear. I don't want to run a taller rear shackle than what we already have so we're looking at redoing the upper shackle hanger in the rear to raise the rear an inch or so and box the rear frame while we're there.

 

[Pacer]

Thanks.
As for leveling, We've got Trail Gear 3" springs in the front and Chevy 63" springs in the rear. The goal was to keep it as low as possible with good flex. I didn't want to use a custom spring pack in the front with random leaves so we used the TG ones at the shortest height available. We started out with some stock height shackles in the front but they were making contact with the frame so we changed them out for some TG 1.5" over stock shackles that have much better movement and don't contact the frame. However, this put the front end a bit taller than the rear. I don't want to run a taller rear shackle than what we already have so we're looking at redoing the upper shackle hanger in the rear to raise the rear an inch or so and box the rear frame while we're there.

Roger that.
Looks more leveler in the current pics.

I'm installing the same setup shortly.
For mock up, I initially pulled apart the front trail gear set and only left the two long springs per side.
Looking at how high mine sits with stock, whooped, inverted springs, I know it will be way too high with the full spring pack.
I did order the newly available Heavy-duty 3" springs from them to have more options when I add some leaves back later.

I think you should pull a short leave or two out of the front packs if you have the room to lower the front some more.

I did this on my 62 as well and it rides surprisingly well at speed, meaning, not unsafe, yet comfortable.

 

[Box Rocket]

Roger that.
Looks more leveler in the current pics.

I'm installing the same setup shortly.
For mock up, I initially pulled apart the front trail gear set and only left the two long springs per side.
Looking at how high mine sits with stock, whooped, inverted springs, I know it will be way too high with the full spring pack.
I did order the newly available Heavy-duty 3" springs from them to have more options when I add some leaves back later.

I think you should pull a short leave or two out of the front packs if you have the room to lower the front some more.

I did this on my 62 as well and it rides surprisingly well at speed, meaning, not unsafe, yet comfortable.

Yeah I've considered that as well. The truck is so light that it still rides a bit firm with the full front packs so pulling a leaf or two wouldn't be a horrible idea.

 

[Pacer]

Yeah I've considered that as well. The truck is so light that it still rides a bit firm with the full front packs so pulling a leaf or two wouldn't be a horrible idea.

Are the winch and second battery in yet?
I want mine low as possible!

 

[Box Rocket]

Are the winch and second battery in yet?
I want mine low as possible!

Nope. Will get a winch at some point. Don't plan on a second battery. A single Group 31 should do it.

 

[Box Rocket]

Changes coming! Picked up this donor truck today. It was rear ended on the freeway that flipped the truck but it ended up back on it's wheels so it wasn't upside down long at all. Drivetrain seems undamaged and the plan is to swap the motor/trans and hopefully get a marlin dual case setup to go behind it. 3RZ incoming!

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[G-Cat]

Very cool future.

Any idea the length of the load bars above the cab?

 

[Box Rocket]

I think I posted a while ago that my son damaged one of the doors on the truck. Since then we've been on the hunt for replacements which has been more difficult than imagined. But we found some a few weeks ago from an '83 SR5 that had the vent windows. These had some dents and definitely weren't perfect but were a bit easier to get looking decent than fixing the originals. Filled some holes, sanded them down, small amount of body filler to smooth them over and more rattlecan paint. Finished them up over the weekend and got them installed. Overall turned out fine. The truck is so definitely NOT a show truck and there are still cosmetic issues all over the thing but for the most part it looks ok.

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Pacer]

Nice find!
I have a nice set of window sill wiper seals for those doors with vent windows. Also, the window guide rubber liners are still available OEM.
Made a big difference for my windows going up and down.