- Location
- United States
Iron Pig Lovers...
Unfortunately the time has come to part ways with my 1979 Piggy. She and I have been traveling together for a long time but now the sad time has finally come. So, here’s the good – and the bad.
She has crossed the line from a presentable, I-can-drive-to-work-and-not-be-too-embarrassed truck to a not-so-much-drive-to-work truck. Her future is probably going to be that of a wheeler. Solid and strong truck, just not so much of a looker like she used to be. (She graced the cover of Toyota Trails in Dec 1998!)
The GOOD
Dead reliable drivetrain. Always starts. Always gets me where I need to go. I rebuilt a Chevy 350 for reliability and grunt. Nothing fancy, but neither is my 55. Carb modified for off camber and hills. Red top Optima. Electric fan operated from dash. SM465 and stock 4-spd t-case, both rebuilt by Marlin.
Suspension is spring over. All steering linkage and steering arms beefy (4X4 Labs), one ton tie-rod ends, high steer, antiwrap bar for rear, custom F/R detachable antisway bars, F/R disk brakes, lengthened brake lines, 1.5” body lift. Terraflex on all four corners. This suspension flexes yet is perfectly stable on the highway.
Protection is Butch-Built front bumper ready for winch and sliders. Rear quarters nicely trimmed to avoid rock rash.
Tires are newish 37” MTRs on widened stock rims. Can run 39s with no rubbing. ARBs front and back. Small air tank underneath. Stock ARM pump that I haven’t reinstalled back into the engine bay.
Have all almost new carpets (from SOR) for front, back and cargo area.
Interior is decent. Stock front and rear seats. Dash pad. Floor pans are good. All windows and doors work, although you have to slam the driver’s door twice to get it to stay closed. Tailgate window works but only from dash.
Basically, this is a solid ~150k mile truck that has many miles to go… It is well sorted out and works quite well.
The NOT-SO-GOOD
Rust, of course! The hood has surface rust only so it looks far worse than it is. The worst rust is in the A pillars. Standard rust on doors and quarter panels. Tailgate is shot but, believe it or not, I found a very nice condition tailgate that is included with the truck.
The interior is a bit tired, although quite suitable for wheeling trips, both to/from and on the trail. She travels well on the highway. The ignition key stopped working last summer so I bypassed it with another ignition switch on the column. You may want to make that look less makeshift.
Front doors had speaker boxes that aren’t really staying in the doors too well. I pulled out the driver’s one. The passenger box is still there.
Truck is currently at Proffitt’s in CO. I have many pix so you can see how things look…
Price is $5,500.
You can email me for more info / photos at fj55@att.net.
Pix below…
-Taras
Unfortunately the time has come to part ways with my 1979 Piggy. She and I have been traveling together for a long time but now the sad time has finally come. So, here’s the good – and the bad.
She has crossed the line from a presentable, I-can-drive-to-work-and-not-be-too-embarrassed truck to a not-so-much-drive-to-work truck. Her future is probably going to be that of a wheeler. Solid and strong truck, just not so much of a looker like she used to be. (She graced the cover of Toyota Trails in Dec 1998!)
The GOOD
Dead reliable drivetrain. Always starts. Always gets me where I need to go. I rebuilt a Chevy 350 for reliability and grunt. Nothing fancy, but neither is my 55. Carb modified for off camber and hills. Red top Optima. Electric fan operated from dash. SM465 and stock 4-spd t-case, both rebuilt by Marlin.
Suspension is spring over. All steering linkage and steering arms beefy (4X4 Labs), one ton tie-rod ends, high steer, antiwrap bar for rear, custom F/R detachable antisway bars, F/R disk brakes, lengthened brake lines, 1.5” body lift. Terraflex on all four corners. This suspension flexes yet is perfectly stable on the highway.
Protection is Butch-Built front bumper ready for winch and sliders. Rear quarters nicely trimmed to avoid rock rash.
Tires are newish 37” MTRs on widened stock rims. Can run 39s with no rubbing. ARBs front and back. Small air tank underneath. Stock ARM pump that I haven’t reinstalled back into the engine bay.
Have all almost new carpets (from SOR) for front, back and cargo area.
Interior is decent. Stock front and rear seats. Dash pad. Floor pans are good. All windows and doors work, although you have to slam the driver’s door twice to get it to stay closed. Tailgate window works but only from dash.
Basically, this is a solid ~150k mile truck that has many miles to go… It is well sorted out and works quite well.
The NOT-SO-GOOD
Rust, of course! The hood has surface rust only so it looks far worse than it is. The worst rust is in the A pillars. Standard rust on doors and quarter panels. Tailgate is shot but, believe it or not, I found a very nice condition tailgate that is included with the truck.
The interior is a bit tired, although quite suitable for wheeling trips, both to/from and on the trail. She travels well on the highway. The ignition key stopped working last summer so I bypassed it with another ignition switch on the column. You may want to make that look less makeshift.
Front doors had speaker boxes that aren’t really staying in the doors too well. I pulled out the driver’s one. The passenger box is still there.
Truck is currently at Proffitt’s in CO. I have many pix so you can see how things look…
Price is $5,500.
You can email me for more info / photos at fj55@att.net.
Pix below…
-Taras