Rough 470 aka Lunch Mobile aka Lunch Box Build Thread (condensed)

KiPod · 2026-06-30T20:47:26-0600

Howdy,

What first started as a simple idea has accidentally become a project that I’ve been working on for the past two years or so. Since I’m almost at the point where I can start testing things out, I wanted to share what’s been going on in my head and garage. Some things you might like. Some things you might not. This build is for me to push myself, problem solve, and learn new things. Even though it’s not going to be for everyone, I do think it’s different enough that at least a few can take something away from it. Now, let’s start at the “beginning”…

May 2024:
I had recently sold my utility trailer and was missing the ability to load what I wanted when I wanted. As I started to shop around for one, I had a silly idea; what if I got a busted 470 on the verge of death and just turned that into a self driving utility trailer? I could gut it, throw a bunch of crap in the back, hose it down as needed, and keep one more 100 on the road.

I contacted my buddy Chris and asked him if he had any 100’s he was parting out that still drove, preferably a 470, and white (since it would match my other 470 for spare parts). Turns out he did and he sent me these pics:

Cracked windshield, busted rear glass, blown suspension, no brakes, dented body, moldy interior……..it was PERFECT! I went to check it out and the frame was better than most. Since the bones were good (and it fired up with a jump) we had a deal.

I needed to get this started to make me finally post stuff up on here. I’ll keep updating over the next few days and adding “bookmarks” (example below) for different projects so you have an idea where to skip around to.

Post 3: doors
Post 4: tailgate
Post 5-6: sliders
Post 7-10: front bumper
Post 11-13: rear bumper
Post 14-16: seats and body

Thanks for your patience while I find time to post.
Obviously, there are things I would do different.
But there are more things I would do again.
I hope you enjoy at least some of it!

Ki

KiPod · 2026-06-30T20:55:40-0600

The tires were so old I had to borrow a set of 24’s (don’t ask why I knew where a set was) to get it mobile again.

Here’s a pic next to my Campteq 470

And here’s how flush they sat

Slammed on 24’s really gave it a 90’s dub vibe. It actually looked like a full size matchbox car or something. Scary part was I got a few thumbs up while driving it like this and it wasn’t on purpose but out of necessity.

KiPod · 2026-06-30T21:13:05-0600

June - October 2024:
With the original plan being a self driving utility trailer, I stripped most of the interior and doors to make it easily washable. I did some research and turns out 95.5-04 Tacoma front doors and 96-02 (I think, I’ll check) rear doors are a close fit to the 100 series doors. I order tube doors for those vehicles and did a test fit on the 470:

I cut off the hinge plates on the doors, bolted a plate to the hinge, and welded the doors back to the new plates. I then trimmed and shaped the plates and off the doors went for powder coating.

Since I needed wheels, tires and suspension, I figured I would get items I could swap on my other 470 if/when needed. Ironman foam cells, icon wheels, and 35” Yoko XMT’s went on. I’ve also had two 100’s with 1” body lifts, so I tried a 2” body lift on this one. Pair all that with pulling the rockers and that’s when the “trailer 470” project started to look and feel like it could be a bit more than just a trailer.

KiPod · 2026-06-30T21:26:40-0600

January - March 2025:
With the lift gate being rusted out with busted glass and liking the way the doors turned out, I decided to try to make a tube tailgate. I ordered two more front doors, cut them in half to join them together, and then I had an idea that would really test my patience and determination.

At this point I started to think about just building a fun rig to drive around in good weather and still be able to use to haul stuff around in. More ideas were coming to me and I decided to use this also as a sort of test rig for building and designing parts. I just wanted to test my ideas and see what I could come up with.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:03:27-0600

Also January - March 2025:
I decided to take all the things I liked from different sliders and put them together and try to make my own for a 2” body lift.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:05:52-0600

Since it had been almost two decades since I did any sort of welding, I was pretty happy with the way they turned out.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:15:39-0600

March - May 2025:
I was liking how different the 470 was looking and wanted to keep the tube look going. Decided to see what I could come up with for a front bumper next. I started out with a winch plate and went from there. Because of the 2” body lift, I wanted to try to fit the winch above the frame rails to help keep the bumper high and tight.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:22:17-0600

Once the center was mounted, I moved on to the tubing.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:24:48-0600

Then I realized I didn’t work in recover points, so I had to figure that out.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:27:08-0600

After making a front center skid plate it was ready for powder coating and came back looking pretty cool. Again, would have done a few things different, but just seeing what I could come up with.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:40:05-0600

April - June 2025:
Next up was rear bumper. I cut the rear center section of from off to bring the bumper in tight. I started with some tow hitch receiver tubing I had and built off that. I also remembered to work in recover from the beginning this time.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:44:54-0600

After another test fit, it was time for center bracing and tubing. Oh, and cutting the rear muffler off to get it out of the way.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T06:53:16-0600

I used the same bend angles in parts of the sliders, front bumper, and rear bumper. I think having similar angles throughout helped pull the look together.

Now that I had the exterior armor mostly done, it was time to finish up some body and interior projects I had started throughout all this.

KiPod · 2026-07-01T07:15:24-0600

This is one of my favorite pics I took in the build process. I feel out of context and on its own, it raises more questions than it answers.

While I was working on rear buckets, a friend of mine found a pair of IS-F seats for sale locally. We reached out to seller and I was able to modify the seat tracks and wiring to get them in there.