The life and times of my 1987 Toyota Pickup - KLF Special

[GRM]

That’s awesome! I love your truck too it’s a really sweet rig! I’ve actually been trying to find a wildernest like yours it’d be perfect for what I want! You haven’t thought about selling it have you?

I have considered selling it. I really want a defender-style exo cage with a autohome in the bed. I don’t have the time for that project right now, so the wildernest will stay awhile longer. Truth be told, there are so many things I want to do to the truck, I may end up selling the entire thing and starting over before I ever get to the exo cage.

 

[yotadude520]

I have considered selling it. I really want a defender-style exo cage with a autohome in the bed. I don’t have the time for that project right now, so the wildernest will stay awhile longer. Truth be told, there are so many things I want to do to the truck, I may end up selling the entire thing and starting over before I ever get to the exo cage.

Selling the entire truck?? Oh no you can’t do that!

And well if you could let me know if you’re willing to sell it first that would be awesome! That’s the one camper shell I really want!

 

[GRM]

Selling the entire truck?? Oh no you can’t do that!

And well if you could let me know if you’re willing to sell it first that would be awesome! That’s the one camper shell I really want!

I want more seats & a V8. So long term its either a 4Runner build or swapping a crew cab.

 

[joseywales]

Ohhhh... doublecab for sure!

 

[yotadude520]

So quick little update on the Toyota. Done a couple things to it since my last "update"

The windshield had a large crack in it and the back window sliders wouldn't stay shut since the latch broke. I figured since I had the windshield guy coming out might as well have him do the back window too! Got a new back window installed for $110. Really couldn't beat the price anyway!

It's not tinted like the last one that was in it but that's okay. I'm eventually planning to get a camper shell on this truck. Longterm would be a Wildernest like GRM's or some kind of a pop up camper.

Last Sunday I decided it was time to do a couple of things on the truck again, so I pulled her back into the shop!

Last week I figured out that the e-brake wasn't working. This truck has the emergency disc brake that is bolted to the back of the transfer case. I thought I was going to have to adjust the linkage but after closer inspection the nuts at the end of the bolts going through the caliper were loose and were about to fall off. Tightened them up evenly and now the e-brake is working again!

Back when I installed the stereo I had unplugged the locker switches to get the plastic around the stereo off. When I put it back together I tested that everything still worked and noticed that the front locker lights weren't coming on. Finally took the time to fix it this weekend and pulled it off to find the cable was unplugged. Plugged it in and tested the lockers and we're good to go!

I also threw on the CB Radio antenna plate with some Toyota bolts I had lying around & the stickers that @KLF sent me - thanks again Ken!

 

[KLF]

@yotadude520 and all:

New artwork now available:

This guy is really cool, does great work, and really enjoyed doing this truck: I Drew Your Car I have one of his Toyota truck posters framed in my office, it really looks great. The truck will be in the next poster.

You can buy prints, t-shirts, mugs, etc here: ‘Visit idrewyourcar.com to find hundreds of car profiles!’ by idrewyourcar

 

[yotadude520]

@yotadude520 and all:

New artwork now available:

View attachment 1870129

This guy is really cool, does great work, and really enjoyed doing this truck: I Drew Your Car I have one of his Toyota truck posters framed in my office, it really looks great. The truck will be in the next poster.

You can buy prints, t-shirts, mugs, etc here: ‘Visit idrewyourcar.com to find hundreds of car profiles!’ by idrewyourcar

Looks like I'm getting a poster for my room! I already have a large FJ40 print framed in there right now.

 

[mongoose2231]

one of the coolest thread on mud!!

 

[TallCityCruzer]

This truck is a childhood dream of mine! @yotadude520, if you ever want to sell it please contact me and I’ll take her off your hands. Take good care of her and enjoy the truck!

 

[yotadude520]

Thanks @TallCityCruzer! It is a great truck that I'm extremely lucky to own and I drive her everyday. I appreciate the offer and I'm sure you'd take great care of her, but this truck isn't going up for sale. It's staying in my personal collection.

 

[joseywales]

Ok. CBs. What’s the deal with “tuning” antennas? Is it just to get maximum range? I’ve never done it, and wonder what I’m missing out on?

 

[pappy]

Ok. CBs. What’s the deal with “tuning” antennas? Is it just to get maximum range? I’ve never done it, and wonder what I’m missing out on?

It's more than just improving range, which is part of it. It also has to do with not making the radio work as hard and increasing the life of the radio.

Right Channel Radio Antenna Tuning

 

[Pacer]

It's more than just improving range, which is part of it. It also has to do with not making the radio work as hard and increasing the life of the radio.

Right Channel Radio Antenna Tuning

And more to do with your transmission clarity than what you receive.
I'm sure it's covered in the article pappy posted above, I haven't clicked yet...

 

[joseywales]

That’s a great link Pappy. Tons of info there if you poke around.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I found the best way to tune my CB is to turn it off and turn on my 2m ham....

 

[joseywales]

That’s great, but a lot of runs will ONLY use CB. Like our “Orygun Redtruck Run” for instance!

 

[pappy]

That’s great, but a lot of runs will ONLY use CB. Like our “Orygun Redtruck Run” for instance!

And the trend has been HAM. My truck is wired for the CB, but there is no radio in the truck.

 

[yotadude520]

Alright all this CB radio chat has reminded me I should update this thread a little bit.

The truck has been great and as I said above I've been driving it every day. I'm actually thinking of getting rid of my old DD since she's been so reliable...and I'm averaging 17 MPG in the CITY! This truck continues to amaze me.

I took it up to Mt Lemmon last weekend with the girlfriend and the pup. The back shelf is perfect for him to sit on and he loves looking out the back window! I drove up there because I wanted to play in the snow but literally every road was closed. I did sneak my way onto one though and got to test out the lockers a bit...

Ever since I bought the truck back in December, I have been on the hunt for the bezel that goes around the shifters and connects back to the middle console. I eventually kind of gave up after A) they're nonexistent or stupidly priced & B) @KLF reminded me that this truck has a R151 in it and the shifter is moved 3" forward than the standard shifters. You can see the trans tunnel plate that he made when he swapped that transmission in:

Either way I've been trying to figure out a way to fix this and make it so that I don't have to look at all those wires every day and just couldn't figure it out. Well a couple a weeks ago a guy on craigslist gave me this shifter bezel that he thought would work for my truck.

It looked like it should work since it's the right width and matches up with the brackets in the front of the shifters. The bezels in the 90-95 pickups and 4runners are all much wider so it's not from one of those. When I looked at how it connected to the middle console it didn't seem like it was going to work at all though. It was too wide.

After a little bit more research I figured out that my middle console came with a little piece in front of it that would then connect to a similar style shifter bezel. Miraculously I was able to track one down on eBay and got it shipped for $30. Once it got here I took it out of the box and noticed it was cracked, and even worse this shifter bezel is not correct for the truck. On the plus side though, it will work but I will have to epoxy in the crack on the joiner piece and I would paint it all to match. I put it all together and this is how it would look in the truck (minus the proper paint and shifter boot)

I'm still kinda on the fence on whether or not I want to go ahead and throw this all in. What do you guys think? Does it look tacky not matching up with the lines and what not?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I think it looks better than nothing. Run it!

I mean, seriously, it lines up about as well as any 80's Japanese interior lined up.

 

[G-Cat]

Run it