Pirate 4x4 banner

'81 Yota P/U build

80K views 257 replies 65 participants last post by  shomsky462 
#1 · (Edited)
Build up of my First Gen (81).

This will be my first Toyota build. Never messed with 1-tons before but im going to give it a shot. This is going to be a great learning experience for me and hopefully this rig turns out alright.
$500 bucks later:




tranny was blown so i dragged it from Havasu AZ to 29 palms CA.


Front:
-Dana 60, Chevy
-16" FOA 2.5 remote reservoir coilovers
-3-link kit from Ruff-Stuff.


Rear:
-14 Bolt, Chevy Van
-6" All-Pro Leafs
-16" FOA 2.5 remote reservoir shocks
-Disk Brake swap.

Drivetrain:
-94 chevy 4.3 CPI, sm465 and NP205
my goal here is to be able to smash around in the dunes and the desert, but mainly drag my junk through some rocks. ill be runnin 37 mtrs. ill go bigger later im sure. This will be street/SMOG Legal.

First thing to do, leaf hangers and brackets






stay tuned, its not going to be the fastest build...
-Shomsky
 
See less See more
4
#70 · (Edited)
Took the cab off the frame for better access to the cuttout I had to make in the frame for clearance of the driver side exhaust manifold.

I had to get an Astro van driver side manifold in order to clear the clutch slave.

Clean up the frame where the cab sits.

You can barely see the crossmember I made. Its 1/2" plate I heated and bent to clear the driveshaft and the upper link for the driver side.





 
#71 ·
Just called FOA for some shock and spring rate advice. They advised that i run 250(18")/150(14") on my 16" remote res. coilovers up front. I told him I was running a first gen with all 1 ton stuff, 4.3, sm465, 205, 60/14 and winch. He said the weight difference between the stock toy and mine wasnt significant enough to change anything around. With calculators and weight guessing i came up with about 250/175. Thats with a guess of an unsprung corner weight of 950 lbs. Im thinking about buying the 250 mains right now and using them to determine what tender I will need.

Am I on the right track? What do you all suggest?
-Shomsky
 
#73 ·
Took a break from working on the rig and was inside when my step dad and I heard 2 very loud explosions that shook the house. Went outside saw this a couple of houses down:
No one was inside. Looked like some kind of garage fire. It makes you rethink how your garage is setup...




anyways I notched the frame to clear the driver exhaust manifold.
 
#81 ·
Mounted an engine oil cooler and power steering cooler. I have to get some more push on hose for the engine oil cooler, I came a couple inches short on the other hose... Of course, I thought I could save a couple bucks by not ordering another foot of it. Now I have to buy 2 more feet. Same thing happened with one of the fuel lines. :shaking: Oh well. learning experience.

The engine oil cooler hose will get thermo-sleeved and mounted with clamps.




 
#82 ·
Moved the rear axle on top of the springs because this thing was way too damn tall before. Nothing is welded, I dont plan on running it like this. just temporary for measurement purposes. I'll get new springs later. Im thinking the all pro 3 inchers and french the forward mounts into the frame. Its about 25" to the frame right here.




I had to re-do the exhaust to fit the astro van manifold. Looks like shit, I dont care, deal with it. It was enough of a bitch just to make this. But it seals and bolts up just fine.





Please feel free to criticize/advise me on anything. I am very open to all ideas. This is an incredible learning experience for me and a first time for almost everything Im doing to this thing. Im pretty much building this by "feel" and learning as I go. Many things have been re-re-done.

-Shomsky
 
#83 ·
Ok so Im about to get my axles regeared. Ive got one price quote so far in San Luis Obispo, CA.
To regear the front dana 60 and the rear 14 bolt with 4.88's and ARB's, with install kits obviously. about $3,500. and ARB has a promotional thing going, a free large compressor when you buy 2 lockers. He's asking $400 an axle to regear. Seems a little on the high side to me but he seemed to know his shit unlike other cheaper places Ive taken axles to.
Does this seem like a fair overall price for both axles?
 
#84 ·
Also does anybody see any problems with running the all-pro 3" lift 05+ leaf springs. looks like a good spring (11 leafs). but is it the same width as mini trucks? Im also leaning toward the deavers, but are they really worth that much?
 
#85 ·
It has been quite a while since Ive posted anything. Ive moved a couple times, been going to school, working etc. I have been acquiring tools and some welding and fabrication knowledge, and building things here and there. Ive recently started working on the truck again so here are some pictures of the progress Ive made. Its easy to see the improvements Ive made in my abilities to fabricate. But thats not saying too much. I dont really have any formal experience except for a couple of welding classes at the local community college but mostly Im just learning as I go, talking to more experienced people etc. Ive definitely learned a ton of things from pirate.


Back to the build:

The back of the frame was looking pretty nasty after I cut it up and boogered it together. It was sitting way too tall with a SOA set up, almost 30" to the lowest part of the frame. After talking to this dude at poly performance he recommended I run a '12" shackle' over the frame, and until then i had never heard of it, looked it up, looks awesome, thought to myself i could build those. it was a pain in he ass especially using an abrasive chop saw. Just buy them if you dont have the right tools.(I do now).
I can run a giant shackle, to get that long sweeping arc for the leafsprings and it will actually sit lower than it was before. This shackle set up with frenched in front hangers will work well, maybe, I think, not really sure...

old shitty looking thing.


decided I was going to complete replace the shitty rear section. Also make a cut out to run the shocks as far out board on the axle as possible.
2x3x.120


How I connected the pieces, S-2 root:


and a 7018 pass


some brackets I cut out on a plasma cam at the community college


Ive been told that its not all that great to has gussets/bracing/fishplates, whatever you'd call that, come to a point like I did here. I thought it might look cool or something stupid like that. I wont be doing that in the future but im not going to do anything about it here. Everything will be tied together with tube later on in some way or another.
 
#86 ·
Thought id share a couple of the things Ive built.

This table has a 3/4" top about 30" wide and 8' long. its heavy.






I got tired of dragging my welder out far enough to reach what I needed to weld on the truck so I started making this cart. Its just about finished.



Made this battery box for my roomies FJ40, I used some mohoganny I got from a job site



tube notcher:



I used a lathe for the first time and made the bearing block with internal snap ring to hold them in. The shaft is 5/8" drill rod. The college shop had this massive 1" acme thread tap so that's what I used for the vise portion. It turned out way better than I thought it would and it works really well and Ive used it quite a bit now.

back to the build:
 
#87 ·
this is how I decided i wanted to french in the rear leaf spring eyes. made these from 4" OD DOM .250 wall with plates I cut from the plasma cam. Outside and inside welded.
tried to get it as straight as possible. It takes a little bit of creative thinking when figuring out what to measure off of when there isnt anything there... I think I got it close enough...



Then I chopped the frame off, with an attempt to create more surface area to weld to when joining in the new frame section



Getting everything mocked up, square, level, plumb. measure, cut, grind, measure, repeat about 10 times.



made these hangers to put on the top of the frame, .188 wall 2x3 cut with 45's to house the piece of tube then capped with a strap.
preheated, S-2 root, with a 7018 pass. I was going to plate it further but decided this was plenty.
heres a nice peeler


Joined the two sections. I wasnt entirely sure what kind of steel the frame is but from what i was told it might be a medium carbon steel? So I preheated both sections slowly to about 400-500 degrees and switched sides every pass I made, post heated and thermal wrapped it.















This is where I am currently. Ill spend another day finishing up my welder cart, and making some more plates to tie the two frame sections together, then get right back at it. Once I plate up the rear and paint it, its on to the front 3 link and new crossmember.
 
#90 ·
Finished up the cart today. I will probably add some accessories before I paint it. filler rod holders etc..




I need to get a bigger argon tank...




Now Ill be able to wheel this thing out to the truck instead of dragging it out on an old door just far enough to reach.
 
#93 ·
Finished up the rear of the frame, plated all joints and connections.
also finished up the welder cart. put some filler rod holders and extra hooks etc.
made up a water cooler system so I can run a water cooled torch and not worry about whether or not I can finish a weld before my hand melts from using the air cooled torch at 120 amps.













found a reverse osmosis tank at the dump, modified it a bit, welded in some pipe fittings and mounts.



got some shitty little power steering cooler and mounted it right behind the wleders fan that turns on and off when welding so it works out pretty well as a kind of "on demand fan"





I finally got a hold of a bigger argon tank. 336 cuft I scored for $140. should last me quite a but longer than the 80 cuft.




next on the list is to start with the 3 link front and remake the crossmember.
 
#94 ·
Having a bitch of a time figuring out the front 3 link. mostly the upper link location. It seems that it will be best suited on the outside of the frame, driver side, right behind the body mount, and notch/cutout the body mount for clearance and reinforce somehow.
anybody see any problems with my setup so far?

The stock 4.3 radiator is keeping me from pushing the steering box all the way forward, blocking any decent up travel from the tie rod. (only about 3-4" before contact. So in order to run the steering box like it is shown in the picture im going to have to get another radiator that isnt as wide or shift it toward the passenger side dramatically.
any ideas?

Currently it sits at about 27" to the bottom of the frame with almost no weight on it. Im shooting for about 6" uptravel and 10" downtravel.
the wheelbase is about 115"









 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top