Dad's Water Truck

Hey guys,

Long time creeper 1st time posting.
I've had things I was working through, but I've been following different posts. You guys and these pages are great resources. I love so many of these builds.

My Dad passed before Christmas. We lost him to COVID. We were not allowed in the hospital. There was no way to sit with him or be with him. I just got a call one day that he was intubated, and a few days later we had to decide how long to keep him on life support. Then we learned there was no way to recover, as his lungs were almost completely gone. he could no longer get oxygen to his body. He passed peacefully, as the nursed relayed to me. Each of them said he was a truly great and fun guy and they loved his company.

So, I inherited the water truck.




Dad loved to live in the middle of nowhere. He would always say "If you can see your neighbors, they're too close!". He lived in an old mining town way out in the Utah desert. The town of about 50 citizens have no paved roads, no cell service, and yes, almost no neighbors.

The town actually voted AGAINST running water. The fear of the locals was that IF they had running water more people would want to move to the town. When my Dad told me this, I responded, "Dad, you've found your people."

He would take this truck down the mountain once a week and fill a 500 gallon container with water from the reservoir. He'd haul that up the hill and transfer the water to the home's cistern. (When was the last time you heard of a cistern?)

So, Me
I wanted a truck, but did already had a slightly modified Subaru that I've been humbling the members of my local jeep group with.


Me and my Dad had a long history of working on cars. We got my 1st car out of someone's back yard. We found a 79' Honda civic CVCC, and I bought a non-running car for $350. We towed it home and, rebuilt it from the ground up, together.

(Not mine, but just like this)

Then we worked together on another Honda civic, a Volvo, and then a Triumph TR7

(also not mine, but just like this)

I took a 2 day trip out to the desert. This is my Dad's town.



YES! HE ACTUALLY LIVED HERE! Dad! You crazy coot!
These are not my Pics, I wish I had gotten a few while I was there, but my mind was on other things.
When I 1st got the truck, it was filthy. Insanely dusty inside and out. Also no pics. Again, just not in that mindset.
I drove the truck home, every bump in the road would raise a cloud of dust. I laughed and cried a bit as I could see my Dad, sitting where I am now, and complaining about all the dust.

So, the truck sat for a few days before I could bring myself to drive it again. I'd sit in it and hug the steering wheel, since I couldn't give my Dad the hugs anymore.

So I decided to take the Dusty water truck and make it something me and my Dad would have loved to ride in together. Something that we would have built and had just had fun doing it.
So I sold the ninjas

(but kept the Honda nighthawk cafe' racer project)

OK, THE BUILD... or where it is at this moment, still waiting on quite a few parts. Got some RockTrix rims, Falken Wildpeak A/T 32's 3" cab lift (not gonna off-road this other than light trails), Gen 2.2 front end, those fancy Knobs, new step bars, Bed extender, and a bucket of other goodies. Hood, various clips and bits are all still on the way or waiting to be shipped.

Got the lift done (took 3 days to get the seized bed bolts out), What I could of the front end. The rear bumper may be so rusted out that I can't save it. buuuuuut, I really love where the look is going!


Truck's been washed 3 times, still dusty as hell! Lots of rust, but the local dealership says it's not bad enough to replace the frame. I've been underneath a bit with wire brushes, sanders and a truck load of Rust-olium anti-rust primer.
Thinking it needs a roll-bar, but I want something friendly with the BackFlip tonneau cover.

planning to convert to full LED, seat covers (Do the gen 3 seats fit the gen 2 cab?) Android head unit, and other fun toys.

Anyway, I'll post more as it comes along.
Thanks so much for all the help you guys didn't know you were giving.