Dustin03 Build

I've never been really good about taking pictures, and I'm terrible with money (DAMN YOU INTERNET!), so it's taken me a little bit more time than most to come up with anything to show to you guys.

But here she is! I'm still in college, so this project is modest to say the least. But if I have my way--and some other ***hole in a Dodge Ram doesn't total my truck while I'm sitting at a red light--I'll be working on this baby for years to come!

And I appologize ahead of time for the poor quality of some of these photos. It's the difference between snapping a shot on your phone and taking the time to do it right with an SLR.

Here she is, just a couple weeks after I brought her home. Bone stock except for the bullbar and two KC HiLites off my old truck.



One of my first mods. Debadged the doors and tailgate. I never would have done it, but when I was helping Taconut do his I just couldn't help myself. I blacked out for a minute, and the next thing I knew I was holding a hair dryer and some floss...



A long time went by... And finally I saved up to buy a complete Old Man Emu suspension system. Shocks, struts, coils, and leafs.


Went for the deckplate mod. For a while I was worried about debris coming in so I made this precleaner, but it lasted all of a day before I started to miss that glorious noise! So it's gone now.




No one may remember, but I was asking around for anyone who had done the Satoshi grille on a 1st Gen. Couldn't find any information on it beyond a couple of pictures, so I jumped in on my own.



I found the "TOYOTA" emblem on eBay, though I still don't know what it came off of. One of these days, when I have nothing better to spend my money on, I'll drop $80 on an old FJ unit.



Any 1st Gen guys know that there's an issue with the hood latch--when you put a screen across the whole grille there's no place left to reach in with your hand to unlatch it. I solved that problem by cutting off the release, flipping it over and welding it back on.


Here are some shots of my most recent work. I got tired of dealing with a bunch of cords, so I did some fabricaton work.

We 1st Gen-ers don't have any fancy Aux In ports, so I made my own (kind of). I have a cassette adapter which plugs in here, then runs through an extension to the glove box.



I hate iPods, so I wasn't left with any cool car kits that worked worth a damn, so I made something on my own.



Then there came a day when I decided that I wanted to have something custom to house the KC HiLite switch, as well as provide a place for more lights, dual battery control, etc. This is what I came up with.




Here's the solution I came up with to carry my two fuel cans, two water cans (I live in the desert, after all) and whatever tools I feel like having. They fit so well behind the fender well, you'd almost think Toyota knew what I was thinking!



I also wanted to have a place to keep my big flashlight. Got this idea from Scott Brady at Expeditions West.



Here's my hat rack...



My dog...



And the latest and greatest addition to the rig: BFG All-Terrains 33x1050R15s on Cragar Soft 8 15x8 wheels.

 

Sweet ride man. I like the Hat rack, wish i had one

 

Nice build!, I like the gas/water can set-up.

 

Ha ha! Maybe you should be looking into a solid axle kit. If you go through all the trouble to put four-wheel drive in, might as well get the best, right?

Thanks man. I know there isn't much to it, but you have to do what you can with what you have, right? Hopefully I'll get around to doing everything I want before the whole truck rusts apart around me.


P.S. I know it's hard to see in the pictures, but both the mp3 player's case and the switch console are blued steel. I'm kinda proud of that.

 

Looks cool man, need to come out to a meet and show it off.

 

Yeah, I know. I always have some kind of commitment when one comes around.

I gotta make it to the next one, though. I'm dying to get those new tires in the dirt.

 

Come out to the 4 peaks clean up this weekend...you can get dirty and help out.

 

thats some fancy electical work in that truck. really sweet ride. I wish I knew how to do that wiring, I have at least 15 cords going into the three ports (dont ask how the math works)

 

You have to be kidding me! I have my javalina hunt this weekend!
FML.

Thanks for the compliment, but if you saw it you'd realize the wiring is nothing to be proud of. It was all a matter of getting things back behind one thing or another, where I couldn't see it. The cassette adapter actaully runs straight down the front of my radio, with the slack stuffed into the ash tray.

There's an outfit that sells a cord that apparently lets you make a real AUX IN port directly into the radio. Maybe one day I'll see if it works.

 

sweet dog

 

Nice truck i think we have similar taste.

 

And by the way check out my build thread i did the deck plate mod and took a piece of old screen door and placed in mine as a buffer to catch crap on the way in.

 

lookin good dude,keep up the good work

 

Looks great good job on the mods

 

VERY nice truck.
Did you buy that switch unit by the rear view or fab it up yourself?
I might just have to steal that idea from you after I add more lights to mine. I now have the switches in the blank next to the key but that can only hold so much.

 

what bracket are you using to hold ur water cans and jerry cans? and that a beautiful dog u got there what kind is it?