My daughter calls my work truck Little Red, the name has stuck. I don't use little red as a work truck anymore so I decided to have some fun and get low.

 

As a work truck I had actually lifted little red about 2"-3" and had extended shackles and helper/overload springs. Really stiff suspension.

The camper shell and rack were super handy. I also removed the front valance for a little increased clearance.

 

Took off the extended shackles and put the stock shackles back on. Removed the helper leaf.
Keeping it simple so far, eased the torsion bars down up front, 3" blocks in the rear.

 

Oh man I'm really pleased with how Little Red is coming along!
I stored the camper shell, they do come in handy some times I might need it again.
I flipped the lower ball joints up front. With the bj flip and the shell of it set the stance more evenly. No spacers on the ball joints, at least not yet.
I also started buffing out the paint. Still some dents and dings but she shines a little now.

 

I painted the front bumper valance and put it back on. It's the one that came on the truck when I bought it, it's in rough shape but I like the way it looks. I'd like to put a newer version on, something a little lower.
Got almost all the buffing done. Still some spots I need to hit again, the paint is old and the clear coat is almost gone.
Little Red cleans up nice!

 

I hadn't originally realized that my '92 was actually manufactured in Japan, which I think is pretty cool because at that point Toyota was manufacturing in the U.S.
I'm thinking of a Japanese heritage race look, clean and low.
Now for a few mods under the hood. I'd like to start with a battery/intake swap. Has anyone done it and liked it/hated it? Is it worth the trouble? This truck still passed CA smog withought any issues so o don't want to jepeordise that. Any smog issues with intake mods??

 

YES! my first truck had the swap and nowhere that I could find would smog test it in that condition. If you live in cali, leave the intake be!

 

Thanks for the heads up!! I know Cali is strict that's why I thought I should ask first.
I also figure everything, EFI, is configured to stock so I would assume changing the intake dramatically might also cause some other changes.
She runs great, if it ain't broke don't "fix" it right!? Lol

 

true that! but if you want your ride to breathe a little better, a larger exhaust will reduce back pressure, and as long as you keep your CARB certified cat and some sort of muffler, it will be just fine.

 

Dang! great job on the buffing, It makes the truck look completely different!

 

Thanks! That's a good plan. I had my cat stolen a while back so the new one is welded up solid! Lol
Any recommendations on mufflers? I don't think I want anything too obnoxious, especially for freeway driving.

 

Thanks!! It's crazy how much of a difference a little rubbin compound makes! Paint is not in good condition though, I don't know how many times I can do that before I get the buffed out/rusted/rat rod look! (I kinda like that look so it might be ok)

 

Yeah, I didn't want anything too loud either, so I got one rated as "Mild" sound, which was still so obnoxious that I added glasspacks behind it. I do know that a lot of people here like magnaflow or borla over flowmaster.

 

I wonder how a tuner exhaust would sound? Like a D.C. Or something. I guess it would sound like a tuner...? The 2.4l seems to have a little less compression than my old Honda so maybe it would sound a little lower?

 

+1, would like a freeflowing muff without the loudness and the drone in the cab!! just real mellow almost as "loud" as stock muffler ha!

 

Nice truck!

 

Anybody have any good suggestions for a nice muffler, free flowing but low sound....

 

Magnaflow mufflers are not loud. They are known to have a deep tone.

 

magnaflow seems to be the one that people are suggesting,. i just want sumthing mellow not much louder than stock really though

 

you can also use a resonator of some sort behind the muffler to "tweak" the sound without restricting air flow, I use Thrush glasspacks.