No, the previous owner let the wind snatch the door outta his hand, which broke the retention rod, and bent the door AND the fender, I just got home yesterday from up near Tallulah Gorge getting a straight door. Had to get new fenders anyway! Lol...

Guy also swapped me even a slider for a solid rear window..plan on body'ing the bed next..and removing the cab.

 

Dang 10 hr days been killing my time to attack the truck. I did drive 2.5 hrs to get a straight door and do an even trade for a single piece rear window. Got some new weatherstrip because the previous owner gorilla glued stupid vent visors to the weatherstrip. Ugh!! But the straight door has been hung the single piece back glass has been laced in only to come back out when I'm finally ready for paint lol but I gota keep rain out til then.

On tap for this weekend: finish my Xmas light display for one, I do about 10k lights each yr for the kids, and then I'm gonna body drop the bed. Gonna set the frame up on stands measure the amount of drop I need which from what I've read averages 2.25 inches on these trucks and then I'll go to town on the bed. Can I body the cab before I drop the motor?

 

I just swapped for a solid glass too.It really changes the look.I like to put the bow of the glass to the inside instead of out.Just a different look.Here's the one on my 87 kinda hard to tell in the garage but outside under sunlight gives off a different reflectionHaven't taken pictures of the one on my 92 yet but looks good.

 

Very nice, I didnt know it could do that. I do know that WD-40 is your friend when installing these!

 

Oh brotha we got a trick over here.You take a piece of line about the width of a pencil(like clothes line or something) and with the rubber around the window place the line in the groove that the frame of the truck would sit in.Run it all the way around so that the ends with the excess will be crossing in the middle of the bottom of the window.Have a friend help and first put in the two bottom corners and you go inside and have friend push against the glass on the opposite side on the bottom of the window and pick a side of the line you want to pull.Pull slowly so that your friend can push against as you go from bottom to top and down the opposite side.It usually gets most of it in but sometimes you need to work it with a flat head.No lube needed.

 

Alrighty everyone. Like I said above, 10 hr days, 5 days a week, means I only get the weekends to work on the truck. Plus its the holidays, and I have 2 girls, so I have to keep it all balanced.

I made an observation while digging, googling, reading every forum known to us mini-truckers and there is NO DEFINITIVE HOW TO STEP BY STEP FOR BODY DROPPING AN 89-95 TOYOTA TRUCK. Period. So, while I do mine, I am snapping lots of pics, and when I have time to sort them, put them in order and such, take notes of what is hidden thats holding this on, and what needs to be moved to get to that, I will post a step by step tutorial, and be willing to answer any questions via PM or if you need my number Ill do that, cuz I know how frustratiing it is, to stand by your truck and be scared to cut because your not sure where and how much, and where the hidden spot welds are and such.

But with that said, heres my progress for this weekend. I body dropped the bed 2.5". Using the mini truckin article as a general guideline, I began cutting.
Theres spot welds behind the taillights, across the rear of the bed, and one on each side at the front of the bed, beside the bolt that holds the sides to the bottom.


Its hard to draw a straight line on the contours inside the bed, more on my method in the tutorial Im writing.



Everything Ive read says these trucks need to be BD'd 2.25 inches. I did 2.5 inches to be safe, you can always space it up..(read that somewhere) My 2.5 inches came off the top of the inner bed, thus when putting the outer back on, it will sit 2.5 inches lower than stock, even with the bottom of the framerails.



This is my method, I hung a tape measure off the top, measured down 2.5" and made alot of marks along the side. Then used painters tape and basically connected the dots. As long as your first cut is straight, this one will be too.(NEVER MIND THE BLACK MARKER LINES, I WAS FIGURING OUT THE BEST PLACE TO CUT, THAT WASNT IT)



And impatient me HAD to take the inner off the truck, and pose just the outer on it, just to get a preview of it laying body, lol. Satisfied me immensely.



Once I put the inner back on the frame, I laid the outer back where it used to be, only now, its 2.5" lower, effectively BODYDROPPED! It lined up way better than I thought it would. If you take your time, and make accurate, straight cuts, then in the end you wont have to trim more, and pull this or that..pays off.



I radiused the ends of the inside edge, kind of like Ive seen in pics of the cabs when they have been cut. Ill angle/fill this when I get to that stage.



But thats it for now. Your looking at maybe 6 hours of work, by myself with a Hitachi angle grinder, safety glasses, gloves and a coat. I have a sunburn now. I didnt stop there, I took the dash out to prep the cab for its drop maybe next wknd. I see no issue with doing a body drop before I do my bags, hell, my cab wont be on when I install the bag kit and Z it. STAY TUNED!!

 

Decided to ditch the A/C. Which here in GA is a sin, but the caliber that this truck is being built too, who cares lol.

 

You made it look easy bro.Good work and nice tutorial.

 

Nice. I wondered if you could body drop the bed that way. I just did that with my fully shaved bed but left it stock inside. Will definatly bed watching this to see how it goes.

 

Gonna drop the cab this weekend guys, be on the lookout for pics!

 

IM one day late on the update pictures. Was tired. The cab seemed so simple in theory, but execution was daunting. Then the prep work to get it re-welded was a PITA. But, never fear. The cab is down. Im being conservative so that in the end my hood will close. As it sits now, I put a straight edge under the frame rails, and slid it out and it hits right where the pinch weld begins. Ill hammer that over once I have the floor re welded. These are the pictures from last weekend. Remember I am going to publish a write-up once this is all complete and post it in the tech section.

I havent had this truck a month yet....

I came in 3.25" from the pinch that the plastic trim covers. And laid the tape. This will be the inner cut.


Here is where I decided to radius in (cant go straight back, theres a body mount to go around) This allows for the angled filler plate to end here and have the rounded filler plate finish it off, rather than the "curb"



This is where I decided to go up to and across the back of the cab. I cut on the outside of these lines. I went down 2.25", so that means you have to get rid of 2.25" of metal back here so the cab can go down. Once I cut across, I measured down 2.25" did the tape thing again and voila! I made most of these cuts with an angle grinder. Im a pro at that now and can cut a straight azz line.



Make sure your square to the floor. As you want the cab to go straight down, not angle down and get out of line. Makes welding it back up a breeze.

 

(Cont'd)

Heres the 2.25" strip removed. Nows the time to clean that edge up. Once the cabs down its hard to clean it up for welding.



This is the driver floorpan cut out. Anywhere you have to cut horizontally, you have to remove 2.25" of material. Cabs going down 2.25"! Do like I did, use these photos and look for reference points like bolts and cut outs in the floor, count floor humps like I did and you should be good.



Here is where straight cutting pays off...no thats not a ugly cut gap on the right, thats where that center hump angle didnt line back up...geometry. Ill fix that!



This is the driver door cut. See where I angled the hump cuts so that the filler metal can be laid against it? More surface contact+more weld=strength.



This is the passenger floor pan. This is where the thin cardboard comes in. Making templates to transfer to the sheetmetal for the fillers. Im sure where alot of the angles are now mis-matched, Ill be slicing in and flattening them to each other..again, more contact area=strength.



Heres a wider shot. Look in the lower left corner of the picture and you can see where I angled back in to go around the cab mount. This is where the angled filler goes, you can see how Ill have a smooth ledge, and not a curb!

 

Oh shet there's no turning back now.Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

And thats where I am. Not quite a month in yet. I have up'd my goal of a completion date. Id love to be done by the MiniTruckin SouthEastern Nationals, but thats ambitious. I originally wanted to be rolling in primer by May. Now I want it complete by May, 2 tone paint and all!

Oh, I did come across a one in a million deal. I googled " craigslist toyota drop spindles" Found a set of BellTechs in Oklahoma for 100 bucks.. Im in Ga. I emailed the guy on the off chance he'd ship sucha heavy item. Well, long story short, I have spindles now! Gonna wait to install them cuz I am powdercoating the control arms and the spindles all at once...but man! Couldnt beleive that!

Thanks for following along!

 

Ill be welding it all up this weekend, so thats the next set of pics!

 

Name

You just named my truck my friend.

Everyone, your lookin at project " no turning back" I can already see it etched in the back glass.

 

good work bro, keep it up. I plan on bodydroppin' mine someday when I can commit to it (the work) I'll be watching this one for sure. Gonna Z mine and get new uca and lca's from cando tax time...

 

you sir are a master at work.

 

Why thank you lol.

 

Alrighty Folks. Its update day. Im off work til the 14th of January, so I plan on getting alot done between then and now. It rained all day here in Ga today, and yesterday was spent getting the tank on the welder filled, buying wire, and making fillers for the cab/body drop and and getting the welder tuned to the gauge metal I was using. I did the cardboard template thing, and used channel locks to bend, body hammers to shape, and the angle grinder to cut. I got the back wall and the driver and passenger door jamb fillers made and 90% welded in. Once the cab is welded Im gonna take it off, weld some supports under it, clean it and re-undecoat it. Then its off to the shop to have the notch installed, the frame Z'd.

Just a few pics of what I got done.