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[ProjecT] Work Truck

183K views 2K replies 162 participants last post by  tytotheler92 
#1 ·
So 3 weeks ago my daily driver Beretta decided to crap out on me and I was left with no vehicle and starting a new job in 5 days. Well I didn't have the 2-3 weeks that it was going to take to tear down and rebuild the motor (again) and my parents said that since I wasn't gonna tear down and rebuild the motor that they were "repo-ing" my car and I was now on my own for a vehicle. Well I scraped together all the money I had, and bought a new daily driver/work truck. Its a '95 S10 short cab short bed with a 2.2/5speed and 84,000 miles. Its pure bare bones/work truck. Heat only (no A/C), rubber floor, bench seat, non-tilt column, and even a GM rollpan that was a cheaper option than a real bumper. I got a super deal on it and its been a great work truck for the past 3 weeks. Here's some pics from when I brought it home:













What I love about this truck is the POTENTIAL it has. As you can tell, some aspects of it are a bit rough. The front end is smashed, the passenger mirror is missing, the rollpan is hanging by who knows what, the tailgate handle is bent/crooked, etc. etc. But the body is in great shape for being a '95 and a work truck. There's probably a grand total of 15-20 dents on the truck INCLUDING ones INSIDE the bed. My new job is at a bodyshop so a large part of the plans for the truck is to practice/hone my bodyworking skills on it and then paint it a bit nicer color lol. But the front end needs to be fixed, so might as well swap it for a '98 up front end, right? I need a new mirror so might as well get some Street Scene ones... The rollpan is falling off, so I'm thinking about putting a stock bumper on (EVERYBODY has rollpans....who runs bumpers on a custom truck these days? Besides...all the people who have rollpans can hardly GIVE AWAY their old stock bumpers lol). The tailgate handle is crooked, so might as well shave it and relocate it to the inside...


But anyway...not really sure where this truck/project will head but anything that happens with it will go here in this thread.
 
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#1,006 ·
Ask and ye shall receive :) I'm on lunch now so here's some pics


Side shot




Wheelwell opening is 32.5", tire is 32". It just barely fits...




Rear brakes




From the inside. You can see the bracket I had to make to mount the caliper




18" ground clearance




Chrome diff cover and taillights taped to the bumper




Compared to a 4Runner




Almost like the bed is on lol I like how good the brakes look in this one




Distance shot




That is all for now. I hope to pressure wash the whole frame on Sat and then pull it in the garage to paint all the parts up nice like I did on the front. While the bed is off I will also be installing the ViAir 480 back on it, just as a backup to the EDC. Other than that the truck will be done for a while, other than little maintenance things and getting the interior put back together. Focus now will be shifting over the crewcab almost 100%
 
#1,011 ·
Go for it man! I'm all for mixin it up. Now all the people that had labeled me as 'that guy with the lowrider' are gonna be like "Shit! What do we call him now?? I guess it'll just have to be 'the guy that messes with trucks'" LOL
 
#1,009 ·
oh so slow said:
That makes it even better man. You've done some cool stuff for someone on a budget. I hope my stuff gets done the way I've got it in my head. Lol. I know where you're coming from since I've got 2 kids and a wife that stays home to take care of them :haha:
mattadams13 said:
i hear ya on the 2 kids and wife staying at home. Its hell to build a nice truck on 1 income
I'm right there with you both on this. Although I only have 1 kid and my wife works occasionally doing substitute teaching, we still are essentially a 1 income family, and she'd prefer to stay home if she could. And the hardest part for me lately has been budgeting not only the money side of the project but also the time side. I haven't done to good with the time budgeting lately... my wife and daughter haven't seen much of me the past 6 days :(
 
#1,023 ·
he needs some mud tires and this sticker






...but in 31s since the tread will be knobby and probably wont fit 32s.
 
#1,024 ·
Definitely gone a different direction than most guys going lifted and with bags in all. I've seen it done with fullsize trucks, but this is the first I've seen on a mini. Have you driven it though much snow up there lifted? Curious to see how it would perform being 2wd and bagged because I assume the bags would allow for better articulation.
 
#1,028 ·
Haven't been through any snow with it yet. The bags give it a soft ride but since I still have the sway bar the articulation is very low. But as I said in the last post any articulation matched to me turning = rubbing the fenders. Hitting bumps when driving straight is fine and turning when not hitting bumps is fine, but not the two put together lol
 
#1,029 ·
Some progress for the Sonoma. Wife has been out of town since last Wed and won't be back til tomorrow so I've been getting all kinds of stuff done around the house and had some time to work on the truck while I didn't have to daily it.

Saturday I pulled the leafs, shackles, ubolts, lower shock mount/ubolt brackets, calipers, and caliper brackets and then yesterday I prepped them and got them all painted. Tonight it will all go back on the truck and the bed will get put back on so it can be DONE suspension-wise for a while. Then I just need to get the interior put back together and finalize my radiator/efan and it should be done for good so I can then focus on the crew cab


Parts prepped and ready for paint










Calipers sprayed red






Leafs/shackles/Ubolts/brackets POR'd






I'll try to get some pics as soon as it's out again in the daylight, but that won't be til at least Thurs as I'll be driving the wife's TrailBlazer tomorrow because I have to pick her and my daughter up from the airport after work
 
#1,031 ·
Thanks for the compliment man :)

And I like it bagged too, that's why it will mostly be slammed. This lift is just for winter, like I've said before... I'm just a bit behind schedule lol. The next order of business is to get the 6link built and get the truck back to being slammed for summer. ESPECIALLY now that I have the Stealths :D
 
#1,044 ·
Well it'll cut pretty small but it loses accuracy on holes prolly under an inch. I can play around with it on some 5/8" plate and see how it does at various sizes next chance I get. Drilling would be your best option on smaller diameter holes. I can drill holes from around 1/8" up to 4.5" I believe. I'll help ya out if I can. Lemmie know what you're looking at if you're interested or if it's hush hush I'll shoot you my email in pm. Milling is my weak point because 99% of what we do is round. I have access to a mill but it wouldn't be good for accurate stuff.

Matt might have better options?
 
#1,046 ·
A pic from just now at work. Bed makes it squat so I might put the shackles back on the higher setting. There's a good possibility they'll be fighting the shocks again though, so I may just have to get longer shocks. We'll see. I also may just leave it as it has more of a pre-runner look like this. Not sure yet. Give me your opinions :)



I'll try to get more pics on lunch
 
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