Sheela the 87 college build

[Tanner11]

Hey yall,
Starting this thread to show the progress ill be making to my 1987 4x4 Toyota pickup. Being a college student with a limited budget and a 30 year old truck I plan on proving that you don't need the newest and most expensive vehicles or accessories for overlanding, just the passion! Most parts will be bought used off craigslist/ used part websites and most fabrication will be done by me, I'm a certified and truly enjoy the craftsmanship part of metal fabrication. The build will be slow but ill try my best to keep it interesting for yall!

Here some info on Sheela:
1987 Toyota pickup 4x4 single cab
22r engine with 183xxx miles
manual trans
manual steering (soon to swap to power, manual steering is a bitch in San Francisco!)


And plans for Sheela:
2 Bucket seats with locking center console
Power steering swap and Grant steering wheel
Larger tires (Bfg All Terrain)
Off Road Bumper with Warn winch and offroad lighting
CVT rooftop tent with frame, or a small camping shell with a pop up tent
Racks for recovery tools

Eventually
Total Chaos long travel ifs
Rear long travel
33-35in tires with beadlocks and full size spare


If you guys have any suggestions/ feedback I'm all ears! or know of a deal on any offroad parts;)
Thanks!

 

[Tanner11]

Alright guys,
Came up with an easy sturdy camper idea, and lucky enough I picked up an ARE utility camper shell for only $200 on craigslist. It's for a ford ranger so I'll have to do alittle chopping on the barn doors to fit but no big deal. With the aluminum frame I can safely mount a roof rack with tools/ tent. For the short term I plan on camping on the inside and having toolboxes/ storage on the roof. Check it out!

 

[Smileyshaun]

33x10.50r15 work great on Toyota's and if you can dig up a 3rd member and a front diff from a v6 auto rig it will have 4.88s . Nice cheap way to keep your gearing happy . When you get around to doing the timing chain on that thing make sure to get a good quality tensioner kit with metal guides.

Can't wait to see where this little truck takes you

 

[Smileyshaun]

These are the best guys in the business when it comes to the Toyota 22re . Their crawler cam really wakes up the motor and helps a lot with low to mid range power .

http://www.engnbldr.com

 

[Tanner11]

33x10.50r15 work great on Toyota's and if you can dig up a 3rd member and a front diff from a v6 auto rig it will have 4.88s . Nice cheap way to keep your gearing happy . When you get around to doing the timing chain on that thing make sure to get a good quality tensioner kit with metal guides.

Can't wait to see where this little truck takes you

Thanks for the advice! Can I tuck 33's without much cutting to the wheelwell?

 

[Smileyshaun]

You should only need a little massaging on the pinch weld and a small trim on the bumper and they will clear at the most you may need one turn on the torsion bars ( they tend to say down a little with the years ) . I've had a 33x10.50 on 3 different Toyota's and they all fit with no lift

 

[Smileyshaun]

Some people are against them but ive had great luck with putting a 2" body lift and then www.4crawler.com 2" motor mount spacer , that will allow you to move the trans and t case up and almost get a completely flat belly skid all the way down. .

 

[Tanner11]

You should only need a little massaging on the pinch weld and a small trim on the bumper and they will clear at the most you may need one turn on the torsion bars ( they tend to say down a little with the years ) . I've had a 33x10.50 on 3 different Toyota's and they all fit with no lift

Oh awesome! i figured id have to hammer the pinch weld and don't mind trimming the bumper alittle bit. That sounds like the route ill go then. I'm not really sure about the body lift tho.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I was able to drag this thing over a lot of stuff thanks to the flat belly pan, the t case hangs down way to far from the factory I never understood why Toyota did it that way . Like I said it's not for everybody but I doesn't want to crank up the torsion bars because all that does is puts the cvs at a steeper angle and makes it ride horrible

 

[Tanner11]

I was able to drag this thing over a lot of stuff thanks to the flat belly pan, the t case hangs down way to far from the factory I never understood why Toyota did it that way . Like I said it's not for everybody but I doesn't want to crank up the torsion bars because all that does is puts the cvs at a steeper angle and makes it ride horrible View attachment 48804

Very nice, Do you notice any difference in the ride quality with the body lift?

 

[Smileyshaun]

No body lift won't change the ride quality , cranking the torsion bars will and will limit your down travel

 

[Tanner11]

Got the camper all trimmed up and mounted! Color is alittle off but that's kinda the point of this truck, it's not perfect! Tommorow I'm going to look at an offroad tube bumper with a winch mount, it may look funny with the stock tire size but that will soon change

 

[Smileyshaun]

I knew I had this article somewhere in my bookmarks . Very sensible power mods to get the most out of a 22re

http://4x4wire.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/675764.html

 

[LOCO]

Hey yall,
Starting this thread to show the progress ill be making to my 1987 4x4 Toyota pickup. Being a college student with a limited budget and a 30 year old truck I plan on proving that you don't need the newest and most expensive vehicles or accessories for overlanding, just the passion! Most parts will be bought used off craigslist/ used part websites and most fabrication will be done by me, I'm a certified and truly enjoy the craftsmanship part of metal fabrication. The build will be slow but ill try my best to keep it interesting for yall!

Here some info on Sheela:
1987 Toyota pickup 4x4 single cab
22r engine with 183xxx miles
manual trans
manual steering (soon to swap to power, manual steering is a bitch in San Francisco!)


And plans for Sheela:
2 Bucket seats with locking center console
Power steering swap and Grant steering wheel
Larger tires (Bfg All Terrain)
Off Road Bumper with Warn winch and offroad lighting
CVT rooftop tent with frame, or a small camping shell with a pop up tent
Racks for recovery tools

Eventually
Total Chaos long travel ifs
Rear long travel
33-35in tires with beadlocks and full size spare


If you guys have any suggestions/ feedback I'm all ears! or know of a deal on any offroad parts;)
Thanks!

How is your build going? I just bought a 87 myself