Sonoran Steel Work Truck - 1990 4WD Mini Pickup - Featuring the Mighty 28's

sschaefer3 · 01-14-2007, 02:41 PM

One day we decided it would be nice to have a work truck around here. I always liked the early 90's Mini Pickups as they were the last of the old school truck. So the first thing we did was get a straight axle for it all the stuff to convert it over. In the mean time, it was really nice to get in and out of a stock truck and those stock size tires let the 3.0 in the little truck really go to town. So since there is no shortage of straight axle trucks around here, we decided to do something no one ever does. Leave the IFS in place and wheel it STOCK height with stock size 28" tires. The requirements were simple, it had run a 4/5 trail with a skilled driver at the controls and still be very easy to drive around on a daily basis.

1990 Toyota 4WD Mini Pickup/Standard Cab - Short Bed
3.0 Liter V6 Engine with 5-Speed Manual
ZERO 0" of lift

Engine/Exhaust:
* Stock
* Exhaust system redone custom and moved up as high as possible
* Dynamax Turbo Muffler

Tires/Wheels:
* 86-95 Stock Toyota SR5 Factory Aluminum 15"x7" Rims (6 Total, 2 Spares)
* 235/75/15 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain Tires - 28's BABY!

Skid Plates/Crossmembers/Trusses:
* Sonoran Steel IFS Truss 17"
* Custom 1/4" Aluminum Plate Front Skid Plate, 100% Aluminum including welding
* BudBuilt V6, 5-Speed T-Case Crossmember and Skid Plate
* Beefed up stock gas tank skid with 1/2" x .120 angle iron, inside and out
* Welded On Rear Shell Style Differential Guard

Drivetrain:
* Stock 4.10 Gears
* Toyota 8" V6 Electric Rear Locker from a 2001 Tacoma, Pulled at 14 miles, Retro Fit to the 1990 rear axle tube
* ARB RD90 Front Air Locker, The unit that was originally installed in my 1999 4Runner when it had IFS
* Small ARB Compressor
* Heat Treated and Cryogenically Processed Front IFS Axle Shafts
* Rear Driveshaft Re-tubed with .134 wall DOM tube
* Stock chain driven transfer case
* Stock rear axle shafts

Suspension:
* Front stock replacement Tokico Trek Master shocks
* Rear stock replacement Tokico Trek Master rear shocks (Don't laugh they have 9.5" of travel)
* Lower rear shock mounts relocated to use 100% of the rear shock stroke
* Stock front torsion bars set at the stock position
* Custom Rear Alcan Leaf Springs, 7 leafs per pack, stock replacement
* Rear U-Bolt flip kit
* Rancho FJ-40 Polyurethane bump stops, Cut out U shape was what we were after here, optimized to use the entire rear shock stroke
* 2" over stock rear shackles for added drop but, still zero 0" of rear lift

Steering:
* Total Chaos Fabrication "Caddy" Idler Arm
* FZJ-80 TRE's and 1 1/4" DOM tube sleeves, not easy to align, but ridiculously strong

Sliders/Bumpers:
* Sonoran Steel Front Valance Insert with Shackle Hangers
* Stock front bumper fully boxed for added strength
* Custom 1 3/4" DOM Tube Kick Out Sliders with 4 mounting legs to the frame, angled inner supports
* Custom wrap around rear tube bumper following the lines of the factory step bumper, keeping the license plate mounted to the bed
* Sonoran Steel Hi-Lift Jack Bed Mount with two Bicycle Mounts

Radios/Electronics:
* Cobra CB and Wilson 1000 Antenna
* Panasonic AM/FM/CD/MP3 Stereo
* Kenwood Powered Subwoofer

How about some photos?

How it started out

SR5 Wheels and the BFG Muds

Front View

Massive 28" tires

Aluminum Front Skid

Front Valance

Boxed front bumper

Front end out on the Sunflower Mine Trail

Total Chaos "Caddy" Idler Arm

IFS Truss and front skid

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sschaefer3 · 01-14-2007, 02:46 PM

BudBuilt cross member and transfer case

Gas tank skid and .134 wall DOM rear drive shaft

Custom rock sliders made from 1 3/4" DOM tube

Rock sliders follow the lines of the truck to always have the same amount of protection

Bottom view of the rock sliders

Hi-Lift mount

2001 Tacoma Electric Locker retrofit into the stock axle tube

Custom rear bumpstops

sschaefer3 · 01-14-2007, 02:55 PM

Rear axle, nice and clean on the bottom

Rear Bumper

Out on the Upper Woodpecker trail

Out on the Sunflower Mine Trail

Front and Rear Locker Switches

Stereo and CB Radio

"Squeeze" on the Upper Woodpecker Trail

When you air down a 28" you had better be a good driver because your going to pay hard for any mistakes

Out on the Upper Woodpecker trail. This year the rains made the trail harder again like it was before. She really got a workout but ran it just fine. The front ARB RD-90 and Rear E-Locker are the BEST mods money can buy to make a truck wheel better.

sschaefer3 · 01-14-2007, 02:57 PM

Out on the Upper Woodpecker Trail

Out on the Sunflower Mine Trail

What does the future hold? It would be nice to replace the bench seat with 2 nice bucket seats and add a center console. I'll also build a pre-runner style front tube bumper for the front someday when I get some extra time. Just a simple thing so if you hit or scrape the tube gets it, not the stock bumper.

*** Also a lot of this stuff was custom made, they are not production parts we sell. A few of these modifications were only possible though some major industry hookups. Opportunities that are not available to the general public. ***

"Please abide by the administration's rules of this section and DO NOT post in this thread."

01-14-2007, 02:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
sschaefer3 Contributing Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tempe, Arizona Posts: 5,494	BudBuilt cross member and transfer case BudBuilt cross member and transfer case BudBuilt cross member and transfer case Gas tank skid and .134 wall DOM rear drive shaft Custom rock sliders made from 1 3/4" DOM tube Rock sliders follow the lines of the truck to always have the same amount of protection Bottom view of the rock sliders Hi-Lift mount 2001 Tacoma Electric Locker retrofit into the stock axle tube Custom rear bumpstops __________________ Steve Schaefer *WWW.SonoranSteel.Com* Suspension Lift Kits * Rock Sliders * Straight Axle Conversions * 4Runner/FJC Rubicon Express Lower Links * Accessories * Daystar Products Dealer * TJM Bull Bar Dealer * Deaver Leaf Spring Dealer * Tokico & Bilstein Shock Dealer * ViAir Dealer * Total Chaos Dealer * TOYTEC Dealer * and like everyone else a Trail Gear Dealer

01-14-2007, 02:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
sschaefer3 Contributing Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tempe, Arizona Posts: 5,494	Rear axle, nice and clean on the bottom Rear Bumper Rear Bumper Out on the Upper Woodpecker trail Out on the Sunflower Mine Trail Front and Rear Locker Switches Stereo and CB Radio "Squeeze" on the Upper Woodpecker Trail When you air down a 28" you had better be a good driver because your going to pay hard for any mistakes Out on the Upper Woodpecker trail. This year the rains made the trail harder again like it was before. She really got a workout but ran it just fine. The front ARB RD-90 and Rear E-Locker are the BEST mods money can buy to make a truck wheel better. __________________ Steve Schaefer *WWW.SonoranSteel.Com* Suspension Lift Kits * Rock Sliders * Straight Axle Conversions * 4Runner/FJC Rubicon Express Lower Links * Accessories * Daystar Products Dealer * TJM Bull Bar Dealer * Deaver Leaf Spring Dealer * Tokico & Bilstein Shock Dealer * ViAir Dealer * Total Chaos Dealer * TOYTEC Dealer * and like everyone else a Trail Gear Dealer

01-14-2007, 02:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
sschaefer3 Contributing Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tempe, Arizona Posts: 5,494	Out on the Upper Woodpecker Trail Out on the Sunflower Mine Trail What does the future hold? It would be nice to replace the bench seat with 2 nice bucket seats and add a center console. I'll also build a pre-runner style front tube bumper for the front someday when I get some extra time. Just a simple thing so if you hit or scrape the tube gets it, not the stock bumper. * Also a lot of this stuff was custom made, they are not production parts we sell. A few of these modifications were only possible though some major industry hookups. Opportunities that are not available to the general public. * "Please abide by the administration's rules of this section and DO NOT post in this thread." __________________ Steve Schaefer *WWW.SonoranSteel.Com* Suspension Lift Kits * Rock Sliders * Straight Axle Conversions * 4Runner/FJC Rubicon Express Lower Links * Accessories * Daystar Products Dealer * TJM Bull Bar Dealer * Deaver Leaf Spring Dealer * Tokico & Bilstein Shock Dealer * ViAir Dealer * Total Chaos Dealer * TOYTEC Dealer * and like everyone else a Trail Gear Dealer Last edited by sschaefer3; 01-14-2007 at 03:06 PM.

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