Well here is my story. Early December i invested in A 94 sr5 extra cab pickup with some minor modifications and a few issues, to include a missing exhaust and a head gasket on its way out, the modifications being 3 inch body lift and a rear Detroit locker . I Quickly welded an exhaust up on the truck, and it was drivable. A Week later i stop at a traffic light and a blue ford turas hit me going at about 50 mph, Shoving the bed into the cab, destroying the bed, and snapping a leaf spring under my truck, and torqing the other spring. every thing else seems sound, excluding some minor body damage.

i have about 4500 dollars in damages heading my way, and plan on rebuilding the truck, and adding a few new features, i was hoping to get some of your guys experience on what my finial build sound be.

things i am considering
3 inch suspension lift
Chevy 4.3 conversion (using s10 Donor)
A New Bed or Building a flat bed(really having this issue deciding what the best option is)
adding some other guards(brush guard/push bar, light covers, bigger tire, tube bummer that whole bit.

i plan on using this as a daily driver, occasional off road use, nothing too major seeing that im in the middle of ohio. im also still in school so just adding that based for funconallity.

so what do you guys think i should look at or reconsider?

 

A Toyota 3.4L instead of a Chev 4.3L.

 

I'm guessing the stock motor is a 3.0? If so then a 3.4 Toyota is supposed to be a good swap.

Check the frame EVERYWHERE for damage and have any cracks or breaks welded up. Pull the bed of and build a nice flatbed for it. Pull the body lift off and go with a 2" suspension lift in the rear (to include new springs and shackles) and some 1 1/5" Ball Joint spacers in the front.

Lets say you spend 400$ on the lift parts and install them yourself. Then you can spend a little on a tubing bender, welder and some tubing and build your own flatbed/bumpers/rock sliders etc. This will save you money in the long run and give you some extra fabrication skills for later.

The motor swap will cost what???? 2000$???? I'm guessing on that one.

For simplicity lets say you've spent 3000$ on a motor, suspension, welder, tube, bender etc. Now you've got 1500$ left for tires and wheels.

You can probably do all that for much less and there are others here that will have better options but this is my recommendation.

Take care and have fun.

 

Yea a 3.4 swap will run you $3000 (rounding up). I 2nd everything that Junker said.

Good luck. Picturesssss. haha.

 

Why do you think the flat bed is a better option than a Stock box?

 

^$$$! you can build a flat bed pretty cheap, and chicks dig it.

 

Why do you think the flat bed is a better option than a Stock box?

 

Flatbeds allow larger tires without much lift and you won't feel guilty about chopping a good bed.

Now if only you could flatbed the front....

 

yea i can build a bed cheap, buy 250 for one out of a junk yard,

but you say the chicks dig it huh?

 

Ummm... I think flat beds are better because you can build one cheap and chicks dig em. AND you can also stuff some bigger tires under it w/out other mods. A stock bed looks classier in my opinion, if you are going for prettiness.

 

Wow, you just changed that duplicate post or something... 250 from the boneyard seems good if its not super rusty. I really don't know what chicks dig, my old lady is good enough at 4WD!