Post Your Pics!!!
Apr 22, 2012 | 02:23 PM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Apr 22, 2012 | 03:24 PM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Wow Chef Your pix and story really gave me an eye opener. Thanks for sharing that. thanks to you I have decided to get a decent interior roll cage for the front and back of my 1989 4runner. At least ill know ill be safe when i offroad or even in the street if i run into some retard drivers like you did.
Thanks for your story it inspired me
Hey Guys, thanks! I am VERY lucky to be alive, indeed! In fact, I died, 3 times(once for 2 minutes, 2 times almost 3min. each.
Fathers Day, 2002, my ex called me and asked, "PLEASE, can you bring the girls back from the camping trip? I'm sorry, I forgot they had a Dr. Appt. tomorrow!". Around 9PM, half way home, I turned around and dropped them both off. They were 9 and 11 years old at the time, both sitting in the back seat with the top off, really upset that their mom was making them come home.........
Upon NEARLY driving up my street to go home, ...I looked down and realized I had 10 Videos on my front seat floor board that were due BEFORE 8AM when they open, at the Library(Free to rent but 1$ each, if I'd waited...) I was ticked off at the ex, so I figured I'd get a cruise to the library in and take my mind off it, saving 10$ in the process, lol..... I got on the freeway, hit 65mph, and someone was heading straight in the slow lane, kinda screwing with me, I thought, until I realized, he wasn't letting me over! The entry lane to the freeway had CALTRANS stuff on the right, and I saw a mess of stuff/equip/supplies up ahead, namely 25 K-Rails for fixing the center divider or something, stacked up on top of each other, 5Wide x 5High.....
I couldn't stop, the guy was literally side swiping me, pinning me in out of spite or something, so I hit the rails, head on, 62+MPH, all 15 K-rails of the top rows slid right over my hood, tore back on the pass. side, some on the driver side and then slammed down in the back seat area...... WHERE MY DAUGHTERS WERE JUST SITTING, 1 HOUR BEFORE THIS! The weight of the rails flipped me over sideways like a bottle cap, I went over the edge of a decent hill, rolled a couple times and wound up on the driver side down. SOMEHOW, my seatbelt had wrapped around the shifter, almost immediately, and kept me suspended in the pass. side floorboard area. I was out, and it was 12:30AM, so no one saw this, until 30 min later, where I was literally hidden in this freeway offramp area, kinda hidden in the bushes.
I was held by the belt, so that kept my head from completely being crushed, but not before my forehead was cracked and split open on the body rail at the top of the windshield. I was suspended in an upright position because of my seat belt, being that the truck was laying on the driver side door-side. That partially saved my life, as my ribs were all broken, and one in particular was snapped off and had torn through the top of my left lung.
I woke up, days later, in AGONY, brokededed everything, lol.... with a guy asking me "Do you have a will? Also, we're required to ask you to sign this waiver"......I thought, "WOW, comforting", as I passed back out for another 24hrs.. I that time, apparently all my vitals calmed down and I was miraculously steady, no longer any internal bleeding(other than within my chest, which was being taken care of by tubes, placed through my body/rib cage, etc.). Within 8 days, they wheeled me out of there to heal at home, after taking out the drain tube in my chest.
In some of the pics, you can see my two best friends, as well as my daughters and Ex....All, including myself, had NO CLUE that my truck was totaled, until, when coming into the front desk room of the tow yard, asking, "Where is the 86 Toyota 4Runner, white? License, blah blah".... The girl at the desk started getting emotional and saying, "OH MY GOSH, I'm so sorry, was that a friend?"..... To which I asked, "Ma'am, WHERE IS MY TRUCK?" hahaha(Dang Toyota Addiction! lol.... More worried about my truck than my throbbing headache, hahaha). She looked at me, figured, wow, I guess so, and then walked us back to what you see in the pics. Both my friends were in awe, even tearing up, my daughters were SOBBING(i felt so bad) and my ex was as well....when they realized I lived through that. MORE SO, THANKING GOD, as was I, that my GIRLS WERE DROPPED OFF EARLY, OUT OF A '''''MISTAKE'''' BY MOM! They would have been killed, almost instantly!
To this day, I have the 6x9 speaker boxes, my mangled toolbox that nearly decapitated me apparently, the "Tweekers Suck!" sticker that I had on it, all in my 87 that you see in my sig!
The reason I bought this truck, guys, is because I LIVED THROUGH THAT IN THE OTHER! Plus, it had really grown on me, aside from that. I know it seems silly, but that is why I WILL NOT let these gremlins and screw ups by my machinist BEAT ME! I am determined to get this thing as TIGHT as possible, without issues. NO ONE who knows what I've been through and has seen those pics asks me any longer.... "Why would you bother with an old truck? it's giving you so many problems?" .... While most that don't know DO ASK that, hahahaha! Honestly, THAT, RIGHT THERE, what you see in those pics.... THAT SEALED it for me with these old trucks..... As they say, "I was sold, right there!" lol.
Thanks for your concern, but I have to say, as odd as it sounds..... I'm GRATEFUL in a way, because it changed my entire outlook on life, including how I let things get to me, depression, alcoholism(etc., etc., lol), struggling relationships.... ALL ENDED, THAT YEAR that I spent recovering!
Thanks for your story it inspired me
Hey Guys, thanks! I am VERY lucky to be alive, indeed! In fact, I died, 3 times(once for 2 minutes, 2 times almost 3min. each.
Fathers Day, 2002, my ex called me and asked, "PLEASE, can you bring the girls back from the camping trip? I'm sorry, I forgot they had a Dr. Appt. tomorrow!". Around 9PM, half way home, I turned around and dropped them both off. They were 9 and 11 years old at the time, both sitting in the back seat with the top off, really upset that their mom was making them come home.........
Upon NEARLY driving up my street to go home, ...I looked down and realized I had 10 Videos on my front seat floor board that were due BEFORE 8AM when they open, at the Library(Free to rent but 1$ each, if I'd waited...) I was ticked off at the ex, so I figured I'd get a cruise to the library in and take my mind off it, saving 10$ in the process, lol..... I got on the freeway, hit 65mph, and someone was heading straight in the slow lane, kinda screwing with me, I thought, until I realized, he wasn't letting me over! The entry lane to the freeway had CALTRANS stuff on the right, and I saw a mess of stuff/equip/supplies up ahead, namely 25 K-Rails for fixing the center divider or something, stacked up on top of each other, 5Wide x 5High.....
I couldn't stop, the guy was literally side swiping me, pinning me in out of spite or something, so I hit the rails, head on, 62+MPH, all 15 K-rails of the top rows slid right over my hood, tore back on the pass. side, some on the driver side and then slammed down in the back seat area...... WHERE MY DAUGHTERS WERE JUST SITTING, 1 HOUR BEFORE THIS! The weight of the rails flipped me over sideways like a bottle cap, I went over the edge of a decent hill, rolled a couple times and wound up on the driver side down. SOMEHOW, my seatbelt had wrapped around the shifter, almost immediately, and kept me suspended in the pass. side floorboard area. I was out, and it was 12:30AM, so no one saw this, until 30 min later, where I was literally hidden in this freeway offramp area, kinda hidden in the bushes.
I was held by the belt, so that kept my head from completely being crushed, but not before my forehead was cracked and split open on the body rail at the top of the windshield. I was suspended in an upright position because of my seat belt, being that the truck was laying on the driver side door-side. That partially saved my life, as my ribs were all broken, and one in particular was snapped off and had torn through the top of my left lung.
I woke up, days later, in AGONY, brokededed everything, lol.... with a guy asking me "Do you have a will? Also, we're required to ask you to sign this waiver"......I thought, "WOW, comforting", as I passed back out for another 24hrs.. I that time, apparently all my vitals calmed down and I was miraculously steady, no longer any internal bleeding(other than within my chest, which was being taken care of by tubes, placed through my body/rib cage, etc.). Within 8 days, they wheeled me out of there to heal at home, after taking out the drain tube in my chest.
In some of the pics, you can see my two best friends, as well as my daughters and Ex....All, including myself, had NO CLUE that my truck was totaled, until, when coming into the front desk room of the tow yard, asking, "Where is the 86 Toyota 4Runner, white? License, blah blah".... The girl at the desk started getting emotional and saying, "OH MY GOSH, I'm so sorry, was that a friend?"..... To which I asked, "Ma'am, WHERE IS MY TRUCK?" hahaha(Dang Toyota Addiction! lol.... More worried about my truck than my throbbing headache, hahaha). She looked at me, figured, wow, I guess so, and then walked us back to what you see in the pics. Both my friends were in awe, even tearing up, my daughters were SOBBING(i felt so bad) and my ex was as well....when they realized I lived through that. MORE SO, THANKING GOD, as was I, that my GIRLS WERE DROPPED OFF EARLY, OUT OF A '''''MISTAKE'''' BY MOM! They would have been killed, almost instantly!
To this day, I have the 6x9 speaker boxes, my mangled toolbox that nearly decapitated me apparently, the "Tweekers Suck!" sticker that I had on it, all in my 87 that you see in my sig!
The reason I bought this truck, guys, is because I LIVED THROUGH THAT IN THE OTHER! Plus, it had really grown on me, aside from that. I know it seems silly, but that is why I WILL NOT let these gremlins and screw ups by my machinist BEAT ME! I am determined to get this thing as TIGHT as possible, without issues. NO ONE who knows what I've been through and has seen those pics asks me any longer.... "Why would you bother with an old truck? it's giving you so many problems?" .... While most that don't know DO ASK that, hahahaha! Honestly, THAT, RIGHT THERE, what you see in those pics.... THAT SEALED it for me with these old trucks..... As they say, "I was sold, right there!" lol.
Thanks for your concern, but I have to say, as odd as it sounds..... I'm GRATEFUL in a way, because it changed my entire outlook on life, including how I let things get to me, depression, alcoholism(etc., etc., lol), struggling relationships.... ALL ENDED, THAT YEAR that I spent recovering!
Apr 24, 2012 | 06:53 PM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Lol how'd he change your mind to get a pick up instead of a 4runner? Thats just how a 4runner looks without its top.
I know kick ass huh. We people with 1st gens get the luxury of both the pick up look and the 4runner look ha ha! Win!
I know kick ass huh. We people with 1st gens get the luxury of both the pick up look and the 4runner look ha ha! Win!
Last edited by Redeth005; Apr 24, 2012 at 06:56 PM.
Apr 24, 2012 | 07:03 PM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Lol good choice there man. You won't regret it. 4runners are so much fun. I prefer them over pick ups. But I do have to say I really do miss my 86pickup.
I'm working on one right now. And I have to say I don't regret ever getting it and putting all the money that I've put into it and what is still to come.
I'm working on one right now. And I have to say I don't regret ever getting it and putting all the money that I've put into it and what is still to come.
Apr 24, 2012 | 07:37 PM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Glad to hear you like it. Means a lot since you seem to be one of the more experienced off roaders on this site with a lot of wise input.
I'm super anxious now. I'm gonna pick my truck up from the mechanic this Friday. I have so many more projects planned for it soon after I pick it up. Need to work on the exhaust system and a few more under the hood problems. After I pass the troublesome smog test the real fun will begin. Got an SAS waiting for her along with a 4" lift and some nice 33" tires. I gotta order my 4.88 gears and lockers so theyre be ready to install when I am ready for it.
This thing is gonna be a beast when I'm done with her.
I'm super anxious now. I'm gonna pick my truck up from the mechanic this Friday. I have so many more projects planned for it soon after I pick it up. Need to work on the exhaust system and a few more under the hood problems. After I pass the troublesome smog test the real fun will begin. Got an SAS waiting for her along with a 4" lift and some nice 33" tires. I gotta order my 4.88 gears and lockers so theyre be ready to install when I am ready for it.
This thing is gonna be a beast when I'm done with her.
Apr 24, 2012 | 11:53 PM
HEY, RED, .... YOU READ MY SMOG THREAD? hahahaha....
I'm guessing the 'mechanic' you speak of is a 'smog tech'????? Lemme guess...... you failed NOX? Fill me in, man... I have smog INGRAINED IN THE BRAIN right now! hahaha.
BTW... DANG if that Driveway doesn't look like Pedro! lol.. BTW.... let's meet up one of these days, man! I hit Pick-Your-Part quite often(well, I used to more often, lol). Sounds sick, those plans, man! Far as me being 'experienced'.... meh, lol... I USED TO BE able to call myself a 'FREQUENT FLYER' in the 4WD dept... But life has alternate plans at times, eh? lol. I WILL be making up for it, soon
(I have a plan, muahahhaha! lol). Far as 'knowing lots'... I just know what I've learned on here... happen to have an 'ok' memory... So bottom line, almost anything I 'do know' about Yota's is from years of personal experience(10%) reading (20%) and YOTATECH(80%).... HAHAHA... yes, I said "110%" haha.
Nice to meet ya, Red... Gotta let me see that beast here sooner or later... You can't be too far.. Maybe I've seen it already(I run into people about once a month that say, "I KNEW I'd seen this truck somewhere!"... Sure enough, "Yotatech" was the culprit, hahaha.. Even at Pick-Your-Part that happened not long ago... The guy started asking me, "Hey, you're that chef guy, I saw your pic... I need an MAF for a 94 4Runner"..... and I just laughed, thinking, "Wait, why does he think I have 'ANY PART YOU NEEEEEEEED' going on here?" haha. Helped him find one though, that day
I'm guessing the 'mechanic' you speak of is a 'smog tech'????? Lemme guess...... you failed NOX? Fill me in, man... I have smog INGRAINED IN THE BRAIN right now! hahaha.
BTW... DANG if that Driveway doesn't look like Pedro! lol.. BTW.... let's meet up one of these days, man! I hit Pick-Your-Part quite often(well, I used to more often, lol). Sounds sick, those plans, man! Far as me being 'experienced'.... meh, lol... I USED TO BE able to call myself a 'FREQUENT FLYER' in the 4WD dept... But life has alternate plans at times, eh? lol. I WILL be making up for it, soon
(I have a plan, muahahhaha! lol). Far as 'knowing lots'... I just know what I've learned on here... happen to have an 'ok' memory... So bottom line, almost anything I 'do know' about Yota's is from years of personal experience(10%) reading (20%) and YOTATECH(80%).... HAHAHA... yes, I said "110%" haha. Nice to meet ya, Red... Gotta let me see that beast here sooner or later... You can't be too far.. Maybe I've seen it already(I run into people about once a month that say, "I KNEW I'd seen this truck somewhere!"... Sure enough, "Yotatech" was the culprit, hahaha.. Even at Pick-Your-Part that happened not long ago... The guy started asking me, "Hey, you're that chef guy, I saw your pic... I need an MAF for a 94 4Runner"..... and I just laughed, thinking, "Wait, why does he think I have 'ANY PART YOU NEEEEEEEED' going on here?" haha. Helped him find one though, that day
Apr 25, 2012 | 04:34 AM
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Baltimore, MD
THanks for the kind words sportrunner! lol it took me a minute to get what your were saying as well but i got it! HA. I love the duratrac's! they look good, perform very well, and are monderately quiet! Secondly def. go with a 4runner all the benefits of a truck with the added bonus of a top! pile it to the ceiling for camping, sleep in it, cram a bunch of ppl back there, the possabilities are endless! lol
Apr 25, 2012 | 04:48 AM
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles CA
Oh Damn I just realized you also live In CA. Ur not too far from me. I live in Bell Gardens. If you know where the bicycle casino is off the 710 freeway that is the closest landmark I live to. Nice. Looks like i'll be having a local off road buddy other then my old neighbors I used to go with.
As for checking out your thread on smog, no I haven't seen it yet but I will check it out today at work.
And I'm not sure if you've seen my truck on the street yet, I bought it over a year ago, but haven't driven it very much mainly for the reason that it wasn't registered under my name yet till just yesterday and it still doesn't have insurance. It was just sitting on my parents driveway for a couple of months because I had moved out recently and my project was put on hold for a good 5 months.
As far as the smog test goes. I haven't taken it to a place to be smogged yet. I just say its troublesome because of horreble smog experiences I've had trying to pass smog checks with my old red 1986 4x4 sr5 IFS 22r pickup(check out my profile to see the pix of her she was a beauty). Another reason I say it was gonna be troublesome for this truck is because just by looking at it you can tell It needed tons of work to be done to it. Just by looking at it you could tell the last owner never took care of the truck and put her to hell till it finally blew a head and Gasket and who kbows what else he messed up.
but to answer. Your question the mechanic isn't the same guy that is gonna do my smog. I learned from experience never to do that ever again. They will screw you over so bad and milk every cent out of you that they can.
I bought about $1100 in just motor parts heads etc... To have installed into my truck. The mechanic i chose is an under the table mechanic that my girlfreinds uncles recomended to me, he used to be certified in Mexico but he isn't over here. And the parts I bought for my truck were at my girl's uncles auto parts store. Turns out they had previously fixed a 89 4runner like mine and told me all the problems they ran into and told me if I plan to fix the heads and all the gaskets that I might as well get a few other things fixed since the motor will be out and open already. He said that the mechanic would have to take my 3.0 motor out to fix certain parts (because of the multiple leaks it had). And gave me tons of input on what should be done. I dont think this guy would rip me off especially since he is my girls family. So he gave some good advice. and I told him, "just by looking at the motor I know it needs work, and I don't want any future problems that could have been avoided now, so I need to buy every piece and part i need to have this baby running like new and everything I need to avoid future problems." I don't want to take any shortcuts or chances with this motor. I want a solid truck/motor and I want to get everything out of the way now so I don't have to worry about it later. Which is how I came around to spending around $1100 on just parts. As far as the mechanic goes my girls uncles recommend me to him because he always does a good job and charges lower prices then the other places. I guess that's how he stays In business, by charging less, he works out of his home, but also because doing a good job keeps his customers coming back. And its true, when I went to drop off my truck there were like 7-8 cars waiting to be worked on. And he is the only mechanic lol. Every other mechanic wanted to charge me $850-1500 just for labor and that's not including the whole job. Most only wanted to install like 1/2 the parts I bought. This under the table mechanic said he'd install all of it for $650 with the exception of me paying the $150 for the heads to be sent t a machine shop(something like that) so after hearing those high prices all over the place with their petty 2 month warrenties how could I pass up a price like that! Right...
Sorry if there is a bunch of typos I'm typing everything out on my phone before I head out to work.
And nice to meet you too chef. I'm up for meeting up sometime too to show you this beast of mine and hitting up a pick ur part.
As for checking out your thread on smog, no I haven't seen it yet but I will check it out today at work.
And I'm not sure if you've seen my truck on the street yet, I bought it over a year ago, but haven't driven it very much mainly for the reason that it wasn't registered under my name yet till just yesterday and it still doesn't have insurance. It was just sitting on my parents driveway for a couple of months because I had moved out recently and my project was put on hold for a good 5 months.
As far as the smog test goes. I haven't taken it to a place to be smogged yet. I just say its troublesome because of horreble smog experiences I've had trying to pass smog checks with my old red 1986 4x4 sr5 IFS 22r pickup(check out my profile to see the pix of her she was a beauty). Another reason I say it was gonna be troublesome for this truck is because just by looking at it you can tell It needed tons of work to be done to it. Just by looking at it you could tell the last owner never took care of the truck and put her to hell till it finally blew a head and Gasket and who kbows what else he messed up.
but to answer. Your question the mechanic isn't the same guy that is gonna do my smog. I learned from experience never to do that ever again. They will screw you over so bad and milk every cent out of you that they can.
I bought about $1100 in just motor parts heads etc... To have installed into my truck. The mechanic i chose is an under the table mechanic that my girlfreinds uncles recomended to me, he used to be certified in Mexico but he isn't over here. And the parts I bought for my truck were at my girl's uncles auto parts store. Turns out they had previously fixed a 89 4runner like mine and told me all the problems they ran into and told me if I plan to fix the heads and all the gaskets that I might as well get a few other things fixed since the motor will be out and open already. He said that the mechanic would have to take my 3.0 motor out to fix certain parts (because of the multiple leaks it had). And gave me tons of input on what should be done. I dont think this guy would rip me off especially since he is my girls family. So he gave some good advice. and I told him, "just by looking at the motor I know it needs work, and I don't want any future problems that could have been avoided now, so I need to buy every piece and part i need to have this baby running like new and everything I need to avoid future problems." I don't want to take any shortcuts or chances with this motor. I want a solid truck/motor and I want to get everything out of the way now so I don't have to worry about it later. Which is how I came around to spending around $1100 on just parts. As far as the mechanic goes my girls uncles recommend me to him because he always does a good job and charges lower prices then the other places. I guess that's how he stays In business, by charging less, he works out of his home, but also because doing a good job keeps his customers coming back. And its true, when I went to drop off my truck there were like 7-8 cars waiting to be worked on. And he is the only mechanic lol. Every other mechanic wanted to charge me $850-1500 just for labor and that's not including the whole job. Most only wanted to install like 1/2 the parts I bought. This under the table mechanic said he'd install all of it for $650 with the exception of me paying the $150 for the heads to be sent t a machine shop(something like that) so after hearing those high prices all over the place with their petty 2 month warrenties how could I pass up a price like that! Right...
Sorry if there is a bunch of typos I'm typing everything out on my phone before I head out to work.
And nice to meet you too chef. I'm up for meeting up sometime too to show you this beast of mine and hitting up a pick ur part.
Last edited by Redeth005; Apr 25, 2012 at 07:50 AM. Reason: Horrible typos.
Apr 25, 2012 | 04:48 AM
This was someone's lawn ornament near where I live. They put in new clutch, alternator, brand new tires, fuel filter, sendinding unit, timing belt, water pump, aftermarket speakers and then the motor went. They were letting it sit and thinking of parting it out. With a solid body bed and frame I couldn't let that happen.
Apr 26, 2012 | 09:09 AM
Dirty
Turns out the motor had three burned exhaust valves. I drove it home like that about 20 miles. Drove it around for a bit. Only had 161k on it. After a complete top end rebuild it ran great. I would say it was totally worh it to save it, I work with the truck every day now, glad it didn't go to parts.
Apr 26, 2012 | 09:14 AM
!["G"'s Avatar](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 50 50'><circle class='avatar-circle-default' fill='%239897d7' cx='25px' cy='25px' r='20px'></circle><text class='avatar-text-default' x='49%' y='53%' fill='white' text-anchor='middle' alignment-baseline='middle'>"</text></svg>)
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
From: Vernon Hills, IL
And where would that be? Where you live?
This was someone's lawn ornament near where I live. They put in new clutch, alternator, brand new tires, fuel filter, sendinding unit, timing belt, water pump, aftermarket speakers and then the motor went. They were letting it sit and thinking of parting it out. With a solid body bed and frame I couldn't let that happen.
