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Found this truck sitting at a small local dealership and had to stop... 1985 pickup.. EFI... and straight axle. Seems like a good base for a new build.
5 speed
129K miles.
good frame.
SMALL body rust on driverside rocker.
got it for right at $2500
.
My daily/ camping rig is a 2000 4Runner sr5, 5speed. i bought it with the rough country " 3inch" lift with means 1.25" in the front.. i have swapped the blown shocks in the rear for some bilstein 5150's and will have the same in the front that adjust to 3" so it will ride level instead of dragster..
Plan is to turn the pickup a streetable trail rig... i currently live in the middle of illinois. so the goal is to drive it west this summer... colorado?..moab??
Well unfortunately I was laid off from my job because the mining industry sucks. So most of my time has been spent looking for new jobs. I'm a recent college grad with the engineering degree so hopefully something comes along soon. As for the pick up, due to my situation , I have only done a few minor things to fix/diagnose the truck. The center consul that's a nice classy duct tape on it so I managed to save the stock foam and cover it with some new fabric. The truck is also picky when it is cold , sometimes it does not want to start until it warms up slightly, so I picked up a new thermal time switch to hopefully fix my issue. I also have a pair of 33/12.5/15 BFGoodrich all-terrain tires to put on the pick up, they came off of my previous daily driver and are basically brand-new. I will post pics of them on the truck when I get them on
I had purchased the thermal time switch which was around $150 after taxes but have yet to install it.
I went out yesterday morning to start it. Knowing that it probably wouldn't since it was below 30 degrees.
Like I expected. It did not start. So I got to thinking and opened the hood. And switched the wires on the thermal time switch. And it fired right up.....
My thought is the old man that had the truck prior to me. Or the shop that did this before. May have plugged them in wrong.
I went out this morning and it fired up first try in similar temps .
I'm going to keep the sensor I bought until it proves to be fixed.
I want my $150 bucks back haha
so i was invited to attend a toys for tots drive in Attica, Indiana at the badlands offroad park with my buddy from my last job.
his rig is a fully set up ranger, motor swap, straight axle swap, he has been on the ultimate adventure drive as well.
the tuesday before the drive i pulled my doors off of the pickup just because i was bored. this led to my friend calling me out, saying that i wouldnt make the trip doorless because i couldnt handle the cold.
... Challenge accepted..
this led to the fabrication of some quick half doors thursday and friday evening..
they turned out better then expected, considering all of the planning was done with a pencil, paper and a beer or 6.
we left saturday morning at 6am for the 3 hour journey to indiana.
it was 20 degrees outside without the windchill.
we bundled up in our carhartts and hit the road.
the Pickup did well on the highway. this is the farthest and first trip with the truck.
with stock gearing and 33"s the truck did not like to be in 5th gear at all. i would drop speed shortly after shifting.. 4th gear i was able to cruise 70mph at around 3000rpm which was fine.
when we got to the park, we quickly unloaded and aired down and hit the trails. i wasnt expecting to do anything challenging or anything that would put the truck at risk since i was driving home that evening.
that expectation quickly went out the window.. my buddy with the ranger knew the park very well and took us on some mild/ difficult trails FOR A STOCK RIG. his ranger killed it.
And as for the pickup... well it actually KICKED ASS. everywhere i pointed that little thing, it just seemed to GO!
my biggest limiting factor was that i did not have lockers. but i was able to maneuver my way around obstacles and fairly difficult climbs with my open diffs.
we ended the day with a cold one before hitting the road..
the pickup exceeded my expectations and i am HOOKED on getting this thing as capable as possible.
pictures are below and in mixed order with some of the ranger thrown in as well
Nice truck ! I wish I could have found an EFI truck before I started my build. I just posted up a build of my 84 extra cab, looked very similar to yours when I bought it. That was a crazy low price you bought it for !
Since I got the truck it had a slight leak in the rear end from the pinion seal. So I replaced that tonight. Pretty simple. Take out old and put in new!
I've never seen such a clean 85 go for such a low price. In Atlanta that would easily be a $3500-$4000 truck. Haha it might look like a $2500 truck after you hit those trails a few more times! Looking forward to your progress.
You must have been CAT? We're losing so much ground in mining. No pun intended.
Cat is huge around here for sure bootscoot and that definitely didn't help my situation but I was working for a company that made oem replacement parts for hydraulic excavators and rock crushers. Hopefully have a better job within the next week. Just waiting for their offer! Then the pickup will get the proper attention it deserves!
So I know my build thread doesn't have the most views or comments. But I would like to get some opinions going if possible
I am going to be throwing new springs under this red machine soon. Along with new gears. Hy-steer etc.
I want to keep a lower center of gravity. And have a high ground clearance. So preferably a 37" tires.
There are tons of different combos people are running. I have a setup in mind. I just like other people opinions and reasons behind the opinions. I know I could sit an read through thousands of threads. But this seems more interesting
Chevies in the rear seem to be the best option for the rear. RUF seem to be the best for the front. I haven't seen anyone add leafs to this setup for more lift but it's possible.
4Crawler runs a buddy lift and likes it. And that dude is legit. So I'd consider at least a 1" to add clearance.
You probably know about the steering additions needed.
On your question on springs, I have a set of OME and they are ok, but eventually I want to go back to a stock spring for a smoother ride. I have been told that the OME give a 2-3 inch lift. I actually want mine to go lower as I dont like jumping up into a truck.
11-10-2015, 04:24 AM
The truck is also picky when it is cold , sometimes it does not want to start until it warms up slightly, so I picked up a new thermal time switch to hopefully fix my issue. 
I also have a pair of 33/12.5/15 BFGoodrich all-terrain tires to put on the pick up, they came off of my previous daily driver and are basically brand-new. I will post pics of them on the truck when I get them on 
The truck is also picky when it is cold , sometimes it does not want to start until it warms up slightly, so I picked up a new thermal time switch to hopefully fix my issue. 
I also have a pair of 33/12.5/15 BFGoodrich all-terrain tires to put on the pick up, they came off of my previous daily driver and are basically brand-new. I will post pics of them on the truck when I get them on 
