I've been looking for a good truck to haul my snowmobile around town this winter. About a month ago I picked up a 89 sr5 with the 2.4L engine. I don't have much space to store a trailer at my appartmebt so I new I was going to build a flatbed from the start. Over all the truck is in good mechanical condition. Engine runs well starts right up every time. Transmission and clutch seem to be in good working order. So far I've got a pretty good start on the bed, and swapped the stock wheels and tires out for some 31s on some 15" wheels I picked up on Craigslist. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money and I am not looking to build a rock crawler or really even to do any serious off-roading. I live in the mountains of Colorado and there's great access to backcountry skiing if you have a snowmobile. 10 minutes out of town you can hop on a dirt road which will be snowy and icy and drive a couple miles up to the trailhead. That's what I'm building this truck for.

Planned upgrades:
Rear add a leaf mainly to compensate for the weight of the sled
Front leveling if nessesary
New rear shocks. Did the front already
Artic camo rattle can paint job
Front bumper and winch (both pricy for now. Would like to find some used options)

What am I missing? If you were building a truck for this purpose what would you do?

I'll add photos as soon as I figure out how

 

welcome to YT!

if this truck is more dedicated to the snow/winter weather, i would focus on building toward handling that. make sure you have traction, stopping power, and recovery would be my personal focus. you got new tires, great! make sure your braking system is in good condition and working. recovery can be as simple as some straps, recovery points, come a long, a shovel and knowing how to use it all, until you can afford to upgrade to winches, etc. having a 2nd rig available to pull you out is even better.

sounds like the sled may be heavy, not sure if add a leaf will be enough? perhaps some rear airbags would be good addition too, since you can adjust them as needed and they're inexpensive. really depends on how heavy you get with the flatbed.

traction device may help if you ever might get stuck, but ideally would be selectable locker so you can be open diff for regular driving on ice/snow.

other than that, i say just be smart and don't travel solo when possible. build up your rig as you go and have fun in between.

 

Thanks for your input highonpottery. The brakes definitely need some work. The rotors in the front look good but the pad might be ready to be replaced. The shoes in the back could probably be swapped out too.

Heres a couple photos of the build so far.







Hopefully i get some warm dry weather this weekend so I can continue work. Unfortunately I don't have a garage and am working on this think in the parking lot of my apartment.