LUVTruck.com

Finally the truck is taking shape, but my good camera broke, so you'll have to bear with the inferior image quality. here is the truck I started with.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/109677124/109678055wgavXi


Here is the truck during the surgury.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/109677124/130655481FazIib

lookin good man....thanks for the pics

hey what did u do to get those tires on it? just stock? and what size tires are on it in the photo? the photo were it is infront of the back hoe tractor. it looks awesome i want to do that to one of my luvs!!!

Check out "liftin the Luv" under body & chassis upgrades. You might have to go back a bit to find it. Wheels are 15X7 from a Jeep Grand Wagoneer with the center bore reamed out to clear the front hubs. Tires are 31X11.50 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws. Lift is 6 inch suspension and 2 inch body. Fender trimming was still necessary to clear the tires during turns.

Here's a picture of the truck almost all together.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/109677124/131472745RVAxEr

That looks awsome! Good work.

Looks good...nice work man!

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Resident lurker

WOW! Sure looks good man. You'll have to get more pics while your out havin fun!!!

Thanks for the compliments on the work and man was there a lot of it! I'll keep you guys posted on the adventures which will hopefully be in the next few weeks after I get the motor running right. It keeps falling on it's face when I step on the gas & let out the clutch. I set the ignition timing, check the accelerator pump and played with the idle mixture screw. Truck doesn't do it when the choke is on though, so worst case scenario is I put a manual choke cable on it so I can adjust according to conditions.

I want to do to my suspension exactly what you did to yours That looks awesome How much time and effort did you put into the project Do you really think it'll stand up to off-road demands How much is it gonna cost me to have someone do that to my frame And how much work is it to tear down that far Sorry for all the 's, but you and your truck just became my mentors.

Thanks a ton.

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Richard Barnes Salt Lake, Utah
1980 Luv Mikado 4X4
http://geocities.com/luvtruck2004/

You said a mouthfull allright. It was a TON of work and would probably cost you a small fortune to have someone else do this for you. If you are going to spend that kind of money on your Luv, do a solid axel swap on the front from a early 80's Toyota. You will get much more flex. The IFS doesn't seem to flex too well from what I've found so far while playing in tha back yard. I tried to take the "cheap" way out and cost me more pain and aggravation than it was worth in the long run. I Think it will hold up mechanicaly in the long run though. I always tend to make things stronger than they have to be. By the way, the steering linkage was a pain in the a$$ to do. If you decide you still want to take it on, I'll give you pointers where I can.

Gordon

I won't be paying a professional to do it for me, it'll be my boss and his dad who will work with me alot in payments and even labor where I can. But unless I can find a toyota pickup 'round here, and their aren't many, I'm gonna go ahead with it. But I did think up a few more 's last night 'fore I fell asleep.

I noticed the motor mounts went down with the suspension, so how did that affect the angle of the engine when bolting up to the tranny And since you brought it up, how big of a pain was the steering linkage

I was also thinkin'. . .If I put the body lift on first, could I just support the engine with a cherry picker, then cut the frame and torsion bar things, cut the frame and lower the picker 'til it's all lined up and weld it back together I'm sure there would be a couple things I'd have to take off, but would that be less work then tearing the whole frame down

I feel like a little kid asking older kids stupid 's so thanks for humoring me.

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Richard Barnes Salt Lake, Utah
1980 Luv Mikado 4X4
http://geocities.com/luvtruck2004/

First let me say that the only stupid question is one that you already know the answer to. The truck frame will be much easier to work on from the top. There are too many modifications that would be next to impossible to do without taking the body off. Doing the mods with the body on is definately out! As for the engine, the mounts have to be cut and lifted a good 4 inches or so. If you don't do this, The fan will not line up with the radiator and if your truck has A/C, the fan blade will hit the frame. The steering linkage would be easier if you can get a shorter pitman arm (on steering box) and idler arm. It's my understanding that the Troopers have shorter arms, so you can check that out. The drag link has to be flipped upside down to fit, which is not a problem with the idler arm, but on the pitman arm the hole is tapered so you will have to ream out the opposite side of the hole very carefully and make some sort of tapered bushing for the other side of the arm to take up the slop. Good luck with your venture and keep me posted as you go.