LUVTruck.com

im just qurious how many 4x4 luvs are there here besides myself. and give a little detail about it

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1980 4x4 header stock motor lifted 4 1/2 in. in the rear and 3 1/2 in the front

Hey there, TheLuvman. I'm the owner of a 79 4x4. Some detail, lets see... bought it about 2 years ago in really really crap condition. The thing didn't run and if you got under it and touched something you got a mouth and eye full of large rusted pieces. Took the bed off, did frame welding and sealed the whole frame with POR-15. Took the front suspension apart and popped in new ball joints, tie rods, brakes, etc. Replaced the fenders, rebuilt carb, upgraded to electronic ignition after a full tune up. Now it runs, drives, and stops on a dime.

Mine's a 4x4, but not for long

Doing a 2wd conversion this spring, when I start the v8 conversion.

81 4x4. Bought for $500 3 1/2 years ago with 17,349 orig miles.
Chopped off all the smog ,exaust, a/c, cranked the torsion bars put new 30x9.50x15 Bfg's put a header on, put new intake/carb(weber). That took about 6-8 months, Drove the piss out of her with no problems for about 6 more months. then I had to put a new head on her and its never been the same,(Long story) But hopefully this summer I'll be doing the v-8+3/4 ton conversion. 350,muncie 465, 205 t-case, Dana 44HD, Dana60,8000lb ramsey PTO winch.

Dave

when I lived in Monroe, right out of seattle, there was a large veriety of "car enthusiasts" that ranged from 4x4's to street cars. there was a little friction cause each thought the other was wasting their time. this chevy luv 4x4 conversions is a cool kinda "glue" if you will. I'm totally in to hearing about these 4x4 luv conversions. The lower luvs. the street luvs.

oh,,,, thank you... thank you, sniff , sniffle, thank you

I have a 4x4, but when i do my v-8 conversion (theres a bored 327 (331)waiting for me in the shop) it will become 2wd and i will do off road racing in it (whoo pre-runner! )
Well my dad bought my luv back in 1980 straight from the factory since then it has gone through 2 rebuilds (210,000 or so miles now), and i do off road racing style off roading (rally stuff too).

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I got 2 1980 4x4's.. one is stock, no plans for this one.. selling to my younger brother when he returns from the Marines.. one is in the middle of a engine upgrade... rigth now its a 2.8, but it may end up a 350 combo, by completion...
I had a 1979 4x4 used it for parts for the other 2.. rusted pretty bad..

I have a 1980 converted 4X4 that's getting a V8 installed now. It has a live front axle and a divorced Spicer transfer case

Mines a 1981 4X4 mikado. It's going to get a engine swap soon (meaning whenever my lazy butt gets a job and some cashflow) a suspension lift and upgraded almost eveything else.

1980 4X4 stock with over 265,000 miles, factory AC. It still runs strong for a LUV. I belong to a vol FD, the guys are surprised at just how fast it will go. I can out run the jacked up 'yotas. On etime we had a big fire on Hagers Mountain. We needed a truck to take firemen and equipment up. All the guys refused to drive their NEW Trucks up the mountain, so I volunteered. He He, they laughed, I said get in the truck and hang on. I had 12 men and about 800 feet of hose in the back. UP! that damn mountain we went. They didn't laugh no MORE! I really enjoy that truck, never will it be sold.

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1980 4X4 LUV

Rick thats awsome! thats the kind of work these trucks were made for. LUV power all the way!
Alot of people laugh when i say i off road my truck and it keeps up whith k-5s lifted 7" w/35" tires on em. Then they see and they believe.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I've got one 79 daily driver 4x4 and two in project stages.

The daily driver has factory air that I've never bothered to fix, 2" of body lift and somewhere near that in suspension. I bought it from a farmer who said it quit running when he threatened to cut it up and make a pesticide spray rig out of it. 5 minutes after I had the title in hand I was driving it out of the driveway. Someone's attemps to fix the electrical system had caused a bit of an overcharging problem and fried the coil resistor and all the lights on it save a single front marker light. I happened to carry a spare resistor in my toolbox, but the drive home trying to beat dusk had me wishing I carried a spare headlight. After correcting some prior "fixes" it has been reliable as can be. The worst it has done was have a damper spring come free from the clutch plate and jam itself in the pressure plate. I still drove it about 75 miles home shifting with just the throttle so its technically never stranded me. It is white with a chrome sun visor and push bar. I have a rollbar awaiting sanding and paint that came with it, but tis not the season for paint around here when you have to do it outdoors.

The other two were bargains but rough. One was a straight trade for a basket case 83 isuzu pup that I got along with my wife. It has yet to do more than shoot flames out of the carb, but I haven't given it a lot of TLC yet. The pup did drive, but that lasted about a week after I made the swap before it coughed its last. The other is a stock height mixture of 79 and other parts. It has wing windows in the doors, 4 headlights, and a couple of other 77 or older parts here and there. The wiring is for a two headlight system though, and the cab/gauges are all 79. I bought it cheap with a "head gasket problem" which turned out to be a cracked head. The "recently rebuilt" motor had never been opened and I ended up drilling the head off one of the head bolts in order to get the head off. (I bet some of you know exactly which bolt that would have been...) I still got a steal of a deal at $200 considering I only had to drive it a mile to get it home.


I also have a 77 two wheel drive that my wife uses everyday, and several parts trucks tucked away. A couple of 76s: one I slept my way into a bridge in, may it rest in peace and the other a cracked block or REALLY bad head gasket. A 77 that I bought for the motor in my wife's 77, it was flown into a telephone poll about 8 feet off the ground, took the hit right across the dash. There is also one 75 among the parts that looks like someone left it sitting in the ocean for a couple of years at some point. You can actually reach through the hood and check the oil without opening it. The cab/doors are a little worse than the hood. For 15$ I think the ebrake cable and red carpet deluxe door panels were worth it.

whoa... how many does that make? sounds like you got several...

I think last count was 10 luvs in all. I actually forgot about another couple 79 or 80 4x4s I picked up just for the parts, one that is complete but rusty and not running, and one missing a good portion of the front suspension and sporting a dead tranny but it does run.

That makes five 4x4s and five 2WDs: two 76s, two 77s and one very badly rusted 75. Out of that 10 I think there is only about 5 or 6 that have any chance of ever moving under their own power again. About the only thing I don't have is a longbed or one of the first models with the tail lights under the tailgate.

I think he has the record of most luvs owned by one person.. I'm jealous... I only got 3... lol... and one isn't much of a truck anymore... going to make a nice trailer... cab was rusted clean through in many places... hehe...

I can't compare with 800xl, but I have a 1980 4x4 Mikado. It has what looks like a 1 or 2" shackle lift and a really nice chrome rear bumper, which looks like it is from an S-10, that I just had to have tack welded to stay straight ($6.00 job at the local big rig weld shop). It has a plastic bed-liner and, oh yeah baby, a Cherry Bomb glass pack. The wiring mess (system) is a mess, but I'm an electrician so its a work in progress.

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

The 76 that I ran into a bridge with was destined to become a trailer since the front end was pretty much a total loss. I ended up pulling the rear end out of it when the one in the 77 failed. (Input shaft bearing went out) So now I have a bed and cut frame sitting without an axle under it.

On that subject, anyone have any tips on axle selection for a LUV trailer? Since everything still spins I didn't think dropping the toasted one I have in there was a good plan, and the other potential donor rear ends I've got have been sitting long enough that the seals probably wouldn't last long. I guess the question is, would it matter much. I've always gone more for the replace it method to rear end repair so I don't really have a lot of experience in that area.

I have a "factory" converted solid axle 4X4 Longbed.

It has a Dana 30 front axle and a divorced Dana 20 transfer case.

Converting it to a SBC V8 and Tubo 350 as you read this.

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When everthing goes wrong....
What's right is what's left.

80 4x4 just converted from 1.8 gas to 2.2 diesel

I've got a 80 4X4 in the middle of a rebuild after it had set for 7yrs in a field. Its almost done with the body work. We got the insides of the doors painted tonight, and just have a bit of final sanding on the last coat of primer before we shoot the body. I'll post some pics as soon as I get her all back together. I'm also adding a few personal touches that I think will make it very unique. Wait till you see the color i picked.