Her Name is Frank

[jimbo74]

thats a huge c notch!

[crawlerdan]

dude, you are one helluva fabber, i would let you work on my rig! and that is a huge compliment, trust me! great work man, keep the pics commin!

[Twisted Minis]

i would like to see u build a rig  props for that

I'll get to it one of these days, once I can afford it. Theres so many different things I want to build. And I've got a waiting list of projects like this. I'm backed up until about September right now.

thats a huge c notch!

It sure is, it would probably lay 22s. And this thing is getting 17s. Lol. Thats why I have some new notches for it.

Going to install it much lower, about 1/2" above the axle tubes.

dude, you are one helluva fabber, i would let you work on my rig! and that is a huge compliment, trust me! great work man, keep the pics commin!

Thank you man!

[topar]

  I am Loven this truck.  I had three low riders while I lived in Fl. but now that I live in the mountains of Va.  I started in with 4x4.  This is a great truck.

[weirdtimes_7]

Damn, i think i wanna be your apprentice... i wanna learn to fab that good...

military_stang

[Twisted Minis]

Thanks man.

I fixed the notches.


I started a backhalf.

Just need some more tubing, picking some up tomorrow.

And I thought this picture was funny. I always see you guys goign it when you 4-link stuff.

It actually doesn't get much rear steer. Lol.

[rednk1980]

The low rider flexes more than my truck  .....

[Twisted Minis]

Backhalf is all tacked together. I'm really happy with it.




Don't ask how I'm going to get the jack out. I'll figure it out when I get there. Lol.

[46&2]

I have never been a fan of lowriders, especially pickups. Then again thats probably because they are all ghettoriders around here and i can guarentee none of them have the craftsmanship of your toyota. I never knew what went into the construction of one of these but its actualy quite interesting. Its like the extreme oposite of how we build our trucks, but the same amount of work is put into your lowrider as our crawlers. Its cool you decided to show us your project because i think we're all in the dark about these lowrider things. 

In terms of your vehicle of choice, its about the coolest lowrider body i could think of. Im used to third gen toyotas ,chevys and mazdas but ive never seen a little 2wd hilux like yours. Its going to look badass when your done. Its a case of something I would never do, but when done right looks awesome. you put a lot of quality work into what you do and that is what matters in automotive projects like this.

Just wondering, why did the magazine run an article on your truck before you're even done??! They better run another article when your finished cuz im sure everyone else is about as curious as we are about the finished product. Keep up the good work 

[kneedownnate]

Sweet, but you already knew I liked this truck

Twins seperated at birth?  yours got the recessive height gene   Front sits high cause there's no engine.

[Twisted Minis]

I have never been a fan of lowriders, especially pickups. Then again thats probably because they are all ghettoriders around here and i can guarentee none of them have the craftsmanship of your toyota. I never knew what went into the construction of one of these but its actualy quite interesting. Its like the extreme oposite of how we build our trucks, but the same amount of work is put into your lowrider as our crawlers. Its cool you decided to show us your project because i think we're all in the dark about these lowrider things. 

In terms of your vehicle of choice, its about the coolest lowrider body i could think of. Im used to third gen toyotas ,chevys and mazdas but ive never seen a little 2wd hilux like yours. Its going to look badass when your done. Its a case of something I would never do, but when done right looks awesome. you put a lot of quality work into what you do and that is what matters in automotive projects like this.

Just wondering, why did the magazine run an article on your truck before you're even done??! They better run another article when your finished cuz im sure everyone else is about as curious as we are about the finished product. Keep up the good work 

Thank you! I really appreciate that.

The article was run in the construction zone (for unfinished rides) and was als o part of Young Gunz because I'm under 20, or 25, I forget what the cutoff is. It will likely get featured again when its complete.

[Loki]

in this picture:

What's limiting the axle from dropping out? Did you install limit straps so you don't rip a bag or are the rear link bars helping to keep your axle in place. That's a lot of weight for an airbag to hold up.

Very nice work, i like a tasteful mini...i've got a fullsize that's getting the same treatment soon. i just need to finish my 88' first. what is sufficient wall size for those link bars for the mini? and are you running 3/8" ported valves?

[Twisted Minis]

Loki, what I did was air it out onto the lift arms. It creates a suction in the bag to keep it from dropping too far and putting the bag at a stressful angle. So the bag is holding the axle up. They're strong enough to handle it. They hold up a 2500lb truck, they should handle an 80lb axle just fine.

All my link bars are made from 1.5" 3/16" wall DOM tubing. Its a good size for any size truck, fullsize or mini. 1/8" wall would be perfectly acceptable for the lower bars, since they only see a push/pull load, but the upper arms sees side to side force at all time and needs to be thicker.

I'm running 3/8" ASCO valves. I need to put some ball valves on the fill valves because its a little too fast for my taste. I have the dumps limited down to 1/8" with some plugs I drilled holes in.

[Loki]

i ordered the air ride big red blocks, but sold them because i have a fullsize and i don't want to dump it that fast. but i'm now thinking about doing the ball valves as well to slow down the dumps like you're talking about.

i was thinking about doing a cantiliver rear end from KP it is really nice, it just wouldn't be custom fab work which is what i really wanted to do. it's a bolt on kit, but i'm back halfing the frame like you did on the customer's ride, and getting a mandrel bent rail for it because i don't want the 45 look. plus my buddy in Sac has pre-bent rails for my truck. Looks killer though i'm loving the blue powder coat

[blackdiamond]

They hold up a 2500lb truck, they should handle an 80lb axle just fine.

They may be strong enough to hold up the axle, but is this really a logical explaination?  I don't know much of anything about air bag, but it seems that the strength in tension vs. compression would be very different.  They are designed to be used in compression and not tension.  Maybe I don't know enough about how they are made.



Steel has similar strenght in both tension and compression, while concrete is only good in compression without the aide of steel reinforcement.  Which one are the air bag closer to in design?



If you can't tell I have been lurking on the thread and seeing how it turns out.     

[Duffil]

They may be strong enough to hold up the axle, but is this really a logical explaination?  I don't know much of anything about air bag, but it seems that the strength in tension vs. compression would be very different.  They are designed to be used in compression and not tension.  Maybe I don't know enough about how they are made.



Steel has similar strenght in both tension and compression, while concrete is only good in compression without the aide of steel reinforcement.  Which one are the air bag closer to in design?



If you can't tell I have been lurking on the thread and seeing how it turns out.     

offhand, with the limited experience I have with them, I can tell you they are pretty stiff to extend by hand.  I would think they should be fine, although I do understand your "tension vs. compression" question.  If he put the thing on the lift, then aired the bags to zero, and they retracted( which I assume they did) then it's no problem.

[Twisted Minis]

Yeah, the bags lifted the wheels off the ground when we put it on the lift. The bags I'm running are to stiff to compress or extend by hand. I can't even compress them for mockup purposes so I actually made a jig to simulate the bag. Lol.



Tonights progress, backhalf welded, bed mounts need holes drilled, and bag mount are about 1/2 way done.

[Steve97TJ]

This is an awesome build. When i saw the title this is the last thing i expected. Please dont drag the frame on this thing. That powdercoat looks to good to be scraped on the ground. Keep up the good work and i look forward to seeing it along the way.

Also do you have any more pics of it during your build?

[blackdiamond]

This is an awesome build. When i saw the title this is the last thing i expected. Please dont drag the frame on this thing. That powdercoat looks to good to be scraped on the ground. Keep up the good work and i look forward to seeing it along the way.

Also do you have any more pics of it during your build?

  Wouldn't "drag" be expected from "Her Name is Frank?"

[Twisted Minis]

Funny funny. Lol.

I don't plan to ever drag the truck. I'll build something else to drag if I feel like it.


I have hundreds of pictures from the buildup, what do you want to see?

[TacoStewie]

the bikini girls on the hood

[Twisted Minis]

the bikini girls on the hood

I have pictures like that with one of the bikes I built. Lol. No one wants to pose next to my truck though.

[TacoStewie]

those will work too

[Loki]

Twisted...i'd like to see a direct overhead shot after all the work was done. so you get a better view of the location of the links and bags.

[Twisted Minis]

Got the bag mounts pretty much finished up. Going to mount the gas tank after lunch.

[AaronB]

Sweet, are you part of Forbidden?

[TacoStewie]

thank you, that girl is my new girl friend

[Twisted Minis]

Sweet, are you part of Forbidden?

No. Just good friend with the guys in the Nor Cal chapter. I've known some of them since I was about 13. I'm in Characters. I just new more people in the club already.

[Twisted Minis]

thank you, that girl is my new girl friend

Lol. She WAS mine.

[TacoStewie]

do you still have her number