Do I or Don't I????

[46&2]

Looks good! Glad you went with it.

[80YOTA4X4]

Glad to see you put your big boy pants on and cut it. Way to go. It looks awesome. Now you need some sliders to top off the crawler look.

[Tool Pimp]

Man I saw this in a parking lot in Victorville..... GREAT LOOKING TRUCK! 





and just what were you doing in my hood 

[crawlerdad]

Just keep the cut offs and if you ever want them back on you can stitch them back on.

[zembalayan]

I took a little bit of input from everyone. I got a pair of straight fenders just like mine and went ahead and dove in. I don't regret it now that it's done.

Yours looks great!  Love the move to cut and roll the fenders.  Keep the pics coming.

And, you could never go wrong taking cues from GreenTruck (8T3).  There is hardly anyone who has done a better job with a 1st. Gen.

[illinoisyotadriver]

bumper looks kick a$$ I love 1st gens

[*ROKTOY*]

Looks great, now get rid of the pipe rack.

[hilux-1983]

Looks great, now get rid of the pipe rack.

Nope, it serves a purpose: look: http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=58729.0;highlight=wagon+cover

[hilux-1983]

Man I saw this in a parking lot in Victorville..... GREAT LOOKING TRUCK!  






and just what were you doing in my hood  

I/we just drove out for the weekend to visit the in-laws. I/we lived there for about 9yrs then moved to AZ. She drove ok. 75mph/3200 rpms and got close to 18mpg. Which parking lot? Why didn't ya come over and talk a bit?

[thebigblkbuss]

just read the post, looks really good 

[*ROKTOY*]

Nope, it serves a purpose: look: http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=58729.0;highlight=wagon+cover

It's OK with the soft top, but if your not using it take it all off.

[Tool Pimp]

I/we just drove out for the weekend to visit the in-laws. I/we lived there for about 9yrs then moved to AZ. She drove ok. 75mph/3200 rpms and got close to 18mpg. Which parking lot? Why didn't ya come over and talk a bit?

Gotcha, saw you in the Rite Aid lot but you were no where to be found. I have to give you props for making that drive I dont think my kidneys could handle it

[hilux-1983]

It's OK with the soft top, but if your not using it take it all off.

I failed to mention that I am trying to figure out some kinda "quick" connect and disconnect fixture of some sort so I can make it not so laborious to take on and off. The top is a breeze but the frame is bolted on. Other wise it's staying on untill I do so. But, I do agree with ya, I like it either with the canvas on or canvas/frame off. thanks for your honesty though!

[hilux-1983]

Gotcha, saw you in the Rite Aid lot but you were no where to be found. I have to give you props for making that drive I dont think my kidneys could handle it

Yup, that was me. It was a dash to rite aid for a last minute toothbrush purchase. I'd left mine at home. I took off the mudders and installed Pro Comp A/T's 35's. It rides like a different vehicle although, it's still a leaf spring ride just a whole lot softer with the A/T's

[Oddmar]

Here ya go, man...yes, i did draw this just for you...it's called procrastination.

Weld washers to nuts, then drill...gasp...holes in the bed rail and weld the nuts/ washers on under the rail...weld rings or washers to bolts so you can turn them out by hand...weld a piece of angle to the bottom of your soft-top tubes...you get the picture.



BTW, awesome clean truck...i've got an 83 that i plan on building up, strictly for offroad, cause up till now we've been wheeling our DD trucks and it's taking a toll.

[hilux-1983]

Here ya go, man...yes, i did draw this just for you...it's called procrastination.

Weld washers to nuts, then drill...gasp...holes in the bed rail and weld the nuts/ washers on under the rail...weld rings or washers to bolts so you can turn them out by hand...weld a piece of angle to the bottom of your soft-top tubes...you get the picture.



BTW, awesome clean truck...i've got an 83 that i plan on building up, strictly for offroad, cause up till now we've been wheeling our DD trucks and it's taking a toll.

Dude, I've never felt so much love in my life, sniffle, sniffle! Thanks A Lot! Greate idea(and drawing) I think I'll put that into effect this weekend. What program did you "draw" that with?

[Oddmar]

Even though i have a sign company (kinda) and $5k worth of sign software, i do all my simple stuff in Microsoft Paint.

[NorCalToy]

Here ya go, man...yes, i did draw this just for you...it's called procrastination.

Weld washers to nuts, then drill...gasp...holes in the bed rail and weld the nuts/ washers on under the rail...weld rings or washers to bolts so you can turn them out by hand...weld a piece of angle to the bottom of your soft-top tubes...you get the picture.



BTW, awesome clean truck...i've got an 83 that i plan on building up, strictly for offroad, cause up till now we've been wheeling our DD trucks and it's taking a toll.

similar to this i was gonna say theres a first gen in town and the guy built a ladder rack and to bolt it down he drilled the holes like a normal bolt would need but then used something like JB Weld to hold the nuts in place so its just undo 4bolts with one wrench and then off.

[hilux-1983]

similar to this i was gonna say theres a first gen in town and the guy built a ladder rack and to bolt it down he drilled the holes like a normal bolt would need but then used something like JB Weld to hold the nuts in place so its just undo 4bolts with one wrench and then off.

Got any pics or drawings?

[NorCalToy]

Of how its mounted?

Basically the same as Oddmar said. He drilled holes in the bed rail and then JB Welded the Nut on the underside of the bedrail so you can just thread the bolt down into the hole using only one wrench. I can probably paint up a simple diagram if you need it.

If you wanted ultimate simplicity you could use an eyelet like Oddmar posted with the nut attached on the bottom. Then to remove the eyelet bolt you just stick a metal rod inside the eye and twist until its loose enough to finger twist off.

Heres a crappy hand drawing.



Shows the underside of bedrail and the nut "welded" to the bed with the bolt threaded in.

[hilux-1983]

Thanks a bunch!

[Oddmar]

IMHO, JB Weld is for people who don't have welders....

I'd weld nuts to washers, then drill holes in the bed rail big enuf that i could weld the washer to the rail without messing up the nut threads. Grind/ sand smooth, and i never hafta worry about the JB Weld cracking...

If the JB Weld cracked, the nut would spin and the bolt wouldn't come out. And the JB Weld would still be on the nut under the bed rail, keeping you from getting a socket on the nut....arrgh!

[hilux-1983]

I dont know why I didn't think of welding the nuts on the underside of the siderail. That's what you guys are for, to tell me what I'm doing wrong and not doing right. Thanks for all of the input. I welded the nuts and I'm diggin how fast that thing goes on and off now, thanks again fellas. I'm just still not thinking with a "I have a decent welder and can fabricate when I need to" mentallity. I'm almost done with my truck bed trailer too. I'll be posting pics of that when I'm done.

[highridin4x4]

What size bolts are you using ? You can use nutserts but they only make them in 1/4 - 3/8" you can get them at any good hardware store. the bad thing is they need a certain size hole to crimp to. They make them in aluminum or steel.

Here is what they look like uncrimped.



Here is a picture of them crimped to the metal.



Scott

[hilux-1983]

Nice, thanks for the input. I might just use those crimp thingys on the trailer rack(when I build it).