FB's first rig-begining to end

[FIREBALL]

Bought in'91 or '92, '85 standard cab SB. All stock except for 31's.

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First mod, cut off standard cab, and put on xtra cab.

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Next was the bed bob. 12"

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more

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First full paint job....white. Stock springs, re-located, #001 4.70s, 5.29s open diffs.

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Got a better job, now time for frame up and lots of new mods. F150 srpings all around, ultimate crawler, detroit rear, arb front, cross over hi steer, new bumps and nerfs, covertable, 9000's, etc.

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Put everything back togeather and loaded er up and headed for Moab. Could still smell the fresh paint.

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Some more good years of wheelin

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Then, the death of yellow truck  Here's the story.....an awesome day in the snow, point and go, anywhere we wanted. My buddy Ed and I were taking the back road from the high lake (if your familier with our area) and we were having a great time busting drifts and jumping creek crossings, when Ed got a little ways ahead of me. I lost sight of him for a bit and was just following his tracks, when I saw them go off a big drop. I didn't think much of it, we'd been droping off of big hills all day. As I approached it, I noticed that there were no tracks up in the distance    as this was all computing in my little brain (no tracks ahead=hasn't left the bottom of the hill yet) oh crap, i'm already there, and can't stop.    over the edge we go (now I can see....it's a 2 story drop, straight down) and theres Ed, lying on his drivers side right below me. So i've got nowhere to go, I come straight down and nose in, in front of him and endo right on top of him. A slight hesitation, and then we fall off, landing  on our pass side.
So, here we are, laying roof to roof, asking "hey......are you ok?............uh, ya......you?
No injuries, except rig and pride. Dogs scared shitless, and eats everything in sight cause he thinks it's his last meal.
We got the rigs back up, and headed home. (very cold ride with no windshield)
So, after 10+ years of wheelin the ol '85, this was my hint it was time to retire the yellow truck and start somethin new.
I wish I had some pics of the after math, but the first thing I could think of was getting my rig back on it's wheels. Besides, we couldn't even find a camera after the big spin cycle.
I went back up to the spot the following summer and picked up all the things we couldn't find in the snow that day...including Ed's cell phone 

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Coming soon to a thread near you "Birth of a 4runner"

[lilbuddy]

Awesome looking truck Jason. Too bad you went down a drop-off with it. At least you got some good years of weelin with it  and you were OK afterwards. But you do have the 4runner now and its awesome also.

Chris

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thanks chris! I miss that truck.

[Jared]

i got the uniroyal laredos on my rig right now in a 33 inch size... i love em... how did you like your tires?

[Skinny_Pedal]

what are the specs on the f150 springs?

[FIREBALL]

Well if I remember right they are 56". If you get them from a 2wd they come in 2 1/2" wide, the 4xs are 3".  They flex awesome, and they aren't as long as the chevy's so there's not as much overhang. On the front end I use every inch of my 9012's.

[Skinny_Pedal]

what years? what all did u do to get the lift? how about the axle wrap?

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Pretty much any year 2wd. Mid 80's up have teflon pads from the factory. I did end up using 2" add a leafs for a bit more clearance, and to firm them up a bit. You'd think that a leaf srping from a full size would be stiff on a yota, but they're squishy. The add a leafs made them just right, and didn't limit my flex at all. As far as axle wrap, I didn't have any probs. Now my new 4 runner seams to have a bit more wrap than yellow truck, but some more tesing will tell. At one time I did have a anti wrap bar that was a 3 point on the axle and had the shackle set up on the front.

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Oh ya, anybody recognize the guy holding down the back corner of my truck?

[lilbuddy]

Its Marlin, isnt it?

[Skinny_Pedal]

all these pics are way back when

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yep, dug into the archives a bit.
Ya Chris. I took him into morris lake a long time ago. He thought he was going to just walk out......didn't happen. Had a fun time harrasing him about that one.