Owner: James Hood
Builder: The Drop Shop www.thedropshop.co.nz
Year & Make: '93 Toyota Pickup
Location: Rotorua, New Zealand
Club No Regrets
Welcome to yet another primered appearance of the Construction Zone. We hope that by seeing more unfinished rides in the raw, you'll come up with some new ideas of your own to complete the ride that's collecting cobwebs in your garage. If you have a ride that's not quite done, but it makes you want to shave, suicide, or chop something every month, then snap some of your own pics. Send them to us at Mini Truckin' c/o Construction Zone, 2400 E. Katella Ave., Ste. 700, Anaheim, CA 92806.
Wheels/Tires:
18x8-inch Ford Falcon 215/35R18
Suspension/Chassis:
Viair 420c compressor, 7-gallon 3/4-inch port tank, 1/2-inch Parker valves, Parker line, fittings and filtration, RE-6 Slam Specialties 'bags up front, RE-7 Slam Specialties 'bags in the rear, TDS nine-function billet controller with an aviation-style security plug, adjustable PSI switch, and Viair gauges.
Body Mods:
Shaved doors, mirrors, and gas door; a full sheetmetal bed floor with tilt bed, a traditional body-drop, four-wheel-drive sheetmetal, and flared bed sides.
General Info.:
When the design was being drawn up for James Hood's truck, we looked at the things James had wanted, one of the major things was the idea and theme behind the number plate RDGR8A. James had picked this plate for his truck because he thought the idea of a road-working machine, such as a road grader, and the fact that his truck would also be performing such road-leveling duties suited the truck perfectly. When talking about this, it was decided that we would fabricate and install a hefty box-section bridge to match the heavy-duty construction of a real road grader. A TDS tri-link setup was fabricated with a design in the top wishbone link, that was then matched in with the bridge. The rear framerails were removed and a TDS rear clip now resides in their place. The frontend has had a complete rebuild, and now lays engine crossmember without drop spindles and has the now-infamous Drop Shop Negative Camber look to it. A new transmission crossmember has also been installed. A smaller brake booster helps stop this rig, while all-new brake lines and fittings have been hooked up.
James is a dedicated minitrucker, has become a very good friend of The Drop Shop, and also is a valuable member of the No Regrets NZ chapter. For more on this truck, check out James' build thread in the construction zone section on www.downundertruckin.com.
Future Plans:
More shaving, a Cal Combo with a factory-looking swage line, some sheetmetal work, and VW Cyber Green Pearl paint.