OWNER: Dave Prater RIDE: '93...
OWNER: Dave Prater
RIDE: '93 Toyota Hilux
HOMETOWN: Santa Rosa, CA
CLUB: Forbidden Fantasy
Dave Prater is an individual that stands behind his work, literally. He doesn't just stand though; he is involved in every single detail of his work.
A painter by day and a minitrucker by nights and weekends, Dave really is motivated to try and finish a project, or three. Dave is big part of the Northern California chapter of Forbidden Fantasy.
His club is a huge part of his life, and it motivates him each and every day to keep on truckin'. Every week he meets up with his comrades to discuss what is going on with their trucks and what shows they will be rolling to. Sometimes the shows are 15 minutes away and sometimes they are 15 hours away. Either way Dave knows his friends are there through thick and thin. He has been minitruckin' for along time and has realized that it was his time to finish a project. Dave has helped so many of his friends start a project and see it through to the finish line, but this does sometimes get in the way of your own builds. Not this time, this build was his, and through the motivation of friends and family, he finally set his goal and made it to the end.
Dave's '93 Toyota has certainly been through the ringer. Dave tends to lose interest in things very quickly and has ended up trading the truck to others time and time again. He has traded the truck for similar unfinished projects just to keep his mental state in a weird working order, which only a true minitrucker can comprehend. Finally after a few late night phone calls to his buddy and club mate, Brian Goude, Dave was talked into finally finishing something so he could complete his goal and get the truck featured here in the pages of Mini Truckin' magazine.
This truck was a learning project for Dave, and he had plenty of friends to help him along the way. He basically self taught himself how to 'bag a truck then do the extreme and body drop it. With every mod there was another wall he had to jump and another corner to turn. With relentless grinding and welding, he finally realized he was closer than he originally thought.
Residing from Santa Rosa, CA, Dave has driven the truck to such shows as Resolutions, Forbidden Fantasy, Drop Zone and countless others .He is a tried and true enthusiast to the minitruck community. One such example is Dave was called upon to help complete another truck that has graced our pages. His own club, Forbidden Fantasy, was in a bind and needed someone to complete the FFF Raffle Truck. Dave made no excuses and single handedly took on the task. He was the Director, Producer, and had the starring roll in the build along with his buddies from FFF Nor Cal.
The pictures in this feature show all Dave has accomplished through hard work, dedication, and true friends. Dave attributes his work to his club, family, and the minitruck community. We've talked to his club members and they all would like to extend a special thanks to Dave for his hard work in helping out whenever and wherever he can.
The Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: 18x8.5 DeCorsa Polaris 5
Backspace: 40mm
Tires: 225/40R18 Kumho
Chassis Modifications
Suspension: (Front) Torsion bar setup (Rear) four-link
Airbag type: Slam Specialties
Spindles: DJM 2-inch drop
Valves: Eight -inch Blitzluft
Compressor: Viair 480
Air accessories: Custom six-switch box
Frame mods: Step-notch
Frame material: -inch plate
Brakes: Baer
Detail work: Smoothed and painted frame
Performed by: Tom Smylie and Dan Green
Body Modifications
Shaved: Fully shaved, sheet metal bed cover with custom lid
Body-dropped: 2 1/2 inches
Front end: 4-Runner conversion
Back end: molded roll pan
Exterior bolt-ons: 4-Runner side view mirrors
Performed by: Dan Green
Paint
Brand and colors: PPG Mazda Lightning Yellow
Style: Single color
Pinstriping: On the hood
Misc.: Pin-up girls in the doors
Performed by: Owner and the crew from Advance Tech
Interior
Seats: Acura Integra
Material: Gray vinyl
Dash: Shaved, smoothed, and painted
Door panels: Custom speaker pods wrapped in gray vinyl
Flooring: Black carpet
Headliner: Gray vinyl
Misc.: Budnik Famosa steering wheel
Performed by: Rosa GuistiStereo
Head unit: Clarion
Mids and highs: Diamond Audio 61/2 components
Amplifier for mids and highs: Diamond Audio
Performed by: Dan Green
Engine/Performance
Intake: Cold air
Header/exhaust: Thorley
Battery: Stinger
Detail work: Painted mass airflow sensor, and chrome valve cover
Performed by: Andy Levelle
Special Thanks By Owner
My girlfriend Holly, Chad Cooper, Dan Green, Nick Perone, Andy Levelle, Rudy Herrera, Dino Rochilla, Tom Smylie, Cheeze, Courtney signs and Striping, the crew at Advance Tech, all my Forbidden Fantasy club members, and Galen Armenta for driving all night to shoot it for Mini Truckin' magazine when I should have had it ready to shoot at Danger Zone.