OWNER: Josh Rousseau RIDE:...
OWNER: Josh Rousseau
RIDE: '93 Toyota Pickup
HOMETOWN: Palmdale, CA
CLUB: Down To Earth
When it comes to building a truck, it takes ideas and inspiration. Most of the time, those ideas and inspirations come from checkin' out other people's rides and combining those with your own style and flare.
It all started on a typical summer Sunday several years ago in Southern California. The traffic was bumper to bumper on the freeways, the birds were coughing from all the smog, and we're sure some part of the southland was on fire. While walking around a local show, Cary and the crew from IF Customs spotted a '94 Toyota sitting off by itself on the showgrounds. The truck was still under construction, but there was something about the truck that caught the eye of the young fabricator. It was body-dropped to the door, shaved up, tuckin' 18-inch wheels with an independent rear, and a wild front end using Accord headlights. Josh Freeman's truck was all the inspiration Cary needed to get the ideas flowing.
After finding a '93 Toyota pickup, Cary and the IF crew started the tedious project of lowering the truck by stock flooring it to bring it closer to mother earth.
Cary wanted the stock floor left intact leaving for more room inside the small confines of the standard cab. Many hours were spent measuring before building the frame from the firewall back, to allow for a 4 1/2-inch stock-floor body drop layin' the doors on the ground. From there, the front framerails were Z'd another 2 1/2 inches to allow the truck to tuck nicely over a set of 17-inch wheels. new motor mounts were fabbed up to lower the engine just enough to keep the motor under the stock hood. Over the years IF Customs has become known for building the lowest trucks around and this truck is a good example as to why. As evidenced by the images before you, Cary endeavored upon a great number of extensive body modifications, the most obvious of which is the 3-inch chop-top. So when the truck is laid out it is only 42 inches tall. For you math majors that's 3 feet 6 inches tall.
As a shop owner working on your own customized ride is fun, but if you want to stay in business, working on your own vehicles gets pushed to the side. For over a year, Rail It sat in a driveway getting beat to hell by Mother Nature rusting away never to be thought of again. That is until a young Josh Rousseau got word of the trucks existence and had to have it. After a couple conversations, an agreement was made and Josh was the proud owner of a pile of parts. Josh worked for six months straight to get the truck to a point where he could drive it. Slowly Josh collected the parts needed to take his truck to the next level.
To say this Toyota is sick would truly be an understatement. One of the many modifications that contributes to it being so wild is the amount of work that has been done to the interior. Let's just say that Josh went buck wild inside the cab as well. Everything inside the cab was touched. The handmade dash was smoothed and painted to match the body color and a custom leather covered dashpad was added for some flair. It flows down the front of the dash into the custom-made center console that houses four Kicker subs. FBI accessories punctuates the burgundy and crme interior with billet window cranks and a rearview mirror. Burgundy carpet lines the floor, while the headliner was treated to a few yards of frost suede. Behind the leather wrapped seats lie two amplifiers in a clean presentation trimmed with crme leather.
The biggest setback came in the summer of '08 when Josh was rear-ended while driving his Toyota. Less than seven days away from his Mini Truckin' studio shoot, his pride and joy was a crumpled wreck. Once the Toyota's damage had been accessed, because the bed was shoved into the cab Josh sent the it over to Fix and Paint where they pulled the cab straight, realigned the door and prepped it for paint. The bed on the other hand wasn't as lucky as it was sent to the scrap yard. Western Edge made quick work of the new bed by shaving it up, fabricating the access door, and skinning the inside bedwalls and floor. From there, the bed was reunited with the rest of the truck, blocked, and sprayed with PPG's Oh So Sexy Red and Cool Vanilla. Setting off this color combination is the engine-turned silver leaf dividing the two hues.
With the help of friends and shops, Josh has built a ride that gets attention wherever it goes. As Josh vows to drive his truck as much as possible the number of trophies he has had to haul back home with him every time he attends a show speaks for itself. From the looks of things, we're hoping he has room for them all. There's likely to be a lot more on the way this coming show season.
The Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: 17x8 KMC Luna
Tires: Toyo Proxes 4 205/40R17
Chassis Modifications
Suspension: (Front) Torsion bar setup (Rear) two-link w/ panhard bar
Airbag type and size: Contitech 4-ply 2,500 pound 'bags
Spindles: Belltech 2-inch drop
Valves: Eight Asco 1/2-inch nickel-plated
Compressors: Two Viair 450c
Air line: SMC 1/2-inch, front air lines are 3/8-inch stainless steel
Air accessories: EAI locking chrome 7-switch box, 5-gallon
Frame mods: Z'd front end, 3/4 custom frame
Frame material: 3x3-inch box tube under cab, 2x3 rear clip
Gas tank: Western Edge Performance custom-made fuel cell
Performed by: Rail It Customs, Iaccino Fabrication
Body Modifications
Shaved: Door handles, antenna, tailgate, taillights, front marker lights, rock guards, cowl, gas door, hood squirters, mirrors
Frenched: Licence plate box
Body-dropped: Stock floored to the door
Chopped: 3 inches
Front end: '97 4runner headlights and grille, Grant one-off bumper
Back end: Grant Kustoms tailgate skin and fillers
Taillights: 42-inch LED molded into the rear of the cab
Performed by: Rail It Customs, Iaccino Fabrication, Western Edge Performance
Paint
Brand and colors: PPG Oh So Sexy Red / Cool Vanilla
Pinstriping: Red, cream, and silver leaf by Bob Coslette
Performed by: Fix & Paint Auto Body
Interior
Seats: Custom-made buckets
Material: Frost suede/ crme leather and vinyl / Mercedes wool
Dash: All metal with a leather insert
Door panels: Custom-made, covered in leather/suede/carpet
Center console: Custom-made, covered in leather/carpet
Flooring:Burgundy Mercedes wool
Headliner: Frost suede
Gauges: Oil pressure, water temp, and volts
Performed by: Randy's Custom Auto Upholstery
Stereo
Head unit: Pioneer DEH-P7600, iPod
Mids and highs: Two sets Kicker RS 6.5 Components
Amplifier for mids and highs: Kicker SX 700.4
Subwoofers: Four Kicker CVR 8-inch
Amplifier for subwoofers: Kicker SX 1250.1
Custom fabrication: One-off sub enclosure, door pods, amp rack
Misc.: Kicker KQ30 pre amp, Kicker 1250.1 digital bass controller
Performed by: Cary "Loco" Miller
Engine/Performance
Intake: Custom made Western Edge Performance aluminum manifold
Exhaust: Custom made exhaust, Magnaflow resonators
Ignition: Push button
Battery: Two Kinetik HC2000 power cells
Misc.: Sectioned valve cover, flush mounted allens, oil cap moved to the back of the valve cover
Performed by: Western Edge Performance
Special Thanks By Owner
Kicker, KMC Wheels, Toyo Tires, Kinetik Audio, Randy's Custom Auto Upholstery, Fix & Paint Auto Body, Nu Era Graphix, Crazed Custom Audio, Western Edge Performance, Surface-DVD, Street Rod Syndicate, Coors Light, Bob Grant, and Down to Earth.