For the past few years, I've flirted with the off-road side of things, but it's always been a quiet affair that never really took any major roots. My buddy, Gary Blount, who's a mad scientist when it comes to suspensions, originally sparked my interest in combining locking coilovers with airbags, which gave way to the creation of my crazy-ass Toyota that Aaron Iha's been fabricating and having fun with during the last couple of years. This time, Gary did it again and re-sparked my interest for the dirt. My last tow-pig was a lifted Titan that was equipped with a CST 8-inch lift, and Fox Racing Shox coils and Fox Racing Shox. It definitely enjoyed a little fun off-road, but like I said, I've never really gone all out.
Just recently, Tim Coltey's Nitto Tire Ranger splashed onto the cover of Off Road magazine and it really showed me lifted can be cool, too, as long as you're having fun doing it! The air that truck gets is amazing. To see that it still has a bumpin' stereo, a nice interior, and still drives the streets is icing on the cake. Obviously, being a minitrucker and a fan of all things minitruck, I've always pursued the as low-as-you-can-go route, but lately we've been on the path of uncovering a possible recurring trend.
Last month's cover truck featured a truly amazing lifted Ranger and we also did a special story about the lifted show trucks from back in the day. With our 20th Anniversary here, we've been doing a lot of digging through old issues and I unearthed tech articles and even features of lifted and off-road minitrucks! Some of you might not remember the days when a minitruck was fair game, whether it was lifted or lowered, but it seems that the lifted custom minitruck is due some love yet again. But, I was torn in two.
Being a diehard minitrucker, I've always been the guy who said, if it ain't low it ain't cool; but are we abandoning a side of minitrucks that we would all enjoy? So, I put this question to you, readers: With off-road suspensions featuring some of the most innovative technology and many of our best builders using these techniques, would you guys be opposed to seeing a lifted mini every now and then? As with everything, we'd do it the way only Mini Truckin' could and show you the super-cool side, but what do you think?
We'd like to hear from you, readers, so please tell us what you think.
E-mail your opinions to us at mini.truckin@sourceinterlink.com. If my humble opinion counts for anything, I think the work that goes into some of these trucks makes them worthy of sharing a couple of pages with the amazing body draggers we feature in every issue. Please, respond with your thoughts, as we do this all for you. 'Till next time. Please drag thru.-L888888888888