We're seeing a trend in California toward lifted, bulge-fendered minis. These trucks would be the equivalent of the 'bagged draggers you're used to seeing. When completed, this type of truck is not only a mode of transportation, but also a big toy you can play with. If you think hitting switches and draggin' is fun, just think how killer it would be to launch your truck Dukes of Hazard-style.
We set out to build one of these to test the market, and for no other reason than to say we did it. The truck we started with is an '01 Tacoma S-Runner fit with TRD headers, after-cat exhaust, and supercharger. Needless to say, the truck has embarrassed more than one musclecar on the street. Since the truck has plenty of power to drive larger tires, we weren't worried about it becoming too slow when lifted.
There is an assortment of bolt-on lifts available for five-lug Tacos, but we wanted a fully fabricated setup and the fabbed look that goes with this type of build. To accomplish this, we hooked up with Camburg Suspension for long-travel upper and lower control arms. All the arms are made with 1-1/2-inch 0.120-wall tubing. The lowers have been boxed in for strength and feature a CNC-machined billet ball-joint mount.
To hold the weight of the truck up and keep the tires under control, we picked up a set of Eibach springs and Sway-A-Way Race Runner 2.5x6-inch travel shocks. The coilovers control the bounce by forcing fluid through a series of stainless-alloy spring washers. By changing the thickness of the washers, the compression rebound dampening in the shock can be adjusted to meet the needed conditions. All Race Runner shocks come with external reservoirs and are completely rebuildable.
That's where the off-the-shelf parts stopped, and the talents of custom fabricator Marc Jones took over. Marc fabbed everything else needed for the setup and tuned the suspension once it was all installed. For more information, please use the information listed in the source box.