When it comes to doing something different, building Mitsubishis is gaining in popularity. Add some Hydroholic hydraulics to the equation, and you have a buildup that definitely turns heads.
TRE 5 Customs' owner, Jeremy Rice, was commissioned to build a killer Mitsu for Mike Baldwin from Art of Noize Dallas. What started as a stock truck is now anything but. Follow along and check out what they did to get this truck on the ground. For more information, contact the companies listed in the source box.
1. Here is the truck as it...
1. Here is the truck as it was backed into the garage where Jeremy, Andy, and Mike started to strip it down for its transformation.
2. The first order of business...
2. The first order of business was to take off the bed and get rid of the stock suspension.
3. Then the front sheetmetal...
3. Then the front sheetmetal was removed.
4. It was decided to channel...
4. It was decided to channel this truck to get the rockers down to the same level as the bottom of the frame. The floor was marked and cut out above the framerails.
5. A piece of square tubing...
5. A piece of square tubing was placed under the framerails at the front and back of the cab for the rockers to sit on when the body mounts were cut free.
6. The body was channeled...
6. The body was channeled a total of 2.5 inches, but the framerails only come into the floor about an inch and a half.
7. Sixteen-gauge steel was...
7. Sixteen-gauge steel was bent to make the channel pieces in the floor, and the tranny hump was modified to clear.
8. A new tranny crossmember...
8. A new tranny crossmember was built to sit flush with the bottom of the frame. The crossmember utilizes the factory tranny bushing, allows the exhaust to run through, and most of it can be unbolted should the transmission need servicing.
9. Next up was the front suspension....
9. Next up was the front suspension. In order for the wheels to tuck into the fenders, 1-inch was taken out of each side. A new set of lower control arms were built utilizing the factory Mitsubishi lower ball joint. The strut rod was ditched, and a tube was added off the side of the arm for triangulation.
10. A tapered insert was machined...
10. A tapered insert was machined to fit the upper ball joint taper so a Heim joint could be used for the upper arm.
11. The upper control arm...
11. The upper control arm was fabricated using 1.25-inch chrome-moly tubing. The Mitsubishi cross-shafts were machined down to accept new bushings. In order to cut down on some of the camber change, the upper arm was made the factory width and then spaced inward 1 inch to keep the whole front suspension 1 inch narrower on each side.
12. Since the front end needed...
12. Since the front end needed to be Z'd anyway, it was cut off completely to make modifying the factory spring pockets for the cylinder mounts and the engine crossmember easier.
13. Next, a 5-inch cylinder...
13. Next, a 5-inch cylinder doughnut was welded into the factory spring pocket.
14. After using a 1-5/8-inch...
14. After using a 1-5/8-inch hole saw, the cylinder can be test-fitted in the spring pocket.
15. Two inches was removed...
15. Two inches was removed from the engine crossmember for oil pan clearance when the motor is dropped.