TRE 5 Customs Mitsubishi Mighty Max Build - Hydroholics Mitsu

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 was to take off the bed and get rid of the stock suspension.

3. Then the front sheetmetal was removed.

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 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 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 bent to make the channel pieces in the floor, and the tranny hump was modified to clear.

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. 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 to fit the upper ball joint taper so a Heim joint could be used for the upper 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 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 doughnut was welded into the factory spring pocket.

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 from the engine crossmember for oil pan clearance when the motor is dropped.

16. After all the front frame modifications were complete, it was welded back in 1 inch higher than before to accomplish the "Z". Overlay pieces were added for additional strength.

17. This is the assembled front suspension complete with a set of drop spindles and a five-lug swap.

18. Once the front was all taken care of, the rear suspension was laid out using a Toyota axle to complete the five-lug swap. A three-link with a wishbone setup was chosen in order to keep the Mitsubishi gas tank as close to the factory location as possible.

19. Everything was tacked in place, and the suspension was cycled to check the geometry through the travel of the rearend. The Heim was positioned horizontally on the top of the axle because in a wishbone setup it's stronger and still allows for plenty of suspension travel.

20. Rather than using a simple notch, the entire rear clip was built to drop lower than the stock frame behind the axle making it easier to mount all of the Hydroholic hydraulic components.

21. Three Kinetik KR2412 batteries are sandwiched between two Hydroholics pumps. All mounted behind the axle on the new rear frame clip.

22. The rear cylinders are set up on a true cantilever system. These are the cantilever pieces made from 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch water-jetted plate and TIG-welded together.

23. Here's the rear cylinder setup in place. The cylinders pivot at the rear of the frame on a polyurethane bushing that has been welded to a threaded collar installed on the unique threaded Hydroholics cylinders. The cylinder pushes on the cantilever, which pivots on the Delrin bushing. The cantilever then pushes on a custom-made dog bone attached to the axle. Using an 8-inch cylinder, the setup produces 13 inches of lift.

24. With the suspension pretty much wrapped up, the attention turned to the little things. First on the list is the gas tank. The tank mounts were modified in order to raise the tank above the bottom of the framerails.

25. The interior was finished off with a raised panel in the rear to clear the raised gas tank and by seam-sealing all the joints and painting over all the bare metal, including the channel.

26. Since the engine crossmember was modified, there was room to lower the motor to fit the factory hood. The factory motor mounts were modified for a 1.5-inch drop.

27. Staying under the hood, the factory inner wheelwells were cut out and new wheeltubs were installed.

28. A custom cold-air box was welded into the inner fender using part of the factory intake so that the mass air sensor wouldn't throw any codes, and a custom intake tube was fabricated out of pre-bent aluminum tubing to connect the airbox to the throttle body.

29. The last part of the buildup was to dial in the bedfloor. A new frame was constructed from 1-inch square tubing followed by pieces of 16-gauge sheetmetal. A portion of the bedfloor was left open to view the hydraulic setup.

30. With the bed back on the frame, you can finally see the fruits of all this hard work.

31. Here is the end result of about three months of solid work. With everything plumbed and wired and some bed coating, this truck is looking like a work of art.