Letters To The Editor - Paper Cuts - July 2002

  |   letters To The Editor July 2002 billet Armrest Billet Boundaries
In the Feb. '01 issue of MT, there was a green '91 Toyota mini that had billet armrests. I have looked everywhere and can't find where the owner got them. Please help me out in finding these cool armrests. Thanks.
Jason S.
Plymouth, Pennsylvania Jason,
I'm not sure where Pat got his billet armrests from, but you can order a set from Juliano's Hot Rod Parts. The company offers two versions of its armrests, with or without power-window switches. You can find them online at www.julianos.com or call them at (800) 300-1932. What Problems?
Thanks to your magazine, I am a newcomer to the mini-truck scene. I am planning on body dropping my '89 Mazda B2200 3 inches on 18s. I have no power steering and was wondering if I would run into any big problems. Also, do you know of any shops around to do my body drop and other modifications? I live in Connecticut. Keep up the good work.
Dave
Via E-Mail Dave,
What does not having power steering have to do with having a shop body drop your truck? I'm confused here. I don't think you'll personally have any problems if someone else is doing the work on your truck. Now if you want to know if the body drop will be a problem without power steering, that's a whole different animal. The body drop won't make a difference. However tough it is to turn your 18s now will be the same after the body drop. Of course, after the body drop, you'll be tuckin' a lot more rim, so you'll have to raise the front of the truck up substantially to make U-turns. As for a shop near Connecticut that can perform the work, give these guys a call: Elite Automotive, 294 Fletcher St., Tonawanda, NY 14150, (716) 693-5483, www.eliteautodesign.com. Almost-True Stories From The Road
This one came in from Kevin Whipps, a member of Relaxed Atmosphere in Arizona.   |   letters To The Editor July 2002 custom Truck "I was 18, a new mini-trucker, and was excited about the scene. A couple of friends from my club and I were getting ready to leave for Spring Splash '95, so we had to get our trucks in gear. I had a '94 Toyota Pickup at the time that was shaved, primered, and had a fubar'd bumper, thanks to my fat roommate. Before the show, I went out and purchased a new Toyota bumper for the truck, cut out the inner fenderwells, and turned down the torsions a bit (screw-adjustable suspensions). Me and my buddy John got in our trucks at 8 p.m. and started making the trek to Parker, Arizona, from Phoenix via the infamous Wickenburg route. Before I add some color to the story, you have to know that John is a pretty anal guy. Was then, is now. So to make sure his tires wore well, he took his juiced Mazda to be aligned right before the trip, aired up the rear air shocks, and juiced up the frontend. He looked like he had a stock truck on Pathfinders, and here I was in a buried Toyota with no bumper. Classy, I know. We cruised through Wickenburg and we were well on our way. About two hours into the trip, we were on this long stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but plains as far as the eye could see, with the exception of the mountains ahead of us and behind us. It's pretty dark at this point and I'm driving by myself, so I decide to open the window and let in some fresh air. I look up into the sky and think, "Man I can see every star out here." Then it hit me, or rather, I hit it. All of a sudden, my truck lurched into the air and all I could smell was dog crap. My buddy John slowed down and rolled down his window, while laughing hysterically. "Dude, didn't you see that coyote?" Yeah, I hit the coyote square in the noggin. And to make it worse, I hit it on the driver side of my truck. If you own a Toyota, you know that the exhaust runs along that side, so the combination of dead coyote and heat isn't the most pleasant smell. I tried to clean it off, but we had no light. We cruised off to Parker and hoped for the best. We finally hit the show and I get in line to get my wristband and park. I'm wondering why everyone is clearing away, but whatever, I was pretty used to the funk at this point. Some dude approaches me and says, "OK, pop your hood." So I pop open the hood and I hear "Dude, what the hell is that?" I run out to the front of the truck and I realized what it was: baked coyote. All over the underside of my hood, all over my header, all over everything was coyote. Not a pretty sight, nevermind the smell. He shut the hood and I slowly drove off to park. Needless to say, I had to park the 'Yota off in the corner at that run. Flies were all over the frame, and I kept draggin' it in big dirt clods so I could scrape off some of the coyote. It wasn't fun, but it happened. It sure was a good run, though." What an incredible story, Kevin. You must be the owner of the famous stinkbomb Toyota. Since Kevin showed extreme bravery in the face of his peers for admitting that he is, in fact, the stinky guy from Spring Splash '95, he will be rewarded handsomely with a MT T-shirt and a second generation Kontrol Phreaks airbag/hydraulic controller. Way to go, Kevy.