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This truck started off as an '82 Toyota Mini truck with a Chevy 350 motor and a turbo 350 tranny.
With 5" leaf springs, lift shackles, and a 3" body lift to clear the 38" tires, it looked sweet
but didn't have the qualities of a rock crawler that I wanted. The rear end was a Ford 9 inch
with no brakes and a limited slip. The front axle was the stock Toyota unit with a Detroit locker
and 4.10 gears. The radiator had been mounted in the bed with a scoop to direct air flow and prevent
the vehicle from over heating. Just about everything the previous owner had done to the truck was
going to have to be removed and rebuilt.
 The first order of business was to tear the truck down to just the cab and frame.
We removed the engine, transmission, and just about everything else connected to the truck. The
entire front clip was cut off, along with the removal of the bed.  During the life of the truck the
original wiring harness had been spliced and hacked into, resulting in a harness that looked more
like a rats nest than anything else. The harness was removed and a replacement was sourced from
another '82. At this time the truck sat as just the cab, frame, and front axle. I decided that it
would be returned back to the original drivetrain. The small block Chevy would be replaced with a
22RE and Toyota transmission, the 9" rear axle would be replaced by an IFS rear Toyota housing
connected to a custom 4 link suspension using air shocks. To top it off the whole thing would be
sitting on 38.5" Super Swamper Boggers.
 It has taken tons of work to get the truck to where it sits right now. The interior
roll cage had to  be removed and all the holes in the cab had to be patched. The Chevy motor mounts
were removed and the frame was repaired in several locations. The front stinger and winch mount were
fabbed up as a base for the exocage. The rear 4 link was mocked up and the rear of the frame was
hacked off and that's just the beginning...
For the 4-link we used beefy 1.25" heims and thick polyurethane bushings for strength and
reliability. Also we put the heims at the frame where they will be a little better protected from rock,
water, and mud abuse. We used 14" SAW air shocks while keeping the rear axle in the "stock" location.
We used Marlins MC07-R10 (rotates transfer case 10 degrees upwards) adapter with a Front Range
Off Road crossmember for our dual transfer case setup. This gave us a surprising ground clearance gain over
the traditional dual transfer case setup (non-R10).
By then the tail end of WRDETTE needed some TLC. We made mounts for the batteries and a couple
of ammo cans. The ammo cans are bolted down and will hold recovery gear, tools and spare parts.
The previous owner had swapped a Chevy V8 into the truck, and after taking it out there was no
way to put the 22RE back in without building some new motor mounts. We fabricated mounts with our large 2.5"
bushings and 1/4" laser cut steel. These mounts were super easy to work with and allow for endless possibilities.
These 22R versions of our Performance Motor Mounts will be available to the public soon.
After that we got the motor and trans/t-case installed and the front tube work started.
Once the front tube work was progressing we accessorized with components such as a power
steering reservoir, ignition coil, injector resistor, etc. Then came the intake. WRD decided to go for
an AEM dryflow cone filter mounted over the valve cover via a custom bracket and piping.
Along with that we braced the aft end of the cage, setting it up for the possibility of a spare tire mount.
To date we are about 95% done. This is very exciting although being this close to the finish
on a job of this size means that there are still many more hours of work to be done on the truck. Bump stops,
limit straps, frame and axle gusseting, finish welding, plumbing, and wiring still need to be done. WRDETTE
should be completed in time for the few last trail runs of the season. See our
post on Pirate4x4.
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