Custom Toyota Prerunner Truck - Off-Road Magazine

Custom Toyota Prerunner Truck Bottom Out

Skills and abilities change one's view of the world. The mechanically inept tend to see a truck as transportation, a bit of fun, and as a way to help their favorite automotive technician pay his or her bills. The mechanically inclined see a truck as a ready recipient for a long list of bolt-on upgrades and accessories that will help the truck take him or her farther into the backcountry and kick the fun-factor up several notches. Those with fabrication skills see a truck as raw material - a blank canvas that can be cut, welded, notched, and shaped into a machine that boldly goes where most bolt-ons fear to tread.

Before we forge ahead with the rest of this tale, a disclaimer is in order. We've seen bolt-on accessories and suspension systems boasting stellar performance, and we've seen custom fabrication leave behind wounded, impotent trucks in its wake. Good parts are good parts whether they're one-of-a-kind or one of a 10,000-unit production run.

The front suspension bolts to the original mounting points on the frame, but the similarities to a stock front suspension end right there. Boxed-plate lower control arms pivot in place of the wimpy stamped steel stockers. Check out the welds: Shawn has his TIG technique dialed.
The front suspension bolts to the original mounting points on the frame, but the similarit
Rather than try to make do with the shortcomings of the stock knuckles, Giordano fabricated a completely new set that's up to the same par as the rest of the front suspension. Uniball upper and lower pivots are more than just strong; they're far easier than ball joints to remove and replace when the time comes.
Rather than try to make do with the shortcomings of the stock knuckles, Giordano fabricate

How do you properly stretch a wheelbase? There are a few different approaches. You can move the front wheels forward. You can add a section of framerail between the front and rear suspensions. The method shown here is perhaps the easiest and is very effective. Shawn started his stretch by remounting the spring hangers well behind their original location. Stock hangers can be used, but they pale compared to the desert-ready strength used here. The axle centerline used to be here (arrow).
How do you properly stretch a wheelbase? There are a few different approaches. You can mo
The Toyota's stock front end uses forward-mounted triangulation struts, and running long-travel front suspension in the stock configuration requires an accessory strut frame to allow for proper range of motion. Shawn eliminated the forward-mounted strut frame by building a second set of lower control arm pivots. Braces bridge the gaps between the front and rear control arm mounts for added strength.
The Toyota's stock front end uses forward-mounted triangulation struts, and running long-t

Tubing combines with strategic sections of plate to form the upper control arms. A generous strike pad is built into the upper control arms as the suspension compresses into the upper reaches of its 16 inches of travel. Mounting both a coilover and a bypass shock takes up a lot of lateral space on the frame and calls for widely spaced upper control arms or a J-arm setup. In order to use the upper control arms' mounting holes and still use both a coilover and a bypass shock, Shawn's design places the bypass shock outboard of the coilover.
Tubing combines with strategic sections of plate to form the upper control arms. A genero
Toyota's stock 2WD steering box is good, but a 4WD power steering box is much better suited to controlling the direction of 35-inch tires at speed in the desert. A fabricated pitman arm is just part of a steering system built with as much skill and care as the rest of the front end.
Toyota's stock 2WD steering box is good, but a 4WD power steering box is much better suite
A pair of Fabtech bumpstops hint at what's in store for the rest of this truck's suspension. See the "Dirt Logic" sidebar at the end of this article.
A pair of Fabtech bumpstops hint at what's in store for the rest of this truck's suspensio

"I've been building trucks since I was 16," Shawn Giordano tells us.
We'd seen Shawn's truck humble the field at Rialto Off-Road Raceway, and we knew that his latest creation should be shown to Off-Road's readers. Giordano ran sans fiberglass at ROR, so we could see the clean fabrication as well as observe that the truck was suspended by custom A-arms up front and tried-and-true leaf packs out back. Since there wasn't a hood to block our view, we could also see that four-cylinder power motivated the truck. Under a microscope, there's nothing too crazy or exotic about any single part on this truck, quality fabrication notwithstanding. Assembled as a whole, the complete package works astoundingly well. On a regular basis, trucks with more suspension travel and more horsepower than Shawn's are left peering through a fading dust cloud, wondering why they got passed. This truck simply works.

All of the pivots are mounted in double shear and are further reinforced with gussets - evidence that Shawn did his homework before he started cutting and welding the tubing. We've yet to see a dirt-specific book about vehicle design and fabrication, so we glean what we can from the pavement racing books. Carroll Smith's books are worth a read.
All of the pivots are mounted in double shear and are further reinforced with gussets - ev
Look behind the bedsides of today's best prerunners and race trucks and you're bound to see one of two things: a well-engineered link system or a pair of Deaver leaf packs. This 62-inch Deaver spring features a custom arch to work optimally with Shawn's rear spring mounting system.
Look behind the bedsides of today's best prerunners and race trucks and you're bound to se
Pulling off the Hannemann Tundra conversion front 'glass reveals the same high-caliber construction that's on the rest of the truck. Check out the brackets holding the air filter and the top of the radiator in place: good-looking and race-ready. The Hannemann front clip isn't the only thing that lifts clear of the truck for easy access - Giordano modified the roof and the B-pillars so they also unbolt quickly and easily.
Pulling off the Hannemann Tundra conversion front 'glass reveals the same high-caliber con

Giordano started not with a truck, but with a pile of parts. The frame came from a wrecking yard, and the cab and engine were bought from a friend. Single-cab trucks tend to be rather cozy inside (some would say cramped), but the standard cab weighs less than an extended cab, requires fewer feet of tubing to properly 'cage, and replacement cabs are cheaper and more readily available should the truck take a nasty tumble. The cab and the frame fit what Shawn had in mind - almost. The truck needed more wheelbase.

American Racing Outlaw II wheels of the 15x7-inch variety are the inner circle of the Toyota's rolling stock. We like custom, high-end stuff, but we also appreciate smartly selected salvage-yard substitutions. This smart substitution is a pair of Bronco 4x4 hubs that spin on matching spindles. The Bronco spindles bolt to the custom-fabbed steering knuckles/uprights. Since there's no need for a lockout hub on this 2WD, Shawn built a pair of aluminum slugs to keep dirt out of the hub and away from the wheel bearings. Wilwood four-piston calipers squeeze the Bronco rotor.
American Racing Outlaw II wheels of the 15x7-inch variety are the inner circle of the Toyo
It isn't the same as bringing a knife to a gunfight, but the 22RE is far from a rocket engine. This mill benefits from a few mods to bring more power alive than a stone-stock engine produces. The motor pulls fresh air through a high-flow K&N filter and exhales through a Doug Thorley header. The block is bored 0.020 over, and the head features a Snyder camshaft. The 22RE's plusses are its reliability and light weight.
It isn't the same as bringing a knife to a gunfight, but the 22RE is far from a rocket eng
In case you missed "Why the Wild Wash Matters" in our July issue, here's another frame of Shawn's sky shot captured by Mike's Race Photo. Nice flight! The truck landed on its wheels, but the spare-tire carrier and a corner of the righthand were also involved in the touchdown.
In case you missed "Why the Wild Wash Matters" in our July issue, here's another frame of

Rather than start over with an Extra Cab or go scouring the wrecking yards for a longbed frame, Shawn put his fabrication skills to work and added 8 extra inches between the front and rear wheels. Custom spring hangers were welded to the frame behind the stockers, and a section of 2x3-inch tubing was spliced onto the tail end of each framerail to give the shackle pivot a home. The 8-inch stretch brought the wheelbase to 112 inches. The gains? The truck has a smoother ride and is much more stable at speed compared to an equally built truck with a shorter wheelbase. Extra length between the front and rear axles means that it's tougher to upset the chassis.

In the heat of the desert, there's no such thing as too much radiator. Shawn relies on a monster-sized aluminum unit to get the cooling chores done. This radiator combines with the stock engine-driven fan. This combo has worked well so far, but if the motor ever needs further improved cooling, a custom fan shroud could be added to the equation.
In the heat of the desert, there's no such thing as too much radiator. Shawn relies on a m
A Ford 9-inch rearend out of a Lincoln Continental is a sought-after junkyard jewel. Giordano added a stout brace across the back, an extra layer of steel under the pumpkin, and a custom skidplate. Axles are of the 35-spline variety. The 9-inch third member boasts the strength of a full spool and is fitted with a 6.33:1 ring-and-pinion. The ultra-low ring-and-pinion ratio lets the four-cylinder pull the 35-inch BFGs with almost the same authority as a bigger motor. "We do well until Fourth and Fifth gear. In Fourth and Fifth, the V-8 trucks can pull away from us in the sand washes, but we can get them back as soon as the terrain gets tighter and rougher," Giordano tells OR.
A Ford 9-inch rearend out of a Lincoln Continental is a sought-after junkyard jewel. Gior

Another chapter of Shawn's story is plastered onto the single cab's doors. Giordano's passion for building off-road trucks led him to open his own shop, Unlimited Motorsports. For a decade, Unlimited Motorsports' doors were open for business. In time, another opportunity presented itself. Shawn had the chance to put his fabrication skills to work for Fabtech Motorsports in the big blue's R&D department. Although his commute to work is now much longer, Fabtech gave Shawn a schedule that lets him make the drive to and from work during the hours when traffic is light. Once he arrives at the company's Chino, California, facility, Shawn is part of a team that designs and builds suspension systems for the latest trucks available to the buying public. Custom, one-off designs are built, analyzed, tested (read: abused in the dirt), and finally put into production. To the end user, this means that his or her bolt-on suspension kit has a heritage in that which is custom-fabbed.

Holy shackles, Batman! Long-travel leaf packs need proportionally long shackles to function properly. Shawn built his shackles to attach above the framerail. The shackles pivot in a custom mount that's tied into the triangular gusset. The frame has been extended with a 2x3-inch section of boxed steel tubing.
Holy shackles, Batman! Long-travel leaf packs need proportionally long shackles to functi

OFF-ROAD recently had the chance to crawl under, climb over, and ride in the Unlimited Motorsports/Fabtech Toyota. The truck begs to be driven hard, assuring the driver he's got a stable platform from which to assault the terrain and the competition. The engine needs to be driven hard. The four-cylinder 22RE is at its best when the rpm and the momentum are kept high. What impressed us the most, though, was the way that the added wheelbase gave the truck a different personality. With predictable handling and a smooth ride, it's easy to see why adding 8 inches beats the competition by a mile.

Dirt Logic
Although the stretched Toy worked well with a variety of brand labels on the suspension dampers, Shawn's truck was fitted with a full cadre of Fabtech's Dirt Logic shocks and bumpstops in the weeks following our photo shoot.

Dirt Logic shocks are not relabeled shocks from another top manufacturer. They are produced in-house at Fabtech and serve to showcase the blue company's capability to produce hard-core off-road suspension weaponry. Key features include Viton seals, 7075 aluminum end caps, and hard-anodized internals. Check out the immaculate TIG welds used to construct the 7/8-inch bypass tubes. The shock bodies are electroless nickel-plated both inside and outside for good looks and even better performance. The Dirt Logic lineup includes coilover shocks, bypass shocks, and bumpstops. The coilover and bypass units are built in a variety of diameters and stroke lengths.

Look for Dirt Logic shocks on all of Fabtech's team trucks and as part of selected Fabtech suspension systems. Dirt Logic shocks are also available for custom applications.