Toyboat’s 1985 Toyota Extended Cab Pickup Build

After some wheeling, Toyboat started getting tired of “janky a$$ trail repairs” on Toyota’s stock steering system.

It was time to swap out the front/rear steering box for a newer, side to side steering box and crossover steering arms. Here’s what the frame looks like with the old steering box removed and the frame cleaned up ready for welding.

This is the frame strengthening plate and dowels. Once this is welded to the frame, there’s enough strength to handle the side-to-side steering stresses without tearing the walls of the thin frame tube.

Fitment was great, so the new plates were painted to prevent rusting.

“I love the new steering”

Notice the left side springs have been flipped to increase ground clearance. However, it looks like there is nothing to keep the u-bolts from slipping off the lower perch if they were hit by a rock while off-roading. It would be a good idea to tack weld these in place, or use the stock spring keeper (that usually goes over the spring) to keep the two u-bolts the right distance apart.