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Minitruck modifications

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A minitruck is a compact pickup built for light duty, equipped with a four or six cylinder engine from the factory. Years ago, folks in Southern California decided to customize these small trucks. Originally, one such modification consisted of lowering the truck by any means possible, such as removing leaf springs. In the old days, fifteen inch wheels were par, but nowadays it is not uncommon for wheels to exceed 20 inches in diameter. As years passed, minitrucks increasingly grew in popularity and the modifications became more extreme.

The most common current trends are chop tops, air ride, and body drops in order to get as low as possible. In the lifestyle, one of the most common events is dragging. Dragging is where minitruckers are moving down the road and they lower their truck all the way to the ground usually by using air ride. When the frame of the truck contacts the pavement, it throws a large shower of sparks out the back of the vehicle. A recent trend in the minitruck culture has been hot rod styling. This generally includes flat paint with designs such as scallops, old school pinstripes, and some flame designs. Along with the hot rod paint, minitruckers do other things to complete the look. Some may use baby moon hub caps. Others might do a front end conversion by using the front end off of an old car or truck (from the 50's and 60's or earlier) and grafting it into their truck.

Lowering the Truck

Common techniques for customizing minitrucks involve lowering them with a static drop, or a non-adjustable drop. On a side note, minitrucks can also be lifted, but the term minitruck is typically synonymous with lowered trucks, as we will focus on here. A static drop is one in which the truck is lowered/dropped/slammed, by installing a lowering kit, or by making modifications without the use of a kit. Some do-it-yourself modifications include removing/altering leaf springs, cranking down or removing torsion bars, cutting and welding leaf spring hangers further back on the frame, cutting the front coil springs, etc. A kit can incorporate some of these techniques, but they make it safer to do so, such as using de-arched leaf springs that are built to lower the truck, and/or using purposely built coil springs. A kit can consist of coil springs, leaf springs, control arms, dropped spindles, a C-notch, etc. Belltech makes some of the most popular lowering kits in the aftermarket industry. Switching gears, an adjustable suspension is one in which the ride height of the vehicle can be altered by pressing a button or flicking a switch. Hydraulics and airbags are the two types of adjustable suspension that minitrucks can use. Hydraulics are usually reserved for lowriders, but some minitrucks are equipped with them. Hydraulics raise and lower the vehicle by using pressurized fluid, whereas airbags used compressed air. Airbags are by far the more popular form of adjustable suspension on minitrucks. Some like airbags because they do not require batteries and fluid, and they do not require as much space as the batteries require, as well as the extra weight involved. Airbags are not trouble-free as they can pop if installed incorrectly, among other problems. Both hydraulics and airbags have their pros and cons, and both are an excellent choice for equipping a minitruck with an adjustable suspension.

Other Customizing Techniques

Once the stance is set for the truck, the next most popular and aesthetically-pleasing modification is wheels (and tires). The first choice when choosing wheels is the size wanted. Most aftermarket wheels on minitrucks are sixteen inches in diameter or larger. Some trucks have included 22 inch wheels on the front and back, which is an amazing accomplishment. Some trucks have staggered wheels, meaning that the rear wheels are a larger diameter than those in the front, with some possible staggering combinations being 18/20, 19/20, and 20/22, with the front wheels being the lower diameter of the two. A second choice is usually the type of wheel that one wants, i.e. chrome, billet, powdercoated, combination. There are really no large differences between the finishes of the different types of wheels, and it is primarily the owner's choice. Some folks will choose to match the color of their wheels to the paint job on the mini. The third factor is what the wheel looks like, some trucks have a five spoke pattern while others have no pattern at all, just a smooth wheel. With so many options it is sometimes hard to choose a wheel. Some trucks are limited on wheel selection however, such as the Nissan Hardbody, which is a very popular minitruck to customize. The Hardbody has a six lug pattern that does not have as many aftermarket wheels available as say a Toyota Tacoma, which has many more wheels available that have the Tacoma's five lug pattern. An option for a Nissan Hardbody owner is to convert their truck to a more popular pattern, a popular modification, as many Nissans will convert to a Toyota five lug pattern.

Bodydrops are a common modification to a minitruck. A bodydrop is used to drop the body of the truck over the frame, hence making the truck appear even lower. This technique is usually used once the truck is already resting the frame on the ground, and a lower height is desired. There are different ways to drop the body of the truck, with the most popular being the "traditional" bodydrop, which, keeping it simple, basically involves cutting the floor of the cab and lifting it up on average 3 inches, and re-welding it so that the body of the truck can rest lower than before. Other changes are made to get the truck's body to lay on the ground but we are keeping it simple for the time being. A newer type of bodydrop is the "stock-floor" bodydrop, which, once again, keeping it simple, requires that a new frame is built underneath the cab of the truck to lower the body to the ground. This means that the floor of the cab is not cut, which is usually preferred as it leaves the driver and passenger(s) with more head room since the floor is not being lifted up. An old-school technique is to channel the body over the frame, but that is rarely, if ever, used on minitrucks. Channeling is similar to a traditional body drop. In channeling, reliefs are cut for the frame to basically stick up through the floor. The floor in the cab is then reconstructed around the frame rails leaving you with two rails running through the cab in essence.

Body, paint, and interior modifications are used to help set the truck apart from others. Body modifications can include, but are not limited to: shaving/smoothing parts off of the truck (handles, antenna, etc.); frenching things in, such as lights; expanding the rear window to make it larger; smoothing the truck by adding a roll pan, etc. After all of the bodywork is done, it is smoothed and prepped for paint. The paint scheme is applied, which can range from simple (one solid color) to extreme (multiple colors with graphics, flames, etc.).

Interior modifications can consist of many different things, and can include one theme such as tweed, or mix things up with tweed, leather, mohair, fiberglass and other things (why not put some snakeskin in your mini?). Large stereo systems can be incorporated into the interior of the truck and can even spill out into the bed of the truck. Billet is a common material to find in the interior of a mini as well. Most people install items such as a billet steering wheel, shifter, door handles, etc.

Rather than drive fast, most minitrucks are built to cruise low and slow. Sometimes, the engine will be left stock or cleaned up a bit for show appeal. Other times, a v-8 will be added to the engine compartment for those that want as much power as possible in a little truck. There are virtually limitless possibilities when it comes to the engine in a mini as long as you have the room and aftermarker parts available for your engine.

Minitruck Lifestyle

Many people adopt a whole lifestyle when joining the world of custom minis. While some folks outside of the minitruck world may not understand the culture and may simply believe that minitruckers are all the same in the way that they dress, present themselves, etc., those folks could not be more mistaken. Much like the trucks that they build (or buy), each minitrucker is an individual, as is evident in the different styles of minitrucks that are built. Minitruckers sometimes get a bad rap for various reasons, such as "loitering" in parking lots afterhours to discuss their hobby of building, owning and driving minitrucks. Some minitruckers are seen as hoodlums because they wear baggy pants, have tattoos, and drive with the truck dragging on the ground, but that is just the image that those particular enthusiasts wish to portray. A very surprising percentage of minitruckers are simply good folks that like to help others build their rides, and they look/dress/act as average as the next person. Truck/car clubs are a great way to show off the trucks and meet new people. Severed Ties and its sister club Negative Camber have a large amount of vehicles in their clubs and many of those vehicles are of the highest quality in the world with awards and magazine coverage to prove such. Mini Truckin' has the most extensive coverage of minitrucks with everything from the feature trucks, to truck shows, to tech articles to help people customize their trucks, to pretty much anything else that one could want from a custom minitruck magazine.

Clubs

  • Aftermath Est 1998 (Seattle, Canada, Boise, South Dakota)
  • Acrophobia
  • Addictive Desires
  • Art of Noize
  • Asphalt asassinZ - est. 2004
  • CaliStyle - est.1999
  • Definite Obsessions - est. 1992 (Arkansas,Missouri,Oklahoma,Texas,Tennesee,Mississippi,Kansas)
  • Dropsicles (Canada)
  • EXPLICIT CONCEPTS!! PIMPIN NAITONWIDE FROM THA DOUBLEWIDE!!
  • Freaks of Nature - est. 1996
  • HABITS - Maryland
  • iLLconformity
  • Intense Gravity - est 1997 (midsouth)
  • IV Everlow
  • Kapital Kreations (Sacramento, Ca)www.myspace.com/kapitalkreations
  • Latest Craze
  • Local Finesse (California, Nevada) http://www.localfinesse.us/default.asp
  • Magical Minis
  • Negative Camber
  • No Regrets*
  • Pharcyde
  • Prize Possessions
  • Productive Insanity
  • S-Dimes and the Back Alley Orchestra
  • Severed Ties
  • Show'N Low
  • Sik Addictions (Central Florida)
  • Sittin' Pretti (Seattle Wa) est 1990
  • Small Town Customs
  • Street Issue Customs
  • Sunset Truckers -est. 1977
  • Subculture
  • Vertically-Challenged
  • East Coast Minis
  • Twisted Images (Merced, Fresno, & Sacramento Chapters)
  • Twisted Intentions (Oklahoma)
  • Northern Slayed (Canada)
  • Vehicular Homicide Custom Cars and Trucks (TN)
  • Low On Air Auto Club. (PA)
  • LCC (VA)
  • Massie Street Kustoms

Magazines featuring minitrucks

  • Mini Truckin'
  • Tailgate Magazine
  • Street Trucks
  • Sport Truck
  • Dropndrag.com (online show coverage)
  • Hotrides Mag (online show and feature coverage)
  • Drop Jaw Mag (online show and feature coverage)
  • MiniStyle.com (online show and feature coverage)
  • Built2Rail.com (online show and feature coverage)
  • DragForTheCamera.com (online show and feature coverage)
  • Underground-scene.com (online show and feature coverage)
  • StreetSourceMagazine.com (online show and feature coverage)

Minitruck modification video magazines

  • Domination the Video
  • Lowlife Video
  • Northwest Rides Video
  • Surface DVD
  • Crime Pays Video
  • Minitruck Mayhem
  • Draggin Thru
  • Got Anger
  • On Guts Gets The Sluts Video
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