Mitsu Mighty Max build

[dbales]

I've been outta the minitruck scene since I wrecked my Isuzu a couple years ago. When my Accord decided to take a dump around tax season, I found myself in the perfect spot to get back into the truck scene.



Enter a 1990 Mitsubishi Mighty Max. Picked it up for 1200 bones with 221k miles. Mechanically it is sound and so far I feel like I got a deal.











One thing I learned from this truck so far is to never go look/buy a vehicle at night. I seriously didn't see all the dents and dings the body had until the next day.

Oh well, fug it, I've got a mini truck again.

So far, all I've done with it is swap the stereo from my Accord so I have some sweet beats for the daily drive. Just a small MTX amp and Sony 10".



Upcoming plans are to drop it as low as I can daily it. These 4" blocks I had laying around should help.



To help the steelies not look so crusty, they'll be getting the same copper "hammered" paint. We'll see how that turns out.

And since my little girl will be riding shotgun, for safety purposes, I got this snazzy sticker.

[sleeps]

Good to see another mitsu, I just got ride of mine, sadly. Keeping an eye on this to see how it goes.

[dbales]

Not a very exciting update but I painted my wheels yesterday.





Nothing special but a lot better than they were.

4" blocks are going on when I have a few days off to bring the rear down a bit.

[dbales]

Well I got off from working 11pm-7am this morning and got a kick of energy to finally throw the 4" blocks on the back. So, without any sleep, I got to work.



And the end result:







Its got a slight reverse rake so I might be chopping a coil or so in the near future.

I also threw in my handmade wood shift knob I made a while back.



Enjoy!

[Lobster]

Looking pretty sweet man, minitrucks are the shit.
Only thing i don't like is that baby sticker.

[dbales]

Looking pretty sweet man, minitrucks are the shit.
Only thing i don't like is that baby sticker.

Thanks man. It's got a few kinks I gotta work out (new headlight/turn signal column switch and figuring out the poorly hardwired head unit) but I love it, even more so with it finally lowered. The front definitely has to come down some to match the rear.

[dbales]

Bout that scrape lyfe:


Okay so not really. Haven't had much to post about. Tried for 3 days and 3 different rental tools to get the lower balljoint to separate from the spindle so I could yank my springs and chop 'em but got nowhere.

I had to put it back together to drive to work and such (that DD life) but not giving up I went and got one of these:


This is the only balljoint tool I haven't tried, so hopefully I'll have better luck.

Once the suspension is dialed in (ha!), wheels are the next big thing. I KNOW the D-window style steelies are HUGELY overplayed on "stance" trucks but I love the look of them and the price makes them irresistible.

[GoBig,G]

Have you tried sitting the truck on stands then using the jack under the lower A-arm?... That's always worked for me. Although not really very safe

Or do your ball joints face up?

[dbales]

Have you tried sitting the truck on stands then using the jack under the lower A-arm?... That's always worked for me. Although not really very safe

Or do your ball joints face up?

The bottom balljoints point up. The pickle fork the parts store rented didnt have a large enough opening to actually pry on it and the small jaw puller I used would get tight but wouldnt budge the balljoint.

[GoBig,G]

the small jaw puller I used would get tight but wouldnt budge the balljoint.

The puller uses a breaker bar right? if so have you tried a cheater pipe? or have you tried that already?

and you're gonna have a love **** relationship with cut springs; it's gonna look good but ride like shit... I should know the springs are cut on the back of my rodeo

[dbales]

The puller uses a breaker bar right? if so have you tried a cheater pipe? or have you tried that already?

and you're gonna have a love **** relationship with cut springs; it's gonna look good but ride like shit... I should know the springs are cut on the back of my rodeo

Being a rented tool and the balljoints in good condition, I didnt wanna chance breaking either so I just stopped. Gonna try again with the new tool I got and a hammer.

I already am in a love **** relationship with the drop in the back. It has about 1.5" of frame/axle clearance so it already rides like poo.

[projecthoarder]

Looks like a solid project, cant wait to see it on the ground, that's the same ball joint separator I have, bought it 4 years ago and use it all the time. I think you may want to look into a bolt in C-notch.

[DeltaAlpha9]

Are these trucks the same thing as Dodge D50's? It looks shockingly similar to my dads old truck.

[dbales]

Looks like a solid project, cant wait to see it on the ground, that's the same ball joint separator I have, bought it 4 years ago and use it all the time. I think you may want to look into a bolt in C-notch.

I thought about a bolt in notch, just not sure how I feel about it. I'll probably weld in a full notch when the time comes.

By the way, I love your Ranger.

Are these trucks the same thing as Dodge D50's? It looks shockingly similar to my dads old truck.

Besides a different grille and probably a few small things, they are the same truck.

[dbales]

I had a few days off so I did some work on the truck.



Gap for days. So I did this:



But that didn't satisfy me enough. So I cut one more coil and ended up with this:







Pretty happy with it at the moment. Now it needs wheels.