Meet the 1981 Toyota That's Survived a Decade of Trail Abuse

Austin Gordon’s 1981 Toyota pickup tells the story that every off-road enthusiast dreams about - starting with a bone-stock truck as a teenager and building it into a legitimate rockcrawler over the course of a decade. This isn’t some garage queen that only sees sunlight at car shows. This is a properly wheeled rig that’s been beaten, modified, and refined through years of actual trail time.

Gordon picked up this Toyota when he was just 14 from his godfather, and it came with some interesting history. The truck had been spray-painted black to cover up hot pink wheels and exo cage that some buddies thought would be funny at Spider Lake on the Rubicon. Classic trail shenanigans right there. The truck wasn’t completely stock when Gordon got it - it already had ARB front lockers with 30-spline Bobby Longs, a Detroit in the rear, and 4.88 gears. Perfect setup for a high school kid to learn on without getting into too much trouble.

The build progression shows how most of us actually approach our rigs. Gordon drove this truck to high school, took it to prom, and graduated with it. That’s the kind of relationship you want with your 4x4. When spring break rolled around and his dad had just finished doing one-tons on his own truck, they had a three-link setup sitting in the yard. Instead of messing around with Chevy 63s, Gordon linked it and went straight to 1 tons with a Dodge Dana 60 front and Dana 70 rear.

Those original suspension mounts from when Gordon was 16 are still on the truck today. He admits they’re sketchy - all square tabs with no proper finishing work. That’s the beauty of learning as you go. The truck works, and those ugly welds have held up through years of abuse. Sometimes function beats form, especially when you’re learning the ropes.

The drivetrain setup is where this truck gets interesting. Gordon’s running a G52 five-speed transmission feeding into a crawl box, then into a Toyota transfer case, and finally an Atlas 4.3. This gives him serious crawl ratios and the ability to run front dig with the Atlas shifters. The crawl box essentially turns the whole setup into a 4 speed Atlas.

The axle specs show this truck means business. The Dana 60 front runs a spool with Yukon 4340 chromoly shafts and super joints, plus East Coast Gear Supply drive slugs. The PSC 2.5-inch ram with 8-inch throw handles the steering duties.

The Dana 70 rear wasn’t easy to build properly. Gordon couldn’t find the unicorn 70HD with 35 spline shafts already installed, so he went with a 35 spline Detroit and had Yukon shafts cut to length. The whole package sits on 43" TSL Super Swamper stickies mounted on Pitbull Rockers and Battleborn wheels - a setup Gordon scored for $1,200 from a buddy. That’s the kind of deal that makes the whole build worthwhile.

The suspension geometry needs work, and Gordon knows it. The rear is running a Y-link setup that’s pure early 2000s rock crawling technology. It functions, but it’s not optimal. The plan is to go to a proper four-link and shorten the wheelbase from 119" down to 112-113" - basically stock long bed Toyota dimensions. The shorter wheelbase will help with tight technical sections where the current setup requires weird driving lines.

Gordon tubbed the truck front and rear, cutting the inside of the bed out and pinching it aggressively. The front lost 6-8" from the hood, taking about 3-4" from each side. The bed sides rarely get hit anymore, but the front still takes a beating. That’s just consumable bodywork when you’re actually wheeling hard.

The interior shows this truck gets used properly. PRP seats with harnesses, heated seats for those cold morning runs, and proper Atlas shifters for the transfer case. The Line-Lock brake for the rear wheels makes front dig actually useful by allowing the truck to pivot around the locked front axle. Gordon admits he put off installing it for too long - one of those modifications that makes you wonder why you waited.

The character marks on this truck tell the real story. The sheet metal is heavy-duty enough that even though it’s wrinkled, you can still tell exactly what it is. The 3/16-inch plate boat sides have serious structure behind them - six vertical tubes and a horizontal tube in the middle. Gordon knew they were going to get beat and built them accordingly.

This truck represents what off-roading should be about. It’s not a perfect build with unlimited budget and professional fabrication. It’s a decade of learning, upgrading, breaking, and fixing. Gordon’s been wheeling this thing hard since he was 16, and it shows in all the best ways.

You can follow Austin Gordon’s adventures and see more of this beat Toyota pickup on his Instagram @gordini70. This is proof that the best builds aren’t always the prettiest ones - they’re the ones that get driven hard and put away wet, then come back for more the next weekend.