1992 Mitsubishi Strada (quad cab turbo diesel pickup)

[PajEvo]

Yeah, R25 is not my bag either. But I don't want to spend money to change it and make it look worse. Keep thinking of monstaliner etc but not sure about that yet either. For now I'll keep it the way Mitsu made it.

In another thread I alluded to a new Rooftop Tent. She's a biggie and presents some install problems on such a small rig. The new RTT is 7 feet long. It doesn't fold out. Its already full length. It can go on the roofbars but is not aesthetically pleasing as it hangs out over both the hood and the box. Plus, I want it to act as coverage for the box too... so...

First thing I needed was some kind of rear support, a ladder or canoe rack style. After shopping around, I realized these were going to cost too much. So I decided that the very retro rollbar in the bed would be better served as an aux rack. But first it had to slide back. And it needed something to sit on.

[ThePug]

What is the thread called I would love to check it out

[PajEvo]

What is the thread called I would love to check it out

https://www.adventuredrivendesign.com/forums/index.php/topic,266.0.html

[PajEvo]

So... My goal was to have the seven foot tent cover the back of the five foot box, and obviously sit over the cab too. Some quick measuring indicated that raising the rollbar an inch and a half would put it in line with a roof mounted crossbar.

I didn't really want to drill holes in the box either so I started looking at ways to use the existing infrastructure to my advantage...

If I could move the rollbar back and raise it up, I might be in business. And of course lumber would provide the perfect spacing... So I decided to build two extenders which would use the existing mounting holes for the rollbar, and could then hold the rollbar up that little bit needed, and back to where it could support the tent at the back of the box. Here's what I came up with...

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Possibly I could use the spaces for storage as well? And def need some paint on there...

[PajEvo]

Tent mounted, wood painted, and bolted down, with metal corners added... pretty happy with the results. Can't even see the tent from the driver's seat. No extra noise on the highway (probably due in part to the fairing on the small rack in front of the tent, which allows one to roll the cover forward and into the basket...

[PajEvo]

Tent is very secure, and covers the bed as I hoped.

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Awning attaches to the side of the sail track (they were thoughtful enough to use a four way aluminum tube with sailtrack on all four sides) using some brackets that I made and after 300kms everything stayed in place. I used the opposite track to attach a curtain to act as a windwall.

[PajEvo]

Have some things on the way for the pickup. Tires are ordered, HID fogs to replace (sadly) the giant OEM Cibies that are rusted through, and a leather steering wheel wrap (which I have to stitch on myself) to fix the hole in the otherwise sweet MOMO wheel that this truck came with.

Tires: BFG AT KO2 in 31x1050 R15's. There may be a tiny bit of clearancing to do if I want to keep the stock mudflaps (I do)

Fogs: I found what appears to be an exact version (probably off the same line) of the Explorer Procomp HID fog light, complete with swappable yellow lenses. They are coming from HK so I'll have to wait a bit, but they cost a third of my dollars compared to the Procomps.

Wheel Wrap: Wheelskins... black with red stitching - we'll see if I'm up to the task of making it look OE. Somehow I have a feeling I may be farming this out to my wife? We'll see.

[ThePug]

How come you don't use LEDs instead of HIDs. They consume far less power . Is it because of the light output?

[ThePug]

Also I'm in love with your seats. I don't have access to EVO seats do you heard  of any other nice seats that retro fit nicely into the trucks. My best friend owns a local scrap here in Thunder Bay I may go look at a set of latest gen eclipse seat they would be nice.

[PajEvo]

How come you don't use LEDs instead of HIDs. They consume far less power . Is it because of the light output?

No, I want the heat. Mostly want floods for snow and fog in winter. LED's produce virtually no heat by nature of their efficiency, which means they ice up.   

Also I'm in love with your seats. I don't have access to EVO seats do you heard  of any other nice seats that retro fit nicely into the trucks.

There's a mighty max FB group where folks have made lots of different seats work. Might be worth a look if you're on FB?

[ThePug]

Yes I'm on Facebook I'll look it up

[ThePug]

It's a closed group I requested to join hopefully they accept

[ThePug]

Ok I'll try and join all 3

[MudRaider]

This is such a great read.

[PajEvo]

This is such a great read.

Thanks Frank! I'm just happy to have everything in one place. But its funny how we can become so focussed on one rig, and then the other sits, ignored? The pickup was mostly ignored leading up to MOD, but now its back on my radar.

So TIRES! They came in, they're installed, and they're rad!

When I went into the tire shop a week or so ago to order, I hit a counter guy who was an enthusiast. Skylines, Altezzas, JDM's of all sorts. So he promised no one would give me a hard time on fitting 31s to the little pickup. LOL. My appointment came the other day, and they were all crowded around the bay (I was watching through the window to keep them accountable LOL) looking at the truck. The guy said they'd never seen a rooftop tent before. Heh. The manager was from Sri Lanka and proceeded to gush about the Strada and showed me pics of his buddy's truck, etc, before waiving some tire fees and sending me on my way. To their credit, the shop made no complaints about the extensive rubbing of the tires when I hopped in to drive it away. I knew there'd be some, but it was nice that they weren't whining about it.

I started with some baseline measuring. No surprise - the RHS was lower than the LHS. I cranked the torsion bar anchor bolts 6 full turns on the lower side and raised the other side just a touch as well. This wouldn't help the rubbing through a suspension cycle, but it did even out the stance a little. Can I say "stance", or is that now reserved for lowered BMW's with 20" wheels and 1/2 inch sidewalls?

The rubbing was occurring in two places - back corner where the large OE mudflaps attached to the fenders, and the front lower valence sheetmetal, below the bumper. Easy answer was to cut the sheetmetal and pull the mudflaps. But I still want to keep this rig as "stock-modded" as possible, so I looked at my options.

The mudflaps have a metal bracket sandwiched in between the rubber inner and outer. By carefully cutting the tire side rubber and now exposed metal bracket, I was able to make the mudflaps more low profile in that area, and retain the rubber on the fender side, so the flap was still whole.

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