It seems in life that when a plan is mapped out,  if something can go wrong, it most likely will go wrong. The  1992 Toyota Standard Cab you see here has been through it's share of good times and bad times. Joe Bernardo from Tulare, California bought this truck from the dealer in 1992 when it was new. It has seen several incarnations in it's time but they never lasted long enough for Joe to completely enjoy his show truck. He drove his truck to major shows up and down the state until one show in 1996 that would prove to be his plan gone wrong. Resolutions is an early January event in Southern California that Joe decided to drive his truck to. On the trip, Joe lost control of the truck and it was heavily damaged. He made it to the show but his ride wasn't it good shape. He then repaired and repainted his ride in a new color but again, his Resolutions trip this time was an unhappy one. The truck got rear ended on the trailer by a friend and Joe had to show it with a damaged rear end. The truck you see in this feature is Joe's third fully custom build and it made the Resolutions trip unscathed last year.

   Joe's Toyota is driven to almost every show he attends so the suspension had to be reliable to make it through everything Joe might come across on the open road.  He turned to Kuts R Us in Porterville, California to install an air bag system with AIM drop spindles, Slam Specialties RS-62  air bags at all four corners, and  KYB shocks. They also fabricated a rear three-link for Joe's suspension to handle better and keep the axle aligned. They also body-dropped the truck 2-1/2 inches to bring the rocker panels to the pavement. Then a set of 18 x 7.5 Arceo 5 Spoke wheels with 215/35/ZR18 Nitto tires were bolted up to fill the fender wells.

   While at Kuts R Us in Porterville, California, the body needed major changes. A Toyota 4-Runner front end was installed including the grille, headlights, bumper, and fenders. The body needed to be smooth so the door handles, hood squirters, wiper cowl, stock mirrors, taillights, and gas door were removed and replaced with new metal. The mirrors were replaced with smaller billet motorcycle mirrors for a more custom look. The gas door for the truck still had to be accessible so they moved it to a custom box in the tailgate skin. The license plate flips down to reveal the gas cap. The new LED taillights were mounted horizontally across the upper sides of the rear end. The rear cab wall also needed to be removed to give Joe a little space to lean back on his long road trips. Once that was gone the cab roof and Snug Top camper shell both received rag tops for even more open space. One of the coolest modifications on Joe's truck are the suicide doors. At the touch of a remote button on his keychain, Joe pops the door to his ride and the clean, factory looking door jambs are a testament to the quality work on this truck. The truck was sprayed PPG Magenta by Teo's Customs in Tulare, California and Kal Koncepts in Bakersfield, California added House of Kolor Sunset Pearl Flames to finish it off.

In the cab of Joe's mini-truck, Teo's Customs shaved, fiberglassed, and painted the factory dash to match the exterior. The seats were replaced by Honda Prelude bucket seats wrapped with sandstone tweed. The same tweed that was used on the door panels and headliner. The factory carpet was replaced with tan carpet to match the tweed throughout. The steel center console was built by Kuts R Us and also painted to match. To give Joe something cool to turn with, he chose a Billet Specialties Meteor billet steering wheel. California Car Stereo in Visalia, California installed a Pioneer CD player and Logic amplifiers to run the four Rockford Fosgate 10-inch subwoofers and Rockford Fosgate component speakers.

   The clean truck needed a clean engine bay so Joe polished the valve cover and intake manifold. A cold air intake tube was added and painted to match. Everything else was cleaned and detailed.

   Joe would like to thank his friends, family, Dangerous Toy's club members, Brett Grant, Jerry, white-trash Mike, Mario, Teo, at Teo's Customs and everyone who had a hand since 1992 in helping his truck get where it is today

   Special Thanks Andrea Bagnall for taking the time to grace his truck for this last-minute planned feature.