[Teddy Frank]

After about 11 months of owning, I figure it's time to put everything in one place.

I've got a 01 rodeo sport ironman edition v6 4x4 5 speed manual with about 143k on the clock. When I bought it the passenger fender was dented bad and in need of replacement (po said he slid into a guardrail in the ice), fuel gauge did not work (fuel level sending unit in fuel pump), egr valve was dead and egr tube needed cleaning, needed new cv axles, and new tires. And I didn't know how to drive a manual, so that was a fun 100 miles home! It was bone stock outside of an aftermarket stereo.

I bought it to be my daily/hunting rig/wheeler/cool bada*s looking convertible. I fixed all the issues it had within a couple of months, and started adding fun things of my own. I replaced the old, bald all-season tires with 245/75r16 Mastercraft mt's, had to replace the starter after it began to fail me, aisin hubs, custom backyard rear bumper my buddy made for me, abused front bumper we modified to fit (got it for $80 off craigslist), just put in a big ol 10-inch sub, drilled a roof rack into the roof, ripped out the carpet, new shifter knobs, and a few things I'm definitely forgetting. Oh, and a chromed toilet for a hood ornament

I'm going to school and working so I don't have a lot of time (or money) to improve upon the amigo, but I do have big plans. On my list of future things I have completing my soft top (I have the frame, a junkyard soft top, and the tailgate bar. Just missing the plastic f*ckers that go on the back corner next to the tailgate), new shocks, new front seats (leather and hold me in better in the car, I slide around in these stock ones), a winch for the front, some 235/85r16 tires on 16-inch snowflakes, a small lift with some 913 springs and torsion bar crank (and front fender trimming), and rock sliders perhaps.
Now, if everything goes smooth within my life and I've got money to burn later in life, my end goal would be SASing with a waggoner or j truck dana 44, locking both ends and setting it on 35s. Plus an exo cage, new gears, etc. and just make it a somewhat streetable wheeler.

I'm very satisfied with the purchase so far, I don't really have any complaints about this vehicle aside from burning almost a quart of oil every 1200 miles. It was worse, but I ran some seafoam through it before my last oil change and that seemed to help significantly. Very capable and very fun to drive. Any questions, advice to give, or just wanna make fun of the uneven front bumper feel free to leave a comment. I'll be adding most of the mods I do on this thread from now on🤙🤙

 

[stevey500]

Looks amazing! We've got one we are picking up soon to play around with as well. What did you do with your wheel arch trim cover pieces?

 

[Enemigo]

Have you had it in the snow yet? The G80 rear is prone to snap over steer with such a short wheel base. Even in the rain I could get mine to kick out on me.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Looks amazing! We've got one we are picking up soon to play around with as well. What did you do with your wheel arch trim cover pieces?

They were damaged, so I took them off and tossed them.

Have you had it in the snow yet? The G80 rear is prone to snap over steer with such a short wheel base. Even in the rain I could get mine to kick out on me.

Had it in snow and ice quite a bit, loses the rear end easy in 2wd. The tires don’t help much, they aren’t good in snow and ice. I had some Kumho at51 on my last rig and they were excellent, I’ll probably go back to those for my next set of tires. But I love playing round in the snow, I live in Corvallis, Oregon and I’m right next to the highest peak on the coast range, I’ll screw around up there all winter🤙

 

[Enemigo]

There is even a picture of you power sliding to a park. Doh.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Got out in the snow today. Only about 6-7 inches, still a damn fine time though!

 

[Enemigo]

Do you have a set of chains? Back when I had my Amigo I hunted a few times during the later rifle seasons and there was a bunch of snow and having tire chains was a life saver.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Do you have a set of chains? Back when I had my Amigo I hunted a few times during the later rifle seasons and there was a bunch of snow and having tire chains was a life saver.

I do not, I couldn’t fit them without a lift. I’m less than a half inch from rubbing on the front at full lock/flex. I’ve got a come along, traction boards, jack, shovel, etc. I would love to have some that fit, but it’s futile to get some until I lift and trim

 

[Enemigo]

Hmmm. I only used them when I was going to die off the edge of an icy cliff, so not really messing around. In that case, I think you'd be fine with the Z-cables or whatever they are called, cause they are pretty low profile. But yeah, if you were using them to romp around, then you might bust the chains if you had clearance issues.

 

[Teddy Frank]

I mean, I’ll be good once I trim the “flare” off my fender, but that won’t be till next summer probably. I’ll hillbilly up a snorkel around the same time so I’m not shooting mud, dirt, and snow into my air intake through the fender. But the second I have the clearance to run em I’ll be carrying chains

 

[Teddy Frank]

News of the world! So this f**k pulled out right in front of me and stopped tonight after work. Had bad freezing rain here, so the roads were a sheet of ice. Only going about 25, not a chance to stop or swerve. He didn’t even fully pull into the lane before I smacked em, he braked as soon as I hit the horn. What type of crappy driver pulls out in front of someone and brakes?🙄
Hopefully insurance won’t try to shaft me here, cuz this was definitely not my fault. Good news is the amigo is fine, I am fine, and the bumper works. Don’t give a rats a** about the other dude, if I didn’t know better I’d say he was trying to get rear ended, he was waiting at the stop until I got right up on him

 

[Enemigo]

You're going to have a very difficult time with this. You will need to emphasize that he was pulling from a stop sign, you did not have a stop sign, and especially the part that he had not yet entered the lane at the time of impact. Him not even fully in the lane at time of impact illustrates that it was not safe for him to enter traffic as the oncoming traffic was an immediate danger to his intended path of travel.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Yes yes yes! I know. I’m going before work tomorrow to any store or restaurant that may have had a view and see 1 if the have cameras and 2 if they are willing to look through the footage for me.

Yea you can see just from the picture, my driver side of the bumper hit basically his passenger corner, this dude was barely in the road. That’s about where he stopped after the collision, he didn’t pull forward before that picture

 

[Enemigo]

I don't want to discourage you from trying, but the stores won't let you have the footage.

Dash cams have greatly helped in situations like this. I was still working as an auto liability adjuster (the guy you have to give your recorded statement to on the phone at the insurance companies) when dash cams started getting more popular and they ended any arguments about what happened. I had one in my last van, but it stopped working and I haven't replaced it. They are pretty cheap on Amazon.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Yea I know it’s a long shot, but worth a shot. Wendy’s said their manager would give me a call today or tomorrow to see if their camera has that angle, a couple places that were open last night didn’t have any cameras outside. There’s only two more places I can check with.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Update! So far it sounds like my insurance agrees that the other driver was in the wrong. Unfortunately the only business that had a camera pointed in the right direction had a vehicle parked in its view that night, so it’s gonna be my word against the other driver’s.

As for damage, the bumper is a little more warped than it was before, and it pulls to the right when I’m driving. So I’ll have to get an alignment and I’ll be on the lookout for another cheap bumper, one that already has a winch plate. I don’t really want to modify this one any more because it’s kind of f**ked up now, so I can look for something better and sell this one later I’m thinking🤷‍♂️

 

[Enemigo]

Well, your word plus the evidence of the point of impact on each vehicle and the photo of how far into the lane the other driver made it.

 

[Teddy Frank]

Been a little while since posting, everything with insurance went well, amigo is just chilling.

I picked up a couple snowflake rims so I’ve got 3 in my possession, just need a couple more to show up and I can finally put em on. As far as my bumper goes, it appears to be structurally sound following the accident, no welds are damaged and the bolts holding it on are still secure and undamaged. And after doing a bit of research I found that the bumper IS meant for a winch, just mounted foot forward not foot down (something which my young, inexperienced mind had not considered). So, once I save up some I will be bolting a winch onto the front. A 2-3 inch lift is planned for this summer.

Question for those of you out there with a bumper and winch, should I plan for heavy duty torsion bars in the future? Or do stock hold up fine?

 

[Van]

Been a little while since posting, everything with insurance went well, amigo is just chilling.

I picked up a couple snowflake rims so I’ve got 3 in my possession, just need a couple more to show up and I can finally put em on. As far as my bumper goes, it appears to be structurally sound following the accident, no welds are damaged and the bolts holding it on are still secure and undamaged. And after doing a bit of research I found that the bumper IS meant for a winch, just mounted foot forward not foot down (something which my young, inexperienced mind had not considered). So, once I save up some I will be bolting a winch onto the front. A 2-3 inch lift is planned for this summer.

Question for those of you out there with a bumper and winch, should I plan for heavy duty torsion bars in the future? Or do stock hold up fine?

Looks like you got a great deal on what appears to be an old "ARB" bumper... primo back in the day and still are. The cutout for the roller / hawse fairlead is probably behind your front tag plate.

A winch can weigh 40-65 lbs. (roughly) depending on different factors and with the weight of the bumper also, it would be a wise move to upgrade to bigger torsion bars down the road. HTH

 

[Teddy Frank]

Looks like you got a great deal on what appears to be an old "ARB" bumper... primo back in the day and still are. The cutout for the roller / hawse fairlead is probably behind your front tag plate.

A winch can weigh 40-65 lbs. (roughly) depending on different factors and with the weight of the bumper also, it would be a wise move to upgrade to bigger torsion bars down the road. HTH

Think it is an old arb off a 1st gen Tacoma possibly. Had to make brackets to get it on, cutout is behind my plates right now