44hunter45
Well-known member
The saga of Red Green. A 1983 Toyota 4x4. The only new vehicle I had ever bought. Drove it off the lot as a flush bachelor in 1983. Rolled it within a month of buying it drifting dirt roads in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It was rebuilt by a local body shop.
So many hunt adventures and memories over the years in the rig.Weekend trips from San Jose back to the family ranch in the Gold Country to shoot squirrel, small game, coyotes and quail, multiple trips to Idaho to visit my sister and hunt.
Met a gal and got married. We started a family. I was commuting in this truck from the Santa Cruz mountains to San Jose every day.
This is a tale of a crazy tough truck, and a little bit of how not to treat your wife. Also an encouragement to those just starting out. When you are poor and have kids to feed, you do what you have to do. If you can hold the line on debt, you have better times ahead. (And stay away from after parties with pretty women...)
It became "Red Green" when I was in my early 30s. I was a banquet volunteer of the Hillsboro, CA RMEF Chapter. This was an hour drive each way from home. The banquet was March, 1993.
I will never forget the date because it is MRS birthday. We had three young boys at home and she did not attend. The youngest was 3 months old. This RMEF chapter was not what I would call a family oriented chapter. After the banquet there was an after party in the rooms the event center had comped. Playing poker and drinking with the ticket selling gals was not a good move with a homebound momma waiting at home. I opted to drive home. About a five miles from home I fell asleep and tipped over the truck. It happened right in front of a famous bar on Skyline Drive between Hillsboro and Santa Cruz. I was unhurt except for some glass cuts. A bunch of bikers came out of the bar at the sound of the crash. They helped my roll it back up on its wheels. I kicked out the spider webbed windshield and drove it home in the rain. Crawled into bed with glass cuts in my head about 3 in the morning. Happy Birthday,Momma. I'm home. This was the second time I had rolled it.
I found a cab clip locally and started the rebuild over the summer. The only cab I could get came out of a 2WD, so I had a lot of fab to do with the MIG welder. I couldn't afford one and a good work buddy loaned me his for the duration. I had all the bits and pieces laid out orderly on palettes and tarped in the yard. We were dirt poor. I could not afford to get it professionally painted. I bought a case of USFS green rattle can paint. I did some really crappy bondo work, black primed the cab and finished the cab in the USFS green.
I interviewed for my job transfer from California to Idaho in late July and was selected. I took all my vacation and focused on the project and getting the house ready to sell. The house needed all new dry wall and that came first. After that was done, MRS took over the painting chores on the house.
My new job started Monday, August 16th, 1993. My first "Toyotas are tough" moment came when I got the new cabs project completed on at 10PM on Friday August 13th. Hooked up the new battery, turn the key and it started. I left at dark thirty Saturday the 14th to drive to Idaho. This began three months of me find a place for us to live in Idaho, MRS selling the house in California with three kids under 5 years old.
It was four months before MRS and the boys made the final trip to Idaho and settled into our new property.
The first winter in Idaho I skidded in the snow and slammed a curb. This bent the passenger side rear axle plate and that tire wobbled. I did not know this until for some reason I was in MRS' car following her as she drove the truck. I just knew it had a vibration.
The next decades in Idaho that truck and I covered North Central Idaho and looked under every rook. Some of you going to U of I might remember seeing this ugly, goofy beast with the lame back wheel in Moscow.
The last time I rolled it was losing control in the snow on Idaho Highway 9 (aka The Harvard-Deary Cutoff) on my way to Grangeville. Being a short wheelbase, the rig was always squirrelly in the snow. Once again some good old boys helped me tip it upright and I drove it home.
So I've rolled it three times. When my sons started driving I bought a full sized GMC because it was more stable. Red Green became like Woody in Toy Story. I still cared about it, but Andy had grown up, so to speak. The new GMC "Big Red" could haul twice as much hay and firewood and I could et the whole family in it for adventures.
So eventually Red Green ended up with a growing pile of ranch metal which I was someday going to recycle. The tires when flat and the moss started to grow. Needed the battery for some other rig one day and that was that.
Last week I put a battery in it, shot a little alcohol in the carb and it fired right up. Now I have a new money pit project.
Kudos to Toyota. One tough SOB of a truck.
So many hunt adventures and memories over the years in the rig.Weekend trips from San Jose back to the family ranch in the Gold Country to shoot squirrel, small game, coyotes and quail, multiple trips to Idaho to visit my sister and hunt.
Met a gal and got married. We started a family. I was commuting in this truck from the Santa Cruz mountains to San Jose every day.
This is a tale of a crazy tough truck, and a little bit of how not to treat your wife. Also an encouragement to those just starting out. When you are poor and have kids to feed, you do what you have to do. If you can hold the line on debt, you have better times ahead. (And stay away from after parties with pretty women...)
It became "Red Green" when I was in my early 30s. I was a banquet volunteer of the Hillsboro, CA RMEF Chapter. This was an hour drive each way from home. The banquet was March, 1993.
I will never forget the date because it is MRS birthday. We had three young boys at home and she did not attend. The youngest was 3 months old. This RMEF chapter was not what I would call a family oriented chapter. After the banquet there was an after party in the rooms the event center had comped. Playing poker and drinking with the ticket selling gals was not a good move with a homebound momma waiting at home. I opted to drive home. About a five miles from home I fell asleep and tipped over the truck. It happened right in front of a famous bar on Skyline Drive between Hillsboro and Santa Cruz. I was unhurt except for some glass cuts. A bunch of bikers came out of the bar at the sound of the crash. They helped my roll it back up on its wheels. I kicked out the spider webbed windshield and drove it home in the rain. Crawled into bed with glass cuts in my head about 3 in the morning. Happy Birthday,Momma. I'm home. This was the second time I had rolled it.
I found a cab clip locally and started the rebuild over the summer. The only cab I could get came out of a 2WD, so I had a lot of fab to do with the MIG welder. I couldn't afford one and a good work buddy loaned me his for the duration. I had all the bits and pieces laid out orderly on palettes and tarped in the yard. We were dirt poor. I could not afford to get it professionally painted. I bought a case of USFS green rattle can paint. I did some really crappy bondo work, black primed the cab and finished the cab in the USFS green.
I interviewed for my job transfer from California to Idaho in late July and was selected. I took all my vacation and focused on the project and getting the house ready to sell. The house needed all new dry wall and that came first. After that was done, MRS took over the painting chores on the house.
My new job started Monday, August 16th, 1993. My first "Toyotas are tough" moment came when I got the new cabs project completed on at 10PM on Friday August 13th. Hooked up the new battery, turn the key and it started. I left at dark thirty Saturday the 14th to drive to Idaho. This began three months of me find a place for us to live in Idaho, MRS selling the house in California with three kids under 5 years old.
It was four months before MRS and the boys made the final trip to Idaho and settled into our new property.
The first winter in Idaho I skidded in the snow and slammed a curb. This bent the passenger side rear axle plate and that tire wobbled. I did not know this until for some reason I was in MRS' car following her as she drove the truck. I just knew it had a vibration.
The next decades in Idaho that truck and I covered North Central Idaho and looked under every rook. Some of you going to U of I might remember seeing this ugly, goofy beast with the lame back wheel in Moscow.
The last time I rolled it was losing control in the snow on Idaho Highway 9 (aka The Harvard-Deary Cutoff) on my way to Grangeville. Being a short wheelbase, the rig was always squirrelly in the snow. Once again some good old boys helped me tip it upright and I drove it home.
So I've rolled it three times. When my sons started driving I bought a full sized GMC because it was more stable. Red Green became like Woody in Toy Story. I still cared about it, but Andy had grown up, so to speak. The new GMC "Big Red" could haul twice as much hay and firewood and I could et the whole family in it for adventures.
So eventually Red Green ended up with a growing pile of ranch metal which I was someday going to recycle. The tires when flat and the moss started to grow. Needed the battery for some other rig one day and that was that.
Last week I put a battery in it, shot a little alcohol in the carb and it fired right up. Now I have a new money pit project.
Kudos to Toyota. One tough SOB of a truck.
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