What drives you?

i did some thinking on the way home from my 4 hour drive today so here it is. i have been into custom rides since a kid. growing up i went to many shows. as i got older i started getting into lowriders, love them. but whenever i went to a show i got some crazy looks cause i am a cracka. haha. i noticed when i went to the heatwave this year in austin that the mini truckers there weren't as friendly as i anticipated. i love showing guys what i have done and letting them know what i plan on doing. i love looking at other peoples rides and asking what they have done but when they act like total d!ck$ it kinda get depressing. i realized on the way home tonight that i just did a 4 hour round trip to pick up a busted a$$ bench seat and dented up tailgate, and for what? because i love this! there aren't many mini trucks around here and all the guys that i work with may talk shit about them but when it comes down to it i know they love the truck. when i bought my truck it was a total beater, any other person would have just crushed it rather than build it. i love to look at my before pics because i keep thinking DAMN! i drove that! guys at work come up to me everyday and ask what's next. i love that. and when i tell them what is next they ask how are you going to do that. the guys that aren't even into it are the ones that keep me going. it seems like the guys that are into it, around here anyways, don't want to lift a finger to help a brotha out. it is funny that most of the help that i get comes from the 2 most redneck dudes that i work with. i love working on anything custom and would drop what i am doing in a second to help someone out with their ride. i guess what i am trying to say is that when a fellow minitrucker needs a hand and it is within your power, help a brother out. it doesn't always have to be about money. money comes and goes. anyways, i want to know what drives you to build your neck breaker?

Well said bro. I have felt the same, so many times, and had the same thoughts runnin through my mind. I have heard it all , things like,"who would do up a Mazda?" Why did ya wreck that thing? Or other BS like that. I been minitruckin before I even got my drivers licence (1997) But, I love these trucks and I don't care who knows it, or what they think , sometimes its discouraging to go against the "grain", but is that not what the custom world is all about? Taking something that the masses do not think is cool and then making them drool over your creation after a couple of months or years?
And then you go to a show or meet some other punk ass wanna be custom guys mini drivers or whatever, and they are all haters.
I feel ya bro, but if ya do talk to those guys they are actually intimidated because they dont have a clue, have no skills, and paid somebody to build it for them or bought them after they were completed. They just stand beside their rides , they did not create them. I respect real custom dudes for their effort even if they are rollin a gremlin ! LOL
Chicks used to drive me, but after I grew up, I find im just doin this for me now. My biggest thrill is when some punk that thinks he knows everything cannot even figure out what make my truck is and is mad cuz I got more bass and a hot wife. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" />
I drive myself , but to a large degree, this brotherhood I have found with the guys on this forum drives me even more, getting new ideas, sharing and learning from each other keeps me motivated, and wanting to push my abilities as far as possible. For that I thank all of you.
Dan

damn, ya'll gettin deep in herr.......very well said guys!

for myself, this is my first truck &amp; my g'mother helped me get it. i had sooooo many dreams &amp; drawings of how i wanted to customize it or anything be it a motorcycle, car, or truck as a kid.....i sorta figured it like i could show the factory peeps what they could have brought to market, sorta like shelby &amp; saleen do with the mustangs. but as a kid you have dreams &amp; no $ $ or at least i didn't. i worked at an a&amp;w resturant, they had car shows twice a month, there was everything from old muscle cars to lowriders, anything &amp; everything to make you drool....
i just wanted to be one of the guys outside, having all the fun, answering peeps q's, &amp; polishing my ride , inspiring other peeps/kids to think out of the box and not to settle for the same old bland b.s., &amp; deffinately not a$$ deep in french fry grease .....

anyhoo it was all i could do to work 40 hr a week &amp; go to high school &amp; keep up my grades...my whole check went to my truck pmnt, gas &amp; ins.....i have had three accidents in this truck (only one of the three was my fault ), so we've been thru a lot, most folks would have done just like maztang said &amp; scrapped it, but i couldn't &amp; told my g'mother that i would fix it up one day....well two year later &amp; i'm still fixing &amp; would love to have had it going &amp; to a few shows this past season even though i'm not building it as "show" truck, but as a very kleen ride that no one would be ashamed to ride in.....i dont' have the facilites or time to go over it like i would like to now, so basically my goals are to get it mechanically functional, &amp; the body all together clean shaven &amp; primerd to match (hopefully buy next spring) then when i get a chance i'll pull it apart &amp; go thru top to bottom for the finishing touches...it won't ride a trailer, but it won't see rainy roads either (hopefully).....

I agree! But I don't see many peopl around here that actually make a mazda truck into a lowrider instead of an offroadin' tin can...

I also get real nasty looks too from other people on the road. I dunno what it is... But its either my subs beatin' hard or its my truck or both, but I seem to get alot of neg. attention! But all my buddies and whatnot really think its a awesome truck. But they themselves don't have a mini truck...

Speakin of bad moments, I had a buddy in the truck one day and we were cruisin'. We came to a light, I was in a turnine lane, and the moment I got to the light, there was a guy to the right in the left turn lane that basically stared me down hardcore. As he went by passing away from me he did a real slow creep by. Him in 4 other people in his SUV literally stuck their heads out the windows and looked. Like I was a ghost or I just raped their mom... Driver started going off at the mouth, but I rolled my eyes. And they passed by, still going down the street real slow. Watching me in his rearview.

Haha. boy was someone butt hurt real good for some reason... I can't wait till I'm 21 and get my CWP. Then, I won't be afraid of a confrontation happening.

This thread is touching and SOOO true.

What drives me... well, i love how people ask me how i can drive it being that low, how people ask me questions and i can explain it. i love how everything i do revolves around mini's. I've had 3 mini's so far. 1989 b2200, 1985 s10, and now my 1992 B2600i...

Here in oregon, all you see is 4x4's and tuners...

i build my trucks to be different. i build my trucks to make people look at while scratchin their heads wondering about it. i wanna show the world what a young 16 yr old can build with his own two hands. i wanna just be as hardcore in the scene as i can.

THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE!!!
It won't change, EVER!!!

And most of the mini truckers in the scene, may not even know you, but they'll talk to you about piddly shit for hours, just to talk to another mt'er... Especially on this forum. everyone is down to earth, they help each other, give advice or criticism... thats what mini truckin is about...

-Tim

a pistol is nice to have if your acutally in a situation which justifies brandishing it...otherwise it can make a not so good situation worse....my suggestion is a 4 cell mag lite or a piece of 5 kv 500mcm cable @ 3 foot long.....solid core surrounded by rubber...just like a dead blow hammer...you might take a shot from a set of brass knuck's &amp; walk away, but if you get hit with a piece of this stuff, you might as well have been in the ring with the "old" mike tyson!! haha!

on another note, HeX, your gonna have to change that avatar, she's making me have naughty thoughts every time i see her.
just kidding don't change a thing, haha!

this too is my first truck. when i was a kid my dad bought me my first car, a 1965 mustang fastback with a 302. we put countless hours into restoring this car. that is where i began to learn about how to work on cars. we weren't rich by any means. my dad was very good friends with a guy that owned a bodyshop, so in turn for body work and a paint job my dad built him a bada$$ 289. it was fun as hell taking it to shows and talking to people about it. when i was in high school a couple of guys had mini trucks, there was Lonnies b2200 (featured in mini truckin last year) there was a ranger and i think there was a toyota too. i really just remember the ranger and b2200. i remember watching them dragging as they left the parking lot from school. that is what turned me on to mini truckin. but i already had my mustang and continued to work on it. i would get off of school, go to work, then go home and either work on the mustang or clean it. i spent every dollar i made on that car. she was my number one baby in high school. i never had the money to build a truck, not even while i was in the Marine Corps. now i do and i am building my truck. it is being built by me with the help of a few friends and for me (the way i want it). my wife tried talking me into puting this really expensive set of wheels on it. like 1800 dollars for the wheels and tires. though i would love to do it i really want the cadillac escalade chrome wheels. i plan on caddy tail lights, caddy wheels, caddy emblems in the seats and maybe the door panels, and a smooth caddy ride when i bag her. she never has understood why i do this even though i tell her it is just something i love to do. she always thinks that it is for attention, no and yes at the same time. i love turning heads but i also love riding in a clean custom ride. something i can be proud of for building. when i first got the truck she thought it was the ugliest thing in the world. i laughed and said just wait. i could picture the truck finished inside and out. now when she sees it she is really getting into it. and my kids love it too. i can't wait to build theirs next.

Jeez Maztang, you might as well just buy yourself a caddy!

Haha Nytridr, shes hot, huh? But it could be a little controversial since she is in a tempting pose... What better could I do on an avatar, lol.

What drives me? I think just my love of anything automotive. I am a total car/truck nut right down to the bone,and have been for as long as I can remember.

As a kid growing up,I had 2 Power Wheels Jeeps,both of which my dad modified with like extra batteries,stereos,working lights and stuff (this is back in like '89-90). It waspretty cool. For years I dreamed of the day I turned 16 so I could get my licence. Driving is in my blood.

When I was finally able to drive,I got my first car,an '87 Toyota Celica GTS coupe,which is pretty rare in this neck of the woods these days. The thing was mint and looked like it just left the factory. I had it for almost 2 years and put a lot of money into it. I'm on my 11th vehicle right now,and I'm only 20. I was into the tuner scene between 16 and 19,but I quickly got tired of the poor attitudes and the bad publicity the scene was getting. I always liked lowered trucks,but never really saw myself as a truck guy....well I was looking for a new vehicle this spring and happened to come across my little B2200....Man does that thing suit me.

I like to drive something different. Sure it's cool to drive something that's not common,but it's even cooler if you drive something uncommon that's modified,and when you do see another one on the road,that guy turns his head.

My last custom was a '95 Ford Contour V6 5 speed. Total granny car,but I put Contour SVT rims on it,SE skirt package,Angel Eye fog lights,molded trunk lid (shaved the reflectors and left the 'eyeball' reverse lights,and moldef the plate frame to get rid of the seam),tinted the front corner lights and the tails,added an SVT style quasi-dual exhaust with no mufflers,CAI,custom painted interior,full stereo,two tone paint,billet fuel door,25% tint.

Here's a pic of my Contour,that took me only 6 months to build to that state,and I spent about $8000 in repairs and mods on the car...only to scrap it in the end.


And here's a bad edit of how I plan my truck to come out....

you guys just need to find the right circle of friends. i will bet a million bucks that if you go in a 30mile radius from where you are you will find 15-20 people that feel the exact same way you do. When i first got in to mini truckin i went threw the same stuff. Now i have a great circle of close friends and we all help each other build whatever it may be. Just keep your heads up.. laugh the haters off and keep going. You wasted 4 hours on the road thinking about how mean people are to you and how no one is helping you. You are letting them win. Instead spend that 4 hours feeling how lucky you are to be in a place that you can build a custom vehicle, have money to do so, and think of all the cool shit to come. Not only on your own vehicle but others as well.
Mike