The Story of a Repeat Contender

If you don’t know this truck by now, you’ll never know where it’s been and where it’s headed. Back in the day, Jamey Jordan of Hand Made Seat Co. worked and reworked this truck and had it featured in print for the third time back in 2010. It’s no easy feat to accomplish with the same vehicle serving as the nucleus of three completely different rebuilds, but here it is again with a whole new style; this time with a new owner who was eager to put his own spin on this three-time star.

Joseph Schade of Spring, Texas accepted the challenge of transforming a well-known, heavily customized mini into a well-received redo. Luckily for fans of this truck, Joseph has great taste. He didn’t take the project lightly and strategically developed a plan of action that called for careful execution.

The Toyota was a solid red color back in its last incarnation, but Joe knew that the truck needed something more, a lot more, in order to get it to where he first imagined. “I’ve had the truck for five years now, but the toughest part was to figure out which direction to choose and stay on,” Joe says about the road to yet another magazine feature. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t end up going backwards on anything.” Well, his choice in a new paint scheme serves a somewhat dual purpose in this regard. The sharp House of Kolor and PPG shades complement each other nicely, and have helped push the truck into a whole other dimension, while sticking to a paint pattern that has a solid, old-school flair.

I’M HAPPY WITH HOW THE TRUCK CAME OUT, BUT THERE’S STILL MORE TO BE DONE BEFORE I CAN SAY THAT I’M DONE.”

Before Joe even started thinking about paint colors and designs, he wanted to step up the truck’s stance. In its past incarnation, the Toyota was rocking an 18/20-inch wheel combo, which just wasn’t going to cut it for Joe. The front suspension was redone to fit 20s, too, and the previously red-heavy interior was dialed down a bit with more earth tones. It’s changes like these that can give a truck a whole new look and position on the show circuit. It takes the right buyer and an even better owner to spend a healthy chunk of coin and time building on an already established custom vehicle.

Most who look at this truck now and who still have a good recollection of how it looked years ago would probably admit that it looks its best these days. Joe has done a great job preserving and improving a truck that has received its fair share of attention a few times over. “I knew I was going to have to top what was already done to it before I got it, so I gave it my best. I’m happy with how the truck came out, but there’s still more to be done before I can say that I’m done.” We could tell you what those upcoming mods are, but we’ll let Joe unveil the surprises on his own, when the time is right. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNERS

Joseph Schade
1994 Toyota pickup
Spring, TX No Regrets

ENGINE

• 1994 Toyota four-cylinder
• Flowmaster exhaust
• Painted valve covers
• Cold air intake

SUSPENSION

• Full air ride modified front suspension to fit 20s
• 4-link rear
• 2,500-pound Air Lift Dominator airbags up front
• 2,600-pound Firestone airbags in rear
• Notched rear frame
• Rearend narrowed 6 inches
• Custom fuel cell
• Stock control arms

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20-inch Raceline billet wheels all around
• 225/35zr20 Falken (front) 245/35zr20 Falken (rear)

BODY & PAINT

• Grant Kustoms front bumper
• Smoothed bed floor
• PPG Scarlet Red, House of Kolor Tangelo Orange and Charcoal Gray
• Water droplet paint effects, variegated silver and gold leaf and pinstriping by RUSH Advanced Airbrush
• Stock hood

INTERIOR

• Carpet, upholstery, door panels and center console by Sculpt Garage
• Covered dash and headliner
• Custom billet steering wheel
• Vintage Air A/C
• Pioneer head unit
• Alpine 6 ½-inch speakers
• Four Alpine 10-inch Type R subwoofers
• Two Kinetik batteries
• Alpine amplifiers

Special Thanks From Owner: My wife, brother, NR family and the guys who helped rebuild the truck

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