In 1976, Kim Gackstatter bought...
In 1976, Kim Gackstatter bought the '74 Toyota Land Cruiser totally stock right down to the factory snow tires and hubcaps. Through the years the "Landcrusher" slowly transformed from stock to Chevy small-block and mundane to mud playing. Before he knew it, the 'Cruiser was involved in all sorts of mud bogging events in and around California and Nevada.
What do you think of when you hear the words "wadded up"? The time you crumpled up a parking citation, tossed it behind your vehicle and dusted it with a burnout? Most of you think about the time when you or your buddy wrapped their rig around some insane natural obstruction. That's what Kim Gackstatter thinks of when he hears the words "wadded up." The most recent of three rollovers was three years ago when he barrel-rolled his Grabber Orange 'Cruiser at about 40 mph. "One understands that there can never be enough rollcage," he says.
This '74 Toyota Land Cruiser was pieced back together again and it looks like the wadding never happened. But just in case it happens again, Kim has upgrades already written into the latest and greatest plans for the Toy. He plans on a killer new rollcage and some even bigger axles.
Kim's truck-building philosophy is to "start by selecting beefy axles and drivetrain so you only have to build it once. Build an engine for low-end torque. When you do find a weak link, solve the problem quickly. Part of the solution should involve providing beer for your friends so that you can get a little help from them." Here's what the '74 started with and what else Kim used to put it back together again.
 |  Look closely at the photo....  Look closely at the photo. Do you know what axle it is? The spool permanently "locks" the 5.87s gears in the Dana 70. "Unfortunately," Kim says, "the inner axles are 30-spline, so I manage to snap one every couple of years." And because of the weak 30-spline inners, he's going to machine some new 35-spline axleshafts from chrome moly. Suspension mods include a total lift of 14 inches from 7 inches of National Springs, a 4-inch spring-over, and 3 inches from a self-fabricated body lift. |  The license plate frame isn't...  The license plate frame isn't a joke. It says to get in and sit down. Don't mind if we do take a seat in the 'Cruiser's RCi Poly Baja high-back seats with easy to de-mud vinyl seat covers. Other amenities include RCi five-point harness, a Stewart Warner amp gauge, Auto Meter oil and water gauges, a Grant steering wheel, and a Smittybilt rollcage. |
 Talk about killer drivetrain!...  Talk about killer drivetrain! The Toy has a '70 Chevy 350ci, an SM465 four-speed with a granny gear, and a Rockwell T221 transfer case. The small-block is balanced with a 9:1 compression ratio, a steel crankshaft, a Crane cam, an Edelbrock intake, Downey 131/44-inch headers, 2-inch side-exiting Flowmaster dual chamber mufflers, a Performance Distributors HEI ignition, and an Edelbrock Quadrajet carb. |  | |