“Tonka Toy”

This 2009 Dodge Ram short bed 4×4 is truly a dream come true of mine.  As a child of the ’80s and ’90s, I grew up watching Monster Trucks on TV and played with big Tonka trucks, and one of my favorite ones was a big blue 4×4 pickup.  I always said, “When I grow up, I’m going to have one of these!” Finally in September of 2009 at the age of 29 that dream came true upon my purchase of a brand new Dodge Ram 4×4.  I selected the regular cab with a short bed because I wanted something that looked like a life size toy I had as a kid.  Within a week of owning it, I added a 6 inch lift from Superlift, 37×12.50 mud terrain tires, 17×8 U.S. Mags “slot wheels” and a double tube roll bar in the bed with 4 KC DAYLIGHTER off road lights with the iconic retro “smiley face” covers just like my toy trucks had.  What life size toy wouldn’t also have a TONKA decal on the windshield?  All these modifications give the modern truck a classic ’80s “monster truck” look that I fell in love with so long ago.

Since I grew up watching Monster Truck competitions, I set out to get the monster truck drivers from my childhood to sign the inside sun visors, including the founder of the sport, Bob Chandler the inventor of the first monster truck BIGFOOT.  Other drivers who signed the truck are Jim Kramer of Bigfoot, Jeff and Steve Dane of King Kong, Everett Jasmer of USA-1, Fred Shafer of Bearfoot, Jim Oldaker of Rollin’ Thunder, and Matt Dishman of Raminator.  What an honor it is to have all these icons of the sport sign the truck!

This vehicle has only racked up a little over 40k Miles as of 2021 as it’s mainly just driven on nice weather weekends and to car shows.  This vehicle is something I’ll treasure the rest of my life, due to it being pretty much a rolling tribute to my childhood, and with the help of parts from LMCTruck, I’m confident it will remain on the road for decades to come!