78 Troopy flip top overlander (1 Viewer)

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Hello Troepadoer, perhaps it might be appropriate to start a new thread for your ideas about a group.

This is a great idea. The mods can move all Troepadoer's post also to keep the thread centered around your Troopy conversions.
 
Not to hi-jack but surely everyone knows limited Alu-Cab is now available in the states
Alu-Cab Gen 3 Expedition Tent

@Troepadoer How is your fold up bed platform made? I have seen the German version and they use a composite material but your looks like frame work. Can you expand on the construction and stability?
This is a great idea. The mods can move all Troepadoer's post also to keep the thread centered around your Troopy conversions.
Hello Phil, moving the posts is one outcome I guess - but my comment was intended to suggest that Troepadoer's broader view should have a wider readership and participation in a separate thread. My story about my car in a small state in Australia is a bit limited at the end of the day, and I can see Troepadoer's discussion being wider and more international.
 
Hi Allan, I'm sorry that I got so carried away on this thread. Three Troopys in one city hardly makes a group :( The Australian market will be the place for Alu-cab's future growth re the built in RTT, so I've pretty much shared my two cents worth.

I will be watching your thread closely though, because I love how you are modifying your car. One can see that your changes are all practical things specifically suited for your overlanding needs.

Sometimes I see people adding and modifying parts for the "Hey, look at me!" factor, while I want my rig to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and so far your car has nailed that for me the best.
 
Hello Troepadoer, no need to apologise at all, and I hope you don't think I was getting miffed by your input - far from it. I really do think there is a wider audience for a different kind of discussion. I'm interested to see what other people are doing with their Troopy, and I know there are quite a few folk in Europe and North America as well as SE Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand who are doing good things. Needless to say, there are probably as many great ideas, intended uses and grand plans as there are Troopys out there. Besides, three conversions in Cape Town is 200% more than there are over here in Victoria.
 
Apologies for the OT posts, Alan.

A separate thread covering Alu Cab's flip top conversion and layout thereafter is indeed a good idea
 
I am really struggling to find a decent (or any) Troopy for sale at a reasonable (or any) price here in SA. I am very keen to know if the Alu-Cab flip-top roof replacement can be done on a 76 Station Wagon. I therefore need to know the overall length of the roof from the top of the front windscreen rubber, to a vertical point above the gutter at the back door. Can anyone help me with those dimensions?

Thanks.
 
Suspension upgrade.

It's been busy here and I haven't posted anything for a while. I recently had some work done on the suspension and it proved to be kind of informative and worth sharing.

I suppose I had been in denial about the suspension since we had the roof conversion done. The extra weight had taken the factory standard springs and shocks over their practical limits. I had to face facts when I was pricing a rear wheel carrier and looked at the extra weight that the wheel carrier would add - between 70 - 100kg depending on the manufacturer. That was almost literally the straw that broke the camel's back.

I took the Troopy to a large chain suspension supplier to get an idea of what they would suggest - the chain I went to has a line of 4WD products that review quite well. The alarm bells rang when the guy preparing the quote looked at the Troopy from about 20m away, didn't ask about the kind of loads that the vehicle would carry or what kind of off-road use it would get. He then went to the computer and tapped in make, model and year to get a list of "upgrades" that were "essential". This included a 75mm lift front and back. The quote was a shade under AUS$3000.

I then took the Troopy to a 4WD chain who retails and manufactures a wide range of specialist 4WD equipment (of international reputation I might add) . It was a disappointingly similar experience. The sales guy had to be coaxed into actually looking at the vehicle, he was absolutely confident that he could see enough through the store window to know what was needed. He was similarly adamant that I needed a 80 - 100mm lift, a fairly extravagant elevation and something that defied common sense and logic given the amount of weight now on top of the vehicle. Once again the computer was consulted and the make, model and year entered. Once again no questions were asked about typical loads or type of driving. The resultant quote was similarly extravagant, a touch over AUS$4300, around AUS$800 of which was labour.

This 4WD chain also has a pretty good web page which includes a "calculator" to generate suggested suspension component combinations, the calculator starts with questions about typical load and type of driving, unlike the sales guy.

My next step was to chat to a mate who builds historic racing cars. After a bit of head scratching, I was given the name of a spring maker, with the caveat that "they do suspension for race cars". When I went to the workshop they had two 4WDs on hoists - as well as a classic Alfa Romeo.

The experience was very different. We had a long chat about the type of driving and typical loads. They asked if I still had the weighbridge information from when the engineering inspection was done after the conversion and if it had splits between the front and rear axle weights (which I did). We then went for a short drive before putting the vehicle on the hoist for a look at the current set up.

The diagnosis was that the front coils needed replacing - the bull bar and winch were heavy enough, but the extra weight of the flip top was too much for the original springs. The rear leaf springs could be kept but re-set and an extra leaf added. The explanation was that the original leaf springs were made of high quality Japanese spring steel, most replacement leaf spring packs from most manufacturers are made in China or from Chinese steel. Chinese spring steel is currently cheap, but not good.

The last part of the diagnosis was the need for new shocks. The factory fitted shocks were still serviceable but no longer adequate to control the extra weight of the Troopy.

The quote was a shade under AUS$2000. New front coil springs, the rear springs re-set and extra leaf added, new bushes and shackles, four new EFS XTR shocks and labour for that price is pretty good.

Rather than having a sales person run through a parts list on the computer, the job was properly assessed by a suspension expert.

Resetting springs is quite a job to watch, and a lot of suspension places send the work out because they don't have the necessary equipment. The leaf pack has to be disassembled and heated in a forge, the heating and tempering has to be done to precise temperatures. The springs are quenched in an oil bath as part of the process.

These are the forges and oil bath for quenching
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The rear springs, bushes and shackles (old shocks still in place).

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Old rear factory shock compared to the new EFS XTR shock
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Front shock installed
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Troopy speakers / audio set up.

The standard radio fitted to the Troopy here in Australia is not all that bad, it has bluetooth (phone and A2DP) and iPod connectivity/control as well as AM/FM and a CD player (remember CDs?). There is an option to have a GPS unit - at an absurd premium price of course. Our Troopy had the ordinary non-GPS radio.

The standard speakers are basic though. Really basic. 100mm (4 inch) paper cone speakers screwed into the dash with nothing behind them. The poor little things flap around with no back pressure from any kind of speaker enclosure and they sound like a 1960s transistor radio. At anything over 60 km/h the volume has to be cranked up and the distortion is painful.

Despite the original radio being good I started by replacing it with a GPS/Radio unit from China. The head unit was very cheap, about a quarter of the price for a "big name" brand or the Toyota one, but it actually works. Despite being listed as suitable for the Corolla or RAV 4 it is a standard "double DIN" size and slips into the Troopy dash very neatly.
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It is an Android unit and is effectively a touch screen "Android Tablet" with a radio in a double DIN car radio body. The good thing is that it can connect to the Google Play app store and you can add apps - if you're into that kind of thing.

The next thing was to replace the speakers.

I found some very nice little coaxial dual cone speakers online from the US company Rockford Fosgate (R14x2, 30 watts RMS - 4 ohms) which fitted perfectly in the dash where the original ones were mounted.
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As good as the little coaxial speakers are, they still struggle against the road noise, wind noise and engine noise. They needed some bass to help them along.

I wasn't keen to cut holes or mount boxes around the inside of the car so I was looking for a discrete little self powered sub woofer with a built in amp. A built in amp was a must as I was sure the Chinese GPS radio wasn't up to the job on its own, but I didn't want another component to wire in (amps are small, but it would be just another extra box). I found an under-seat unit on eBay for $90. Also from China, but at $90 it was a low risk gamble. It was easy to wire in as the wiring harness that came with the radio not only had an adapter for the Toyota loom, it also had a dedicated sub-woofer connector with a switched power supply (turns the amp in the sub woofer on when the radio is turned on).
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The sub-woofer has made the most difference to the speaker changes. It adds depth and clarity without having to push the volume up while driving, something the 100mm coaxial speakers couldn't do on their own. I mounted the sub woofer behind the driver's seat, and as you can see from the dimensions, it's not very intrusive.

I don't drive around "the 'hood" with "dooff, dooff, dooff" shaking the windows, but the sound is a lot better. I can now hear music at highway speeds without pushing the volume up to distortion levels.
 
The bed consists of 2 aluminium frames (the long one is 1750mm and the little one is 550mm). It has marine ply on-top and is covered with carpet. The factory mattress is 55mm high density foam, but we are getting a 75mm mattress asap. We have thoroughly tested its stability, and it has passed the test!

Hi AlanofOz and Troepadoer,

first of all, great setup you guys got there!
As i'm currently thinking about getting the Alu Cab Conversion myself, i'm wondering how much space there is for the mattress. Can you get a 100mm mattress in there, with some space left for bedding etc?
 
G'Day Knorkinator, I think it would be a tight squeeze to get a 100 mm mattress plus bedding in the roof space available. I'm comfortable with the mattress that is supplied with the conversion, but I'm only 80kg and my partner is about 55kg (no specific details publicly available there). I know everyone is different and the comfort of a mattress is a subjective measure.

I'd say the best advice will come from Alu-Cab in South Africa - send them an email and see what they say.
 
Troopy speakers / audio set up.

Some extra photos:

The head unit fits into the radio space quite neatly and has an "integrated" look. The touch screen has the usual icon driven GUI.
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The GPS software is iGo and it came with appropriate maps. I do have an off road map application (HEMA) that I run on my android table for trip planning, I might install than on the head unit and see if it works - when I get the time.
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One app that I did install is Torque.
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The free version of the Torque app is handy enough for most uses. I was actually playing with the idea of using Torque for real-time fuel consumption figures rather than for engine monitoring. I quickly fell back into my old habits of using the trip function on the odometer and doing a quick calculation every time I fill the tank.

Never the less, virtual gauge options are seemingly endless and all sorts of engine data can be displayed - which is something I amuse myself with when I'm not in the driving seat, and never look at when I'm actually driving. This is just one of three screens that I tinkered with.
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As I mentioned in a previous post, the sub-woofer is mounted behind the driver's seat. It is on top of the water tank space. The unit can be unplugged and dismounted in a minute or so if the space is needed - so far that hasn't had to happen. The last 50 mm of wiring is still messy and I need to tidy that up a bit better.
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Troopy speakers / audio set up.

Some extra photos:

The head unit fits into the radio space quite neatly and has an "integrated" look. The touch screen has the usual icon driven GUI.
View attachment 1284572

The GPS software is iGo and it came with appropriate maps. I do have an off road map application (HEMA) that I run on my android table for trip planning, I might install than on the head unit and see if it works - when I get the time.
View attachment 1284573

One app that I did install is Torque.
View attachment 1284574

The free version of the Torque app is handy enough for most uses. I was actually playing with the idea of using Torque for real-time fuel consumption figures rather than for engine monitoring. I quickly fell back into my old habits of using the trip function on the odometer and doing a quick calculation every time I fill the tank.

Never the less, virtual gauge options are seemingly endless and all sorts of engine data can be displayed - which is something I amuse myself with when I'm not in the driving seat, and never look at when I'm actually driving. This is just one of three screens that I tinkered with.
View attachment 1284575

As I mentioned in a previous post, the sub-woofer is mounted behind the driver's seat. It is on top of the water tank space. The unit can be unplugged and dismounted in a minute or so if the space is needed - so far that hasn't had to happen. The last 50 mm of wiring is still messy and I need to tidy that up a bit better.
View attachment 1284576

Hi AlanofOz,

Is is it easy enough to connect up yourself or do you need a PhD in radionics ?

Have you added anything else like reverse camera, etc?

Cheers
 
Hello WildPhoto,

I should have mentioned that the head unit has a reversing camera as well. The reverse camera has a "grid" or guidelines superimposed on the image, but unlike more modern cars the grid is fixed - it doesn't "bend" to show where you are heading when you turn the steering wheel. By connecting the power for the reverse camera to the reverse lights on the tow hitch it works automatically when you put the car into reverse. The internal circuitry of the head unit detects the camera when it powers up and selects that as the screen input, other apps (music, radio, phone etc.) are muted while in reverse.

There is also the capacity to add a forward facing camera as well (you might notice the icon for AV IN on the screen). I've seen front facing cameras put to excellent use for threading the way over some awkward ruts and rocks as well as the more urban use of checking just how close you are to the car in front when parking.

You don't need to be an expert to install the head unit - I managed without any profound skills at all. It is mostly "plug and play", the things that I had to pause and consult Google and YouTube for were the wiring of the switched power supply to the sub woofer. The wiring harness was specific to the Land Cruiser wiring loom and all I had to do was literally unplug the old radio and plug in the new one.

The deeply endearing quality of the Troopy is that was designed logically buy Japanese engineers and built in a way that makes it simple to dismantle and reassemble. The dash is no exception - which made putting in the radio simple enough for even me to cope with.
 
I read the other day that the Troopy is going to stay in production beyond 2016, for at least a couple of years anyway. The next iteration of the Troopy and other 70 series variants will get more airbags; side curtains on the passenger and driver side as well as a knee bag for the driver. It will also get ABS brakes, ESC (electronic stability control) and cruise control. My 2010 model has two air bags and ABS; ESC and cruise control were not options back then.

I've long been an enthusiast for cruise control, ever since I first drove a car with this magical device in my teens. It is such a useful piece of equipment, not only for long trips but also for around town. My state of Victoria has fixed and mobile speed cameras which can be literally anywhere. 5 km/h over the posted speed is all it takes to get a significant fine and the loss of points from your licence. Clicking on the cruise control is a good way to avoid "drifting" up over the limit. Of course, on a longer run outside of the city limits cruise control helps with fuel efficiency.

The Troopy has a "fly by wire" throttle, at least the Australian delivered one does, and that feature makes it relatively simple to fit an after market cruise control. Older vehicles with mechanical linkages between the accelerator pedal and the fuel system can also have cruise control, but some of the mechanisms have been wild and wonderful. Some are actuated by manifold vacuum, with the speed regulation based on a magnet attached to the prop shaft passing an electrical contact. The linkages between the actuator, manifold and accelerator pedal are probably best described as precarious.

The "fly by wire" aspect of the current system makes fitting a cruise control relatively simple. Think of the accelerator pedal as being akin to the volume knob on a radio. As you twist the knob the radio gets louder, as you push the pedal the Troopy goes faster (and louder). The electronic cruise control effectively talks to the engine management computer and tells it that the throttle position has to be set to hold the speed selected by the driver.

There are a few of these systems available on the market, and the one I chose is from an Australian company based in Brisbane. When I called the company they assured me that it was easy to install, was virtually "plug and play" and only needed one wire on the loom to be accessed, cut into and a wire from the controller soldered in. At the last step I decided to have it fitted by an installer here in Melbourne. Just as well I did, the installer hit a problem and the on board computer went into "limp home" mode. It turned out to be a very minor issue (a bent pin in a connector) but one that the installer found in a few minutes and a call to Brisbane, but one that I would never have been able to find.

Now it's fitted it works like it was installed in the Toyota factory. When I drove to Perth to get the flip top conversion done it was invaluable. Driving to Perth is the kind of trip where you get on the highway, get up to speed, click on the cruise control and don't change speed until you need to fill the fuel tanks again.

The switch supplied by the Brisbane manufacturer is identical to the Toyota installed one and looks "standard".

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