Builds ROTW: wildsmith's 94 (2 Viewers)

[wildsmith]

You don't seem to hate mud, but that comes with the country I imagine. Do you happen to travel to more dusty areas (ie North Africa) to naturally sandblast your rig?

I haven't taken the 80 out of the UK yet but if/when I do I'll be aiming for the Kola Peninsula rather than Africa.

the scoop is off center.. was this to work around the hood bracing, or is that the hot side of the diesels?
and what are the green grid panels strapped to the gate? sand rails or in you case mud rails for traction?

The scoop position was just to keep the job simple and avoid the bracing. The green grids we call waffle boards or bridging ladders but really they're just off cuts of fibreglass flooring grid. They can be used on boggy ground to spread the load, or up against mud banks or rocks that are too steep for your approach angle, to make a ramp. Any place you'd stack more than a few rocks to get up they're useful. We've used them to make up the side of a track that had washed away as well, good enough for us to winch past. I keep meaning to come up with a design for some legs so they can be turned into benches or a table for camping

Jon.

 

[Slomo]

That is a very cool rig. You have done some very inovative thinking in your setup. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dusty]

Your truck is inspiring. That trucks makes one want to climb in and just keep driving to nowhere.

More info/pics on the roll gage. was it prefabbed or custom. how and where does it tie into the frame (or does it). how do the tree sliders attach to the drip rales. have they taken much abuse?

dusty

 

[wildsmith]

Your truck is inspiring. That trucks makes one want to climb in and just keep driving to nowhere.

More info/pics on the roll gage. was it prefabbed or custom. how and where does it tie into the frame (or does it). how do the tree sliders attach to the drip rales. have they taken much abuse?

dusty

There's a write up of the roll cage here: http://www.mudtoys.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30

The cage bolts to the body in corners where it can bolt to the body on two planes with thick backing plates. Going to the chassis would probably introduce extra vibrations and cause problems with body flex.

The tree sliders are seam welded to the gutter rails and have stiffener plates along the inside edge to the roof to triangulate them. They've taken quite heavy loads without a problem

If I was starting over I'd do the cage, tree sliders and roof rack as an integrated solution. I'd bring the front legs of the cage outside, up through the tops of the front wings, up the A pillars and along the roof rails to work as tree sliders. I'd keep the middle and rear internal cage hoops and on the outside run tube side to side between the tree sliders in line with the inside hoops, then join inside hoops and outside cross tubes through the roof to tie it all together and give that long run along the gutter rail support. Drop some mesh over the side to side tubes and you have a rack... That would make a lot more space around the front seats. You'd still have to ditch the sunroof though which is no great loss to me.

Jon.

 

[MDarius]

You'd still have to ditch the sunroof though which is no great loss to me.

Jon.

Don't they call it a ''rain roof'' in the UK? ;p

 

[wildsmith]

Don't they call it a ''rain roof'' in the UK? ;p

We keep being told the reservoirs are low and we haven't had enough rain Not so sure about that after the 'summer' we just had.

 

[ddorsch]

Wildsmith, Great truck! Nice to see a non us model.the tranny shifer on the right is that commen for rh drive trucks or the diesels have the tranny on that side? You have some cool mods tho.



Dave
'96 lc

 

[wildsmith]

Wildsmith, Great truck! Nice to see a non us model.the tranny shifer on the right is that commen for rh drive trucks or the diesels have the tranny on that side? You have some cool mods tho.

Dave
'96 lc

The tranny shifter position is a right hand drive thing but the transmission is in the same place.

 

[ArmyFJ]

Very nice looking truck. Makes me want a diesel.

 

[PKP80]

I like it a lot, very different. You've made it your own, very nice.

 

[Skillet]

Very utilitarian. I like it.

 

[85badger]

Very utilitarian. I like it.

I second that!! Nice mods.

 

[Overlander 80]

Killer Truck. Thanks for taking the time to provide all the detail.

 

[sandcruiser]

I've been thinking about an integral roof rack/roll cage for a while....
I'm thinking that it would work to run pillars up in front of the A pillar, probably to a bracket on the fender or the cowl area, with some backing to keep it strong.

Then do a single hoop that comes up from near the lights (to protect them) and goes up the side of the window, over, and back down to the other side, by the lights. Perhaps attached below the window (like the C pillar hoop, below) but better to attach it lower, I think.

Then a second hoop that comes up in front of the window (along the C pillar) and attaches just above the wheel well.

Each would attach to the body with a mounting plate. Inside the fender skin I would add another tube to connect the two plates- offering some strength and preventing it from flexing the fender too much.

Then connect the two hoops with two smaller crossbars, which would protect the back windows and also offer a ladder to access the roof rack.

final step would be to tie the three sideways hoops together with something along the rain gutter. I never thought to actually weld to the rain gutter/roof like you did, but was planning to have a leg in the center to help distribute weight, somewhere near the B pillar. And maybe another crossbar at that point to support weight on the rack. Adding an additional support inside (through the roof) is a great idea and makes for a much more useful cage.

Add flooring to the rack if wanted/needed.

 

[wildsmith]

That's the kind of thing I was thinking of. For an interior hoop to be joined through the roof you have to lose the sun roof though which also means losing the head lining.

Finding strong mounting points front and rear might be a challenge, perhaps doing a through panel plate where a tube continues inside to a stronger mounting point. I've seen something like that on Landrover cages.

Since doing ROTW I've removed the front section of my roll cage. It kept getting in the way and being so close to the driver and passengers head may have been more dangerous. The B pillar hoop etc will still stop the passenger space being completely flattened which was the main reason for fitting it.

 

[sandcruiser]

Couldn't you sneak by the sunroof if you kept it very close to the B pillar?

I'm not near my cruiser right now, but will check it out next week.

I suppose that another solution would be to keep the two systems separated - roof rack that hits the D, C and A pillars, then a simple hoop inside on the B pillar. Not _as_ strong, sure, but still much stronger than the standard roof.

Maybe add extra strength to the roof rack to prevent it buckling back in the event of a roll-over.

 

[wildsmith]

I don't know about other cars but the sunroof assembly on an 80 is huge. You'd get a hoop under it but I'm not sure how you could connect that hoop to the outside cage with the sunroof assembly in the way. If it was a pop and tilt type sunroof no problem.

To get the sunroof assembly out you have to remove the headlining. I've found not having a headlining useful but asthetically it might not work for a family car. Actually, maybe a more patient person would cut the headlining down one side or the middle, fold it out of the way and put it back once the sunrof assembly was out and stitch in a panel where the sunroof hole is ... No idea if the material the headlining is made from would stand this idea.