Builds Scraps, My Slow 45/80 Build (1 Viewer)

[Tank5]

looking good! this is exactly what im planning to do to my 45

Thanks. Although if I had a 45 on an original chassis I would have a hard time pulling it off to do this. That said if you owne it do want you want with it. When do you plan to start?

 

[Tank5]

I jumped around a little and decided to mock up what I want to do for roll over protection. I have decided I don't want to put a cage in the cab but instead I want a roll bar in the bed that uses the same curves as the roll bar in a 40 but the two legs will extend to the end of the bed. I want to be able to put a roof top tent on across the legs. I would plan to place two cross bars between the legs for mounting the top that would clamp on so they could be removed or adjusted. My hope is that the RTT will sit about even with the top of the cab. Using an old roll bar, pvc, and some painters tap this is what I mocked up.

 

[Vossie]

Thanks. Although if I had a 45 on an original chassis I would have a hard time pulling it off to do this. That said if you owne it do want you want with it. When do you plan to start?

the thing is the 45 is my DD, i use it everyday to work and back. and our roads here are the equivalent of a badly worn track any where else in the world. so the comfort thing is getting to be a big deal. hence why im wanting to go 80 series suspension, and the easiest way to do that is body transplant the 45 onto the 80 chassis.

no firm plans as yet. still looking around for a rolling chassis. biggest problem is price. they are hellish expensive here

have you got any pics of yours front on? curious as to how well the stock fenders cover the wider 80 series axle

 

[Tank5]

the thing is the 45 is my DD, i use it everyday to work and back. and our roads here are the equivalent of a badly worn track any where else in the world. so the comfort thing is getting to be a big deal. hence why im wanting to go 80 series suspension, and the easiest way to do that is body transplant the 45 onto the 80 chassis.

no firm plans as yet. still looking around for a rolling chassis. biggest problem is price. they are hellish expensive here

have you got any pics of yours front on? curious as to how well the stock fenders cover the wider 80 series axle

I didn't notice you weren't in the US. 45s may be easier to find where you are. I can understand your motives for wanting to switch to the 80 chassis.

I had the stock fenders widened 3 inches to cover right to the edge of the tires. The tires pictured are 13.50 inches wide.

 

[Vossie]

ahh i see. looks awesome. im just trying to get a handle on everything that would need doing as if i do this, i have to do it quickly as well as cheap as possible but still correctly

 

[Tank5]

I have not had a lot time to work on my own project. This is all I have done in the past several months. I took a slightly different direction and picked up another bed/utility box for it that I think fits my intended use. I set it on the truck and then photo-shopped the rear wheel well a little. Overall I am pretty happy with the idea. The box is from a mid 40s to late 50 telephone service truck. It opens up with two doors on rear and another on the passenger side. It has several built in drawers for storage too.

The cab top is not the one I have for this build I just set it there to get it out of the way and get an idea for how the truck would look with a top on it.

 

[Tank5]

More pictures of the box.

 

[Tank5]

I am looking at going to 37's and selling the 40's. Before I bought the 40's I thought that 37's were where I was going with this build but the 40's were already on the rims when I bought them so I thought I would give them a shot. I have been thinking it over for a while. I really don't want to add any more lift and don't want to cut the front fenders or aprons. The 40's just look too tight in the front and I have never gotten away from that thought. A friend loaned a 37 inch tire to test fit. I feel convinced this is the way to go.

Curious to here what those with more experience think. Here are the before and after shots of the test fit.

 

[A10Driver]

37 looks right to me

 

[Bripars40]

Personally I’d stick with the 40s. If you do decide to sell the 40s let me know!

 

[Tank5]

Personally I’d stick with the 40s. If you do decide to sell the 40s let me know!

I listed the 40" tires for sale asking 1400.
I really like the way the 40s look but there is a good bit that needs to go in the truck winch, finish bumpers, radiator, PS box, SC on engine, glass, doors, etc.... I expect after the truck is done it will sit lower than where it is now. I am convinced the 40s will rub. The reason I am evaluating this now is because I need move the wheel wells on the box and I want to build them to suit the tire size I am going to run.

If you are interested in the tires send me a pm.

 

[Bripars40]

I listed the 40" tires for sale asking 1400.
I really like the way the 40s look but there is a good bit that needs to go in the truck winch, finish bumpers, radiator, PS box, SC on engine, glass, doors, etc.... I expect after the truck is done it will sit lower than where it is now. I am convinced the 40s will rub. The reason I am evaluating this now is because I need move the wheel wells on the box and I want to build them to suit the tire size I am going to run.

If you are interested in the tires send me a pm.

I wish I could swing that before Christmas. Maybe if you still have them after Christmas we can make it work. Thanks!

 

[White Stripe]

You selling the Hutchinsons too?

 

[Tank5]

You selling the Hutchinsons too?

No just the tires.

 

[matzell]

37's are much easier on the axles than 40's. Your driveline will thank you. Truck looks good BTW.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Love the tool box on the back.

 

[Ronny Grady]

That tool box setup is great- very retro

 

[White Stripe]

Tool box looks like it's going to be a lot of work to make it fit right. Also looks like it's pretty tall and will hurt rear visibility. How much does it weigh? The rear aqualu flares don't really look propotional unless they have like 54" swampers underneath them. It would probably be easier to make a new 45 utility bed and just use parts from that bed for its hardware.

 

[Tank5]

Tool box looks like it's going to be a lot of work to make it fit right. Also looks like it's pretty tall and will hurt rear visibility. How much does it weigh? The rear aqualu flares don't really look propotional unless they have like 54" swampers underneath them. It would probably be easier to make a new 45 utility bed and just use parts from that bed for its hardware.

I am planning on modifying the wheel wells to make them fit, I am waiting until I get the 37" tires before I do that so I can build the wheel wells correct for the tire size. The Aqualu fender flares in the first picture were photo shopped in to that picture so you are correct they are not quite right, I was just using them for reference to get an idea for what the finished product might look like. I am not going to use the Aqualu fender flares on the box they are not wide enough to cover the tires. I am planning to use a set of modified front fender skins to build a wider flares for the rear fender wells. Modifying the fender wells is going to be work but not as much work as building a box from scratch. I will loose some visibility out the rear view but I have accepted that. The tool box weighs about 400-500 pounds. I don't mind the weight since the original 80 weighed so much I think the added weight will help the suspension sit closer to where it should be.

 

[jim land]

This is nice , perfect for expedition .
it could be nice with a tube rack , with a foldable over the cab section if you need acces to remove the top