some of you might remember i bought an exfire truck a few years back. it was a bit of a nightmare and with the frustration i lost interest in it.
this is the one here: Luxury Imports - Calgary, Alberta
then it sat for a long time (almost 2 years) while i bought a couple engines, a tranny or two and a crap load of other parts.
the truck was to be shipped in Jan originally, then it was Feb, Mar and finally it got onto the water for its trip over in 08.
this is the way i picked it up in Toronto:
lack of interest kicked in and i concentrated on building this instead: https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tech-...=1hz+1978+FJ40
as i was building up the 40 my interest was revitalized to put something on the back of the FJ75
i contacted Louis in Ottawa about the tray he had built for the back of his truck and he put me in touch with a outfit that made extremely heavy duty aluminum decking for transports.
so i started on the deck, i liked the way it turned out. it was strong, light and could never rust. downside was the price ...
at the same time i tackled the faded paint and installed a brand new factory hard top since the original had light mounts drilled through it. i had it painted white.
you can see how the color went from a faded orange to the firetruck red again. at first i was going to get it repainted but Bruce (Lowenbrau) mentioned during one of our conversations that it is amazing what some elbow grease and the right cutting agents can do. he was correct and saved me a few thousand.
You are lucky to have a non-ex-mine Cruiser in a place where mines are the main (perhaps only?) source for them.
I still think you might want to add a small crane. I am including some pictures of my neighbour's 75 (low resolution cell phone shots, I had no camera at hand.) He hauls drilling tools, and forklifts are not always available in the locations he travels to. The tray is similar to what you are building, albeit this one is made of steel.
I cannot see a mount for the spare tire. Have you considered it?
now THAT is a crane.
Juan, this is just a pretty truck. i doubt i will be putting much weight in the back. i have a float for the heavy stuff. this one will probably be destined to haul cut wood, maybe a canoe or kayak, i might build an aluminum camper for the back or something boring like that.
i doubt i would have a use for such a cool crane on it, but thanks for the suggestion.
spare tire ... not sure yet. might be in the factory location if i don't stick a second tank in there. or maybe attached to the headache rack... or maybe none.
Nice truck and tray however I would have thought that with the abundance of 2L-TE powered Land Cruisers in your area, having a firetruck nearby would have been a good thing.
.......1978HJ45
i want
