Hilux 1994 Pickup LN109 from Malta - New Member (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 24, 2018
Threads
2
Messages
13
Location
Malta
Hi Guys,

Tiny Malta here (small rock in the centre of the Med) and I'm Mark ,I have just registered.

I started offloading some seven years ago after I set my eyes on a Hilux Ln109 (IMAGE 1) with some mods that I got in part ex with a new hilux since i was working at a Toyota Automotive dealership back then.

Since then....(well you know the story I assume) I have been diagnosed with Toyotistis Offrodumis Capitalis Kaputum and apparently there is no cure for it! :) :) :p

My Ln109 has gone thru various heavy and minor mods and also some major disasters.

Timeline: (apx)

Feb 2010 - Yota comes in as part ex.

March 2010 - Still in showroom and decide to buy it. (IMAGE 1)

April 2010 - 1st Offroad Trip to Italy with Yota (yes like after two weeks after purchased). Behaved well but when trying out hard stuff and watching other with their modded rigs I realised s*** have to happen.

June 2010 - Purchased Mods: Replaced all ball Joints, Reworked rear suspension to accommodate a new 4 shock setup, Massive all round service, Turbo fitted, Snorkel, New Tires Maxxis 33s, New Optima Batteries x2, Sound system. (IMAGE 2,3)

November 2010 - 2nd Offroad Trip to Italy. Fun as hell with more engine power and better rear suspension setup. No breakdowns.

January 2011 - New mods: Front Bumper, Side Armor, Rear Bumper, New HD torsion bars, Chaos Fab steering and hud joints with King Kong steering system, Front diff with Nitro Ring and Pinion, rear Diff with Nitro Ring and Pinion, All ccrosses changed to Marlin Crwaler, New front Shock OM EMU, Chargecooled, New Aluminium Radiator, All hoses replaced with Samco.(IMAGE 6)

Feb 2011 - .... Locally tested. (IMAGE 4,5)

April 2011 - 3rd Offroad Trip to Italy: Now I could do more hard trails and risk a bit more on engine throttle due to stronger over all diffs and props and joint. (IMAGE 7)

August 2011 - 4th Trip to Italy: All GUD

December 2011 - 5th Trip to Italy - Disaster Strikes. After 4 days of constant offroading the front upper arms tore away from the chassis. This was a major breakdown. I had to weld everything in place while having two other Trucks pulling the chassis in place with their winches. (IMAGE 3) It took all day and was really pissed. The problem was that the factory bump stop got bent upwards, thus the arms had more travel and the upper arm was pressing against the chassis. I had to drive back to port and Malta with a Truck that had its front right suspension almost solid with no travel at all and a bent chassis. I actually did more damage repairing it that day as I had did not have the proper tools with me but I had to get it home. (IMAGE 8,9,10)

January 2012 - After a break, well almost a month not opening the garage door i went back and starting pulling things apart.

March 2012 - Chassis Fixed, Suspension Fixed, Bump stops Improved and made stronger brackets, Rear Diff with Detroit Locker, Alarm System, On board GPS with AV MAP, New rear leafs, New HD bearings all round, Replaced free wheeling hubs from Aisin to WARN, Chromoly TG Hub Gears, Light Bars, Beadlock Rims, Bigger Mudzilla tires 35s. Camera system for Front, Rear and Sides, Fixed Dashboard Lights, Rebuild front and rear seat fabric with original material, Leds under front and Rear Arches, New timing and drive belt, New Water Pump, Replaced Upper and Lower arms with new OEM, Replaced Front Upper and Lower and Rear Bushes. (IMAGE 11,12,13)

June 2012 - 6th Trip to Italy: Best trip since. Now my rig was very capable and could withstand more rough driving.

August 2012 - 7Th Trip to Italy: Clutch Fails. Luckily on our way down and failed completely as soon as I boarded the ship enroute to Malta. Had to be towed out.

September 2012 - New Clutch kit. HD Pressure plate with Exedy Clutch.

October 2012 to January 2016 - 9 More trips to Italy with small issues. Front shafts break, Turbo Fails the day after. Afterwards I had equipped the truck for overland with a GordiGear roof tent, GordiGear Lower tent and Awning, Watertank underneath with Supply Pump, Smitthybuilt compressor, New light bars front and rear, Various camping gear, ARB Canopy, Roll cage, PSC sterring RAM, Trail Gear Steering Pump, Chaos Fab Idler arm, Chaos Fab Chromoly Shackles, Chaos Fab Lower uniball conversion, Chaos Fab Heim Steering Upgrade, Mamba Turbo, Locally engineered stronger Chromoly Front Shafts. (IMAGE 14,15,16,17)

August 2017 - !!!BOOM!!! Major 3L engine fail, repairable but not risking it, truck is now heavy and I feel this engine won't take much more. Rust starts to appear, Chassis broke again in the front. Time for a major revamp so I pulled it apart bolt after bolt and started to re-plan everything.

August 2018 - All Parts have finally arrived and started to plot everything. New mods Include. Engine 1uzfe VVT-i from an LS400, R151f Gearbox, Akima Housing, Exedy racing Clutch, HKS air flow metre, Donaldson Air Intake, Chaos Fab Chromoly upper arms, Greddy Oil relocation Kit, Oil cooler, Steerring Oil Cooler, MalBros Fuel Pump, Phoenix Ecu with Telemetry, Rear Marlin Crwaler Long travel Leafs, Rear Rancho Shocks RS9000, Rear RCV AXle Shafts, Rear Disk Brakes, Drive shaft brake system, Front King Coil overs, King Bump Stops, Front Vented Disks, Toyota/Warn (undecided) Front Winch, Winch MAX rear Winch, Battery Relocation Kit to Rear, Line- X spray job, New Racing seats, Stainless Steel Exhaust Pipes, Vortex Silencer x2, New beadlock Rims, New tires.... and a s*** load of work. (IMAGE 18)

I am hoping that by Dec2018/January 2019 it will be sorted so I can start enjoying some offroading again :)

In the future (when bank account recovers) I want to change the rear to a 4 Link with coilovers, modify the gearbox and get crawler gears.

Meanwhile this year I had the opportunity to get my hands on Two 1985 Bj70s. I plan to have this ready built for my son, although its another 7 years until he can drive but he did most of the work on it is doing it himself already. He serviced it completely on his own including the gearbox and axle oil, apart from assisting him and mentoring him when required. So proud of him as he is so much into offroading and toyota 4x4 but still takes care at school and gets good results. (IMAGE 19,20,21,22)

I hope this gives you an idea on what I am doing to my beloved Yota and how much I got into Offroading. It has become much more than a passion or an addiction, for me its like a lifestyle now.

Cheers

Mark.

Added some other images.

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Great pics. I love those older double cab Toyotas!
 
Very neat truck man!

On a side note, when did the solid axles go away on foreign models? It was definitely after 1985 wasn't it?
 
Very neat truck man!

On a side note, when did the solid axles go away on foreign models? It was definitely after 1985 wasn't it?

Thanks mate. Yes I be live it was after. There are variations of this model with either IFS or Solid Axle. I find IFS better fora good all rounder but very expensive to modify and a hassle to service all the joints.
 

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