Aussie FJ-45 w/ Extended Chassis & Flatbed (1 Viewer)

[Aseif007]

I am looking at a FJ-45 with an extended frame and a flatbed from Australia. I have an FJ-40 but I have no experience with the 45s. Was the frame extending and flatbed common in Australia? And is this modification something that I should be afraid of? I plan on using this as a trail rig and not a restoration project so the altered frame doesn't bother me as long as they don't have a reputation for failing. Just wondering if there was a general consensus regarding the frame extension and flatbed.

 

[Sporty Forty]

Adding a foot into the frame is quite common down here.

The main issue with the ute versions is when the previous owners place the load too far to the front of the tray near the cabin and not over the wheels. It usually cases a crease in the frame over repeated times just beneath the rear of the cabin.

We have pretty strict design and engineering rules here and most mods need to be signed off by an authorised person. Generally no vertical welds are accepted and most guys will put them at a 45 degree angle and use the bits from another chassis as it's similar in design size and material spec. On the photo below the outside is cut at 45 dgrees on e way and the inside portion is cut the other way so to eliminate an overlap situation.

I will be doing the same sort of extension for my quad cab thing I'm doing as 120" wheelbase is a bit small for the internals of the cabin so heading towards 130".

Here's a picture of one currently being worked on by a well known 40 series guy here in Melbourne. He has been working on 40 series cruisers for years and is doing a dual cab for a customer running LS1 with Nissan Patrol diffs underneath and gearbox/transfer. He has an extra 400mm in the frame

 

[Vossie]

double cab 45? now that's a cool idea