Builds building a landcruiser for overland expedition (2 Viewers)

[hawkeye]

Very cool, This is the fun part for me.

 

[Ceallach]

Amazing thread, just read all the way through it...


Inspirational!

 

[rideglobally]

pop top canvas installed

Surf City custom upholstery is installing the canvas for the pop top. we are very excited about it and want to share the progress. it is not yet done, we will share photo of the finish product later. the canvas is made from the top grade sunbrella canvas use on boat.

Here is Surf City's contact information if you want to reach them.
Phone: 714 892 8117 ask for Marcy
Email: marcezmatz@aol.com
they are located in Huntington Beach, CA

enjoy pictures below.

on another note, we are taking Nulla for a ride beginning this saturday that will take us to Tecopa Hot Springs, CA to St George, UT to Kanab, UT, to Cortez, CO to Durango, CO to Montrose, CO to Leadville, CO to Silverthorne, CO to Walden, CO to Cheyenne, WY to Kyle, SD.

it will be a great test ride for the Nulla and the newly installed canvas

 

[hawkeye]

That looks good! how are you attaching it to the out side of the camper?

 

[surf city custom uph]

marine fasteners-machine screws lift-dot studs, lift-dot sockets with back plate

 

[tourboy]

Now all you have to do is cut the cab in half and widen it to fill in the side steps and to be as wide as the camper. Less drag and better Mpg....lol

 

[rideglobally]

long pit stop

our turbo went out so we been on a long pit stop in las vegas. here is the link if you want to see our adventure in hell https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tec...-help-need-real-time-help-engine-surging.html

the good news is that we maybe on out way out.

here is a picture of Nulla on an ambulance.

on the new canvas, it did great on the first nite, we camped out just outside of death valley, california. high winds and it did great. pictures on the canvas to follow.

 

[rideglobally]

made it back

after the long pit stop we got to our destination and back no problem. the new canvas pop up worked out great. it with stood high winds (don't know mph). we are now taking it back to Surf City Canvas for minor detail fixes. the pop top took 18 min to put up and 18 min to take down.

we will now begin the inside design.

we cross the continental divide 4 time one at 11,000 ft with no problem but slow 15 mph.

some pictures

 

[tlc81]

wind resistance.

Im thinking some angled sheet metal from the cab to the box will definetly reduce drag and wind noise at highway speeds. You light loose the corner glass but may be better fuel economy also
Thats a lot of work you have put into that beast!
Well done.

 

[Christian]

Hi

I love your build, but would like to ask you how the air springs are doing? are you satisfied?

The reason is that I want to install them on the front axle of our Volvo 6x6 with 1KZ-T engine and your real world experience would be great!

Thanks,
Christian

 

[Ozdunc]

Awesome build mate. Some great ideas. Really impressed.
Cheers

 

[rideglobally]

my experience with the air springs has been great, specifically, dramatically reduced swaying, totally eliminated sagging, i like the fact that i can raise the rear of my cruiser when needed like clearance angle for example. it did made my ride bouncy, i will deal with that issue later. my cruiser has 11 leaf spring on each side in the rear i am thinking of removing 2 of them, the second one from the top and the middle. i will start with that and see what happen. that will not cost any money. then maybe look into shocks, currently i have bistein shocks i think these are very good shocks.

remember my cruiser weigh about 7,000 pounds.

Hi

I love your build, but would like to ask you how the air springs are doing? are you satisfied?

The reason is that I want to install them on the front axle of our Volvo 6x6 with 1KZ-T engine and your real world experience would be great!

Thanks,
Christian

when i spoke about the wind i was referring to the strength of the canvas and the pop top construction, i was very surprise on how it handled the "strong" winds. thanks for your comment.

Im thinking some angled sheet metal from the cab to the box will definetly reduce drag and wind noise at highway speeds. You light loose the corner glass but may be better fuel economy also
Thats a lot of work you have put into that beast!
Well done.

Thanks, it is mostly homemade so it is really taking me sometime to finish it, not to mention i have to go to work. on the bright side, some says that project like these are never finished however, i do plan to finish it someday. i am having fun building and designing it, so i will just accept this stage as part of the ride and of course all the great comment from you all helps

Awesome build mate. Some great ideas. Really impressed.
Cheers

 

[Christian]

my experience with the air springs has been great, specifically, dramatically reduced swaying, totally eliminated sagging, i like the fact that i can raise the rear of my cruiser when needed like clearance angle for example. it did made my ride bouncy, i will deal with that issue later. my cruiser has 11 leaf spring on each side in the rear i am thinking of removing 2 of them, the second one from the top and the middle. i will start with that and see what happen. that will not cost any money. then maybe look into shocks, currently i have bistein shocks i think these are very good shocks.

remember my cruiser weigh about 7,000 pounds.

Thanks alot for the reply!
From what I have read the bounciness is a shock issue, but you probably know that. The Bilsteins may need more dampening to counter the low friction in the air springs.
But overall good to hear that you are satisfied.

 

[rideglobally]

let me know if you find a shock that will best match the air spring. Rancho 9000 series has been suggested to me but not sure if there is a big difference between a rancho and a bilstein. i am not in a big rush to make this change if you find something let me know. thanks

Thanks alot for the reply!
From what I have read the bounciness is a shock issue, but you probably know that. The Bilsteins may need more dampening to counter the low friction in the air springs.
But overall good to hear that you are satisfied.

 

[Ozdunc]

In Oz we've not had a lot of luck with Ranchos for expedition type use. The design doesn't seem to cope with corrugations, overheating and fading. Bilstein are considered by far superior.
I think its do to with Bilsteins being a monotubed shock being able to disappate the heat more quickly and prevent the oil overheating.

Ranchos seem to be better as a rock crawling long travel shock.

You can have your Bilsteins rebuilt with valving more appropriate for your truck, I think that would be the best way of going about it.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

This truck is awesome

 

[valeriano]

Hi,

I've got a "simple" question about this TLC.
Here in Brazil, we have the Toyota Bandeirante (almost the same as the BJ40 and BJ45), which has 4 different sizes and shapes. By the reply of this thread, I've seen that the TLC BJ45 is a little shorter then our pickup single cab (140mm shorter), but the wheelbase is the same (2950mm).

Here you can see the sizes we have in Brazil:

I wonder how long is the pickup double cab and if it is the same length of our double cab. Could you measure it for me?

 

[valeriano]

By the way, nice truck.
I like the gas tank solution.

 

[rideglobally]

nullacruiser dimension

it is 19 feet bumper to bumper and the wheelbase is 11 foot. i widen the axel 14 inches from OEM.

my cruiser was modified in Australia for mining use, it was lengthen. so it may not answer the question that you are trying to figure out. sorry i do not know how to do the drawing.

Hi,

I've got a "simple" question about this TLC.
Here in Brazil, we have the Toyota Bandeirante (almost the same as the BJ40 and BJ45), which has 4 different sizes and shapes. By the reply of this thread, I've seen that the TLC BJ45 is a little shorter then our pickup single cab (140mm shorter), but the wheelbase is the same (2950mm).


I wonder how long is the pickup double cab and if it is the same length of our double cab. Could you measure it for me?

 

[rideglobally]

front sway bars

custom off road fabrication 323 568 6835 just got done installing front and rear sway bars and a front pan hard bars. here is a picture of the front sway bars, other pictures to follow. i got the two sway bars and the panhard bars for 100 dollars at a junkyard, enjoy