I will be buying a RHD HJ47 troopy carrier soon and have big long term plans.
My overall goal: Expedition rig to do the pan American highway before I’m 35. I got 9 years. I’m based in the US.
I’m trying to create my plan for what I want in regards of drivetrain setup and advice on long term plans. It might be a bit technical but I am currently out fighting a wild-land fire in Montana, and our crew has down time today cuz it’s snowing so it has me thinking and brainstorming to pass time.
Short term: I plan to freshen up the 2H, turbo it and drop an h55f in it, and enjoy it over the next few years as is. To just enjoy weekend trips, etc. doing this on a budget but will spend where it makes sense for long term goals.
Long term: Need advice on the matter. To get this out of the way first. I have the space, knowledge and skill set to do just about anything to the rig. I’ve done custom conversions before and have the equipment to do everything myself. So here we go, thanks to anyone that is willing to give advice or personal opinion on what they’d do. I welcome any ideas!
The pan American highway goes through a few countries that don’t allow RHD at all. So it’s either I plan to convert the HJ to LHD from the start of my ownership and make sure any short term projects I do on it, align with making it LHD. Drivetrain choice, etc….So I don’t have to spend $$$ twice in an area if you get what im putting down. (Power steering, transmission, air con, etc)
OR would you hold out in hopes to buy another troopy that is LHD before you did this trip? I’d hate to chop up an original HJ to make it LHD, but I feel finding these rigs in the states are not easy, and not cheap. Importing a LHD from Saudi for 50k+ unrestored, doesn’t seem realistic so I’m not going to bank on that.
Any thoughts are welcome! Love just talking builds and ideas on what to do! Or anything I should consider, be thinking about for this long term build
other questions:
- Do I buy a h55f off my buddy, that he believes has 150k on it but has the wrong input shaft for a 2H. I’d need to buy the coarse spline shaft. I can get that as is for $1.8-2k. Down the line, pay to have it rebuilt for the pan-am highway.
- Do I buy a brand new unit for $5k + from the start? Is brand new OEM good quality compared to a h55f pulled out of an old Bj? Older things tend to be better quality.
-Will the same h55f work in the RHD configuration and LHD? In regards to fitment, shifting, linkage, etc….
My overall goal: Expedition rig to do the pan American highway before I’m 35. I got 9 years. I’m based in the US.
I’m trying to create my plan for what I want in regards of drivetrain setup and advice on long term plans. It might be a bit technical but I am currently out fighting a wild-land fire in Montana, and our crew has down time today cuz it’s snowing so it has me thinking and brainstorming to pass time.
Short term: I plan to freshen up the 2H, turbo it and drop an h55f in it, and enjoy it over the next few years as is. To just enjoy weekend trips, etc. doing this on a budget but will spend where it makes sense for long term goals.
Long term: Need advice on the matter. To get this out of the way first. I have the space, knowledge and skill set to do just about anything to the rig. I’ve done custom conversions before and have the equipment to do everything myself. So here we go, thanks to anyone that is willing to give advice or personal opinion on what they’d do. I welcome any ideas!
The pan American highway goes through a few countries that don’t allow RHD at all. So it’s either I plan to convert the HJ to LHD from the start of my ownership and make sure any short term projects I do on it, align with making it LHD. Drivetrain choice, etc….So I don’t have to spend $$$ twice in an area if you get what im putting down. (Power steering, transmission, air con, etc)
OR would you hold out in hopes to buy another troopy that is LHD before you did this trip? I’d hate to chop up an original HJ to make it LHD, but I feel finding these rigs in the states are not easy, and not cheap. Importing a LHD from Saudi for 50k+ unrestored, doesn’t seem realistic so I’m not going to bank on that.
Any thoughts are welcome! Love just talking builds and ideas on what to do! Or anything I should consider, be thinking about for this long term build
other questions:
- Do I buy a h55f off my buddy, that he believes has 150k on it but has the wrong input shaft for a 2H. I’d need to buy the coarse spline shaft. I can get that as is for $1.8-2k. Down the line, pay to have it rebuilt for the pan-am highway.
- Do I buy a brand new unit for $5k + from the start? Is brand new OEM good quality compared to a h55f pulled out of an old Bj? Older things tend to be better quality.
-Will the same h55f work in the RHD configuration and LHD? In regards to fitment, shifting, linkage, etc….
