Its complicated....my oddball earth cruiser

[expeditionnw]

Awhile back, we built a vehicle to travel in.

We started with a clapped out 1997 land rover (we liked the color).

Our focus was comfort, economy, spacious interior, and reliability. Needless to say, we removed virtually everything.

We installed a 2.5 liter rover diesel, a 5 speed manual transmission, FZJ80 axles loaded with arbs, and 33" tires.

Fresh out of the shop

The truck has taken us to some pretty neat places.


Christina lake, Wyoming

Mt Adams, Wa

EN route to Inuvik, NWT

Knik Glacier, AK

Death valley, Ca

Alvord desert, OR - the back way.

Everything but the kitchen sink

Weve spent 40-60 nights a year on average camping out of this truck. And it shows. The body is all but falling off of it. We thought about putting everything into a new rover, but between dog and the two of us, it gets pretty small after a few weeks in rainy weather.

So we decided to build a better travel rig. this time, the scale is sliding towards less capability, but more room and more easily serviceable in the western hemisphere ie. less imported parts.

But thats another subject entirely...

This thread will chronicle what to do with the old landy. Ive considered selling it, but I cant bear the thought. Its such a good little truck! On the other hand, climbing in thru the back because the front doors wont open is getting tiring

So what IS good about the landy?

100" wheelbase
capable offroad
reliable powertrain
rock solid axles
full coil suspension
about 50-1 crawl ratio
economical
fully boxed frame
fun to drive
cruises comfortably on hwy

Seems to me like it just needs a solid body to match!

Since the van is taking over extended travel duty, There is now a need for a local trail machine.

Now, what kind of body would be sweet with 100"WB, coil suspension, 80 series axles, and a turbo diesel under its hood?

Also, if there is a better place for such a thread, maybe the mods can move

 

[rc51kid]

Fj55?

 

[Hiace4wd]

A FJ43/BJ43 body is slightly shorter wheelbase (2 inch) but that maybe won't matter, because of the front fenders you have the space.
However, that is quite a rough oldskool body, much less comfortable.
Perhaps you could look at a HZJ/BJ73 body? Supposedly has 102" wheelbase.
Anyway, these Middel Wheel Base (MWB) cruisers are probably very rare in North America (although, as a European, I have no idea what your location PDX means )

The 4x4 converted Ford (and Chevy?) vans are very lovely. You almost never see them here. I can't remember seeing one here, only one as a messy project for sale. This one is done by Quigley? Or Sportsmobile?
I'm wondering how much such a thing costs, since you have a bit older model.

I have a Toyota Hi-ace 4x4 van (this van was not sold in the US, only some in Canada) and it is great to have a lot of comfort, and still get to go anywhere. Well, of course it is not as good as a modified 4x4. But it has parttime 4x4 and low-gearing, and I raised the ground clearance. At this beach drive event everybody is always surprised what the van can do.
Ours has a high roof with 6 feet of standing room inside.
How long and high is your compartment behind seats?

 

[White Stripe]

Fj43 x 2. Look up aqualu, they have aluminum fj43 bodies, just find a trashed fj40 with a good front clip and firewall section, they put the 3/4 tub fj43 body on and your set.

 

[Reiti]

HDJ80,
Everything, except of the wheelbase. May be a reason to sell the van.




Something exotic for the USA: Nissan Patrol GQ or GU with the short wheelbase. Axle and gearbox stronger than the Toyota 80 items. 4.2 l diesel, factory turbo just in late models. Seldom.

 

[canman]

Very nice Rover/ setup. That would be the dream vehicle for a former off-roader I knew. I would just slap another Rover body on it as they are plentiful. The 100" WB is kinda short for a "normal" four door vehicle. If your looking at old school, I like the early Jeep styling offerings. Early Jeepster Commando had a 101" WB, but it grew to 104" in 1972. Then there is the Jeep Willys and the Jeep FC150, but those are very different WBs (118" and 82" respectively). Good luck!

 

[expeditionnw]

thanks for all the input guys, Ive never even heard of a FJ43. I am really hankering for a little pickup. I toyed with the idea of a small willys truck, but they really arent very well made. As it happens, I ran across a fellow who has a 1980s HJ45 tub. Ive worked a deal on it, and hope to get it home soon! Its basically the sheetmetal only. i will need to convert to LHD, and build an interior for it. I know nothing about these trucks, so it will be a learning curve. One major bonus is next to no rust on the thing

 

[expeditionnw]

A FJ43/BJ43 body is slightly shorter wheelbase (2 inch) but that maybe won't matter, because of the front fenders you have the space.
However, that is quite a rough oldskool body, much less comfortable.
Perhaps you could look at a HZJ/BJ73 body? Supposedly has 102" wheelbase.
Anyway, these Middel Wheel Base (MWB) cruisers are probably very rare in North America (although, as a European, I have no idea what your location PDX means )

Im hoping to build the 45 tub into something remotely comfortable. the big thing for me is soundproofing and airconditioning. My thoughts exactly on the fenders, should be able to clear a 37" tire without anymore lift. I plan to build a custom bed, so wheelbase differences shouldnt matter too much.

The 4x4 converted Ford (and Chevy?) vans are very lovely. You almost never see them here. I can't remember seeing one here, only one as a messy project for sale. This one is done by Quigley? Or Sportsmobile?
I'm wondering how much such a thing costs, since you have a bit older model.

I converted this in my own shop, using a few Ujoint pieces and a few of my own. I hope to be out for less than $40K with a poptop roof and camper interior. Not impressed with quigley/SMB. not really impressed with Ujoint either, but Ive learned enough I will just build the whole kit the next go-round.

I have a Toyota Hi-ace 4x4 van (this van was not sold in the US, only some in Canada) and it is great to have a lot of comfort, and still get to go anywhere. Well, of course it is not as good as a modified 4x4. But it has parttime 4x4 and low-gearing, and I raised the ground clearance. At this beach drive event everybody is always surprised what the van can do.
Ours has a high roof with 6 feet of standing room inside.

Those Hiaces are awesome. We actually looked into a mitsu Delica too, but decided against them for the serviceability stateside. exotic is cool until you are stuck on the side of the hwy in the yukon, needing parts that are on a different continent.

How long and high is your compartment behind seats?

The bulk of it is 33" deep, 11" high. the RH side runs another 18" forward. this gives us a spot below the bed on the LH side for the dog nest.

 

[Hiace4wd]

Well we did a huge roadtrip (50.000km through Asia) in a BJ45, so yes, soundproofing is an issue
I think you need to take care of both sides of the metal.

There is also the issue that the construction of the front window and front doors isn't that great. It works and it is easy to fold it down and turn it into a convertible. But the downside is that after aging and use, it never really closes that nicely. So you can hear the wind while driving.

Also you shouldn't put any roofrack on the roof where the front window and front doors are. Only on the back where it is straight, otherwise you will (slowly) destroy the front part. Unless of course you made some kind of tubing connected to the chassis.

Just for inspiration, we travelled like this on a 45 with a rooftent, and still no weight on the front part of the roof. (which was the case for the old roofrack when we got it, and we removed that)

But the 45 is actually like 120" wheelbase I think, so it is 20" longer.


About the compartment dimensions, that was a question about your van

 

[expeditionnw]

Ahh, my mistake we have approximatly 9.5 feet behind the seats. The van headroom is 57" i beleive, and 73" wide at its widest part.

 

[Hiace4wd]

Ok thats very similar to our back of the van, same dimensions, if you exchange width with height

I like the big sportsmobiles though, when you have 4 meters in the back and huge tyres giving you half a meter of ground clearence.

 

[expeditionnw]

yes, we are certainly looking forward to the extra room!