Builds "The Cucumber" build. Ultimate 80-series. 1HD-FT, H152F (world's first), PTO. Titanium and carbon fiber galore. (2 Viewers)

[TurboDennis]

We decided to go a different route with the suspension. John said he wants to be able to go do something bouncing in this truck on Friday nights so we are installing hydraulics and air bags.

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Cheers

I think you meant to post that in the other thread. Too many 1HD-H152 builds going on!

 

[SNLC]

I think you meant to post that in the other thread. Too many 1HD-H152 builds going on!

Haha yup, kind of a lot going on, it’s gone.

Cheers

 

[jaymar]

Seat coolers are awesome. They work great, and provide a sweaty ass relief much faster than it takes for the A/C to cool the truck down after it's been parked in the sun for a while. Installation was not difficult at all. Just tedious and time consuming.


Interesting. I could not find that combination in the parts catalogs. I'll need to have another look.
Most of the sprigs for the 80 series are NLA. I found a set of NOS front ones in a random warehouse in Europe.
PTO+Turbo diesel springs are different (heavier) than the the electric winch+TD ones.



Here are my thoughts on weight..
Most people here tend to think that trying to keep the weight down on a truck is a waste of time/money, but I've followed and spoke to a lot of people that do REAL "overlanding" (hate that term) with the 80 and pretty much all of them agree that extra weight sucks big time. It might not be a big deal if you just use your truck for an occasional wheeling trip, but when you're travelling for months into remote areas and third world countries, weight makes a HUGE difference.
Extra weight makes the truck handle like crap. It severely reduces braking performance (ever heard on this forum how "80 series brakes are under-powered" ? Well, they arent - they are only under-powered for an overloaded rig). It significantly increases fuel consumption. It increases wear on suspension and drivetrain tremendously. It decreases off-road performance and increases the chance of breaking things. I could go on..

Every 80 that I've owned before has been "overweight". Since my main goal with the truck is ultimate reliability/dependability, i will attempt to keep the weight down to absolute minimum and use ultra-light materials whenever possible, without sacrificing function.

As far as metal choice for armor (bumpers/sliders/skids).. Let's look at some metals/alloys that are out there, and their specific strength (tensile strength to density (weight) ratio) :

1) Mild steel. This is what most of the armor is built from. Density 7.9 g/cm^3. Tensile strength 440 MPa. Specific strength 55
2) 6061-T6 Aluminum. Far less common, but popular in some parts of the world for vehicle armor. Density 2.7 , Tensile strength ~300, Specific strength 115
3) 7075-T6 Aluminum. This material is great for some things, but it has one huge drawback for armor - it's absolutely not weldable. It can still be used for some things where welding is not required. Density 2.8 , Tensile strength 570 , Specific strength 204.
4) Grade 5 titanium. This material is readily weldable (although requires special techniques). Density 4.7 , Tensile strength 1150. Specific strength 245

As you can see, Gr5 Ti is BY FAR the best choice in terms of material properties. Its' strength to weight ratio is nearly 5 times higher than mild steel. In simple terms, this means that you can make armor from it that is just as strong as steel, but at nearly 1/5 of the weight. This would add up to HUGE weight savings when we're talking both bumpers, sliders and possibly skids. Literally hundreds of pounds... It also has higher yield strength than steel, and completely corrosion-proof (in automotive environment). The only major downside is material cost..
However, considering that i will be fabricating it myself, i expect the final cost to be in line with what premium steel bumpers sell for.


For sleeping platform/drawers, same concepts apply. Frame from either 7075 Al or Gr5 Ti, and panels from Carbon Fiber (which has incredibly high strength to weight and stiffness to weight ratios. Many times higher than materials that are typically used for these types of things such as plywood). I even found a company that has a huge selection of specialized drawer slides. They can make slides from 7075 aluminum that will weigh 1/3 of regular steel slides with the same load rating. And they are actually surprisingly affordable. Sliding Systems - Heavy duty drawer slides, telescopic slides, drawer runners, rails,

Many thanks for the tech specs. I suppose the 80 is already heavy enough that lighter armor wouldn't make a significant mass diff in a vehicle-on-vehicle impact (a serious concern when DD in these parts). Will your T5 be heat treated?

Lot of lightweight items made for the private aircraft market as well, though not sure how much of that translates. I am sure it's all expensive.

What about security concerns for cargo box(es)?

Love the out-of-the-box thinking; can you keep us informed as you go?

 

[JMR]

Great Build. Congrats on your hard work.

 

[SOAZtim]

Seat coolers are awesome. They work great, and provide a sweaty ass relief much faster than it takes for the A/C to cool the truck down after it's been parked in the sun for a while. Installation was not difficult at all. Just tedious and time consuming.


Interesting. I could not find that combination in the parts catalogs. I'll need to have another look.
Most of the sprigs for the 80 series are NLA. I found a set of NOS front ones in a random warehouse in Europe.
PTO+Turbo diesel springs are different (heavier) than the the electric winch+TD ones.



Here are my thoughts on weight..
Most people here tend to think that trying to keep the weight down on a truck is a waste of time/money, but I've followed and spoke to a lot of people that do REAL "overlanding" (hate that term) with the 80 and pretty much all of them agree that extra weight sucks big time. It might not be a big deal if you just use your truck for an occasional wheeling trip, but when you're travelling for months into remote areas and third world countries, weight makes a HUGE difference.
Extra weight makes the truck handle like crap. It severely reduces braking performance (ever heard on this forum how "80 series brakes are under-powered" ? Well, they arent - they are only under-powered for an overloaded rig). It significantly increases fuel consumption. It increases wear on suspension and drivetrain tremendously. It decreases off-road performance and increases the chance of breaking things. I could go on..

We spent the last couple years living in our 80 driving up to Canada and then to the tip of South America. Weight sucks. The constant stop and go (We never got a chance to even consider using Cruise Control until Argentina had a few straight highways) makes you feel bad for the drivetrain and brakes. It seems like you are never on the throttle for more than a few seconds before a car sized sinkhole, speed bumps, or oncoming traffic in your lane and that's just the paved bits.
Our truck was always "light" for an 80 series before the trip, but once you turn it into your home weight creeps in all over the place and a lot of it isn't the kind you can easily get rid of so having less in the original build is nice. Much of our weight is water and fuel (Built an Aux tank) so less weight in other bits is key.
I could go on about the effects we felt and saw as we traveled that had to do with weight, but preaching to the choir.

Okay, back to the 80 series porn. Great truck! We'd like to do something similar, but the hours... oh the hours you worked.

 

[TurboDennis]

We spent the last couple years living in our 80 driving up to Canada and then to the tip of South America. Weight sucks. The constant stop and go (We never got a chance to even consider using Cruise Control until Argentina had a few straight highways) makes you feel bad for the drivetrain and brakes. It seems like you are never on the throttle for more than a few seconds before a car sized sinkhole, speed bumps, or oncoming traffic in your lane and that's just the paved bits.
Our truck was always "light" for an 80 series before the trip, but once you turn it into your home weight creeps in all over the place and a lot of it isn't the kind you can easily get rid of so having less in the original build is nice. Much of our weight is water and fuel (Built an Aux tank) so less weight in other bits is key.
I could go on about the effects we felt and saw as we traveled that had to do with weight, but preaching to the choir.

Okay, back to the 80 series porn. Great truck! We'd like to do something similar, but the hours... oh the hours you worked.

I've followed your adventures on YouTube. Watched all your videos and bought you tacos
Your channel is an inspiration for me and my wife to embark on a similar trip someday!

Im really excited to see how much weight i can save by using advanced materials for the armor and the sleeping/kitchen/storage arrangements. As soon as i finish the other HDJ81 LHD conversion that im working on right now, i will begin designing those things. And i still need to finish installing the PTO winch and the factory sub tank.

And yeah, this truck has taken a ridiculous amount of time to build, but that's mostly because im a little crazy when it comes to the small details. You could cut a few corners and build a very similar truck that will function almost exactly the same a lot faster - 1HD is a very easy swap into an 80.

 

[timchen]

love to see your 80 is finally put to use! I don't know if you sill remember me but I brought a rear hub from you last winter and you hook me up with Justin for the rear axle so I can get my ass back to Florida. Congrats on the build bud! Cheers

 

[kw90surf]

Im still torn on which direction i want to take with this truck. Part of me wants to keep it as original as possible, but i also wanted to pursue my dream of driving the thing to Argentina with my wife and daughter. I'm leaning towards modifying it for that purpose - building it into a long distance touring rig with an emphasis on reliability and weight. So grade 5 titanium armor, and a custom drawer/sleeping platform made from ultra light materials (such as carbon fiber, aluminum honeycomb, and a combination of 7075 aluminum, Gr5 Titanium) is probably a go. The plan is to have a fully outfitted "overland" truck with no extra weight compared to what this truck weighted originally in my configuration (1HD, winch, sub tank).

Meanwhile this is another project i picked up recently. 1995 HDJ81 that im converting to LHD. Should be done in a few weeks. Will post a separate build thread on this later.
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And this is what a driveway of an 80-series lover should look like
12.6 liters of turbo-diesel goodness.


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It was you who bought this truck! Lol. I was going to buy it but slept on the decision for a night, and when I messaged the seller the next day he already had a deposit on it. Looks like it went to a good home.

Just read the whole thread, awesome truck! Can't imagine any other way it could be closer to factory. Are you an engineer perhaps?

 

[SOAZtim]

I've followed your adventures on YouTube. Watched all your videos and bought you tacos
Your channel is an inspiration for me and my wife to embark on a similar trip someday!

Im really excited to see how much weight i can save by using advanced materials for the armor and the sleeping/kitchen/storage arrangements. As soon as i finish the other HDJ81 LHD conversion that im working on right now, i will begin designing those things. And i still need to finish installing the PTO winch and the factory sub tank.

And yeah, this truck has taken a ridiculous amount of time to build, but that's mostly because im a little crazy when it comes to the small details. You could cut a few corners and build a very similar truck that will function almost exactly the same a lot faster - 1HD is a very easy swap into an 80.

Thanks! Cheers, we just spent a week camping in the 40 and now it's back to editing videos. We have hundreds of hours left before we're caught up, but enjoying reliving the last part of the trip as we go.
At some point we may consider a swap, but at the moment we're trying to figure out where on Earth will open first and doing as many side jobs as possible to save for the next leg.

Keep up the impressive work, at least you wont have to worry about not knowing your truck well as you travel! Feel free to shoot me an email if there is anything we could answer to help as you get closer to your trip.
Tim

 

[MinorESalas]

Great effort, research and knowledge. The good thing about all the time invested is that the work has kept you away from the existential concerns of tedium vitae. I tried, with differences in resources, something similar in Costa Rica. The work was easier thanks to having some HDJ80s donors from Japan. My respects for you, Sir!

 

[PurpleFJ62]

Thank you for all the info on the tachs! It was exactly what I was looking for. Now just to find an early style 1HD tach.

Keep up the good work and have fun with your build!

 

[jaymar]

Any updates on those exotic materials, @TurboDennis?

 

[TurboDennis]

Totally forgot about this thread! Was pretty busy working on other projects but i did manage to get quite a bit of work done to the truck over the spring/summer. Will post some updates in the coming days as soon as i go through the picture library.

Finally got the opportunity to some some long-distance adventuring with the truck this summer. Installed a hard-shell aluminum RTT (roofnest falcon). Fabricated custom, direct mounts for it (same idea as the GFC mounts), but better designed and made entirely out of 316 stainless. This allows the tent to sit super low (about 1/2" clearance between the bottom of the tent and the roof). Supposed to result in less noise, better fuel economy and lower center of gravity.

In preparation for the 3500km trip, i did a complete fuel system overhaul. Fully rebuilt pump and injectors (was gonna buy new injectors, but they're NLA). All new lines, foam insulators and a bunch of random small things. Deleted the ACSD while i was at it.

Got the same 10.5L/100km (22.5 mpg) on average during the trip that i was getting earlier. I figured i got an improvement in fuel economy from the fuel system maintenance, but it took a hit from the addition of RTT/awning, resulting in pretty much zero net change. Pretty happy with that.

Any updates on those exotic materials, @TurboDennis?

Sorry, missed this post earlier somehow. Yes, there are some updates but nothing too exciting yet. Im definitely going ahead with titanium armor. I won't be able to source the material from my buddy in Europe like i was hoping earlier, so I'll have to purchase the materials through official channels.

The front bumper prototype is ready. Made from steel for now. This is the final design that i will be fabricating from 6-4 (Gr5) Titanium. I will be purchasing the materials soon. Hoping to finish it over the winter. I will be working on the titanium rock sliders at the same time.

 

[FMC80]

The rig looks great. The bumper looks great. Are you going to offer a version with grill guard? And will it ship whole or need to weld it? I like the teq touch!

 

[Wrencher93]

Totally forgot about this thread! Was pretty busy working on other projects but i did manage to get quite a bit of work done to the truck over the spring/summer. Will post some updates in the coming days as soon as i go through the picture library.

Finally got the opportunity to some some long-distance adventuring with the truck this summer. Installed a hard-shell aluminum RTT (roofnest falcon). Fabricated custom, direct mounts for it (same idea as the GFC mounts), but better designed and made entirely out of 316 stainless. This allows the tent to sit super low (about 1/2" clearance between the bottom of the tent and the roof). Supposed to result in less noise, better fuel economy and lower center of gravity.

View attachment 2807133


In preparation for the 3500km trip, i did a complete fuel system overhaul. Fully rebuilt pump and injectors (was gonna buy new injectors, but they're NLA). All new lines, foam insulators and a bunch of random small things. Deleted the ACSD while i was at it.
View attachment 2807136
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Got the same 10.5L/100km (22.5 mpg) on average during the trip that i was getting earlier. I figured i got an improvement in fuel economy from the fuel system maintenance, but it took a hit from the addition of RTT/awning, resulting in pretty much zero net change. Pretty happy with that.




Sorry, missed this post earlier somehow. Yes, there are some updates but nothing too exciting yet. Im definitely going ahead with titanium armor. I won't be able to source the material from my buddy in Europe like i was hoping earlier, so I'll have to purchase the materials through official channels.

The front bumper prototype is ready. Made from steel for now. This is the final design that i will be fabricating from 6-4 (Gr5) Titanium. I will be purchasing the materials soon. Hoping to finish it over the winter. I will be working on the titanium rock sliders at the same time.View attachment 2807151

Titanium bumpers and sliders!? Where have you been? I've thought several times that this would be an awesome (albeit expensive) option. Please keep us updated and more power to you, man!

 

[TurboDennis]

The rig looks great. The bumper looks great. Are you going to offer a version with grill guard? And will it ship while or need to weld it? I like the teq touch!

Thanks for the kind words!

Maybe in the future sometime. But no promises. I had a run of these bumpers made based on the prototype, without grill guard (i did try a grill guard, but i thought it looked much cleaner without one). Available now, ready to bolt on, here

Titanium bumpers and sliders!? Where have you been? I've thought several times that this would be an awesome (albeit expensive) option. Please keep us updated and more power to you, man!

After doing a lot of research on various materials, im very surprised that some established fabrication shop somewhere didn't start offering vehicle armor from Gr5 titanium. Yes, its expensive, and hard to work with, but im sure there would be a market (albeit small) for such a product. This material is just TOO GOOD to ignore. Who wouldn't want the protection of steel at 1/4 of the weight?

 

[utahisrad]

Finally got the opportunity to some some long-distance adventuring with the truck this summer. Installed a hard-shell aluminum RTT (roofnest falcon). Fabricated custom, direct mounts for it (same idea as the GFC mounts), but better designed and made entirely out of 316 stainless. This allows the tent to sit super low (about 1/2" clearance between the bottom of the tent and the roof). Supposed to result in less noise, better fuel economy and lower center of gravity.

Duuuude... can you make me some of these please?

 

[MooseMichaels]

Just found this thread and sub’d for updates. Incredible thought and attention to detail!

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Totally forgot about this thread! Was pretty busy working on other projects but i did manage to get quite a bit of work done to the truck over the spring/summer. Will post some updates in the coming days as soon as i go through the picture library.

Finally got the opportunity to some some long-distance adventuring with the truck this summer. Installed a hard-shell aluminum RTT (roofnest falcon). Fabricated custom, direct mounts for it (same idea as the GFC mounts), but better designed and made entirely out of 316 stainless. This allows the tent to sit super low (about 1/2" clearance between the bottom of the tent and the roof). Supposed to result in less noise, better fuel economy and lower center of gravity.

View attachment 2807133
View attachment 2807207


In preparation for the 3500km trip, i did a complete fuel system overhaul. Fully rebuilt pump and injectors (was gonna buy new injectors, but they're NLA). All new lines, foam insulators and a bunch of random small things. Deleted the ACSD while i was at it.
View attachment 2807136
View attachment 2807137

Got the same 10.5L/100km (22.5 mpg) on average during the trip that i was getting earlier. I figured i got an improvement in fuel economy from the fuel system maintenance, but it took a hit from the addition of RTT/awning, resulting in pretty much zero net change. Pretty happy with that.




Sorry, missed this post earlier somehow. Yes, there are some updates but nothing too exciting yet. Im definitely going ahead with titanium armor. I won't be able to source the material from my buddy in Europe like i was hoping earlier, so I'll have to purchase the materials through official channels.

The front bumper prototype is ready. Made from steel for now. This is the final design that i will be fabricating from 6-4 (Gr5) Titanium. I will be purchasing the materials soon. Hoping to finish it over the winter. I will be working on the titanium rock sliders at the same time.View attachment 2807151

Are you offering this bumper? In steel?
Thanks
Tommy

 

[TurboDennis]

Duuuude... can you make me some of these please?

It's way too time consuming to make these without CNC cutting/bending, and there wouldn't be enough demand to go that route. Each one is tailored/hand fitted to the to the curvature and the width of the roof in that specific location for a perfect fit.

Just found this thread and sub’d for updates. Incredible thought and attention to detail!

Thank you! I keep forgetting to post updates. Tons of pictures to sort through. Will try to update later this week.

Are you offering this bumper? In steel?
Thanks
Tommy

Yes, here:

For Sale - New design, plate winch bumpers for 80 series - CLEAROUT

2024 special : Looking to clear out the few remaining pieces i have in stock to make room for new batch. $1150 SHIPPED to lower 48/Canada per bumper. Brand new. Specifically designed for the 80-series. Not a generic design such as ARB that is just modified to fit. Head light/grille loops not...

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