Travelling Cruisers (1 Viewer)

[soenke]

You are right Alan, the more original and the more simple you keep the car, the easier will be maintenance on tour. But the off-road ability wouldn´t be so good...
For that reason our old BJ45 with wich we toured Afrika for 9 months was almost untouched.

But now we are travelling for shorter periods of time, just the holidays about 4-5 weeks and Northafrika is not the aim anymore because of political instability.

Still you have a point, and that was the reason for us to leave the technic of the HDJ 80 original, excluding only radiator and Diffs, but these are all Toyota parts. The starter, alternator and powerstearing is HDJ and HZJ 80/100 third world specifikation.
The Diesel 1HD-T (12V) is less resistend to bad fuel then the 1HZ, but it has a lot more power and better fuel economy and so we get a better range out of our fuelreservoir. And it is still less complicated then the 1HD-FT (up from 1994 with 24V and more electronic).

The only thing, wich is not third world proven is the hydaulic system and the 325/80. And the electic is not bullet prove installed yet...(the thing will be under construction for quite some more time)
On a long travell we might put 255/100 on again, otherwise the Michelin is just 1 cm smaller and will do as a emergancy spare in any case....

 

[soenke]

@ Hangtowncruzr, -B-,

its true, the wheelbase of a J40/42 would be much to short for a cabine. Even with the J80 we have been thinking about extending the frame for ~20cm. Didn´t do it though because the negativ aspects overweighted for us...
The body is from a 1979 HJ47 pick up, looks like a FJ45 but was with the old 6zyl. Diesel

 

[Bogo]

Thats sweet! Maybe i could do that with my mini... hmm..!!!

I had been thinking of similar for my '94 mini truck. I've been debating shell options and decided not to do a hard shell popup like theirs. Wanting to open up the cab to the back effectively killed the style they are using. Instead I'm making my sides so they open up fully. From just above the wheel wells to near the top the whole side will open up like a gull wing door. The opening that the side doors will mate to will be the bars of the roll cage. I may still make the roof so it pops up, but it will be soft sided and the interior would be cramped but still livable with it down. To get it really livable you still need to be able to sit up on a bed. That pushes the roof over a foot over cab height. Preferably to 1.5' above the cab top. To high. I'm thinking of only going 9" to 12". I'd be able to sit up on a case, but not on the bed platform. To stand up inside is insane without doing a popup.

The other thing I decided is I won't have any built in furniture or storage inside. It will all be latched or tied down modules/cases. There will be some outside accessible storage in front and behind the wheel wells and the under body space will be used for house batteries, etc.. Water will be via jerry cans. Extra gas storage will be via jerry cans stored outside. With some cleverness it may be possible to put two jerry cans each side between the cab and rear wheels in compartments that open to the outside. That also gets their weight low. Not having fixed furniture inside will allow me to use it for farm use when I'm not camping. The fully opening sides will also help allot with that.

 

[gilghana]

Soenke,
thanks for the feedback on the 255/100 Mich tyres. A bit too much hassle and cost... Yeah I do know what you mean about the R151 gearbox. We had a year old hzj79 work truck with a broken snap ring this week, although to be fair the vehicle has been taking some pretty serious abuse. I really cannot figure out why a weaker gearbox was used on non-turbo 79 & 78s. Interesting that you go for aluminium wheels on what is an expedition vehicle?
Gil

 

[soenke]

yes, they are ALCOAS, forged alloys.
A wheel now weights about the same as a 7.5 on original devisible rim (sorry don´t know the right word),
the Alu is wrought, when the rim is hit, it will hopefully not break but bend and it will be repaireble...

 

[Beowulf]

... on original devisible rim (sorry don´t know the right word)

Split rims.

-B-

 

[soenke]

thanks

 

[Chamba]

On the contrary, I reckon Soenke has it spot-on. By having the entire running gear from a newer rig and the body of an older rig: he gets the best of both worlds. In many Third World locals, obtaining new drivetrain parts is not hard, just expensive. Obtaining old parts is cheaper, but they are often a bit more 'used.' So Soenke can get most body parts if he needs them (granted, his have been altered- but labour is cheap in third world countries- and he can certainly drive back to DE with a banged-up door or bonnet) but more-importantly, he can get mechanical parts at any Toyota dealer.

I have a new Chevy Vortec/5 speed in my troopy, and I love it. Having new running gear in an old truck makes it almost new. I have the added benefit of being able to get parts in any parts store on the planet-which is definately not the case with a 2H.

I am in awe of your rig Soenke. Well done!

Cheers,

Josh

 

[1tontoy]

Soenke,

Thank you for sharing with us here on IH8MUD. You will see that people here live, eat, drink, and shiza Landcruisers! Welcome!

WHAT AN AWESOME SETUP!!!!

GERMAN ENGINEERING. THE FINEST IN THE WORLD!

So, when will you be in USA?

Now, more pics....

 

[joebarbarian1]

My dream off-road vehicle, what a perfect set-up. CONGRATS!... enjoy, and I appreciate the info on your new set-up.

Joeb.

 

[alkarich]

WOW! Incredible rig!

 

[soenke]

Thanks guys,
@1tontoy
we are planing an Amerika trip...with the kayak (Feathercraft) tough , we want to paddel Vancouver Island June/July, but have no fix plans yet about how to get there from Vancouver and where to start....

...and we want to see Utah, best would be to do this with a FJ40 ...don´t know if there are any for hire and how much it would cost...But this is just a wish yet

 

[joshoisasleep]

So wait, are you bringing the truck AND the kayak to Vancouver Island, or just the kayak??

I'd love to see your truck when you get there!

 

[soenke]

no, we will be just kayaking the feathercraft.
It is much to expensive for us to bring the car in a container for a short holiday and "roll on roll off" ships are not save enough ....
Hope we manage a round the world trip with our car before we become old and rusty...

 

[ibinazbass]

dude that thing is frickin sweet! i've never been to this forum and i dont know why lol

bump for interior pics?

 

[sandcruiser]

beautiful truck
I'm looking outside at my hdt80 right now thinking... hmmm, I'll bet I can buy a 40 and convert the body...

maybe next year, but I do like the idea!

 

[soenke]

it´s a lot more work then we figured...

this one is about the conversion J4/8
https://forum.ih8mud.com/expedition-b...-cruisers.html

in short:

....The wheelbase of the 80 is shorter then the J45/47, but you have to mount the body more towards the front anyways to fit the radiator and orginal fan under the bonnet. So it will be quite allright with the back. Its about 10 cm difference, I can look it up at home...
If you are building a pick up, adapting the body will be less complicated.

The radiator fits from a HZJ75.
What about your powerstearing? You need the one, wich is not "speed-modulated" and doesn´t need an electric speedsignal. (third world spez.). Then you can use the mechanic speedometer of the J4.
The original airfilter does not fit any more, we used a smaller rallye filter.
The rest is metallwork .......

 

[nobrks]

Cool cruisers

I totally love your j4-pickup!

 

[rideglobally]

very cool cruiser

what mechanism did you use to lift the top in four places? about how much does it weight? i am building an expedition vehicle now but i have not found a mechanism that is simple and stable. ...... thanks

 

[soenke]

We bought one hydraulic pump with 4 cylinders and 12V motor.
www.bansbach.de .
Lift is 700mm and 250kg.
The weight of the cabin is about 400kg with furniture, engel box etc.

Using a pop up would have saved about 100kg....but would not be so comfortable in stormy conditions.

I´ll show you some pics as soon as I got the car again here with me...