whos got a cool project/ ideas for their cruiser?

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I am with Mace on this one.

FYI Silicon promotes RUST! I dont understand why everyone seems to think its a good selant for automotive bodywork use I haven't a clue.
 
I've been thinking about a storage box that attaches to the spare tire winch. the top would be pressure fit (watertight) onto the box when cranked tight by the winch. it could be made in different sizes to accomadate different schtuff. it would be great for camping with the family, etc...

shawn, i've had the same idea for a long time now.
mostly for carring spare parts
you could make it big enough for bifrs and axle shafts and no tall/wider than a spare tire.
 
exactly!

Great minds think alike! Guess who I was going to talk with about this? I've got some VERY crude sketches on a notepad somewhere - but I think it could work!

If I can find them, I'll scan them and send off to you.

I've got lots of crazy ideas... :-)
 
okay so i have a question.....will a reciprocating(sp) saw take the top off??

lunyou
 
I would never run the exhaust through the vehicle. This is what I meant. And it is for more than just mud.

I've also always wanted to build an exterior cage, but not the full exo-cages like a lot of mini truck guys build, more like what is on the NAS Defender 110.
 
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do you offroad much? If you do and that offroading does not include alot of rock climbing you might find that exo cage will catch on things like trees if you wheels in the woods.....just my 2 cents

lunyou
 
crew cab project idea...

Not great for wheeling tight spaces but family wheeling would be fun and the truck bed would be useful for a d/d.

Excuse the 2 minute effort of someone VERY bad at photochop.

This is a pipe dream for me and will require that I buy lotto tickets at some point in the story.
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What do you guys think about modding a regular roof to a high roof, like the aussie. Then I would cut just the top off so it would open like a maginolia (sp?) roof top tent. There would be an internal roll cage with a platform to sleep on the top. There would also be a hole to climb up into the tent and down into the cruiser.

Someday I would like to do that. It would be just like a pop top camper, but it would look like an aussie high top cruiser.

How does that sound? Any tips too because I think it would be interesting, plus I would get to use the sawzall.

I heard(maybe internet folk lore) that a VW van roof fits on a cruiser 60 series. So you could cut the roof off and install one of those vw pop roofs.

Cool eh
 
MACE, it sounds like you think the interior snorkel would really wreck the vehicle, My rig is for trails, but it will still see highway driving, and short trips around town, but not a DD.

What should i use instead of silicone?

That would be sweet if a VW roof would fit the cruiser, would make the roll cage tent a lot easier.
 
I heard(maybe internet folk lore) that a VW van roof fits on a cruiser 60 series. So you could cut the roof off and install one of those vw pop roofs.

Cool eh
I love this..

ALMOST makes me want to chop my 60 just to see...

Running the aircleaner inside the truck would almost certainly wreck the truck. Honestly I can not see any way to do it cleanly, and the vapors inside the rig would be horrid (smells after the truck is turned off). Not to mention the neg pressure on the inside of the cab..

It is up to you. Lots of people have done worse things to a 60. Me, I like the fact that I can have a very capable wheelin rig that also has AC and a heater (the 40 has neither) Mine is getting a buncha mods, but everything is going to be done with the concept of being a daily.. I am really looking forward to it :D

If you are concerned about water crossings, then do a snorkel. And Address all of the other issues (electrical, exhaust, etc) at the same time.

BTW, I also think it would be LOUD!!! ;)
 
My interesting project is air driven running boards. Flip a switch and they are slider up and out of the way. Then flip it the other way and they lower to let the kidlets in.........
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I was thinking about this design also, one that tucks up underneath some rocksliders and will extend out when boarding the vehicle. current ones on the market don't tuck up enough out of the way to use them offroad.
 
I heard(maybe internet folk lore) that a VW van roof fits on a cruiser 60 series. So you could cut the roof off and install one of those vw pop roofs.

Cool eh

More on this... It would be cool if it opened like that, or it fit up there. Then I got to thinking about how important a roofrack is for trips. So what if some hydrolic acuators or something like that, pushed the roof straight up, leaving a loaded roof rack on. I don't know, it is just something I thought would be sweet.
 
I always wanted to to have a trailer with a drive axle.I've ran through several ideas to include.Power off of the pto to a drive shaft ran to the trailer.A hydraulic pump off the pto with line running to hyd motor at the wheels on the trailer.A divorce mounted transfer case turned around backwards although i don't think running a transfer case backward would be the best idea.Lubrication may be a problem.I think the easiest way would be to put a chain ring off of the transfer case,maybe use an old style kind of like with a disc brake conversion but instead of a disc brake have a chain ring on it then have the same sized one mounted a off to the side and have the shaft run back to the trailer.I think I would use some kind of cv joint at the tongue of the trailer,as well a movement limiter to keep it within useable operating degrees.Maybe someday I'll start it.
-Rob
 
mace i am concerned about noise too, but its a diesel so its already a little noisy ;) It may be one of those mods i regret, or never get to do. But i guess its easier for me to find out and save some one else if its a bad idea.

I was thinking about the lifting roof tent idea, i think it would take a lot of time and working out bugs but would be a way cool build if someone was bold enough to try it. I think youd want at all 4 corners, a hinged arm coming off the roll cage, connecting by a hinge to another arm connected to the roof, also by hinge.
The actuator would connect from the cage to upper or lower arm. And there would be something to limit both arms from going beyond vertical. However youd have a lot of leverage on the actuators that it would limit the rack weight capacity unless you used some really big actuators.
 
I heard(maybe internet folk lore) that a VW van roof fits on a cruiser 60 series. So you could cut the roof off and install one of those vw pop roofs.
Cool eh

We saw one of these ( F-j60 fitted with a VW Westfalia Pop-top) coming down I-70 from Breckenridge into Denver last weekend. I saw it for just a minute or two. The fit didn't appear real natural or quite right, like the pop-top was a bit too wide for the cruisers roof. The Westy expedition guys often make their own custom, light-weight, full-length pop-tops using the westy hardware, so anything's possible. There's a bed up there, look at some of the ebay listings.

Personally, I'm using these German Action-Mobile beasts as design inspiration for both our FJ-60 and VW 4x4 Syncro Westy Vanagon (currently waiting for me to swap the stock 90hp flat-4 for the 240hp Subaru SVX flat-6 that I have on an engine stand in my garage ) as expedition vehicles.

Lawrence
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What should i use instead of silicone?

Use either autobody sealant, or I really like a polyurethane marine sealant, such as Bostik or Sikaflex.
 
"snorkel"

Regarding the inside snorkel, a few guys over here have done this but made it so you have to turn a lever or something so the engine will start taking air from inside the cab, normally if would just take air from the stock route.

Mind you if you have all the windows closed and turn the inside snorkel on, it´ll make for a real nice headacke, it literally tries to suck your eyeballs out :) ...so keep a window open :grinpimp:
 
I Was Thinking About A Flux Capacitor, You Know, For 1.21 Jiggawatts, So I Can Do Some Time Traveling. Actually I Would Like To Make My Own Snorkel, Thats About The Extent Of My Creativity.
 
I am kicking around the Idea of fabing my own roof rack not very exciting but with my limeted welding experance it should at least be interesting:eek:

p.s if anyone has pics of thier home made roof rack I would like to see.

My home made roof rack is made out of Thule load bars and clamps, and a section of metal fence. The load bars go through the fence posts and creates the floor. The fence is from Home Despot. Bought the Thule parts used, under $50. Fence section was under $60? Two sections fit on the roof of the '60. Used it when I took the family to Rubicon Springs. No problems.
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