SHOW US YOUR CRAWLER 1/26/18
If last weeks Crawler was about cleanliness, this week’s crawler is about going big or going home!
Chris Flores hails from Harrah, Oklahoma, and has transformed his 1982 Hilux from a mostly stock truck to an off road monster in the last three years. Chris bought the truck in near stock form with a cheap 3” spring and block lift. His first modification was to get the engine ready to roll, then it was time to put some real lift springs on there.
After cleaning the truck up, it was time to get serious! First, of course was some gearing. Chris started off with a Marlin Crawler dual case set up using factory internals. He also rebuilt the stock front axle with a Marlin Crawler knuckle kit and cross over steering. He added chromoly axle shafts, a late model IFS steering box and stepped up to 38.5” Interco Boggers. No mention of gears or lockers, but we can assume there was something in there. Chris also converted the 22R over to propane, allowing for stall free off camber excursions and a clean, stink free exhaust.
After he played around with the first iteration of his build, it was time to go bigger. The factory 22R has been further modified with the addition of a 20R head for increased compression, and added a mild cam and long tube headers to squeeze every bit out of the motor (propane generally yields about 10% less power than gasoline, but acts like mechanical fuel injection, FYI).
The original L45 transmission was swapped out to a W56 unit from a later model pickup, and the case was updated with an MC08-R10 Dual Case setup with our 4.70 gears. Combined with the 4.56 gears in his axles Chris has a nice and low 193:1 crawl ratio. A Front Range Skid plate and Crossmember setup hold the driveline up to keep things as high and tights as possible. Oh, and speaking of axles, his factory Toyota axles have been replaced by a full width GM Kingpin Dana 60 and a Corporate 14 bolt in the rear. A SKY Offroad Design Toyota Full Width Axle Kit holds the axles in place, and the axles are hung from beefed up Tacoma rear leaf springs in the front and 63” Chevy springs in the rear, for a long travel suspension that keeps it simple. Suspenion movement is controlled by 14” travel front and 12” travel rear shocks. The front differential is welded and stuffed with 4.56 gears, and the rear is locked up with a Detroit unit.
The truck currently rides on 42” Interco Super Swamper SX2s on 17” steelies with DIY beadlocks and 2” wheel spacers. To steer those huge cleats (not to mention a welded front diff), Chris went to full hydraulic steering with a 1650Psi PSC power steering pump and reservoir that goes to what has been described as a Tom Hawk self-centering single ended ram.
Chris has more upgrades on the way, including a weld in interior roll cage and custom sliders, as well as chromoly front drive flange shafts, and a 4 link rear suspension is in the works!
Chris didn’t mention anywhere you can find him on social media, but if he gets back to us with that info we will update it here.
Got a Crawler you want to share? Email us your story to photos@marlincrawler.com. Send us build details, Marlin Crawler products used, pictures, videos, links to build threads, and where we can keep tabs on you and your crawler on Facebook and Instagram or the Forums where you lurk! Stay tuned for next week’s installment!
