Topic: Australian Import Toyota Hilux 4x4 vehicle to South Africa

[BIG BALLS]

A  vehicle with a difference

Hello, Ronny my God Father and I have finally started with the modifications to this vehicle today, we bought this vehicle as a smashed up vehicle, the poor driver actually had a heart attack and died in it, thus the vehicle rolled and got very smashed up, beyond repair thus it was scrapped, we removed the cab and load body firstm stripping off all parts and threw the rest of the smashed body away as scrap metal.

The chassis we had checked at a panel repair busines on their wheel alignment bay and they told us that everything was still fine, we then had the chassis sand blasted and we then repainted it with primer and black chassis paint, at least the chassis is nice and clean, this vehicle was a diesel thus it must have had 4.88 diff gears.

Okay we now have the chassis, lifted up slightly on the two post vehicle lift in the garage at home, what a wonderful way to work on a vehicle, so much easier, today we fitted the new rear revolver shackles to the rear leaf springs, the front and rear axles are still mounted, no engine, no gearbox all removed, we also bought another Toyota Hilux vehicle from a guy down in East London who is actually in a wheel chair, this poor chap was busy doing a lot of work to this vehicle, he even went as far as to cut the chassis and then he re-welded it back together, however once he had had the cab and load body re-mounted on the chassis somebody told him that he will not be able to get this vehicle through the road worthy test as he has welded the chassis himself, as this type of job had to be done by a coded welder, a person who is qualified to do this type of welding, then the vehicle would have to be checked by a person from SABS which costs a lot of money to get somebody to come and look, thus the guy has lost interest and then decided to sell it, our other friend Gary Miles ended up buying the 5 L engine which was a diesel and we bought the rest for R18 000. devide that by the exchange rate and then you guys can see what we paid for it, we think we got it cheap as we got the gearbox, transfer case, propshafts, cab, load body, chassis, front and rear axles, spare bonnet, spare doors and a lot of other stuff which will be our spares to build up this other vehicle.

We fitted an A-frame to it and then towed it back to Queenstown using Ronny's other 1996 Toyota Hilux long wheel base 4x4 bakkie, it is a 2.8 D a very smart vehicle, we did not even worry about temporary licence plates, just took a chance with the traffic cops

Anyway getting back to our project, we also had two axles, one front and one rear thus we stripped out the pumpkins and have sent them to the engineering business that is busy fitting the ARB Lockers for us and re-setting them up fitting new seals and bearings, we do not do things with half measures.

Friends, when the pumpkins come back, we will strip the front and the rear axles completely down so that only the axle housing are left, we will then re-build each unit using new seals, bearings, swivel seals and bearings, knowing that everything will be correct the first time. We have ordered new spring packs front and rear and new shocks from www.superiorengineering.com.au in Australia for this build up and my Hilux bakkie, then the fitment of The Marlin gearbox and transfer case will take place, however we have also manufactured a special cross member for the transfer case, which is straight, this means that the unit will be lifted up so that there will not be any part sticking out the bottom of the chassis, thus less to touch when out rock crawling, an adjustable trac bar has also been bought.

While we are busy with these mods, we have sent that other Hilux bakkie with the shortened chassis to the panel beating business, they are busy cutting away the wheel arch and sections behind the front wheel to give us enough space so that the new Mickey Thompson baja claws will not touch when the vehicle articulates, we do not wish the tires to rub, we have thought of moving the front axle forward, however this is not a good mod, makes too many other handeling problems, we also have five Mickey Thompson Classic 2 rims the tires are in fact the 35" x 1350 x 15" real mean tires as most of you know.

We will be re-fitting that cab from the other Hilux at the panel beater shop and then a special box behind the cab for the dogs and then a load body from a double cab. We have manufactured our oun front ARB type bumper which also has a winch monted in it, we will be fitting a hydraulic winch up front and a normal electric winch at the rear.

Please if any of you can give us any advise about this project then please tell us, with this modification of this vehicle money is not a problem we want to make this vehicle different to all the rest, we will also be fitting a pair of those revolver shackles up front but at the rear of the front leaf springs, these revolver shackles are the lockable type thus no problems when the vehicle is used on the tar.

I will try and post some photo's as we go along to share with you all, this vehicle also has two std fuel tanks and four shocks at the rear, power steering as well, we have considered air suspension however what do you guys think of air suspension, is it available for this type of vehicle?

Will post to next page.

[BIG BALLS [OP]]

  Okay I am back, we will be fitting a cardan jointed propshaft at the rear to do away with the two piece with the centre bearing, this will be much stronger and relaible, in front we will just leave the standard cardan joint, but may have to lengthen it as required. okay once the chassis is comp[leted we have decided to buy a 3L diesel engine as the drive unit, we will only buy the engine next year when we need it, here in South Africa we can get these engines from various engine importers with power steering, 4x4 sump, complete for R11 000. als the bell housing, the 3L engine is in fact the 2.8 Diesel engine that is a standard Toyota engine, it is basically straight forward, we will be fitting a snorkel and we will make sure that this vehicle will be also to swim, we will also be lengthing the diff and other breathers with extended breather pipes.

My other Hilux also has extended breathers and a snorkel, thus we have experienced with these items and we know that they do work, friends  we will then be fitting the engine, but we will be fitting extended engine mountings to give us a lift of the engine to correspond with the lift of the gearbox and transfer case for the straight cross member. thus the radiator cowling will have to also be modified at the bottom, we will just work out what is the best method for it, once the engine and the rest of the drive train is all correct only then will we go about the fitment of the cab, now remember we have had the cab wheel arches modified for the 35's thus we know that we will have to lift the body by an additional 85 mm, yes we do know and are aware of the higher that we go the more unstable this vehicle becomes, however with the rock  slider plates at the bottom, dual fuel tanks, everything will be balanced.

Then when the cab is mounted correctly, we will proceed to connect up all the engine attachements, radiator and then the wireing, then we will start the engine (this engine that we buy has already been dyno tested with a written report)

When we fitted the ARB Lockers to my Hilux we came up with a great idea of how to fit or connect up the actual piping for the air supply, what we did was use some Wurth air truck suzi hose, the type that has the smaller coil of pipe, we measured the correct length taking into consideration of the drop of the front and rear axle at its longest point and when it is up and then we pushed the blue std air piping for the Lockers through this suzi hose, we then mounted the top end to the cross member above the diff pumpkin with a clamp and the other end we used some silicone glue and let it loose against the diff housing where it enters the diff, with this pipe fitted like this it works a dream, when I contacted  4X4 Mega World here in South Africa, the ARB supplier they said that I must just make a coil with the std pipe and tie it up with a cable tie, now what will that do, how will it expand as required, these guys just made me realise that they have no idea of how to go about fitting thiese Lockers

I have photo's available on request of this fitment of the air piping, I also used another thicker ID pipe to cover the rest of the Locker pipes, to give more protection against the elements and once again clamped it to the chassis.

Some more advise, do not fit the air compressor in the engine compartment, too hot in there and the pressure switches get damaged

We fitted mine in the one corner of the rear load body, even attached an extra air tank to give more pressure available for the two lockers, made a removable cover type box to give it more protection.

Getting back to our project  4x4, then once we are happy with the engine, cab we will then fit the dog box and then the load body which is the easy part. Basically straight forward, rear lights.

We have thought of doing a special paint job, you guys will have to wait and see what it will be
All for now, please give us ideas   

[BIG BALLS [OP]]

[BIG BALLS [OP]]

first attempt, I see it is rather small, will try again

[BIG BALLS [OP]]