Topic: Miss Green

[LittleSteve]

Cleaned the housing up this morning and is now free of grime.
Ish.





Got further with sorting spring mountings out



Then this happened


Which led to this

The entire area inside the white chalk line will have to be cut out also, including the base, after having beaten it to death with a needle gun i poked holes in the outside of the rail. So im going to be learning major chassis reconstruction here soon...

[helipilot77]

Was this thing left in a swamp?

[LittleSteve [OP]]

Was this thing left in a swamp?

No idea. Its real tidy in other places.
Its usually the brake pipes that rot through in that position, ive never seen hilux chassis corrosion this bad before its usually bed's and cabs.

[redneckcustoms13]

One of my close friends bought a 93 regular cab base model 4wd here in 2007. He only paid $2500 for it because the bed was all caved in. Otherwise it was a nice truck with 85k original miles. He brought it over so we could Lincoln lock it. Holy cow, the rear frame rails were almost non existing. It got back halfed shortly after. It came from up north with that wierd snow stuff the talk about.

[joeyf]

Suck to see you finding more and more rot. I would be really tempted to start fresh with a pile of square tube.

[:)bestgen4runner]

Build an entire new frame Steve!
Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! (chanting) 

[LittleSteve [OP]]

Build an entire new frame Steve!
Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! (chanting) 

I have considered making a full tube frame chassis as a bolt in replacement before now, that uses factory cab, bed and factory mountings but not for this one. Watch this space......,

[LittleSteve [OP]]

Build an entire new frame Steve!
Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! (chanting) 

Build a frame you say?
This has got me thinking.
Again
First, to move house! then move shop 
gonna have to shelve the repairs until ive moved, unless i can a miracle in the three week time frame

[Congill77]

From what others have said of you, if anyone could do it in that time frame, it would be you.


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[:)bestgen4runner]

From what others have said of you, if anyone could do it in that time frame, it would be you.


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Do it Do it do it do it!

[LittleSteve [OP]]

So im waiting for stuff to arrive. Looks like i will have to move shop before it gets done and a week before the original planned move date.
So in an effort to kill the frustration ive put together a new feature called:

that shouldnt fit in a Toyota.

Example 1:
A complete 1UZ V8..... in the back of a short wheelbase 2door Rav4.
Collected it and drove the thirty or so miles home hoping it wouldnt eject itself out the back window.




Example 2:
A 33x12.50-15 in the trunk of an LS400.



Example 3:
A draftsmans table in an LS400, it wouldnt fit in the trunk so I had to improvise.

[Congill77]

that shouldnt fit in a Toyota.

Example 1:
A complete 1UZ V8..... in the back of a short wheelbase 2door Rav4.
Collected it and drove the thirty or so miles home hoping it wouldnt eject itself

Example 3:
A draftsmans table in an LS400, it wouldnt fit in the trunk so I had to improvise.

Steve, this is awesome


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[LittleSteve [OP]]

These johnny joints have just been released by Rough Country.
Machined from billet instead of a two part welded design.
Next to is a Trail Gear joint for comparison.
Its neat enough to be used as Panhard bar joint instead of heim joints.

[LittleSteve [OP]]

So trail gear joints are junk. Balls not central and i think there would be more misalignment in a rubber bush.
Time for a call to Mr Currie.
In other news im going to drag this out of the barn on Friday, ive the bed listed on ebay so i best remove it.

So i now have a plan for the old girl.
Seeing as how the cab is mint, i will throw it on the spare chassis i have, and just run it as a stock truck.





























 
Stock ish.




gonna finish this, bearing in mind i started it in 2014 when i signed up to marlin so it needs shotblasting, might get changed round a shade and throw it on. Will take the frame for shotblasting also and the axle cases, which ii have to go pickup and yada yada yada.

I never moved shop...
and we're planning on moving house again.

[:)bestgen4runner]

That sure looks heavy? Lot of steel You got there. 

[LittleSteve [OP]]

That sure looks heavy? Lot of steel You got there. 

Ive not weighed it, however its to take a ton on the back of it as per standard long bed.  As it is its not much heavier than a stock longbed. But dangit i gotta know now.

[Gnarly4X]

Ive not weighed it, however its to take a ton on the back of it as per standard long bed.  As it is its not much heavier than a stock longbed. But dangit i gotta know now.

My eyes can lie...  BUT... that DOES look REALLY heavy.

What is going to be attached to that much steel?  It looks like it could carry a Trophy Truck! 

The bed on my XtraCab can be carried by a couple of big guys, so not much more than a couple hundred lbs.  It is attached to the frame rails with several cross members that are extremely light weight. 

I can't think of any 4-wheeling terrain where extra vehicle weight has ANY advantages?

Gnarls.

[redneckcustoms13]

2 people can carry a 1st gen bed all the way across my yard. Myself and a friend.

[300k]

I can't think of any 4-wheeling terrain where extra vehicle weight has ANY advantages?

Gnarls I think you're still stuck in the sand life. I'd rather be heavier than lighter. I'm not saying I'd want a tires stacked up on the roof or anything but if you can get extra weight to lower the center of gravity, it's a plus IMO. this is why short course guys fill their tires with water

[LittleSteve [OP]]

                      its to take a ton on the back of it as per standard long bed.

 It will get either a timber deck or a high density plastic deck, i havent decided yet. This is a third gen long bed not a first so the factory bed is double skin and seven foot long, this matches it. Rear crossmember is thicker than rest as it will be the first point of contact.

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Gnarls I think you're still stuck in the sand life. I'd rather be heavier than lighter. I'm not saying I'd want a tires stacked up on the roof or anything but if you can get extra weight to lower the center of gravity, it's a plus IMO. this is why short course guys fill their tires with water

Unsprung weight off road is good. Lots of rock crawlers that compete run lead shot innthe tires. However, keep everything else light.

[300k]

Unsprung weight off road is good. Lots of rock crawlers that compete run lead shot innthe tires. However, keep everything else light.

Yeah for sure. there's more to it than "more weight vs less weight = better or worse offroad" but being heavy, long, high, and fairly narrow is the key to wheeling the local trails.

and it's not like this flatbed Steve made is a super dramatic weight change

[helipilot77]

It’s also not heavy wall square tube. He was sensible about and used an appropriate thickness. It didn’t seem too be terribly heavy in person. But we didn’t try pulling off even though we did consider it.

[LittleSteve [OP]]

what you must also take into consideration is that over 'ere the  Hilux does the work of an F350. They are not a show pony. All the utility companies use them, farmers, builders, mechanics, welders, you name it... Hilux.
Bales, tons of sand, logs, pallets of whatever and if it goes over weight it has a handy reduction box to pull the extra two tons....

So toughness and functionality becomes more important. Theres space on the back of this for two pallets. whilst strong enough to take a beating from trees cattle and forktrucks, especially forktrucks cause i have yet to meet a forktruck driver.

[Gnarly4X]

Gnarls I think you're still stuck in the sand life. I'd rather be heavier than lighter. I'm not saying I'd want a tires stacked up on the roof or anything but if you can get extra weight to lower the center of gravity, it's a plus IMO. this is why short course guys fill their tires with water

Hey 299k,

Yeah… I may be stuck in “sand life”… and you are stuck in “need-way-more-time-wheeling”.

Actually 4-wheeling in sand is good practice.  It will teach you a lot about vehicle prep, weight, tire pressure, steering control, inertia, momentum, and alertness.

I have over 20 years of experience off-roading with multiple vehicles.  I have wheeled on some of the most difficult terrain commonly 4-wheeled in 4 states, including Sonora Mexico.  I have wheeled with the some of the most experienced drivers on the planet….. Perhaps I know didley and of course my opinions may be worthless.

My comment was intended to be a general opinion for the typical type and range of 4-wheeling we do.

If I  take two identical 4-wheelers, identical weight, add 300 lbs to one, I’ll guarantee you that the lighter one will out maneuver, out climb, out crawl, out run, and generally out perform the heavier one.  More weight means more energy the axles and suspension have to absorb - increased chance of failure. More weight means it takes more power to move it.

I don’t know what you mean by “short course”, however I do know that water can be filled in tires and the trick has been around for ages.  In slow rock crawling competition, water is used by some in the front tires only and it’s done to keep the tire weight lower to the terrain.  I also know someone who competes who filled his front tires with lead bee-bees for a Slow Crawl competition.  Water in tires is only done for VERY SLOW rock crawling.  There are trade-offs… water is very heavy and adds a lot more stress on the axles and suspension.  Two… unless the tires are completely full, the water tends to slosh, causing the buggy to jump, which can cost you score points if you lose control of the buggy’s movements.

Ask the top 10 finishers in any crawling competition if their top 10 wins were WITH or WITHOUT water or lead in their tires.

You go heavy, and I’ll go light.  You keep your tires air’d up, and I’ll air down.  At the end of the trail, I’ll be sipping an ice cold drink after taking 5 to air up my tires, YOU…well.. you will most likely still be on the trail, somewhere stuck on a rock trying to decide if you really know your poo-poo.

If you need water or lead beads in your tires to rock crawl, you need more practice.

In any given automotive competition, it’s NOT the vehicle that wins… it’s the driver!

Gnarls.

[Gnarly4X]

what you must also take into consideration is that over 'ere the  Hilux does the work of an F350. They are not a show pony. All the utility companies use them, farmers, builders, mechanics, welders, you name it... Hilux.
Bales, tons of sand, logs, pallets of whatever and if it goes over weight it has a handy reduction box to pull the extra two tons....

So toughness and functionality becomes more important. Theres space on the back of this for two pallets. whilst strong enough to take a beating from trees cattle and forktrucks, especially forktrucks cause i have yet to meet a forktruck driver.

Still "looks" overkill. 

Gnarls. 

[Gnarly4X]

Yeah for sure.... being heavy, long, high, and fairly narrow is the key to wheeling the local trails.

THAT.. is totally heavy, long, high, and fairly narrow... male bovine feces!!

Gnarls.

[Mudder]

Nah, that ain't overkill. Overkill is mine, 2x2 1/4 Wall main frame, 1 1/4x1 1/4 1 gauge sub frame, 1.75x.120 tubing for sides and an 11 gauge sheet with a drop off plate. Weighs in at over 600 pounds. That flatbed looks perfect for the uses he'll probably need it for.

[Gnarly4X]

Nah, that ain't over kill. Over kill is mine, 2x2 1/4 Wall main frame, 1 1/4x1 1/4 1 gauge sub frame, 1.75x.120 tubing for sides and an 11 gauge sheet with a drop off plate.
... at over 600 pounds.

  

[LittleSteve [OP]]

Whats this?