1990 TUF LUX

[madlux]

good thought nstacey but unfortunately no.fuel tank will be below deck and deck itself is also not very far off the chassis as i wanted to keep it in line with the rear guard.but cheers for the input

pitty you cant, could do something similar to this... works well the small tub for box's etc... whats the reason for the fuel tank there?

[MK1TNA]

What nibs said, something like this perhaps?
and yes i am bored with nothing better to do

[tomsoffroad]

Thats the go MK1TNA. I think thats what the Nibsta was on about too, I think that looks primo
I reakon you should stretch the wheel base a tad. Couldn't you just chop off the top x member and move it back, then lengthen the arms I think 100mm would make a massive difference.

Oh yeah, I've got a home for those boxes if you get sick of em

[muddyhilux]

wow,heaps of replies.ok so nibs,yeah i did think about it,i didn't think too much bout the strait cut till i did it and it grew on me,the awesome pic that mk1ktna did (nice effort) looks similar to others ive seen and for some reason i cant get a jacked up honda hatch back out of my mind .that's not to say i couldn't go down this path.i would then a have to re look into seat belts etc but i suppose its a possibility.as for tyre not being an issue,that's good info to know.and for some reason i never picked up how your spare was mounted on the flipper arm.that's what i mentioned earlier and what i have in mind / something similar.i was going to aim for something that let me lay it flat when i didn't have a lot of gear then flip up to 45 or 90 degree depending on what i needed.so that's looking a lot more promising

madlux yeah that looks nice.just the fuel tank stopping me.reason for it being out the rear was i landed on the original and damaged so decided it needed moving.also with now having the v8 in there she drinks a lot hence going to a rather large tank

as above mk1ktna,great effort there,ive done similar to pics when ive been bored as well but yeah.my mind just sees a jacked up hatch back.i know im weird,i don't mind others saying it

and yes tom,i could look into that.as I'm yet to decide on the end result for the back end suspension but something like that has crossed my mind and i agree even 100mm would make a lot of difference not to mention the gains from longer arms

however all of this must be considered carefully as once my holiday ends (last day being tomorrow / tuesday) im back to getting about 6-8hrs a week on it max so to take full advantage of all the ideas im looking at a completion date of 2015 ish if you get what i mean....but of course i will take it all on board and i appreciate the ideas

[muddyhilux]

just to get them all on the same page .this is the pic ive been basing things off



next option


and where im up to

[J_Dub]

looking at them 3 pics, either 2 dont look too bad, either way I think its your roll bars that are going to give it the finished shape and your eye wont be concentrating so much on the cab.

Just how much gear will you be having on th deck?
what if you made the rear seat just a 1 seater only, so 1 half of the seat is gone and its always set up as a 3 seater only which gives you lots a room for more inside storage, and you always got room for the mrs and young fella, or just 2 mates, you never want a truck full of lads anyway, too heavy.

[muddyhilux]

either way I think its your roll bars that are going to give it the finished shape and your eye wont be concentrating so much on the cab.

this right here with roll bars giving more of the shape and taking away direct sight of cab is what I'm looking at not to mention i've already got certifier on board with this design so with that said

DISCUSSION CLOSED I'M GOING WITH ORIGINAL PLAN AS PER TOP PIC

Just how much gear will you be having on th deck?
what if you made the rear seat just a 1 seater only, so 1 half of the seat is gone and its always set up as a 3 seater only which gives you lots a room for more inside storage, and you always got room for the mrs and young fella, or just 2 mates, you never want a truck full of lads anyway, too heavy.

and this could be a valid option and i agree all boys in the truck does way it down a bit but I'm more than likely going to have myself and son then 2 mates.that's not to say if its a weekend away and only 3 of us i can fold down the seat and pack gear in that area(that's a every good point).as for on the deck it'll be 2 boxes and wheel 90% of the time.only on trips will it get bags and chilly bins etc so if i aim for a folding type tyre frame that sits level with deck and the 45deg and pins to roll bar i think ive covered all bases.

cheers for the input bro,hope alls well at home

[tomsoffroad]

wow,heaps of replies.

Its because we care fella

looking at them 3 pics, either 2 dont look too bad, either way I think its your roll bars that are going to give it the finished shape and your eye wont be concentrating so much on the cab.

I sort of have to agree with this otherwise I'd feel like Im throwing stones in glass houses

[UBZ]

Progress is looking great mate .
just load the back up with all ya crap , add sm weight to account for the roll bar etc and get stuck into the front SAS.
It will look totally different with the front at the correct ride height and axle slightly forward .

then you can play choppy , gluey on the rear end all you like ,to get The usability and aesthetics right .

It's been in the shed far far to long , hurry up and finish the buggar so we can go wheeling

[2DEAFN]

It will look totally different with the front at the correct ride height and axle slightly forward .

then you can play choppy , gluey on the rear end all you like ,to get The usability and aesthetics right .

It's been in the shed far far to long , hurry up and finish the buggar so we can go wheeling

I would have to agree with the input above, getting the front ride height up to how it will sit will make a huge difference lookwise.Then come back to the rear end once the front is more completed as it would look instantly better with front axle moved slighty forward by doing the SAS.

Would agree with the others in moving the axle back aswell but again, time and money is always going to be your enemy

Also in saying that , at the end of the day it is going to be you who's driving it so as good as all the imput and ideas are at the end of the day your the one who knows what will work for you.

Personally i am not a fan of the "gulletin look " as nib calls it either... as it does leave a sort of sudden sqaurish edge when finished although this would be kind of hidden by the barwork.I still have that rear tailgate sitting here that i was going to use if you wanted to throw that up against and see how it would look as that has the slight angle , will fill that hole nicely , give you a nice rolled edge and also a rear electric window that the boy can climb out to get the recovery strops

[muddyhilux]

motivational post of the day goes to chris and the result of the last 2 hours.no its not quite all gone and cleaned but couple of hours 1st things sat morning will sort that out



and yeah i'm pretty sure axle will stay where it is,i cant say ive had any issues with it yet and it gets me where i want.but yeh,i suppose if you've still got it i could take a quick look,in saying that be a waste of my big 3mm sheet ive already cut and na, Josiah don't need electric windows,he'll have a full exo to use as a ladder to get onto the deck when required .but maybe i try swing by this weekend and have a look if your free

[Bulletproof]

For a hilux to perform any good there are only 2 options. A hilux is like a wheel barrow of concrete with all the weight over the front axle which is no good for traction because the front end will dive in a bog and be stuck. That is why you can pick a wheel barrow up by the handles because there is no weight there which is the same as the rear axle on a Hilux .No weight on the rear equals traction.

1 Move the front of the engine behind the front axle

2 Have overhang and weight behind the rear Axle

The best option is to move the front axle forward 100mm rather than move the rear one back

Cheers Richard

[muddyhilux]

cheers for the input Richard.the front axle will definitely go forward with sas, I'm thinking the 50-100mm region.what ever i can get will be better than nothing.and yes the rears got plenty of weight.the new deck as it is has more weight in it than in the section of body i cut off (i know because i got the weight when i scrapped it) then to add to that the spare is a 35" instead of 30" = extra weight and the new fuel tank is looking to be in the 120-140l range which will be a lot heavier than the standard 60l so all in all i think i'm on a winner

[muddyhilux]

well its already been 6 weeks since my week off.managed to end that by getting grinding particles in my eye throwing my vision out so had to stop working on the truck for a month.over the last 2 weekends have had a couple of hours on vehicle,chassis is 95% all ground up clean now.front diff rolled under and now fixed in ( EXTREMELY ROUGH THOUGH )just to get the thing rolling again.all looking like it's in the right place however my up travel is going to be very limited by extra capacity sump so looks like that will need the side taken out of it leaving me with 6L capacity instead of 7L but i can live with that.other tan that i'm pleased and with any luck will have it properly attached by the end of the weekend.pics below of how it stands now with wooden blocks to set the ride height where i'm looking to set it up at

[T-Boon]

Whoo hoo !

Looking Awesome. Have you moved the axle forward at all from factory for better approach angle? or is that just an extra can of worms ?

[muddyhilux]

cheers mate,yeah its gone forward very slightly. this weekends first job will be to remove steering box from original position,rotate anti clockwise and push forward as far as possible.this will be the ultimate decider on where axle sits as steering had to line up correctly with box so where box ends up axle will end up,ideally I'm hoping for 50-70mm ahead of factory position which will let the 35s push right up into the wheel arc rather than into the back of arch like they do on standard vehicles.

not sure if I've said it before but am aiming mainly for a stronger front end, any articulation gains and better approach angle are a bonus

[madlux]

Nice work, getting closer to being finished and getting dirty!