MOD OR CHANGE

[badnuz]

ok everyone what sould i do... i have my mighty LUX 85 d/c ute 2.4d 4 speed man, 31' muds... new springs/shakels new radtiator... but i think it needs more!! im thinking 2.8 supra and 33's as i have seen hanzys lux going hard with similar set up. but being a long d/c im going to be limited in tight spots, esp since i dont have power steering now, do i plan ahead to do above mentioned mods, or follow my other idea and get something like a cruiser ( bj70??) there are a few on TM round the $5k mark which i would imagine my lux rebuild would cost....

im not really mechanically minded to fab new stuff ( can replace stuff with similar stuff no probs lol)

Im really keen to come on trips with everyone, but at the mo i dont like driving long distance in the lux, and would prob get stuck everywhere in its current state.....

this will still be my daily driver

something like these...
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =120343578
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =120709100



so, fellow readers, what do i do????

ps: could be a cheap lux up for sale !!!!

[albundy]

two words: NISSAN SAFARI

[badnuz]

nah....

[rangimotors]

What do you use it for? is it just a 4wd or do you use the deck etc? the old d/cabs still fetch good money, nothing worse than spending heaps on something your not happy with, i do like the 70 series swb cruisers in fact for price i think its hard to beat the package you get, but the old d/cab is possible a little more multi purpose, pick the one that suits your needs and mod away..

[badnuz]

ive been thinking long and hard bout what i intend to use it for, and in reality the ute is handy, but my other car is a wagon so can use that, and with a towbar a trailer replaces the tray.... and i really really want to get further into 4wd tracks lol!!!

[rangimotors]

indeed, i guess the other thing to look at is what sort of tracks your wanting to do, lots of mudplugging or lots of technicial rock crawling etc i do like the look and the price of that second truck you posted

[timotheus]

Go the lux.

There is a reason why more people mod them than crusiers.

[wjw]

Go the lux.

There is a reason why more people mod them than crusiers.

cos their cheaper to mod?

[De-Ranged]

I'd say do the lux up... but I'm a bit of a lux man... I don't know about your costs they seem a bit heavy at $5000 for a supra conversion
this is what I'd expect to pay
A whole early 2.8L supra/celeca $600
You get motor, wirering, bellhousing, clutch fuel pump, power steer pump etc

Or
A 2.8 Cressida for $200 or less nobody wants these old things
You get just the motor, loom and power steering pump
A supra bellhousing $400
or
Use the Cressida auto bellhousing and an adapter (talk to Mike "SupraSurf")
You'll also need a 3Y flywheel and clutch $50
This will bolt into your engine mounts so nothing new there

Since you want to run 33"s I'd recomemd going to 4.88 ratio diffs $300 for a set
with the bigger tires you'll want a bit of a lift
Either
Do a rear up front spring swop and X over steering springs will cost you $50 another, surf steering box $100, a set of high steer arms (SNR "Jafa" $550) ask for hilux rod end tapers means you can run your current tierod, $40 for an extra tierod to use as a draglink, $100 to get them both shortened and threaded $60 for draglink end that fits the surf power steering box, $20 for a 2WD hilux driveshaft $100 to shorten and respline... if you want it to flex in the back a set of XD falcon springs $80 and get them redrilled $80, new U bolts pretty certain mazda truck ones fit (I make my own) then new shackles... make your own

or
Body lift and leave the suspension alone... $200-$250 for the body lift kit and $120 for a shortened and resplined 2WD steering shaft

that leaves ya with a power of money from your $5000 to spend on tires Oh and some other fruity bits like dual adapter, longs etc
Now that does assume you can weld or get it done

Go the lux

Cheers Reece

[badnuz]

yeah $5k included tires..... as it has newish suspension i was thinking body lift, and maybe 32 or 33... my diffs prob need redoing anyway, and im in palmy so can go see jafa for his friuty bits lol!. hmmm......

[Smurf]

I'm with Reece, you will be able to build a very capable 4WD with the Hilux.
Find a 5 speed box and throw in. A 5 speed W56 or G52 will bolt straight in.
Adding power steering is as easy as, Find power steering pump and box, lines etc from slightly later model/year hilux, it bolts straight in, or use a Surf power steering box and go for X over steering.
The longest part of a doublecab hilux is the well side, I'd ditch it and throw a decent flat deck on.
Even if you left the diesel in it for now, throw a turbo on it for a bit more grunt.
Through ORE there are heaps of people to help you out. Reece, Jafa etc. for the fancy bits. Reece has helped me with parts for my Surf and he has been great.
ORE is a great source of info too, All the mods I have done to my surf have already been done and proven by others on ORE.

[Steve_t647]

Look at why you got the Hilux in the first place and do these requirements still exist, the Landcruiser is a great truck and if you get one already done then you have no down time but if you look at building your own you will learn a lot more and understand what you can do in the bush to get back home if anything breaks. I vote build the lux.

I have 2 hiluxes and for what they are they are a pretty good starting point one I did a 2" leaf lift all round, bullbars, winch and that is about all, I am looking at a 2lt turbo to bolt on to the 2.8 diesel to make it a bit more comfortable on the open road (its only downside being Diesel).

The other I am looking at rears up front crossover steering from Jaffa (SNR) putting the seats I have in to replace the bench, and longer shakles in the back to level it out a little (poss replace this with falcon's at a later date) and a front locker (rear is LSD).

From there I can convert the rear to disks for better brakeing, put a Holden 3.8 in it (2.2 petrol at the moment), put a supra in it (5m, 7m 1jz or 2jz) or I have even seen a sr20det in one, I think as the newer Toyota hilux's drop in price you will see more SAS conversions on them.

If you are thinking of changing 4wd look at what you like about the lux and what you dislike and look for a vehicle with the good bits you like and the bits you want sorted fixed (coil's for a better ride maybe).

Remember if you mod the Hilux you will need a cert for it but you will be closer to what you want rather than buy something someone else wanted and found didn't work or bought a Hilux to replace the one they are selling.

[Bubba]

Mod Lux, mod Cruiser, get modded cruiser, jez, not a easy question

Just on geographical info, if you were in the Sth Island I would say Lux as Supra Lux breed like flies down there, up here you tend to get more Cruisers.

Not sure why, maybe it's the terrain, conditions etc versus kinds of vehicles

They tend to do more big rocks and braided rivers down there so maybe (just maybe) the lighter Lux suits them better than the bullet prove but heavy Cruiser does for up here. They tend to drift to the bigger type 4wd's around this part of the world (Cruisers/ Safari's)

[Steve_t647]

Just on geographical info, if you were in the Sth Island I would say Lux as Supra Lux breed like flies down there, up here you tend to get more Cruisers.

Not sure why, maybe it's the terrain, conditions etc versus kinds of vehicles

We southern men don't need Aircon and go for function over features and buttons switches.

Also if you think the Supra (5m or 7m) is going to make the lux a bullet on the road think again, you get 5 gears and reasonable speed but the more modern 1jz or 2jz are the better road performance engines or the Holden 3.8 so much torque or 1uzfe but are slightly more expencive. All give a better offroad as they clear tyres properly rev better and are better on angles.

Edit: Thought I better add the last bit.

[badnuz]

ive looked into the 1JZ could be a go, as cressidas and supras are getting rare ( must be all converted into SI lux's). im not overly concerned about on road speed, 100km is the limit and everytime i have fast cars ( twinturbo RX7, V8 commies, RX2s, turbo subbies) i tend to get speeding tickets so it apperas at these early stages the mods are a go... not planning to start the work till after xmas, but no harm finding the bits now.....

[Dace]

Hey Euan, ya know what i would say so i won't bother saying it


"HILUX"
sorry, just came out.

If ya need help with workin on it or parts, just gimme a yell

[badnuz]

something like this to be different? or are the turbo ones poo's in this aplication?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 000757.htm

also thinking these wheels/tires

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =120773618

will look at getting some stuff together and start on engine etc in the new year.... gotta finish the house renovations etc 1st

[rangimotors]

with power like that i thikn you would be wanting at least 35's but thats a whole other poll

[wjw]

Turbos make it interesting... spinning wheels and flinging mud if your not careful thats why I went for the 2JZ, cost me $800 for the motor, loom and box, compared to a 2JZGTE at minimum 2.5K ... for the difference in price I could start playing with superchargers, which are far better for offroading..

[timotheus]

Go the lux.

There is a reason why more people mod them than crusiers.

cos their cheaper to mod?

I just think that the trend seems to be hilux.
From what Ive seen, you can do so much with them (admittedly you can with anything with enough $$$).

There is a world of knowledge out there, and it seems to focus towards them.

[Steve_t647]

I agree with WJW you are better off with torque in offroading on boost climbing a long hill needing a gear change, fine if you are auto but if you are manual and loose boost then you are in a whole lot of trouble.

But I have seen a turbo do well just need the rev's up, diesel turbo's seem to perform fine but have more torque, all about learning to drive it. and it would be different.

Edited for Spelling

[badnuz]

my heavy right foot probably would be my undoing with a turbo lol! so, to recap thus far, i need a 5M/7M/1JZ/2JZ.... body lift to fit the 32/33's...and some 4.88 gears. can you get a 4.88 in LSD? and where would i find such diffs std or LSD ( im assuming we are talking about swapping the internals?) i also need to mount some front hooks, i want to put in crush tubes but how????? no threadjacking here on recovery hooks please, just a idea on how i can do my front hooks properly lol! also i need a W56 or G52 which will bolt to my transfer case, then i just need an apator/bellhousing to mate it all to the donk of choice??

thanks for all your input everyone, after only 1 day im convinced nthat the mods are the way to go , and DBW i can still take that bar off you

and i need the mula

[allmud]

ive had both in the last year i had a 82 lux with 2.4 desel 2inch body lift spring lift and 35s was cool but the 35s took tomutch power from it so sold the lux and brought a fj45 cruiser lots of mods and lots of power went better withthe 35s but ugly to drive lol just sold that so looking for somthing new myself now so just think about what u want and what u need then mod it or buy it and have a shitload of fun

[Steve_t647]

my heavy right foot probably would be my undoing with a turbo lol! so, to recap thus far, i need a 5M/7M/1JZ/2JZ.... body lift to fit the 32/33's...and some 4.88 gears. can you get a 4.88 in LSD? and where would i find such diffs std or LSD

You would get a LSD diff centre and swap the 4.88 pinion and gear onto it, there are a few LSD centers on Trademe but perhaps a auto locker would be a better alternative. With the 4.88's it depends on tire size and engine power if you change one diff to 4.88 you have to do both.

i also need to mount some front hooks, i want to put in crush tubes but how????? no threadjacking here on recovery hooks please, just a idea on how i can do my front hooks properly lol!

Crush tubes are just metal tubes welded into the chassis to stop you over tightening the bolts and bending the frame, the same thing is used in the middle of bushes to allow you to tighten the bolt without overtightening them.


on the LHS and RHS bush the tube in the middle of the red bush is a crush tube (Thanks in advance for the image use Supralux )

As far as hooks I would look at what you plan to do with a bumper as having them mounted upright is nice.

also i need a W56 or G52 which will bolt to my transfer case, then i just need an apator/bellhousing to mate it all to the donk of choice??

Depends on engine choice for a Supra the W56 will bolt to yopur existing gearbox and is all you need (As i understand) Otherwise you can use the Auto bellhousing on the engine and modify it to accept a clutch fork and an adaptor to bolt it to the gearbox. You can also get a transfer case adapter made to use a complete engine and gearbox swap (usualy auto) and attach the transfer case through the adapter to the other gearbox.

Once you choose an engine we can better advise the best gearbox or how to proceed (Many opinions but your choice)

thanks for all your input everyone, after only 1 day im convinced nthat the mods are the way to go , and DBW i can still take that bar off you

and i need the mula

No worries this is what the site is about, making safe truck's that can get there and back. when you get the bits you may want to setup a build thread, as for the mula well we cant help but we can advise the best way to do things the first time and what we would change so you won't have to experiment and spend money in the wrong place.

I personaly am a fan of Zero Body lift, it does have its place but I prefer trimming guards moving diff's and a lower centre of gravity.

Edit to fix image

[badnuz]

now heres a plan, thanks to steve-t...


http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 790925.htm

if i can get this, with wheels, then transplant all the good stuf into my lux ( including rear tray??) then retro fit the 2.4 into this, leave it a-framed for the boy!! after talking bout father son stuff in tga's thread, my boy is keen to have his own 4wd......


just worried bout the whole turbo thing, but hmmm.... get to have 2 4wds

i need to keep the extra seating capactiy otherwise all the bush bash trucks would be ideal...

[MAHINDRACJ4A]

the engine in it is a 1G-GTE engine same as the one im putting into my jeep have a look at my project thread to read up on the motor