Offroad-Express

It has been a while since I have been on here - mostly due to work commitments and having little or no internet access... However, I now find myself with my weekends almost completely free from work again (until the end of the year and then its 7 days a week again )

Recently my Mu (its my off road/river toy with an A-Frame so not driven on the road) has suffered a bit of neglect - the last time I had it out I was pushing it through some pretty deep water and in general just being a bit of a nut in it and when I finally got stuck I was in water that was over the level of the front seats (if it still had the center console that would have been underwater!) and during this time the clutch filled up with water so when we got it out it didnt want to drive any more. Then work picked up and it has basically spent the last 6 months sitting outside the shed waiting patiently for me to fix her up and get back into the off roading.

Anyway, I finally got it into the shed about a month ago and started giving it a birthday - I have a list as long as my arm to attend to before its safe to get back out there but its all fairly easy, just takes a bit of time! So far I have built the back half of a roll cage for it (I figured its going to roll one day so why not be prepared!) and am looking into ways to go about the front half without making it impossible to get in and out of!

I have picked up a set of bigger wheels - I originally had it on a set of 31/10.5/15s on white spoke steelies but managed to get a set of Rays Engineering/Volk Racing 16s with 285/85s through a deal with a mate of mine. Understandably, these are a lot bigger than the 31s so I am going to need to do some lifting to give me the clearance I need. Which leads me to my questions!

I have seen a couple of Mus around the Hawkes Bay that have the leaf over axle conversion in the back which seems like a logical way to lift the back without tooooo much trouble, but I know this will lead to trouble with the front end as the torsions are not going to give me suitable lift to make it practical. One of the Mus I was looking at had the SAS conversion on the front which would be ideal but having read SupraLux's write up on how he did his conversion, I am wondering if this is going to be something I can achieve in my shed (I dont like sending my vehicles off to the mechanic and telling them to do the work and then forking over excessive amounts for a job I could have done myself or at least done all the mundane work like stripping it back etc)

Another Mu I have seen had what appeared to be the coil spring set up out of a Nissan Safari which also looked good although not nearly as high as the SAS Mu! I guess I am trying to work out what is the best conversion to go for? Bearing in mind this truck is literally a toy - I dont think I will ever bother trying to get it road legal (although I was quite disappointed recently to discover that to join the local 4x4 club my truck would need rego/wof/rucs - that isnt a problem on either of my two Pighorns but the whole idea behind building my Mu was that it was for off road duties meaning I would stop breaking my daily driven road worthy vehicles! I have had my white pig for 4 years and replaced EVERYTHING except for the front diff and panels - gearboxes, rear diff, engine, interior, you name it, I have played with it at some point!)

So from the point of view that the vehicle is solely going to be used off road, what is the best option for front suspension?

I also want to re-position the fuel tank - currently it sits underneath behind the rear axle as they do on every Isuzu 4x4 I have looked at. I was thinking of mounting it in the boot and making sure it was securely braced so couldnt move. Is this a good idea or am I going to be asking for problems? It has no carpet or anything in the way of interior beyond the two front seats and dash (for now - considering removing that altogher as well and just wiring up the bare essentials) so its not going to make things any less practical when it comes to boot space!

There were a few other things I needed to work out but they have escaped my mind for now! If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would appreciate hearing them!

(Will add a few photos soon - just had a little trouble when I tried to add them!)

Cheers

Blair

Firstly there are two hawkes bay 4wd clubs the first "twin city" as you mention requires reg wof and insurance and cators more for the soft 4wding where most guys dont want to hurt there daily driver which is fine if thats what you want to do.
the second club "hawkes bay 4wd club" where a degree of insanity seems to be a membership requirement . If you want to come out with us be prepared to roll it, drown it, fill it with mud and break every part of it . rip your mirrors off and reshape every panel. Thus probably half of us have given up on wof, redg and put our trucks on a trailer. see you soon
There used to be a local guy on here that has seriously messed with a mu and would probably help you to make some informed decisions or even help do it. Reece "deranged engineering" will pm you his no if you like. not going to put it here without his permission. tho search "deranged" user name and you will probably find it

Fantastic! that is good to hear that there are others out there who want to have fun in a truck that is not needed to drive to work the next day! I was quite disheartened when I was told I would have to have a rego and wof - I went to the trouble of converting it to manual, making an a-frame up for it and even started the roll cage - there are not that many vehicles that are road legal with roll cages, my mate had one in his VL Commodore drift car and the hassle of hamologation and having to keep a log book etc is just too much to keep it road legal! I dont want the cage so I look cool, I want the cage because I have nearly gone over backwards once and I dont think I have had a trip to the river yet where I havent been on 2 wheels going down a steep bank or something similar yet - its all part of the fun! When the roof is too badly stoved etc then I will just cut it off and run with the cage only!

I am very keen to get out for a play when you guys go out next and see what you're all about coz the drive in a big long line through farm land and stress about a bit of mud on the interior scene is absolutely not me!!!

Cheers

Blair

the sased mu on leafs is mine, the coil one you are talking bout is the local wreakers owner, that has a 80 series chasise with a 5ltr v8.

H/B 4wd club meets every third tuesday of the month at 7.30pm upstairs of the taradale RSA .

Google "hawkes bay 4wd club" will find our website.

My wife is the treasure/secretary
your welcome to come out with us before you join
Clive 0210606695

hey clive, i meet you the other night at reeces, hows that hilux of yours going??

hi Jessie. was just checking your profile to see if it was you. cant be many Mu's like yours around. hilux is getting there. mounted steering box today.

sweet, good to see it getting finished.

Excellent, this is all sounding very promising! Was having a chat to an older guy down at the river mouth today in a SWB Patrol who is in the HB 4x4 club - sounds like the sort of fun I am looking to have with my toys!

I would really like to come along to one of your meetings at the Taradale RSA, unfortunately I work the "afternoon" shift at work so dont finish in Hastings until 10pm. However I am being hassled to take some holidays during the off season so I will try to book the time to include the 3rd Tuesday, although Its looking like it will be August before I can do this!

In the mean time, is there anything happening in any of the upcoming weekends? I still havent received my new clutch and starter motor for the Mu as yet, with a bit of luck these will arrive tomorrow but I still have 2 Pighorns to play with (although I am not quite so keen on rooting either of them too badly just yet! Still need to get to work!) I would also really like to get a better look at any other seriously messed with Mu's (such as yours Jessie) and find out a bit more about what I am getting myself in for when I start cutting stuff out!

That was something else I was curious to see if anyone else had tried before I just blaze ahead: Does anyone know if the manual wind up window mechanisms from a UBS55 SWB Pighorn are easily adaptable to the UCS55 Mu? I am trying to eliminate electrical things like windows that are prone to failing after getting wet! I still have both doors of my first pig so thought it might be a good way to prevent a near certain future issue...

not this sunday the following one we are having a fun social play day on a farm. could come to that with or without your truck meet everyone etc . the old boy in the safari was probably peter. best txt me for details for the sunday

Sounds good mate, I will give you a text at a more socially acceptable hour to find out more - if I havent got my Mu going by then I'll drag out my white pig. It still knows how to stand up to a bit of a beating! But as long as my parts arrive sooner rather than later in the week I should be very close to being able to get the Mu out of the shed in time.

Yeah I am pretty sure his name was Peter, I couldnt put my finger on it before! Good bloke - rather like his truck too!