Toy got a new coat

[Tumbleweed]

Got it all one color at least, and a bit dusty.

[Jerry Bransford]

Looks good, nice color choice. Was that its original color?

The only time I had a vehicle painted, it came with a perfectly rolled thumbprint dead center on top of the roof. Yours didn't come with that did it?

[Tumbleweed]

The original color of the 85 cab was an off white, almost an appliance white.
This color is a much brighter white, called fleet white. Same as is on almost any newer work truck you see. The bed is from an 82-2wd Toyota and bobbed 12". After I got the truck I chose to replace both front fenders, the hood, windshield, and both doors due to severe rock rash.
My wheeling is not that aggressive, this is an overbuilt trail rig. Although the lower exoskeleton looks a bit tacky, it works very well to protect the body now. I can slide it on rocks now from front to back bumper and never touch the body. It also doubles as fender flares and keeps the cops happy. The rear fender extensions are grafted into the bed, and they came from a utility trailer fender that was split in half. The truck sets fairly low for having 37's on it.

[Gunnys TJ]

Every Saturday I see those duplicolor comercials that show a car being painted in a garage over a weekend with the "Yes, you can." voice over....and day dream about a flat black TJ.

By Monday I talk myself back into my "No, you would screw it up."


Looks great!

[Matt N]

Cool. Hey Don that's a good looking Hilux you have there. Does this vehicle replace the old Jeep you had when I visited? What do you use the roof rack for, don't you have enough space in the back?

[Tumbleweed]

Matt, yes this replaced the Jeeps. The roof rack is for whatever I need. I overbuilt it, have tested it with 600 lbs in it. It is really handy for folding chairs and such. With the bobbed bed, a large tool chest, a 37" spare, a spare battery, hilift jack, a winch anchor, a small ice chest, and a 3 gallon water jug pretty much eats up the space. I built a similar but smaller rack over the tool chest for tying stuff easily to. Inside the cab is tight for room.

I know I carry alot of crap with me on the trails. However-I seldom find a situation that I need something and don't have it, or can't make do. It gets even worse for winter snow wheeling. I usually carry enough gear for two folks to get along for 3-5 days. Most of the trails I hit are 50-75 miles from my house. Quite often the trail part may run from 20-75 miles or so, away from any frequented roads. Do you get the feeling I don't hike well anymore?
I don't travel without another vehicle along though.

The Toyota does everything quite well. It can hang with many buggies on harder stuff, although that is not my preferred choice of trails. It does have a 224-1 crawl ratio; but can also drive down the highway at 65mph all day for hours at a time. (and gets 22mpg doing it)

[Matt N]

Makes sense now, and I didn't factor in a 37inch spare. Sounds like a great all-round 4x4.

I can relate to lugging around lots of gear. If you have the room why not. I have a most of my camping gear including tent, chairs, food, recovery gear, water, spares etc permanently packed in the back of my Land Rover.

The vehicle acts as a mobile storage room because I don't have much spare space for all that stuff in my apartment!

[TObject]

Don,

The Toy looks great.

Matt,

How is the idea of keeping the supplies in the vehicle working out for you in the long run? Is there anything you would change to make it better?

I am still unloading and loading supplies for each trip. On the plus side: I can customize what I take with me. On the negative side: there is a lot of preparation time required, and I have limited storage space available.

[Matt N]

Sergey,

As you know I have a security model cargo drawer in the back of the Land Rover so all my camping/4x4 stuff just stays locked up in there. With the floor over the drawer I can still load up my mountain bike, paintings, furniture, groceries or whatever. So far everything else I've ever needed to carry has fitted in on top of the drawer.

I also have the drawer divided up into 6 compartments with different sized plastic tubs fitting into 5 of these. This way there's not a big mess of stuff rolling around in the drawer and every item has its place. The 6th compartment is for big stuff like the tent, chairs and stuff that you want to get at readily -- like a snatch strap and shackles for instance.

The downside is that the vehicle is carrying extra weight when it's not necessary.

If you could get all your gear compartmentalised, out of the way, where it doesn't impede the vehicles daily function I would recommend it. Then if you ever feel the need to make yourself a cup of tea or soup while parked in the Walmart carpark, you can!

[Matt N]

P.S.
So yep, it's working out well.
Could it be improved? For my needs it's fine, but sure, if I had heaps of money to throw at it, I'd rebuild the whole back of the Land Rover and turn it into my ultimate expedition unit. Eg. Redesigned canvas canopy, added storage lockers, incorporated kitchen space, fidge, optional sleeping area, water tank with tap instead of jerry cans etc etc

[Allen]

That is really sharp.

I love those Toyotas.

In fact, I was seriously thinking of building one a few years back and scrapping the Jeep all together.

Very, very nice.

[Tumbleweed]

The real plus side to this is my total investment so far in this rig is under $7500. I can't build a comparable Jeep for that. I have put a bit over 2500 miles on it now, all going to or running trails. No major problems.