4x4 Toyota Van Idea

[Di0n]

Hello everyone

I've had an idea going around in my head for quite some time but I'm hoping for a bit of help and advice. I owned this hiace when I was 19 and travelled all over New Zealand in it. It was an excellent vehicle, really reliable and super economical with a 2.8 diesel and manual transmission. It was also 4wd with low range so it performed fairly well off-road considering its poor approach and decent angles.


What I'm dreaming of this time is something slightly more capable, solid axles with leaf springs front and rear, a bigger engine, locking diffs and hopefully slightly more internal space although the hiace was fine. So the idea I've been throwing around is getting one of these:


Its a Toyota Dyna Van. From what I can tell they come in 3.0, 3.4 and 4.1 non turbo, mechanical, diesel. They have leaf springs front and rear, with a beam front axle. They're roughly the same size as a hiace but with a full chassis they are capable of carrying much heavier loads.

My idea is to remove both the front beam axle and rear diff and replace them with factory locking diffs from either a 70 or 80 series land cruiser depending on which width is more suitable. Obviously this will involve changing the diff mounts to suit the factory leaf springs. From what I can tell the vans gearbox is a very similar unit to that used in land cruisers too, so I'm hoping I can swap the transfer case onto the back of the vans gearbox. Custom driveshafts will be needed.

I don't believe these vans (or the truck verisons?) were available in North America so I'm not sure how much help I'll get here, but it seems like a lot of the ford a Chevy vans get converted so maybe it's a similar idea.

What I need help with is:

-1. Will the land cruiser diffs be strong enough to carry the weight of the van loaded up as an off grid style camper?

-2. How would I go about changing the steering linkages?

-3. Am I better to mount the diffs above the springs or below?

 

[Di0n]

Also I have photographic evidence it's possible, but unfortunately I don't speak Russian and google translate wasn't much help either, so I'm not sure how they've done it exactly.

 

[Lunchbox2]

I'd say that it really depends on what you're going to do with it.... Fairly moderate off-road use or heavy off-roading? How big of a tire? What's the van weigh? Longfield's go a long way in the toyota axles, so they will probably work if you're not rock bouncing. Some of the hardcore toyota guys seem to break the front ring and pinion in the diffs rather often, but again, that's probably with some pretty hard abuse. You'll need all the lift you can get, so I would go spring over axle. I'm sure a crossover steering of some kind would work well for the application, although you may have to swap steering boxes if the stock one doesn't swing the right way.

I am not easy on my van, and intend on wheeling it pretty hard. I didn't want any problems with mine, so I went one-ton axles with lockers and long travel suspension from the start, overbuilt the transmission, and have a gear-driven transfer case. Nothing I used was intended for this application, so I can relate to building something that doesn't exist, and hasn't really been done. Not sure if any of that helps but good-luck and post plenty of pics when it happens!

The Lunchbox...

 

[Di0n]

Hi lunchbox,

Good information there, I'm planning it as a liveable camper setup for some long term travel. It won't see any rock crawling or too much abuse, but I want it to be strong and reliable. The idea behind using land cruiser parts is they are available everywhere and it keeps it all Toyota. Thinking around a 33x10.5R15 but I'd need to see it next to the van to judge size. As for the lift my only concern is the center of gravity as I don't want it to be really top heavy, and would also like to keep it low enough to fit in a container, not that that should be a problem.

 

[Lunchbox2]

Hi lunchbox,

Good information there, I'm planning it as a liveable camper setup for some long term travel. It won't see any rock crawling or too much abuse, but I want it to be strong and reliable. The idea behind using land cruiser parts is they are available everywhere and it keeps it all Toyota. Thinking around a 33x10.5R15 but I'd need to see it next to the van to judge size. As for the lift my only concern is the center of gravity as I don't want it to be really top heavy, and would also like to keep it low enough to fit in a container, not that that should be a problem.

Those landcruiser axles will work just fine. My van is only 7'7" to the top of the roof, and yours will never be as tall as mine, so it will fit in a shipping container with no problems. I don't have any problems with being "top heavy". Everybody thinks it looks like it'll tip over, but then they ride in it and realize it's just not like that. I'd say get at it and start burning metal!

 

[Di0n]

Looks like tare weight is 2010kg and GVM is 4400kg although as a camper it will never be near that.

 

[Lunchbox2]

Looks like tare weight is 2010kg and GVM is 4400kg although as a camper it will never be near that.

That's not too bad, right around 4400 lbs.... Mine without an interior, bumpers, winch, or spare is 5100 lbs... I'll be pushing 6000 lbs by the time it's all together.

 

[45Kevin]

An 80 series is around 6000 lbs with a winch and a few other odds and ends in the truck. Many people I know are always over 7000 lbs with it loaded for a trip. And 33's will not put much more stress on the axles than the regular stock size tires they come with.
I doubt that that Dyna will be any heavier the way you are going to set it up.
Axles from an 80 or 70 should hold up just fine.
Remember though, the 80 doesn't have leaf springs so you would have to add spring perches.

 

[Di0n]

Yeah I considered axles from a leaf sprung cruiser (60 series perhaps) but I figured it was unlikely the spring perches would line up anyway so I would be better to go for the more modern 80 series units with diff locks and disk brakes. Are four wheel disks a good idea or should I stick with drum brakes in the rear? I'm guessing by going to disks I will need to change the master cylinder?

These vans were also available with a factory high roof around 300mm taller which would be nice but finding one might prove difficult, and the height might be a problem on trails etc.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm probably looking at this idea through rose tinted glasses so any criticisms are welcome.