Hilux_Max's New D4D Hilux from OZ
- Thread starter Hilux_Max
- Start date
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
ok, havent updated in ages so ill cut and paste here what ive done -
Wyatt from RST and Demello Offroad and Marlin Czajkowski from Marlin Crawler came down to Melbourne Australia in March to fit one of these into my hilux -
the new design 4.7 crawlbox into my 07 hilux.
just before they came i fitted some extra rubber sidemount flares to my hilux to help cover the tyres -
These I'll mount to the side of the firbeglass flares and will cover my tyre completely (current fibreglass flares dont cover the sidewall only the tread) and will match the width of the mudflaps that I have fabricated. And will be more legal.
These are the ones below....
A few days before the Yanks came over i removed the tailshafts and got them ready for the install.I had the front tail shaft extended 8.5" and the front portion of the rear shaft shortened 8.5".
Heres a pic of those side mount rubber flares fitted -
Ive also slapped on some Marlin stickers to help promote their product......
Marlin and Wyatt and me began this project late sunday night, was supposed to be started monday but Marlin wanted a quick look below the transfercase shift lever boot through the cut out of the floor just to ensure everything was ok......first problem!
We found that the hilux has a forward shifting transfercase rather than a top shifting one like the Tacoma's and FJ cruisers do.....How does this make it a problem?
Let me explain further.....
A forward shift for those that may not know is when the actual shifter itself is located ontop of the adaptor plate between the rear of the transmission and the front of the factory transfercase.......the transfercase has extra long shift rods to accomadate the extra distance needed to shift gears.
This is a problem because we are required to remove this factory adaptor plate from the back of the transmission and fit the marlin Crawler one.
Other problem we encountered straight away was the fact that even thou every technical journal and resource we used to work out what transfercase it was and what gearbox the hilux had, once everything was apart we realised that the adaptor plates were incorrect.....for some reason Toyota used different adaptor plates/bel/housings on the hilux where they would have used a different one again for the US market even thou the transmission and gearbox itself were the same.
So halfway through Monday we weren't looking good.
Marlin contacted his workshop in the USA and organise to get the correct adaptor plates sent down for the Crawler Box, aswell as a short shift kit for the factory j-pattern transfercase as the location it would come up would be behind the auto shifter between it and the lid of the center console. Space is a premium here so we needed everything we could use to help.
Heres is some pics.
First one below is view from underneath with everything pretty much gutted!
Next pic is view on interior thats been gutted too! :shock:
Pic below is of the factory transfercase and the crawl box beside it with both the front and rear adaptor plates removed, which is why it looks so narrow......if you have a look at the front of the factory transfercase you can see the shift rods exit the front of it - this is where our problem lies......the extra length of those rods goes into the rear of the auto transmission adaptor plate to the transfer.....in this adaptor plate there is an opening on top just like the one you can see ontop of the factory transfercase where the transfer shifter fits in the standard configuration......the opening in the pic below you see is because we removed a blank cover that was fitted there.
Seems toyota uses the same transfercase in multiple market but this configuration is only for the hilux's......same transfercase in tacoma and FJ but they have their TOP shifted whereas the hilux is FRONT shifted......
A front shift configuration you see in applications where the vehicle has a front bench seat fitted and they move the shifter forward for more room.....looks like they have done this in this case and just carried it through across the range.
Last pic, I have just sat the extra shifter behind the auto selector so you can see where it will exit the transmission tunnel......we will be flipping the auto shift cable bracket you see there to make more room for a drilling a hole through the tranny tunnel......in this position is where the factory shifter will be located but we will be using a short shift design as space is at a premium here.
Late Monday afternoon, we went to a Toyota Wrecker to see what sort of transfercases they had here....if they had a "left hand dropped with a top shifter" we would have bought it and replaced it with mine......
Problem again is that no such beast exists here in Australia at all.
We found a couple right hand dropped transfercases with a top shifter but no left hand ones........The idea behind this is that we would purchase these if we had too and use the shift rods out of them.
Tuesday, we went to ARB headquarters here in Kilsyth for a tour of the factory and facilities with the guys.....absolutely awesome......I was speechless......you really get a great appreciation for the quality of a product when you actually see how its built and put together.....the ARB air locker was an impressive unit to see being built....I have pics but havent uploaded them yet to the PC, will do that later on at some stage.
On the way home from ARB, we swung past the wreckers again and we purchased a transfercase out of a 2003 Hilux 3.4 V6.......for 300bux.
We also found from other older toyota transfercases factory made short shifter's, shifter lever and the base and it was a perfect fit........so we took that aswell.
Got home, and we all got stuck into the job.
What an honour it is to see someone like Marlin himself stripping apart a transfercase literally with his eyes blindfolded and explaining exactly the process of it and what each little component does along the way - mate! did I learn abit watching him.
We pulled the shift rods out of the 2003 Hilux's tranfercase since they are shorter because of the top shift configuration and we then stripped my transfercase and removed the longer shift rods from the forward-shift design and slapped the shorter ones into it and then put it all back together.
By the end of last night, I was the proud owner, quite possibly of the only "Left Hand Dropped, Top 'Quick Shifter(Short Throw)' 05+ Hilux Chain Driven Tranfercase" in the world!!!!!!!!!
So we are looking good now.
We can still use the incorrect Marlin Crawler adaptor plates to mount everything up for measurements sake, and work on the new location of the factory J-Shifter Transfercase lever, extend the wiring of the sensors/pickups on the transfercase by 8.5" and ensure the tailshafts have been resized the right amount.
Then when the adaptor plates arrive from the US on thrusday, we just replace them and we are good to go!
Wyatt from RST and Demello Offroad and Marlin Czajkowski from Marlin Crawler came down to Melbourne Australia in March to fit one of these into my hilux -
the new design 4.7 crawlbox into my 07 hilux.
just before they came i fitted some extra rubber sidemount flares to my hilux to help cover the tyres -
These I'll mount to the side of the firbeglass flares and will cover my tyre completely (current fibreglass flares dont cover the sidewall only the tread) and will match the width of the mudflaps that I have fabricated. And will be more legal.
These are the ones below....
A few days before the Yanks came over i removed the tailshafts and got them ready for the install.I had the front tail shaft extended 8.5" and the front portion of the rear shaft shortened 8.5".
Heres a pic of those side mount rubber flares fitted -
Ive also slapped on some Marlin stickers to help promote their product......
Marlin and Wyatt and me began this project late sunday night, was supposed to be started monday but Marlin wanted a quick look below the transfercase shift lever boot through the cut out of the floor just to ensure everything was ok......first problem!
We found that the hilux has a forward shifting transfercase rather than a top shifting one like the Tacoma's and FJ cruisers do.....How does this make it a problem?
Let me explain further.....
A forward shift for those that may not know is when the actual shifter itself is located ontop of the adaptor plate between the rear of the transmission and the front of the factory transfercase.......the transfercase has extra long shift rods to accomadate the extra distance needed to shift gears.
This is a problem because we are required to remove this factory adaptor plate from the back of the transmission and fit the marlin Crawler one.
Other problem we encountered straight away was the fact that even thou every technical journal and resource we used to work out what transfercase it was and what gearbox the hilux had, once everything was apart we realised that the adaptor plates were incorrect.....for some reason Toyota used different adaptor plates/bel/housings on the hilux where they would have used a different one again for the US market even thou the transmission and gearbox itself were the same.
So halfway through Monday we weren't looking good.
Marlin contacted his workshop in the USA and organise to get the correct adaptor plates sent down for the Crawler Box, aswell as a short shift kit for the factory j-pattern transfercase as the location it would come up would be behind the auto shifter between it and the lid of the center console. Space is a premium here so we needed everything we could use to help.
Heres is some pics.
First one below is view from underneath with everything pretty much gutted!
Next pic is view on interior thats been gutted too! :shock:
Pic below is of the factory transfercase and the crawl box beside it with both the front and rear adaptor plates removed, which is why it looks so narrow......if you have a look at the front of the factory transfercase you can see the shift rods exit the front of it - this is where our problem lies......the extra length of those rods goes into the rear of the auto transmission adaptor plate to the transfer.....in this adaptor plate there is an opening on top just like the one you can see ontop of the factory transfercase where the transfer shifter fits in the standard configuration......the opening in the pic below you see is because we removed a blank cover that was fitted there.
Seems toyota uses the same transfercase in multiple market but this configuration is only for the hilux's......same transfercase in tacoma and FJ but they have their TOP shifted whereas the hilux is FRONT shifted......
A front shift configuration you see in applications where the vehicle has a front bench seat fitted and they move the shifter forward for more room.....looks like they have done this in this case and just carried it through across the range.
Last pic, I have just sat the extra shifter behind the auto selector so you can see where it will exit the transmission tunnel......we will be flipping the auto shift cable bracket you see there to make more room for a drilling a hole through the tranny tunnel......in this position is where the factory shifter will be located but we will be using a short shift design as space is at a premium here.
Late Monday afternoon, we went to a Toyota Wrecker to see what sort of transfercases they had here....if they had a "left hand dropped with a top shifter" we would have bought it and replaced it with mine......
Problem again is that no such beast exists here in Australia at all.
We found a couple right hand dropped transfercases with a top shifter but no left hand ones........The idea behind this is that we would purchase these if we had too and use the shift rods out of them.
Tuesday, we went to ARB headquarters here in Kilsyth for a tour of the factory and facilities with the guys.....absolutely awesome......I was speechless......you really get a great appreciation for the quality of a product when you actually see how its built and put together.....the ARB air locker was an impressive unit to see being built....I have pics but havent uploaded them yet to the PC, will do that later on at some stage.
On the way home from ARB, we swung past the wreckers again and we purchased a transfercase out of a 2003 Hilux 3.4 V6.......for 300bux.
We also found from other older toyota transfercases factory made short shifter's, shifter lever and the base and it was a perfect fit........so we took that aswell.
Got home, and we all got stuck into the job.
What an honour it is to see someone like Marlin himself stripping apart a transfercase literally with his eyes blindfolded and explaining exactly the process of it and what each little component does along the way - mate! did I learn abit watching him.
We pulled the shift rods out of the 2003 Hilux's tranfercase since they are shorter because of the top shift configuration and we then stripped my transfercase and removed the longer shift rods from the forward-shift design and slapped the shorter ones into it and then put it all back together.
By the end of last night, I was the proud owner, quite possibly of the only "Left Hand Dropped, Top 'Quick Shifter(Short Throw)' 05+ Hilux Chain Driven Tranfercase" in the world!!!!!!!!!
So we are looking good now.
We can still use the incorrect Marlin Crawler adaptor plates to mount everything up for measurements sake, and work on the new location of the factory J-Shifter Transfercase lever, extend the wiring of the sensors/pickups on the transfercase by 8.5" and ensure the tailshafts have been resized the right amount.
Then when the adaptor plates arrive from the US on thrusday, we just replace them and we are good to go!
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
This morning we went for a drive to a few stores to pickup an outer gear shift boot that will poke through the center console, so we got a nice grey one to match the console trim.....we got some fluid for the crawl box and factory transfercase and we also got some wire, shrink wrap to extend the wiring 9 inches.
Heres is a picture of the one of a kind transfercase.......the shift lever is just sitting there, the final shape of it is completely different. You can see the much shorter front selector shafts on it now and the higher base mount for the shifter itself.
We mounted the incorrect adaptor plates back onto the crawl box and then bolted it to the factory transfercase, then we mounted it up in the vehicle so we could at least measure up the position of everything and get to work fabricating the crawl box shift lever so it works properly because the top of the crawl box where the shift lever exits sits below the transmission tunnel just behind the front cutout for the factory transfercase shifter when in standard configuration.
Heres a pic of Wyatt extending the wiring under the vehicle -
Below is the shape of the Crawl Box shifter that Marlin and myself were working on whilst Wyatt was doing the wiring....this isnt the final product but is very close to it...it still needed some adjustment.
The open hole that you see in the pic on the transfercase is original forward shift opening that is on the adaptor plate for the transmission...this is the one we converted from and will not be using. On the top of the pic you can see the factory allumnium cover that we were using to cover this hole, but due to the shape of the shifter we needed to make, this was too high as when we ****ed the Crawl Box into Compound Low the bottom of the shifter was hitting the top of it....we removed it and made another cover out of thin plate steel a dn used that instead, gaining a good 10mm of extra clearance.
At the rear of thefactory transfer case hole that you see, we had to cut out a little piece so when the Crawl Box shifter is in High Range the shaft of the shifter will clear.
The final product that will eventually be sold to hilux owners will have a different design completely that Marlin explained to me that will utilise a completely different design using extra rods and linkages so fabricating a shifter like we did wont be necessary and will be a complete bolt on fit.....its not until you prototype designs like this that you work out better ways of doing things in the future....I love how marlins head ticks!
We then removed the hand brake assembly, the auto shifter assembly and from underneath the hilux we lowered the transfercases and marked the center point on the transmission tunnel where the factory transfercase shifter will be exiting upwards in its newer location.
We then removed the factory transfercase from the back of the Crawler, and drilled a pilot hole from the bottom upwards.
We then jumped inisde the hilux and with a bloody expensive holesaw, (120 bux for a 3" holesaw for metal plus the drill fitting....nice, for one bloody hole! ) and drilled downwards......
Because of the location of the hole we drilled, the front mounting hole for the handbrake assembly had been removed......
So I had a predrilled piece of steel that we cut and adjusted to fit and Marlin will weld it on to the frame of the handbrake assembly tomorrow. Aswell as this, the right hand side of the auto shifter bracket had to be removed to allow more clearance.....
Thats where we got up to today, tomorrow, Marlin and Wyatt are going to have the fun job of fabricating the rear shift lever for the factory (now "short throw") transfercase assembly which will require a couple of dog legs to make it work properly.......once that is done, the inner boots can be mounted to seal the transmission tunnel floor, then we can make it fit the center console trim with the outer boot trim. And all going well the correct adaptro plates should be clearing customs for us to collect as they are awaiting clearance and are in Australia.
Then its just a matter of removing the transfercase and Crawler again, fitting the correct adaptor plates, molunting the factory transfercase back onto it finally, fitting the interior cabin trim and seats, fill the units with oil and fit the modified tailshafts and we will be good to go for a test drive tomorrow night all going well.
Heres is a picture of the one of a kind transfercase.......the shift lever is just sitting there, the final shape of it is completely different. You can see the much shorter front selector shafts on it now and the higher base mount for the shifter itself.
We mounted the incorrect adaptor plates back onto the crawl box and then bolted it to the factory transfercase, then we mounted it up in the vehicle so we could at least measure up the position of everything and get to work fabricating the crawl box shift lever so it works properly because the top of the crawl box where the shift lever exits sits below the transmission tunnel just behind the front cutout for the factory transfercase shifter when in standard configuration.
Heres a pic of Wyatt extending the wiring under the vehicle -
Below is the shape of the Crawl Box shifter that Marlin and myself were working on whilst Wyatt was doing the wiring....this isnt the final product but is very close to it...it still needed some adjustment.
The open hole that you see in the pic on the transfercase is original forward shift opening that is on the adaptor plate for the transmission...this is the one we converted from and will not be using. On the top of the pic you can see the factory allumnium cover that we were using to cover this hole, but due to the shape of the shifter we needed to make, this was too high as when we ****ed the Crawl Box into Compound Low the bottom of the shifter was hitting the top of it....we removed it and made another cover out of thin plate steel a dn used that instead, gaining a good 10mm of extra clearance.
At the rear of thefactory transfer case hole that you see, we had to cut out a little piece so when the Crawl Box shifter is in High Range the shaft of the shifter will clear.
The final product that will eventually be sold to hilux owners will have a different design completely that Marlin explained to me that will utilise a completely different design using extra rods and linkages so fabricating a shifter like we did wont be necessary and will be a complete bolt on fit.....its not until you prototype designs like this that you work out better ways of doing things in the future....I love how marlins head ticks!
We then removed the hand brake assembly, the auto shifter assembly and from underneath the hilux we lowered the transfercases and marked the center point on the transmission tunnel where the factory transfercase shifter will be exiting upwards in its newer location.
We then removed the factory transfercase from the back of the Crawler, and drilled a pilot hole from the bottom upwards.
We then jumped inisde the hilux and with a bloody expensive holesaw, (120 bux for a 3" holesaw for metal plus the drill fitting....nice, for one bloody hole! ) and drilled downwards......
Because of the location of the hole we drilled, the front mounting hole for the handbrake assembly had been removed......
So I had a predrilled piece of steel that we cut and adjusted to fit and Marlin will weld it on to the frame of the handbrake assembly tomorrow. Aswell as this, the right hand side of the auto shifter bracket had to be removed to allow more clearance.....
Thats where we got up to today, tomorrow, Marlin and Wyatt are going to have the fun job of fabricating the rear shift lever for the factory (now "short throw") transfercase assembly which will require a couple of dog legs to make it work properly.......once that is done, the inner boots can be mounted to seal the transmission tunnel floor, then we can make it fit the center console trim with the outer boot trim. And all going well the correct adaptro plates should be clearing customs for us to collect as they are awaiting clearance and are in Australia.
Then its just a matter of removing the transfercase and Crawler again, fitting the correct adaptor plates, molunting the factory transfercase back onto it finally, fitting the interior cabin trim and seats, fill the units with oil and fit the modified tailshafts and we will be good to go for a test drive tomorrow night all going well.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
Guys,
After a long week the Hilux is finally complete and crawling :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
The last day of the install saw us receive the parts we were waiting for from the US which was the correct adaptor plates for the Crawl Box, the quick shift base mount, and the longer lower selector pin that we welded onto the shifter handle.
Below is a comparison pic from left to right of Marlin Crawler quick shift base, factory toyota quick shift base, standard toyota shifter base and the plate cover on the transfer case.
Next is a pic of Wyatt grinding down the head of two of the lower bolts. This is required as it grinding down the a portion of the factory transmission adaptor plate so that it clears the marlin adaptor plate when everything is bolted up.
Here you can see Wyatt bashing the hell out of the coupler to install it onto the transmission out put shaft.
And below is the "one of a kind" factory transfercase attached to the Marlin Crawler Box waiting to be installed into the Hilux.
And a very proud Marlin Czajkowski holding his baby before we put it in :lol: (im surprised his shoulder didnt give way with the weight)
The unit being fitted up...yes, all on the floor of the garage, no hoists here.....we did this thing "old skool" :shock:
Wyatt gave us the idea of using the Marlin rubber shifter boot ontop of the console as an "outer boot" rather than an inner boot as it was meant to be and the finish was fantastic....very factory looking.
Last picture of the interior setup before the modified center console went back in.....so all in all, we cut off a tab off the handbrake bracket and welded a new one to the outer side and slightly raise the handbrake itself on a couple of washer before tightening it up so as to clear the new inner shifter boot. We trimmed the inner portion of the auto shifter rod bracket for boot clearance aswell. The transmission tunnel sheet metal is 3 ply thick in places....inbetween them all we used a heavy duty waterproofing silicon sealant I had and Marlin filled in the gaps between the different layers of metal around the 3" hole we had cut with this silicon to eliminate any potential ability of water to get in and sit there. Then Wyatt mounted the inner boot with silicon under it and self tapper screws....
The final product......
The shifter itself went in extremely tightly....and needed some adjustments by Marlin via filing down the edges.....the end product is a stiff but smooth very short throw shifter at the rear that gets selected by only a couple flicks of the wrist.
After all was done we went to test drive it and couldnt start the hilux!
We removed the console again and found one plug off the auto shifter we forgot to attach and also the auto shifter cable wasn't connected to the shifter. Once that was done she started and I crawled in compound low at 11.30pm at night for the very first time. Like a baby taking its first steps.
After a long week the Hilux is finally complete and crawling :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
The last day of the install saw us receive the parts we were waiting for from the US which was the correct adaptor plates for the Crawl Box, the quick shift base mount, and the longer lower selector pin that we welded onto the shifter handle.
Below is a comparison pic from left to right of Marlin Crawler quick shift base, factory toyota quick shift base, standard toyota shifter base and the plate cover on the transfer case.
Next is a pic of Wyatt grinding down the head of two of the lower bolts. This is required as it grinding down the a portion of the factory transmission adaptor plate so that it clears the marlin adaptor plate when everything is bolted up.
Here you can see Wyatt bashing the hell out of the coupler to install it onto the transmission out put shaft.
And below is the "one of a kind" factory transfercase attached to the Marlin Crawler Box waiting to be installed into the Hilux.
And a very proud Marlin Czajkowski holding his baby before we put it in :lol: (im surprised his shoulder didnt give way with the weight)
The unit being fitted up...yes, all on the floor of the garage, no hoists here.....we did this thing "old skool" :shock:
Wyatt gave us the idea of using the Marlin rubber shifter boot ontop of the console as an "outer boot" rather than an inner boot as it was meant to be and the finish was fantastic....very factory looking.
Last picture of the interior setup before the modified center console went back in.....so all in all, we cut off a tab off the handbrake bracket and welded a new one to the outer side and slightly raise the handbrake itself on a couple of washer before tightening it up so as to clear the new inner shifter boot. We trimmed the inner portion of the auto shifter rod bracket for boot clearance aswell. The transmission tunnel sheet metal is 3 ply thick in places....inbetween them all we used a heavy duty waterproofing silicon sealant I had and Marlin filled in the gaps between the different layers of metal around the 3" hole we had cut with this silicon to eliminate any potential ability of water to get in and sit there. Then Wyatt mounted the inner boot with silicon under it and self tapper screws....
The final product......
The shifter itself went in extremely tightly....and needed some adjustments by Marlin via filing down the edges.....the end product is a stiff but smooth very short throw shifter at the rear that gets selected by only a couple flicks of the wrist.
After all was done we went to test drive it and couldnt start the hilux!
We removed the console again and found one plug off the auto shifter we forgot to attach and also the auto shifter cable wasn't connected to the shifter. Once that was done she started and I crawled in compound low at 11.30pm at night for the very first time. Like a baby taking its first steps.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
heres some video footage.....unfortunately there was nothing decent close to home so here are two vids of a decent in compound low over some rocky mounds and then an accent up a track where i placed one side into a rut.
both diffs are open in the vids and the hilux is in compound low.....wyatt has some more vids he took demonstrating crawl ability.....will definitely have to get my front air locker leak now fixed and a rear one fitted to make a complete package and benefit from the extra traction and crawl ratio......
like I said, the videos arent spectacular but they do show how slow she goes and it feels awesome having that much engine braking going downhills aswell as alot more time and control goin up them.....wyatt will post the other ones when he gets back to the usa.
Heres a couple more vids from Wyatt's camera of our little test run -
Australia trip :: MOV03097.flv video by awsumdc - Photobucket
Australia trip :: MOV03093.flv video by awsumdc - Photobucket
Hopefully his photobucket account doesnt crash now like mine did..... :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock:
both diffs are open in the vids and the hilux is in compound low.....wyatt has some more vids he took demonstrating crawl ability.....will definitely have to get my front air locker leak now fixed and a rear one fitted to make a complete package and benefit from the extra traction and crawl ratio......
like I said, the videos arent spectacular but they do show how slow she goes and it feels awesome having that much engine braking going downhills aswell as alot more time and control goin up them.....wyatt will post the other ones when he gets back to the usa.
Heres a couple more vids from Wyatt's camera of our little test run -
Australia trip :: MOV03097.flv video by awsumdc - Photobucket
Australia trip :: MOV03093.flv video by awsumdc - Photobucket
Hopefully his photobucket account doesnt crash now like mine did..... :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock:
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
Small trip report from last weekend -
pics of Steep Track looking up at the first section -
this is looking down from the first section
here you can just make out some of the blokes at the bottom of the track at the top of the pic
after the first little bit of track at the start right before it opens up, to get access any further you have to climb over a big tree root thats been eroded infront of it, the steep up was pretty big so me and steve showed off our masonry skills and build a little ramp to help me up and over it. i wasnt takin more risks than i had to on this root, ive seen a landrover blow a center diff trying to climb over it in the past and another hilux a rear diff
then it was on the way up......that first root took 3 attempts to get over as as soon as your over it you come across another one at the same point when your rear tyres are getting over the first one so it slows you down.....if the front locker was working would have been better.
3 short vids of some of the steep track run -
part1 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
part2 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
part3 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
YouTube - Tallarook - Out of creek at bottom of Teehans 2
doesnt do it justice, you gotta try and get there and do it yourself.
Front locker is booked in to get the seals replaced next week so better/harder/more challenging tracks are planned for the future.
pics of Steep Track looking up at the first section -
this is looking down from the first section
here you can just make out some of the blokes at the bottom of the track at the top of the pic
after the first little bit of track at the start right before it opens up, to get access any further you have to climb over a big tree root thats been eroded infront of it, the steep up was pretty big so me and steve showed off our masonry skills and build a little ramp to help me up and over it. i wasnt takin more risks than i had to on this root, ive seen a landrover blow a center diff trying to climb over it in the past and another hilux a rear diff
then it was on the way up......that first root took 3 attempts to get over as as soon as your over it you come across another one at the same point when your rear tyres are getting over the first one so it slows you down.....if the front locker was working would have been better.
3 short vids of some of the steep track run -
part1 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
part2 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
part3 - YouTube - Steve9R's Channel
YouTube - Tallarook - Out of creek at bottom of Teehans 2
doesnt do it justice, you gotta try and get there and do it yourself.
Front locker is booked in to get the seals replaced next week so better/harder/more challenging tracks are planned for the future.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
Couple small things today....got some time to play with the truck so whilst I was fitting the bashplates back on that I had removed the other day to get the front locker fixed I changed how the Xrox Bashplate and my custom bashplate mate up so now is a better and slightly more clearanced.
On the front of the bashplates I added a small Marlin Crawler Sticker as a little warning to prospective passengers....LOL
I also replaced the dodgy cheapo little light I had on the rear of the rollbar to light up the tray with a Twin Narva LED light that I got as part of the promotional gear during my 4x4 TV shoot. This light takes less current and the light is a white light not yellowish and lights up a better area to see gear in the tub at night.
On the front of the bashplates I added a small Marlin Crawler Sticker as a little warning to prospective passengers....LOL
I also replaced the dodgy cheapo little light I had on the rear of the rollbar to light up the tray with a Twin Narva LED light that I got as part of the promotional gear during my 4x4 TV shoot. This light takes less current and the light is a white light not yellowish and lights up a better area to see gear in the tub at night.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
In a few weeks time I have a set of these coming in aswell.......
Heavy Duty/High Performance CV/Driveshafts for the Hilux....these aren't released yet so I will be helping to do initial testing of them.
The specs on the CV's we will offer:
1.5 mm heavier shaft
15 mm extra extension at the CV... which equates to about 4" extra operating angle
Outside cup is 10mm bigger... making CV cup wall heavier.
Here are some images where you can see the extra girth these things are packing:
They are not just bigger but the CV itself inside the larger housing both inner and outer is much stronger......should handle the crawler/locker and future 35's.....
so once I eventually also fit aftermarket Upper Control Arms, I should be able to get just over an extra inch of down travel.....good improvement on the IFS with its limitations and there shouldnt be any binding of the CV aswell....improving longevity.
Heavy Duty/High Performance CV/Driveshafts for the Hilux....these aren't released yet so I will be helping to do initial testing of them.
The specs on the CV's we will offer:
1.5 mm heavier shaft
15 mm extra extension at the CV... which equates to about 4" extra operating angle
Outside cup is 10mm bigger... making CV cup wall heavier.
Here are some images where you can see the extra girth these things are packing:
They are not just bigger but the CV itself inside the larger housing both inner and outer is much stronger......should handle the crawler/locker and future 35's.....
so once I eventually also fit aftermarket Upper Control Arms, I should be able to get just over an extra inch of down travel.....good improvement on the IFS with its limitations and there shouldnt be any binding of the CV aswell....improving longevity.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
A couple of pics from a trip to Tallarook yesterday with 3 other new hilux....had a ball, did a couple hard tracks and popped one of me mates 4x4'ing cherries. His first time in his new hilux offroad. He was thoroughly impressed with it....
will post vids from yesterdays trip probably tomorrow...they are uploading at the moment and will take a while.
will post vids from yesterdays trip probably tomorrow...they are uploading at the moment and will take a while.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
Alright...heres a couple vids from the day.....
Me testing out the crawler....again :roll:
crawlin-over-boulder.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
George using the newfound power of his VMN chipa nd straight through exhaust at the start of steep track
george-over-tree-root.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
Igor coming up the track in his near stock SR5 (front spacer lift and ATZ's)
igor-steep-trk.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
George using that big power again putting on a nice exhibition through a boghole followed by a short steep climb, lifting wheels in the process
george-mud.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
Just before we were about to leave a group of Mitsubishi 4x4's rocked up so we sent Marc back down again to show them how its down in a toyota so mark crawled through the boghole and up the short steep track with both lockers on to give them a false sense of how easy it is :lol:
marc-mud1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
And me doing the same thing twice for the hell of it
marc-mud2.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
I apoligise for any stupid comments made in the taping of the footage.....I couldnt edit it out.
Ive got two more videos to upload of me crawling up and over some rocky obstacles to come.
Me testing out the crawler....again :roll:
crawlin-over-boulder.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
George using the newfound power of his VMN chipa nd straight through exhaust at the start of steep track
george-over-tree-root.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
Igor coming up the track in his near stock SR5 (front spacer lift and ATZ's)
igor-steep-trk.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
George using that big power again putting on a nice exhibition through a boghole followed by a short steep climb, lifting wheels in the process
george-mud.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
Just before we were about to leave a group of Mitsubishi 4x4's rocked up so we sent Marc back down again to show them how its down in a toyota so mark crawled through the boghole and up the short steep track with both lockers on to give them a false sense of how easy it is :lol:
marc-mud1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
And me doing the same thing twice for the hell of it
marc-mud2.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
I apoligise for any stupid comments made in the taping of the footage.....I couldnt edit it out.
Ive got two more videos to upload of me crawling up and over some rocky obstacles to come.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
Heres the last two vids that got uploaded overnight for your viewing entertainment
And Driving up a huge rock on one of the tracks.....
max-boulder-steep-trk-1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
The rocks were greasy with moss and moisture on them, and the tracks were bit greasy too....
the fact my tyres are just over half worn didnt help either....Hmmmmm...tyres :roll:
edit: just realised I uploaded the wrong one of the two...bugger....try again
And Driving up a huge rock on one of the tracks.....
max-boulder-steep-trk-1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
The rocks were greasy with moss and moisture on them, and the tracks were bit greasy too....
the fact my tyres are just over half worn didnt help either....Hmmmmm...tyres :roll:
edit: just realised I uploaded the wrong one of the two...bugger....try again
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
I know it'll change my whole world....there was a hilux with 32" tyres and twin lockers and he crawled up things very easily...other than clearance issues he went really well...
heres the last vid that needed to be uploaded -
crawln-over-rocks-1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
heres the last vid that needed to be uploaded -
crawln-over-rocks-1.flv video by Hilux_Max - Photobucket
