Old's Cool
- Thread starter Crenshaw
- Start date
thatwaspontus
New member
Rad thread. My vehicle orientated adventuring started with Big Green, a 1980 C20. No 4wd, but the posi rear end got its fat *** most anywhere including a 4 month dirt road odyssey across Alberta, BC, the Yukon and the NWT. Road like a Cadillac, slept like a king in the back come winter shred season and needed a well to keep it supplied with oil.
Somewhere along the Dempster.
Got it in my head to 'upgrade' when I spotted this relatively unmolested little red 1980 Toyota on the side of a rural road. Valhalla Express has been the main shred rig for the last 5 years. Pretty molested now. Old Toyota's reliable? Ha, that was a pretty good con! No build thread, budget, endpoint except to keep it hauling me to the next adventure. If something breaks it gets replaced with something better. Which would explain the 22R that gets way to much love, L52 trans, Doug Thorley header, 32/36 Weber (replaced an old Motocrap, no idea where the Aisin went), and a variety of other bits and bobs. A cracked rear leaf, pretty sad fronts has now resulted in some OME suspension bits on order and aiming for in by the end of the month. Creature comforts include bucket seats out of something, boat speakers and the sliding back rear window. No carpet means conversations are out above 50km/h (this has positives and negatives...). The exhaust sounds pretty sweet though. Using the brakes requires planning when going fast which isn't often. 5th gear is kinda the holy grail, only gets used when the wind is at my back and gravity on my side. I sleep in the dirt, cook over white gas and am fine with missing a shower until I find the next couch to surf.
Somewhere along the Dempster.
Got it in my head to 'upgrade' when I spotted this relatively unmolested little red 1980 Toyota on the side of a rural road. Valhalla Express has been the main shred rig for the last 5 years. Pretty molested now. Old Toyota's reliable? Ha, that was a pretty good con! No build thread, budget, endpoint except to keep it hauling me to the next adventure. If something breaks it gets replaced with something better. Which would explain the 22R that gets way to much love, L52 trans, Doug Thorley header, 32/36 Weber (replaced an old Motocrap, no idea where the Aisin went), and a variety of other bits and bobs. A cracked rear leaf, pretty sad fronts has now resulted in some OME suspension bits on order and aiming for in by the end of the month. Creature comforts include bucket seats out of something, boat speakers and the sliding back rear window. No carpet means conversations are out above 50km/h (this has positives and negatives...). The exhaust sounds pretty sweet though. Using the brakes requires planning when going fast which isn't often. 5th gear is kinda the holy grail, only gets used when the wind is at my back and gravity on my side. I sleep in the dirt, cook over white gas and am fine with missing a shower until I find the next couch to surf.
Stoffregen Motorsports
Explorer
Rad thread. My vehicle orientated adventuring started with Big Green, a 1980 C20. No 4wd, but the posi rear end got its fat *** most anywhere including a 4 month dirt road odyssey across Alberta, BC, the Yukon and the NWT. Road like a Cadillac, slept like a king in the back come winter shred season and needed a well to keep it supplied with oil.
Somewhere along the Dempster.
I have a soft spot in my heart for the "rounded line" Chevy trucks. I've owned a few and I have a 1979 one ton K30 dump truck now that I use around the property. It's funny how everyone calls them the square body when Chevrolet referred to them as the rounded line in their sales lit.
Cool 1st gen too...
This was my favorite. 1974 C30 Camper Special Cheyenne Super. Big block, TH400, D70HD rear with factory locker. I sold it two years ago.
Last edited:
OBX Seafari
Outdoorsman
Awesome thread! Subscribed!
eepwall: 
juddrussell
Observer
love the trekker! im jealous for sure! Start a build thread!
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
This thread is awesome! Here are some pics of a few of my "motorhomes" over the years. Wish I had pics of them all.
Here's the one that started it all. 1981 Toyota longbed. This actually was my home for about 7 months.
![IMG_0287[1].jpg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/215/215485-44004be6d4d5253b841b0f239db23557.jpg "IMG_0287[1].jpg")
December came around and it got cold here in Crested Butte, Colorado so the Viking camper was sold and I moved indoors. The truck eventually became a dirt bag back country rig complete with rattle-can flames:
![IMG_0288[1].jpg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/215/215486-a3444ca29cedf6c28b1e4780e5a8480d.jpg "IMG_0288[1].jpg")
My wife and I have spent a lot of time traveling with our super small "motorhome" camping on the majority of our trips. The funny thing is that this little guy has as much horsepower as any of the 22re powered rigs that I've had over the years. Here she is:
![IMG_0289[1].jpg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/215/215487-738a7289fca6be3799f186091512cbca.jpg "IMG_0289[1].jpg")
2007 Buell Ulysses. That's loaded down with everything the two of us needed for a week on the road: tent, 2 sleeping bags & pads, stove and food, clothes, and my riding jacket that could hold a six-pack of cans in its pockets.
My current setup is this:
View attachment 283091
Sadly the Wildernest is now gone. I needed to remove it frequently to use my truck as a truck and with the weight of it , it became a real pain. So I am now back to camping under a regular campershell that my neighbor sold to me for a case of beer. The luxury of the Wildernest will be missed.
Here's the one that started it all. 1981 Toyota longbed. This actually was my home for about 7 months.
December came around and it got cold here in Crested Butte, Colorado so the Viking camper was sold and I moved indoors. The truck eventually became a dirt bag back country rig complete with rattle-can flames:
My wife and I have spent a lot of time traveling with our super small "motorhome" camping on the majority of our trips. The funny thing is that this little guy has as much horsepower as any of the 22re powered rigs that I've had over the years. Here she is:
2007 Buell Ulysses. That's loaded down with everything the two of us needed for a week on the road: tent, 2 sleeping bags & pads, stove and food, clothes, and my riding jacket that could hold a six-pack of cans in its pockets.
My current setup is this:
View attachment 283091Sadly the Wildernest is now gone. I needed to remove it frequently to use my truck as a truck and with the weight of it , it became a real pain. So I am now back to camping under a regular campershell that my neighbor sold to me for a case of beer. The luxury of the Wildernest will be missed.
Little Foot
Crawler/Overlander
This thread is so cool it almost makes me wish my rig was older and rustier. Those Wildernest campers are pretty sweet
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
Well, mine's not the uber-popular 2nd Gen Pickup (nor is it "Expo white" hahahaha) but she's been to some of the greatest river put-ins in the country from the Middle Fork (we are, to the best of my knowledge the only people in recent history to put on at over 8.5ft on the Boundary Creek Gauge in RAFTS and make the whole run down through Kramer), the Owyhee, The Grand Canyon, The Grand Stikine, and many many more and she's been my home away from home for many years bumming it between mountains (along with my old "Rally Prepped" VW Fox Wolfy) when I was working on Mt. Hood at Timberline Lodge back in the day. She's also taken me from WIldfire to wildfire in teh summer seasons and never left me not getting to the round-up in time. Now she's a mobile SAR and Wilderness EMS "Ambulance" and I've traded low pay and a sketchy diet for low pay and a climate controlled environment but, in some ways, I consider EMS work to be fairly similar to Guide work in a lot of respects (esp. when you're "just" a Paramedic). This truck however has been a solid, lovely thing, if not extremely slow, and she's been used to do everything from yarding logs, pulling out moronic drivers who's skills fell far short of their enthusiasm, to hauling thousands of pounds of gear to wherever I've need it, and made for a GREAT escape from the nasty weather while other friends were trying to sleep under what was one "stars" and convince their would-be "girlfriends" that not every trip they go on will turn into a soggy wet night in the mud. Oh how I have LOVED this truck.
Everythings in my sig, but she's an 89 4Runner with a 22RE/5spd drive-train, OME Suspension all around, 33x10.50 BFG At's, Marlin Bumper, home-made skids and a lot of little "living improvements" in the back as well as a custom made Futon bed for the back area that folds up into a "seat" for the dog when not in use. She's known as "The Super Turtle" (because she never stops going, she just goes very SLOWLY and STEADILY" hahahaha
It's funny but I'm building my "dream truck (well, ONE of my Dream Trucks, I couldn't get a 70-series over here although I HAVE owned one while living in Australia) out of a 2nd Gen 4Runner and a JDM 1KZ-TE Diesel which, after many moons behind the wheel of a 22RE 4Runner with next to NO options/trim, the 2nd Gen feels like a very "modern" truck, or as close as I EVER want to be to a modern truck but I wonder how much I'll miss my old 1st Gen when the time comes to swap over.... SHe's been amazing and the memories I have in her will last a lifetime, from all the Rivers and Bluebird Days on the mountain to our now passed Bernese Mtn. Dog smiling and riding in "his spot" in the rear bed area on long trips out into the PNW... It's gonna be tough to let her go.
BUT, here's the new truck just waiting on her heart transplant: I'm calling her "The Snapping Turtle" cause she'll be considerably more spry then the Super Turtle but she'll have the same "gonna get there no matter what" ability and, she's got a place to sleep on her back just like a Turtle.
This truck is a 1995 SR5 Limited, loaded with every option they had in 1995, swapped in 1KZ-TE 3.0L I4 Turbo-Diesel from Japan, rear-suspension converted to OME Leaf-Springs for load capacity and towing capability, front Sold-Axle conversion, rear Toyota E-Locker with Cable conversion, Will eventually have custom Tube armor all around, Bud-Built X-member, 33X10.50 BFG ATKO's, all kinds of bits and bobs and things I've refined in the current 1st Gen to make wilderness travel nicer and allow me to be self-sustained for longer and longer. The big thing for the wife and I (yeah, I got a wife who LOVES to go out into the woods and puts up with a bunch of River washed friends who aren't always the "classiest" of compatriots... which is why I love them) is having 4-doors for both the load-out and for those late-night bathroom trips that currently require her to reach over me, put down the back window (unless it's a warm night and we've already got the TG down) and then put the TG down, climb out put on shoes and.... THis way she'll just have to open the door, grab some shoes out of the front or the cubby under the sleeping platform and away we go. Plus with my Futon mattress in the back it'll be SUPER easy to load by folding it in half and sliding it in from one of the back doors into it's place behind the front seats. My 1st Gen is currently set-up like reg-cab pickup with no rear seats but the 2nd Gen will probably have a single rear seat behind the passenger for carrying an extra person although that shortens the sleeping area on that side and I rarely ever carry anyone but myself or me and the wife in my vehicles. We'll see but I'd like to find a way to make the seat-bottoms "quick-release" so I could drop one or both in for a day of carrying passengers and then take them out for the regualr DD/Working/Overland duties which is what it's going to be doing 99.9% of the time it's running. This truck is going to make certain trips up into places like C.Idaho and NE Washington or SE Oregon MUCH more comfortable and give us a range that is almost untouchable for most vehicles meaning that next time I head to say the Alvord desert for further exploration, I won't have to have 5 Jerry-cans on or IN the truck for any reason, just a single tank of Diesel maybe on the rack, or if I decide on a swing-out (REALLY up in the air over this one, kinda would like a rear-mounted spare and more gear organization for things like my Hi-Lift and Jerry-cans but also don't REALLY like the idea of having to deal with it to get into the back every time I go to drop something over the tail-gate into the rear window or working with a trailer...) and I'll still have range to get back to a way-point and fuel up if need be. Can't WAIT to have this Diesel running but it's sure SLOW going right now even though I have a full half-cut sitting WAITING to be swapped over. UGH.
Basically I'm just happier with an older, simpler truck... power windows and a sun-roof are, to me, about as "technically advanced" as I want in a vehicle. I don't need or want a TV in my dash (and I think 99.9% of drivers should have them ripped out of the dash so as not to detract from their already low driving capability and concentration levels). I don't care for electronic nannies and large amounts of electronics to go bad. My internal yaw and vectoring sensors are all I need to remian on the road in any kind of road conditions I could come across and I simply like to have less of the "creature comforts" in favor of MORE of the features that I actually USE in a vehicle. SO, for me the answer is: OLDER TRUCK!!!!
Great thread BTW.
Cheers
Dave
Everythings in my sig, but she's an 89 4Runner with a 22RE/5spd drive-train, OME Suspension all around, 33x10.50 BFG At's, Marlin Bumper, home-made skids and a lot of little "living improvements" in the back as well as a custom made Futon bed for the back area that folds up into a "seat" for the dog when not in use. She's known as "The Super Turtle" (because she never stops going, she just goes very SLOWLY and STEADILY" hahahaha
It's funny but I'm building my "dream truck (well, ONE of my Dream Trucks, I couldn't get a 70-series over here although I HAVE owned one while living in Australia) out of a 2nd Gen 4Runner and a JDM 1KZ-TE Diesel which, after many moons behind the wheel of a 22RE 4Runner with next to NO options/trim, the 2nd Gen feels like a very "modern" truck, or as close as I EVER want to be to a modern truck but I wonder how much I'll miss my old 1st Gen when the time comes to swap over.... SHe's been amazing and the memories I have in her will last a lifetime, from all the Rivers and Bluebird Days on the mountain to our now passed Bernese Mtn. Dog smiling and riding in "his spot" in the rear bed area on long trips out into the PNW... It's gonna be tough to let her go.
BUT, here's the new truck just waiting on her heart transplant: I'm calling her "The Snapping Turtle" cause she'll be considerably more spry then the Super Turtle but she'll have the same "gonna get there no matter what" ability and, she's got a place to sleep on her back just like a Turtle.
This truck is a 1995 SR5 Limited, loaded with every option they had in 1995, swapped in 1KZ-TE 3.0L I4 Turbo-Diesel from Japan, rear-suspension converted to OME Leaf-Springs for load capacity and towing capability, front Sold-Axle conversion, rear Toyota E-Locker with Cable conversion, Will eventually have custom Tube armor all around, Bud-Built X-member, 33X10.50 BFG ATKO's, all kinds of bits and bobs and things I've refined in the current 1st Gen to make wilderness travel nicer and allow me to be self-sustained for longer and longer. The big thing for the wife and I (yeah, I got a wife who LOVES to go out into the woods and puts up with a bunch of River washed friends who aren't always the "classiest" of compatriots... which is why I love them) is having 4-doors for both the load-out and for those late-night bathroom trips that currently require her to reach over me, put down the back window (unless it's a warm night and we've already got the TG down) and then put the TG down, climb out put on shoes and.... THis way she'll just have to open the door, grab some shoes out of the front or the cubby under the sleeping platform and away we go. Plus with my Futon mattress in the back it'll be SUPER easy to load by folding it in half and sliding it in from one of the back doors into it's place behind the front seats. My 1st Gen is currently set-up like reg-cab pickup with no rear seats but the 2nd Gen will probably have a single rear seat behind the passenger for carrying an extra person although that shortens the sleeping area on that side and I rarely ever carry anyone but myself or me and the wife in my vehicles. We'll see but I'd like to find a way to make the seat-bottoms "quick-release" so I could drop one or both in for a day of carrying passengers and then take them out for the regualr DD/Working/Overland duties which is what it's going to be doing 99.9% of the time it's running. This truck is going to make certain trips up into places like C.Idaho and NE Washington or SE Oregon MUCH more comfortable and give us a range that is almost untouchable for most vehicles meaning that next time I head to say the Alvord desert for further exploration, I won't have to have 5 Jerry-cans on or IN the truck for any reason, just a single tank of Diesel maybe on the rack, or if I decide on a swing-out (REALLY up in the air over this one, kinda would like a rear-mounted spare and more gear organization for things like my Hi-Lift and Jerry-cans but also don't REALLY like the idea of having to deal with it to get into the back every time I go to drop something over the tail-gate into the rear window or working with a trailer...) and I'll still have range to get back to a way-point and fuel up if need be. Can't WAIT to have this Diesel running but it's sure SLOW going right now even though I have a full half-cut sitting WAITING to be swapped over. UGH.
Basically I'm just happier with an older, simpler truck... power windows and a sun-roof are, to me, about as "technically advanced" as I want in a vehicle. I don't need or want a TV in my dash (and I think 99.9% of drivers should have them ripped out of the dash so as not to detract from their already low driving capability and concentration levels). I don't care for electronic nannies and large amounts of electronics to go bad. My internal yaw and vectoring sensors are all I need to remian on the road in any kind of road conditions I could come across and I simply like to have less of the "creature comforts" in favor of MORE of the features that I actually USE in a vehicle. SO, for me the answer is: OLDER TRUCK!!!!
Great thread BTW.
Cheers
Dave
Last edited:
Crenshaw
Adventurer
Nice to see the river rat population crawling out of their corners of the world.
xlcaferacer, cool rigs man. That Uly looks like a sweet setup. The problem with motorcycle camping is carrying the booze. It was hard to fit a six pack on my old DR, had to go the hard stuff usually or invite friends with bigger bikes:
Funky spring weather around here, checking on my other old junk:
xlcaferacer, cool rigs man. That Uly looks like a sweet setup. The problem with motorcycle camping is carrying the booze. It was hard to fit a six pack on my old DR, had to go the hard stuff usually or invite friends with bigger bikes:
Funky spring weather around here, checking on my other old junk:
Last edited:
Allochris
Hands down favorite build on the forum - Allochris's build thread. Not me, not mine. Stumbled on the "old iron" thread and while Allochris is not that active on the forum anymore he is a testament to what one can do with little. He has been many places in his yota camper. Replaced the engine and continues to use it.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ltimate-buildup-thread!!!?highlight=allochris
Hands down favorite build on the forum - Allochris's build thread. Not me, not mine. Stumbled on the "old iron" thread and while Allochris is not that active on the forum anymore he is a testament to what one can do with little. He has been many places in his yota camper. Replaced the engine and continues to use it.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ltimate-buildup-thread!!!?highlight=allochris