OzWagon - My HZ75 series Troopie
- Thread starter 1leglance
- Start date
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Well with my son out of school and me having some time off of work we dug into the front end.
Of course thanks to this forum, videos I found, the factory service manual and other web references
found I figured we could stumble our way through the front end rebuild.
I started this because of an ugly noise out of the left wheel and it didn't take much to figure out the cause.
My wheel bearing was TOAST
Here is a pic of the hub and what was left of the bearing.
My birfeilds didn't look too good, one side looked like it had gotten pretty hot in the past and the other
just looked like crap!
The web references & videos all showed how to take a pipe and drop the birfield into it letting gravity do the work.
Well since I didn't have a pipe I used the "field option" I read about which is making use of the cross member tube.
This worked on the long axle but not the short.
On the short we even tried clamping it in the vise and using a brass drift, small sledge & large sledge...still no go.
The good news is that everywhere I looked folks talked about how Longfield birfields & axles where the way to go...and
when I called Longfields a gentleman named Bobby was super helpful and the prices were reasonable enough to make me
go for a set of axles & joints. Can't wait to get them in and bolt all this fun stuff together.
As a side note I am also replacing the disk rotors, one of the hubs (as soon as I track that down somewhere) and I need
to find a left side free wheel hub assembly.
There a few other bits I would like to get if I can like cone washers, studs, and any thing else folks recommend.
Of course thanks to this forum, videos I found, the factory service manual and other web references
found I figured we could stumble our way through the front end rebuild.
I started this because of an ugly noise out of the left wheel and it didn't take much to figure out the cause.
My wheel bearing was TOAST
Here is a pic of the hub and what was left of the bearing.
My birfeilds didn't look too good, one side looked like it had gotten pretty hot in the past and the other
just looked like crap!
The web references & videos all showed how to take a pipe and drop the birfield into it letting gravity do the work.
Well since I didn't have a pipe I used the "field option" I read about which is making use of the cross member tube.
This worked on the long axle but not the short.
On the short we even tried clamping it in the vise and using a brass drift, small sledge & large sledge...still no go.
The good news is that everywhere I looked folks talked about how Longfield birfields & axles where the way to go...and
when I called Longfields a gentleman named Bobby was super helpful and the prices were reasonable enough to make me
go for a set of axles & joints. Can't wait to get them in and bolt all this fun stuff together.
As a side note I am also replacing the disk rotors, one of the hubs (as soon as I track that down somewhere) and I need
to find a left side free wheel hub assembly.
There a few other bits I would like to get if I can like cone washers, studs, and any thing else folks recommend.
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Time for an update....and the theme of this update is............
Two Gimps Garage builds a bumper
Colorado Bill (a member here) lives in Pueblo and offered to build me a swingout rear bumper after I drooled all over his and Larry's (another forum member) on our Moab trip.
Well with the temps still over 100 in Phoenix I took a long weekend and went to play in Pueblo.
Bill has Spina Bifida & is a para (pretty much life long) but since he comes from a family off outdoor folks (his sisters have their own 4x4's) it is a tough love situation and he doesn't slow down for anything. He is a great fabricator and if you get a chance run some trails with his Ramcharger, it is a beast.
75 series Troopcarriers come with a 60/40 rear split barn door and I wanted to be able to open/close the smaller door without the swingout in the way.
Also I wanted to be able to use a receiver style folding step under that door.
Lastly I wanted a smooth top surface to use as a step /seat / platform to set things.
The following shows what we got done in 2 full days of fun.
We got the old bumper & hitch out of the way to see what there was to work with. Also to figure out how much of the old we could re-use.
And as you will notice Bill spends almost as much time out of his wheelchair as in it
Who says amputee's aren't useful to have around? I may not be able to weld but I know where to step if something needs to be held down
When he does work from his chair, Bill has the garage setup up at a great working height for him. And he has figured out what tools & techniques get the job done.
Bill wanted to stop here with the swingout. But I wanted to get my big propane tank out of the cabin, have a place for my shovel and mount the cb antenna.
So an extension was added above the tire carrier. Now of course these build pics never show the number of times you install & remove to test fit, the number of times you measure & re-measure or the laughing breaks you take along the way.
Sometimes a man just needs to stop and ponder a moment. Now you would never know Bill was in a wheelchair from the quality of his work...which is why I tell people that being disabled is more in your mind than your body....you are only as disabled as you let yourself be.
Final mockup before the detail work.
Two Gimps Garage builds a bumper
Colorado Bill (a member here) lives in Pueblo and offered to build me a swingout rear bumper after I drooled all over his and Larry's (another forum member) on our Moab trip.
Well with the temps still over 100 in Phoenix I took a long weekend and went to play in Pueblo.
Bill has Spina Bifida & is a para (pretty much life long) but since he comes from a family off outdoor folks (his sisters have their own 4x4's) it is a tough love situation and he doesn't slow down for anything. He is a great fabricator and if you get a chance run some trails with his Ramcharger, it is a beast.
75 series Troopcarriers come with a 60/40 rear split barn door and I wanted to be able to open/close the smaller door without the swingout in the way.
Also I wanted to be able to use a receiver style folding step under that door.
Lastly I wanted a smooth top surface to use as a step /seat / platform to set things.
The following shows what we got done in 2 full days of fun.
We got the old bumper & hitch out of the way to see what there was to work with. Also to figure out how much of the old we could re-use.
And as you will notice Bill spends almost as much time out of his wheelchair as in it
Who says amputee's aren't useful to have around? I may not be able to weld but I know where to step if something needs to be held down
When he does work from his chair, Bill has the garage setup up at a great working height for him. And he has figured out what tools & techniques get the job done.
Bill wanted to stop here with the swingout. But I wanted to get my big propane tank out of the cabin, have a place for my shovel and mount the cb antenna.
So an extension was added above the tire carrier. Now of course these build pics never show the number of times you install & remove to test fit, the number of times you measure & re-measure or the laughing breaks you take along the way.
Sometimes a man just needs to stop and ponder a moment. Now you would never know Bill was in a wheelchair from the quality of his work...which is why I tell people that being disabled is more in your mind than your body....you are only as disabled as you let yourself be.
Final mockup before the detail work.
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1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
And here she is all pretty and installed.
Plenty of clearance between the body and the swingout. My long handle shovel will fit down that upright tube and I will install the cb antenna somewhere on there.
And I will drill a hole for a padlock to secure the propane tank.
This is the nifty latch we used. I didn't like the one most people have and wanted something easy & different. I really think it will work great as it actually has no load on it, it would take a crazy lateral force to shear the pin and the lock lever makes it secure against accidental opening.
We did goof a bit on the choice of strut. Bill mentioned his were not strong enough and in my normal "overshoot the mark" style I got 100lb struts. Bill didn't believe me when I said it nearly pulled me out of my leg, until he tried it and it pretty much tugged him & his wheelchair sideways.
I will be swapping that out for an 80lb maybe.
We cut up the receiver hitch that was on the rig and re-used the mounts so I figure it is plenty strong to tow or recover as needed.
All in all it was a ton of fun to learn from Bill, watch him work and spend time with his parents and sisters. The fun run we had on Sunday to "test" the bumper was worth the hard work since the Aspens were changing and the weather was perfect.
Huge thanks to Bill for doing this project and for letting me crash on his couch
Plenty of clearance between the body and the swingout. My long handle shovel will fit down that upright tube and I will install the cb antenna somewhere on there.
And I will drill a hole for a padlock to secure the propane tank.
This is the nifty latch we used. I didn't like the one most people have and wanted something easy & different. I really think it will work great as it actually has no load on it, it would take a crazy lateral force to shear the pin and the lock lever makes it secure against accidental opening.
We did goof a bit on the choice of strut. Bill mentioned his were not strong enough and in my normal "overshoot the mark" style I got 100lb struts. Bill didn't believe me when I said it nearly pulled me out of my leg, until he tried it and it pretty much tugged him & his wheelchair sideways.
I will be swapping that out for an 80lb maybe.
We cut up the receiver hitch that was on the rig and re-used the mounts so I figure it is plenty strong to tow or recover as needed.
All in all it was a ton of fun to learn from Bill, watch him work and spend time with his parents and sisters. The fun run we had on Sunday to "test" the bumper was worth the hard work since the Aspens were changing and the weather was perfect.
Huge thanks to Bill for doing this project and for letting me crash on his couch
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ColoradoBill
Adventurer
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
The Extreme Outback Compressor & tank are mounted just under the floor back by the rear doors. Travis of Safari Pacific did a great job making a custom mount. No issues having it there even with lots of hard trails & washboards over the last few months.
I bought an angle grinder & my 13yr old son Martín & I have been working on smoothing things out so we can paint in. I hope to have that done in the next few days and will post more pics.
loren85022
Explorer
What... An Ozmobile with no trasheroo?
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
All I know is the gentleman I bought it from had a legal and valid Florida title and when I ran a carfax report it showed that it came into the USA through Customs in 2009.
When I brought it to Arizona I went to Emissions for Testing, they say 1994 Landcrusier and I told'em it was a diesel. No problem passing that test.
Then when I went to MVD the lady went out and double checked the VIN and came back in and issues my title & registration.
So far no issues....however the new owner will have to work out things in their own state.
When I brought it to Arizona I went to Emissions for Testing, they say 1994 Landcrusier and I told'em it was a diesel. No problem passing that test.
Then when I went to MVD the lady went out and double checked the VIN and came back in and issues my title & registration.
So far no issues....however the new owner will have to work out things in their own state.
TangoBlue
American Adventurist
Uhh, what the... you're selling it?