Pajero iO build; Okinawa Express

[SOFME]

So I’ve been super busy recently. Logged maybe hundred flight hours, finally cert’d on open water diving, adopted a dog, and wrenched on a friend’s car than my own… I did however install a power inverter and some LED interior lights. I’ve got a few parts on order for my awning. But now that both my wife and I are diving, a lot of money/time is going to equipment and trips. That compounded with our current curfew restrictions camping is not really a possibility so it’s been put on the back burner.

Enough jibber jabber, press with pictures.

I was in Hawaii when a sears was closing a store, thus liquidating most of their stuff. Picked up this 826 amp inverter. Only problem is the outlet is only good to 120 amps. If anyone knows of a way to upgrade the capacity of the 12v outlet that would be appreciated. Only thing I have used it for so far is charging my gopro.



Here you can see my new “trasharoo”. It’s the newest generation, only available in Japan!



The LED interior kit is so far my favorite. Found an automotive tools supply store. Noticed these nifty little kits. For $9.00usd you get a 12 light board and three different harnesses. Basically plug and play. I don’t know what the price of this would be in the states, but if anyone is interested I can send some to you for a nominal fee plus cost of shipping.





The boards have double sided tape on the back, glues up pretty much anywhere. I did front and rear main lights. I would like to do the individual map lights in red. I also have lower door lights on each door I am planning to do.



Before and after shots of the front (crappy cell phone pictures)







Found a short cut to a dive site. Saves about 5 minutes and has some decently good wheeling (no action shots yet) also this neat tree and some post. Not sure what it means.

 

[SOFME]

Now that we have started diving, I'm going to definitely do more to the inside of truck as far as securing equipment and tanks. Right now this is the best I can do as of now. I did find some modular mounting rails on amazon I'm thinking about getting but I'd like something rated to at least a 1000lbs incase I get rear ended and compromise a tank. Don't need a missile shoot out he *** of my truck! Everything else fits in the pelican case just perfectly. In the future I'll be making a removable “table” to put the water jug up on the rear door to take gravity showers. Right now my wife and I take turns holding it up on the door so we can shower off.



Here is a $20.00 cantaloupe.



M'erica!



Wake Island

 

[SOFME]

Finally made some headway with my internal storage solution. I decided against a drawer system for several reasons. The biggest reason was the lack of internal space inside the truck.if I were to build a drawer system I would create a lot of dead space, which would cramp the already small interior. This would render it almost impossible to pack for a two or three day trip with dive equipment. Instead I decided on a rail system with movable anchors. By doing this I will be able to adjust the load depending on the trip to optimize balance of the truck. Also it will allow thing to be the most secure in the event of an accident. The goal was to be light as possible, but still be strong enough to handle 1000lbs of pressure. I started with the aluminum track and anchore system, purchased for amazon ($50 shipped for two 4ft rails and 6 rings). After that a quick trip to the local hardware store to get 3/4 inch Douglas plywood, 4ft x 4 ft, and all associated hardware ($60 for everything). Finally I asked a friend to get me some spray on bedliner, it was the rustolem rattle can version ($30 for 4 cans). Only other thing left to get was beer and friends.

Day 1
Gutted the rear of the truck, you can see how much working space I have



All the supplies and two cases of Sam Adams Summer Ale



I used the original color for the false floor as the stencil for the rear potion. The front cardboard was used to creat a stencil, and a tape measure was used to ensure it was sized close enough. A 5 amp jig saw made quick work of the cuts. We decided to add 1/4 inch in width to ensure a snug fit. We did end up shaving a bit off, after a test fit. Other than that the only snafu was the cut out on the forward portion of the left wheel arch; we made it a hair too large, but it's not noticeable unless your looking for it.

Below you can see the plywood placed in the floor. This is where we started marking for the bolt holes. I've seen many people use rulers and fancy math to plot drill spots. This is too much work, especially when your four beers in. Instead we used a rubber mallet. Place the bolts a half-turn in there spots, lay the ply-wood over it, and hit the ******* out of it. Doing this very "technical maneuver" will leave dents in the wood where the bolt contacts the woods, thus ensuring your drill points are accurately placed.



After drilling, and counter sinking the holes it was time to measure and route the channels for the tracks. We did cut the aluminum track down about 6 inches so it would fit inside the perimeter of the wood rather then extending to the edges. Using scrap wood we created a channel for the router to glide in, only having to free hand about an inch or so on both ends. The rail fit semi-flush in the ply-wood. We decided not to go too deep and risk destroying the structural integrity.





The next step was marking the holes to be drilled to secure the track to the ply-wood. Easy enough, but like I said earlier I want this thing to at least be able to handle 1000lbs. I don't know any fancy equations to give me exact numbers, so I decided to over-build the **** out of it. I added small sleeves in the holes, and used 2 inch washers on the back side to displace force. Each bolt was secured with an impact driver.





Up to this point we (2 of us) had been working for about 5 hours, with time to bull *******. Between the 3 of us we had polished off one case, and it was time to start getting dinner ready (************ gumbo, a la Rob). This being a good stopping point and decided to call it quits for the day.

Day 2
Pulled everything out, and started off by cleaning the dirt and dust from the crevasses. Fixed some slips in the routing with wood filler and sealed the seems between the rail and the wood with silicon caulk. Well, at least I'm pretty sure it was silicone. Everything is obviously in Japanese so I selected the tube with pictures of wood, brick, and concrete being sealed and protected from rain. Hopefully it's the right stuff :ylsmoke:



After a few hours of letting it dry I started spraying the bedliner. I would have though that four cans would adequately cover a roughly 4x4 piece of plywood, but no... However I'm not too upset, I don't like the texture so I will be getting a half gallon when i get a chance. I will eventually sand this down slightly to smooth it out, and re apply with a roller. This will also hopefully cover the glossiness where the paint covers the caulk. For now, this will do.



And the final product, for now...

 

[SOFME]

Sorry for the sideways photos, I would fix it but they would just be attached to the bottom of the post... Unless someone knows digferently

 

[ZMagic97]

Love the updates to the rig. I really enjoy your creativity in making it the way you want without breaking the bank.

 

[Cruisn]

I agree. clever with the rear storage and tie doesn, looks great

 

[SOFME]

Thank you guys for the complements... We're planning a two day dive trip to the kurami islands (about an hour ferry ride west of Okinawa) that will be the system's first real test. Two people and a dog with two days worth of camp and dive equipment. We shall see

 

[off-roader]

Looks good.

Sorry for the sideways photos, I would fix it but they would just be attached to the bottom of the post... Unless someone knows digferently

You need to rotate and save them before attaching them.

 

[SOFME]

Looks good.


You need to rotate and save them before attaching them.

Posted from an iPad unfortunately.

 

[off-roader]

You can rotate them in your ipad. I do it all the time. When viewing the picture...
1) Click on the Edit button in the upper right
2) Click on the Rotate button in the bottom left center as many times as needed to get the rotation correct.

HTH

 

[SOFME]

check

 

[SOFME]

So I've been away for a bit. But in that time a few things have changed with the Pajero. I reinstalled the rear seats. My wife and I are expecting our first baby; it makes no sense to have a two seater. I removed the janky roof rack in favor for roof bars and aluminum basket. I have finally sourced the last three Mitsubishi FTO wheels. I'm waiting to mount tires before getting them on the truck. Right now I'm thinking Goodyear Duratracs, 215/85R16, but I am still undecided.

Another change is suspension. I found a newer body Pajero. So I pulled the front springs and swapped them into my Pajero. The spring on newer Pajero's are 3cm longer. The lower spring perch is mounted 3cm lower. So by using my struts with the newer springs I effectively leveled the truck out. Overall I gained about an inch up front.

Before the swap I measured 79.5cm ground to fender and 45cm hub to fender on the right. For the left side I measured in at 80.5cm ground to fender. 45cm hub to fender. With the longer springs installed the right fender now sits at 81cm and left 81.5cm.

I don't attribute the bump in height to the additional length in the springs. The struts have a finite amount of rebound. The new springs exceeded the rebound length by around 4 inches (just an estimation). So an extra 3cm of coil has to be stuffed into the strut. This would effectively increase the spring rate thus allowing the truck to ride higher in its travel.

The only issue I have noticed is the springs may be binding up. At idle speed when turning (pulling out of a parking spot) I hear a clunking sound. It sounds like it's originating on the right side. I will put it on a lift and check it out. If anyone has any other ideas it would certainly be helpful.

 

[SOFME]

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[cnutco]

Nice little truck! As mentioned earlier, I wish we had better options in the states.

I know what you mean by Pelican!

 

[ZMagic97]

Any more updates? I enjoyed this thread a lot.