Allochris's ultimate buildup thread!!!

[allochris]

Hi, I'm new to this forum here!

Long story short, I have been building my version of expedition vehicle since the beginning of feb 07.

It's a mixture of 4wheelcamper & Supercamper. The main purpose of this build is for long distance travel both summer/winter (North&South America), including remote off-pavement access, while still remaining useful on a daily basic living in a city without the weight & space occupied by the camper.

Vehicle Spec.:
-1991 Toyota X-Cab 4x4 22re @ 317xxxkm
-33x9.5r15 BFG AT/KO, 4.88 ratio, Supra LSD in the rear 3rd
-no body lift
-1.5" Ball Joint Spacer, 2" longer shackles + 1 Add-a-leaf + AirLift Airbags
-Dual Batteries setup (Optima Redtop & Motomaster Nautilus Deep Cycle 125min @ 75ah)

Build-up Goal:
-Budget: $3000CAD for everything, all loaded with accessories.
-Gross vehicle weight all loaded (Camper/gear) <=5000lbs
-Flat-Deck to accomodate a removable camper & for general hauling purpose
-Removable Pop-top Camper (Aluminium Frame, sleep 4 adult, inside running water with sink & shower,

Ultimate Wishlist:
-Auxillary tank opposite of stock gas tank on driverside
-VW 1.9L TDI engine swap with 2 tanks bio-diesel setup
-ACME Adapter (http://www.acmeadapters.com/)

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking now.

[pskhaat]

Where 'dem pics? And why not consider a 2L instead of the VW diesel? (No I don't want to hear that 2L parts are too hard to find )

Oh yea, and welcome!

[allochris]

[allochris]

Flat-deck Part is almost complete.

Weight b4 flat-deck with stock box/28" spare/full gas tank: about 3800lbs

Weight after flat-deck with full size 33"x9.5" spare/hi-lift/second deepcycle battery: about 4000lbs

Therefore, I have about 1000lbs left for my camper including gear. I think I can achieve my weight limit.

I will tig camper-frame with 1.5" AL 6063-t6 square tubing mostly, with al siding sheets on the outside, 1.5" insulation foam in the middle, & 3mm wood sheets inside. The pop-top roof is made of a sandwich of AL 22g sheet on top, nida-core 16mm plain, & 2mm wood sheet inside, all glue together with epoxy/resine.

About the pop-top roof mechanism, can owners of 4wheelcamper send me pictures of the plywood/piano hinge mechanism to set the roof up in place?

I really need to figure that one out soon. Please send me pictures of your pop-top mechanism asap. I prefer the ones without the sizzors round tubing with crank mechanism.

Oh yeah, did I mention the project completion deadline: it's in 4 WEEKS!!! Why, cause I need to start travelling by May 1st, 2007!

[allochris]

Lay-out of base of pop-top roof:


Lay-out of camper frame:

[allochris]

Where 'dem pics? And why not consider a 2L instead of the VW diesel? (No I don't want to hear that 2L parts are too hard to find )

Oh yea, and welcome!

I don't know, it could be anything really.

All I really what is:

-diesel with great gas mileage for LONG distance travel
-bio-diesel convertible
-cheap to swap
-cheap & great parts availability

Other suggestion?

[pskhaat]

Matches few of your req's but there's always the Cummins 3.3B

[DaveInDenver]

Where 'dem pics? And why not consider a 2L instead of the VW diesel? (No I don't want to hear that 2L parts are too hard to find )

Well, Scott, those parts ARE harder to find. Some of them are in the NA system, some aren't (basic 2L parts are there, 2L-T and 2L-TE specific parts are not). This is pretty much why I stuck with my 22R-E, all the listings match and getting parts isn't all that hard. Internal parts for the 22R are starting to get in short supply from Toyota, I can't imagine any 2L parts will be far behind. Most of the internal engine parts for the 22R are either completely gone or under about 20 pieces left in the whole North American parts system. There have been no long blocks for a while, short blocks are under 25 now, most of the piston, ring, crank and rod bearing sizes are gone. Used to be 3 sizes of piston/rings, now only a few 0.10mm are left and that's it. The 22R-E has been out of use only since 1997 (we last got it in 1995) and it's looks very much like it's going out of production. We only got the 1L/2L from 1984 to 1986. The 2L is the same generation as the 22R and so it's demise can't be long, either. The inline 4 cylinder Toyota world has gone to the 2/3RZ and 1KZ, so swapping to a 2L does not buy you much time. Add to that the expense (~$2800 + $500 S/H for a half cut) and the headaches of swapping from a RHD wiring harness to LHD, it didn't make much sense to me (and this coming from a guy who is committed to rebuilding my 22R-E as completely as possible). The advantage to going 22R->2L is that it fits with minimal problem and bolts to the tranny without moving it, very valid points. But the parts aren't all that easy (there is zero aftermarket here in NA for the L motors, at least there is a huge 20/22R aftermarket). Personally going with a more modern, currently available in NA diesel, be that a Cummins, VW, Benz makes just about as much sense. It's more of a pain to fit, but parts will be easier to find.

[pskhaat]

I didn't want to hear that about the 2L! LOL. Had no idea the 22R series was in such new parts decline. Interesting. The 5RZ is/was a sweet engine albeit gasoline.

[DaveInDenver]

I didn't want to hear that about the 2L! LOL. Had no idea the 22R series was in such new parts decline. Interesting. The 5RZ is/was a sweet engine albeit gasoline.

There are plenty of parts available for the R-motors, just that Toyota seems to be getting out of the spare internal parts biz. That isn't a problem, since there are lots of aftermarket suppliers that should keep them going for a while. But since we got very few L-motors, once Toyota clears out spare parts, you'd be stuck calling international Toyota dealers and hoping for the best.

BTW, what's a 5RZ? You've mentioned that one before and I'm just not familiar with it. There is 5VZ-FE, the 3.4L V6 in Hilux, 4Runner, Taco, T100, etc. There are the 1/2/3RZ-FE, the 2.0/2.4/2.7L 4 cylinder in the Taco. Just never heard of a 5RZ. The 3RZ-FE is a nice engine, that is true. So is the 5VZ-FE.