Hilux 4x4 Forum

Been checking out the HiLux forum a few times over the years.
Decided to post a little bit of info on the truck I have been working on and driving for the last few years.
it is a 1981 Toyota Trekker;
Day I picked it up:


three layers of carpet contributed to the normal first gen floor panels turning to crap;


33's evolved to 35's:

aussies front and rear with 5.29's

like to get it out in the rocks every now and than


rattle canned to desert tan:

modified it to take the top off

WELCOME to the forum.

some SERIOUS "rocks" !!

Thanks ChrisF.

I decided the back end was kind of a drag so I decided to take a few inches out of the bed. The Trekker Bed is made of fiberglass. Not sure if i like working with fiberglass or metal.




Top modified to match the bed length:

Modified my rear bumper to match the bobbed bed:






Made some Half doors for a little more visibility on the trail:

Welcome Robb

Your Toyota looks great!!

I love the short rear...

Welcome Robb! Great to see you posting after being a member for almost 3yrs.

Your vehicle looks very similar to our 1st generation 4x4 Hilux (late 70's - late 80's) ...... they were (and still are) great trucks. Our models were powered by a 2lit petrol motor, all single cab with open load bin ... all metal construction. (Double cab's were only introduced here from 1988).

Love what you've done to yours! What motor do you have in there?

NICE!!!

Welcome ,great looking toy you have there

Welcome, nice Toy, enjoy it here with us

Mud Dog wrote:Welcome Robb! Great to see you posting after being a member for almost 3yrs.

Your vehicle looks very similar to our 1st generation 4x4 Hilux (late 70's - late 80's) ...... they were (and still are) great trucks. Our models were powered by a 2lit petrol motor, all single cab with open load bin ... all metal construction. (Double cab's were only introduced here from 1988).

Love what you've done to yours! What motor do you have in there?

Thanks for the warm welcome and compliments. This is just like your 79-83 Toyotas. The Trekker was a conversion done by the Winnebago motor home company for toyota to help test the early SUV market. They converted approximately 1200 of them.
The bed is fiberglass, along with the top.

I wish it had a diesel engine like you guys can get. This one has a 22R, L52 5 speed and dual cases (2.28 x 4.7).

Welcome Robb

Mmmm, nice, me likes, very capable. Welcome aboard, good sir!

Welcome. That is a very nice Hilux.

I want one....excellent work done there, great conversion.....

here are some high lights from the suspension work:
out with the old:



High Steer on a SA toyota has got to be one of the best handling improvements that can be done in my opinion

Dual Cases.

I Don't currently have my twin stick installed
I needed a tunnel cover so I bent up some Diamond Plate:

after 30 plus years my stock dash lights were pretty anemic:


I added some Green LED's



The green is a little bit easier to see at night.

Very Nice & Welcome

I have been trying to improve the lighting on this truck for awhile now.
I added 2 18w led's where the spare used to be mounted:

added 2 additional rearward facing 12w lights on either side of the transfer case mount:

the new illumination is a vast improvement. my crappy night cell phone shots don't do them justice:

Decided to upgrade to LED headlights from Truck Lite: http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/st ... &langId=-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Spec Sheet- round and rectangular lights have similar ratings:

I went with the rectangular housings versus the round housing due to the round lights have been reported to have a wierd glare pattern. This would also give me the option of putting the rectangular lights into a later model truck down the road.

I picked up a 2WD grill and head light surrounds from a friend parting out an 83 2WD:

cleaned them up and painted them:

I ran into a snag when I forgot the 82-83 headlight mounts were not a direct bolt in for 79-81's but i wanted to see what the output would be:
Low Beam:


high beam:


I hope to get the set of lights properly mounted Monday or Tuesday.

Looks great, there's some mods Luxter needs, think i must start with the door cut-outs

Gr8 job!

Haven't had a lot of time to do much but had a couple of hours today to finish converting my headlights to LED`s. It would have been a 30 minute job if I had stuck with round headlights but oh well.


I went ahead and moved my turn signals down below the head lights, a little obscured but they are plenty bright.



Gotta love a local dealer that can get some parts for old trucks..new lens are great


Lame cell phone night shots..the pics don't do the output justice.
Low beams

High beams

That is one sweet truck

that truck looks so awesome.

Magic looking truck....

Hi Pieter for some reason it won't allow me to reply to your PM, here is the info:
i purchased mine off ebay, $209 each:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Truck-Lite-2745 ... dd&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
you can purchase them here too
Truck-Lite - Catalog Product : 5'' x 7'' Rectangular LED Headlamp, Complex Reflector Optics


Hope this info helps. I think this is a great upgrade and well worth the money.

Robb

Haven't had a lot of time to do much but had a couple of hours today to finish converting my headlights to LED`s. It would have been a 30 minute job if I had stuck with round headlights but oh well.


I went ahead and moved my turn signals down below the head lights, a little obscured but they are plenty bright.

I will try to get some night shots later on.
Gotta love a local dealer that can get some parts for old trucks..new parking light lens are great


Lame cell phone night shots..the pics don't do the output justice.
Low beams

High beams



I picked up a couple of sets of wanna be Rigid style LED lights cheap, I wanted a set of the Dually Fog lights but couldn't justify the expense.
Found a set of Rigid light covers cheap so thought I would take a chance
Drilled a recess in the side for the clip

Fits nice and tight,

dual purpose LED flood and Fog lights for about 1/2 the price of the Rigid lights

knocked out a couple of little projects today.
I have always wanted a set of Four Treks High liftmounts but the price always put me off.
I was looking ebay for a roll bar camera mount and found these things, 4 for $40 delivered-ballast clamps for racing




used the other set to make a mount for my fire extinguisher:

Those clamps are really neat and could have a multitude of uses. Your truck is looking awesome!

Great Rock cralwer you have there :)

Mud Dog wrote:Those clamps are really neat and could have a multitude of uses. Your truck is looking awesome!

Thanks I am thinking about ordering a few more. I have some ideas for a rack to mount on my roll cage. I like the clamps because it is a lot easier to change your mind if you don't like the placement. A little harder to make a correction after welding tabs and tube

Outlaw wrote:Great Rock cralwer you have there :)

Thank you. WIth my two youngest daughters getting their driver's licenses in the next couple of weeks this truck will start seeing some more duty as a Daily Driver until I can find another car for them.

a friend of mine hooked me up with something I had been looking for over 6 years'

$20!! Gives my kids something to hold on to while on the trail and I won't after worry about the seats getting wet when the rear top is off..
Subaru BRAT rear seat have been very difficult to find the last few years. The last set I looked at the seller wanted $250, a bit too much

SUPER LUX!!

Been keeping an eye on your Lux development...
Love it!
Just check that your passengers have roll-over protection, coz with those great seats they are going to feel invincible on the back!
Your truck looks great.

Andre du preez wrote:SUPER LUX!!

Thanks!

Oupa Stig wrote:Been keeping an eye on your Lux development...
Love it!
Just check that your passengers have roll-over protection, coz with those great seats they are going to feel invincible on the back!
Your truck looks great.

Oh yes, I have a full roll cage. When I install the seats I will add some additional tubing for 4 Point harnesses.
Thank you

My 10 week or so clutch job finally done. Nice to have the Trekker back on the road. I have been driving my Dodge 3/4 ton truck the last few weeks. THe Toyota gets around much easier.
Decided to bust out the tire groover. Nothing too fancy, busted a couple blades till I got it figured out.

Before

After

This is kind of an experiment, should be the last season with these Toyos, they are getting old.

I have had some questions about how well grooved tires will balance on other forums.

So I got a set of http://www.centramatic.com/Home.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Centramatic Wheel Balancers for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago:


How They work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ullnFQD4F1I

I am running 35x13.50x15 Toyo Open Country MT's (which suck:spank:) with tons of Rock rash etc. This is on my 1981 Trekker (1st gen SA)
They were able to balance these things with all the weight on one side:

No Death Wobble!!

So issues I ran into with these:
Up front I am running V6 Calipers and LC vented Rotors, the Centramatic would not clear the caliper, not sure if this would have been the case if I had the stock brakes up front.

Solution-mount a set of Wheel spacers(i went 1.5", probably could have gotten by with 1" or 1.25")

there was no issues with clearance in the back:


PROS:
-they balance out wheel/tire combos that are totally out of balance and make it drive very nice
-easy installation in most cases
-saves money over long run if you throw weights all the time like I do (Les Schwab is about $50 to balance a set of tires)
-longer tire life(truckers report 200K out of a set of tires)
-Many applications available (see link above)

CONS:
-Cost: about $200 a set
-Would not clear my front caliper with out wheel spacers
-when you stop, they kind of have to start over again as the internal weights inside settle to the bottom of the ring. It works as you pick up speed.

Overall I very happy with them. They balanced out my big tires that had a ton of weight on them. I will probably knock the external lead weights off them (gonna fall off anyway).

Awesome truck! Just saw one of these at our local recking yard. Am tempted to get it for the next project :roll:









Dont tell mom....

Hello, Dylon Hoop alles is nog lekker daar my julle Town!!lol

Thats a SUPER TRUCK!!!

This is just too cool for words.

Thanks everyone, appreciate it.

I had never heard of Drift cameras until I saw them on this forum. I had been thinking of a Go Pro but the price and features of the Drift sold me.
picked up a new toy, a Drift HD 720 camera:
http://driftinnovation.com/camera/drift-hd720/
thing I really like about it besides getting it really cheap
-the lense is rotateable
-remote control-- can be mounted on a bumper and you can record the trail sections you want
-supports a 32gb micro sd card
-can charge it while still mounted using a USB cord in my truck
-small color LCD screen, the newer models have a bigger one..
-and a few other cool features..timed stills (1 every 1-5s)




click image below for video


I will probably get a short piece of 90* aluminum to make a bracket to have the camera mounted upright.


Cleaned up the front end a little bit

Moved the turn signals behind the grill


Should've gone that route the first time around...

b4runner wrote:knocked out a couple of little projects today.
I have always wanted a set of mounts but the price always put me off.
I was looking ebay for a roll bar camera mount and found these things, 4 for $40 delivered-

Those mounts really look nice

had a few close calls with tail gaters, so I redid my rear tail lights-
Before -

after -

went out with some friends last weekend








new addition


wholly crap they took a lot of weight

first day the tires were fine, the 2nd day I had the death wobble from hell...pulled over thinking something had broken. I was able to give all 24 lugs at least one full turn of the wrench...tire wizards didn't bother torquing squat.
I will take them back in monday to have them rebalance the tires. I think that is way too much lead

I tried using my tube mount for the camera but didn't trust it to stay on.
so I used a cheap ebay swivel and a powerful magnet. for about $5 i ended up with this

was emailed a few more pictures:

I must say that when i saw the name, I was about to come on here and complain that this is a Hilux forum, not Toyota. But you have completely overturned that complaint the marvelous work you've done on that car of yours. From the begin it was a piece of metal that belonged in a scrap yard, but you've turned it into a car. Well-done! And i hope it brings you great successes if you plan on tackling tougher challenges

BotswanaConnection wrote:I must say that when i saw the name, I was about to come on here and complain that this is a Hilux forum, not Toyota. But you have completely overturned that complaint the marvelous work you've done on that car of yours. From the begin it was a piece of metal that belonged in a scrap yard, but you've turned it into a car. Well-done! And i hope it brings you great successes if you plan on tackling tougher challenges

thanks, a 79-83 Toyota with a factory SA and 4 cylinder is about as Hi Lux as it gets.
And everything bodywise behind the cab is fiberglass

oh and it sees harder trails periodically

picked up a Jeep Metal security console..the other one I had extended into the rear seat leg room a big too much

a lot more storage

Very nice truck and awesome pics.

Froll wrote:Very nice truck and awesome pics.

Thanks!!

Finally finished putting in my cargo tie down rails. I think I did the first section 2 years ago:dunno:



I used 1.25" flat stock on the inside of the bed to add some strength. Can't crank too hard on it but it will keep a cargo net and camping gear in place

Great looking truck you got there!

Sunday night I hop in the truck and no headlights..WTH..everything else works..but no headlights
Fuses and fusible links good..
Thanks to

I tracked it down to some hacked in wiring on the headlight circuit done by a previous owner.
I should have taken a pic..what is the point of soldering a connection and using heat shrink tubing if you aren't gonna fully solder the connection and melt the heat shrink tubing:crazy: ??? Oh well I can drive after dark now

so this might be kind of outlandish as an antitheft idea:




Won't stop a determined individual but with a couple of my other anti theft deals it will slow them down..
Hard to drive in 2nd gear low range
So having a bobbed bed and a 35" spare isn't exactly a winning combination.
Needed a way to keep the tire more secure so the clamps I found on ebay and used for other mounting projects came tbrough again.



Now I need to come up with a rack system above the spare tire that I can easily move out of the way for more storage

Saw one of these [url=http://"http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/low-range-off-road-hub-style-shifter-knob-for-suzuki-and-toyota-lr-hsk.html"]shift knobs[/url] that had been donated by Low Range Off Road to help [url=http://"http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-truck-4runner/1093473-win-fully-built-toyota-pu.html"]raise money[/url]for the [url=http://"http://www.rubicontrail.org"]Rubicon Trail Foundation[/url] and thought that is pretty dang cool

She's looking great,lots of cool add ons

Did my rear brakes yesterday.
I hadn't needed to pull the right rear drum off in the 6 years I have had the truck
Found this

Why take the time to drive in a pivot pin when a wobbly bolt will do

Gotta love previous owners

Beautiful Truck

mix wrote:Beautiful Truck

Thank you

I have tried a couple of different LED light bars but never found one that had the light output I wanted and would work with my bumper (didn't want to mount it on top)
Picked up some round ones off ebay:


bumper needed some touch up paint, went ahead and painted it and the grill desert tan.
Not so sure I like it or not

Cleaned up the Samurai back seat I got a couple of years ago so my kids can wheel with me this summer. The seat back is ripped so Zip ties to the rescue...Half ass I know, it is a temp fix...also padded the rear portion of the cage and added some grab straps in the back

Well done!