Hilux 4x4 Forum

G'day all,

I'm James and I have been enjoying reading the endless Hilux knowledge on this site for the past few months. I recently created an account and figured I would show you guys some pics of my hilux.

I picked up a 1985 dual cab hilux earlier this year. It is my first 4x4, which I decided to get as my other car (Nissan Skyline R33GTST) doesn't really like to leave the road. It's a lot different to drive, but I love the hilux as much as I love the skyline (even though the hilux is the slowest car I have ever driven haha).

This is what she looked like when I picked her up: I took her for a drive into the country the very next day: Somehow the exhaust snapped just after the header which led to a very noisy 7 hour drive home haha.
Since that needed fixing anyway, it seemed like a great time to install extractors and a 2" exhaust. She also received a snorkel and a Weber.

The tray, cage and side steps were looking a little tired, so they got a coat of paint: Then I decided the pin stripes looked shabby, so I removed them: Next came the roof tent: Unfortunately the cage was not strong enough for the roof tent, as when I returned from that trip one of the bars had snapped.
In the spirit of overkill, we made a new cage out of 50mm square steel. The latest project was the addition of a gullwing door to allow better access to the back area:

Hi James, welcome aboard!

Your van is looking good! Intrigued with the rear gull-wing door! (Wonder if the light upper frame will hold out over time. ) A coat of paint can work wonders .... only thing I would have done differently on the paint job, is to keep the sides and rear of the tray the same colour as the cab.

Yes, it will be interesting to see how long the door lasts. We reinforced the top part with checkerplate (as the gas struts looked like they were going to snap the top of the door). We decided that it would probably be fine as when the door is closed (so the majority of the time) it is supported by the top hinges, the original rear latch and the two gas struts. Only time will tell though haha.

You are probably right about the paint. Sometime next year when everything else is finished I will respray the whole car including the tray probably in Kawasaki Green with orange wheels like an RC car hahaha.

Hiya James.. Love that gullwing door.. there's some Aussie ingenuity in action for you!! South Africa is not big on trays but I still think it is much more versatile than the std loadbin.. Wish they would sell them like that here in RSA..

Welcome to the forum and show us some pics of your outings around Sydney..

Welcome James.

Keep those pics coming. We love them. Awesome ride you got there

Cheers guys,

I think the standard loadbin definitely looks nicer, but the tray has heaps more space. It's also fairly indestructible. I plan to have a kitchen in the back, and am currently trying to decide whether to buy two big boxes that run the length of the tray as tall as the cage (one of which would be the kitchen and the other just storage) or to make walls for the cage with an aluminium frame, security mesh and plexiglass, and have the walls on hinges with gas struts (or linear actuators for extra radness haha) so that it has a fully enclosed, lockable back that can open up as a camping living area type thing with all three walls acting as an awning and just have the stove and sink in a drawer.
Both options would cost about the same (at least within $200), I reckon the boxes would definitely look better, but the enclosed rear has the potential to be a pretty awesome camping setup and is a better challenge.

I love to tinker and get outdoors so there will be many pics to come.

Welcome James, hope you enjoy it here on the forum. Nice truck you have there.

Replaced the original worn out suspension with Old man emu. It was worth every cent. It is heaps more enjoyable to drive off road now. I mean it was still fun before, but my back would ache after a few hours of proper 4x4ing. I thought that was just a side effect of rough trails that I would have to put up with (This being my first off road vehicle I didn't know better) The day I got the suspension (well that night) I took her out for a 6 hour session down at the local 4x4 trails hitting the gnarliest lines I could find and ended the night with no back pain at all. Here I was thinking I was getting old and it was just the stuffed suspension haha
Here is the before shot: And after: It barely fits in the garage now. As of tomorrow when it gets some 31" KM2s it won't fit and I will have to do something about lowering the roof tent by either cutting down the legs of the cage, or putting the tent inside the cage (at the top) on sliders. That will be perhaps a little more complicated, but would greatly reduce my height and protect the tent.

My fuel economy seems to have suffered from the lift, as has my highway cruising speed, so the effort of doing the sliding roof tent thing would probably pay off. For the mean time I will just remove the ladder from the roof tent.

We saw vinyl wrap on eBay so my mates and I bought some to give it a go.
We did 3 cars in a weekend. Unfortunately we ran out of green so I need to get a little more to finish a couple of areas.
Here it is anyway

The other two cars:
A pathfinder: And some Mazda family car that can't go offroad: At least it looks meaner now than its previous maroon.

Yep, OME makes a huge difference! Just cut the cage down a bit for the RTT to fit in the garage .... it's a mission to take it off and on every time you need it. Besides, if it sits lower there will be a lesser drag co-efficient.

The Vinyl-wrap looks cool ... wonder how well / long it'll stand up to the sun ... the stuff's supposed to be pretty good. Not too sure about the bright green colour though

Cut down the cage and make the Roof top sit the same height as the top of the cab, its amazing what that does for the power and fuel use....
Congrats on the wrap, looks like a pro job...

First time I've ever seen a wing door on a Hilux.

Looks cool though

Hi James, welcome to the forum.

Thunder02 wrote:First time I've ever seen a wing door on a Hilux.

Looks cool though

Welcome to the forum, thanks for sharing your pikchas/experiences

Thanks guys.

I have some more pics of my hilux for you.
Now with mud tyres: I will need to move the rear mud guards back a bit and get rid of the side steps (and replace with rock sliders) as the tyres rub sometimes off road.

Nice