I have owned this rig for the last 21 years and I keep modifying it every 4-5 years in order to keep up with the changing technology as well as to keep it running reliably.
The above project was started about 5 months ago and is still ongoing, because I get to work only on weekends so that means 6-8 working days per month. I suppose another two months to go.
Originally, the rig was a very basic indestructible 4x4 with leaf springs over axles front and rear and very high ratio diffs. The main gearbox was coupled to the aux gearbox via a short shaft.. Drum brakes all around and no power stearing. Since it was modified a couple of times, in its final modification it had a 3SGE engine, Nissan Patrol tubes with rear OEM lockers and front ausie lockers. Four disk brakes and Surf gearbox and a Rocky power steering. The down side of this vehicle has always been its ride comfort and that was bothering me as I had to slow down on rough terrain and that was unacceptable to me. Alongside this vehicle I also owned a Grand Wagoneer in its original suspension and that was a pleasure to drive and with over 12 inches of wheel travel off roading was a breeze. The wagoneer had set the bar too high for the poor Chinese 4x4 and so I set out to meet its standards and hence the present modification.
This ride has some unique features because of which I am stuck with it for good:
Its a short wheelbase vehicle and yet has 4 doors
The rear seat is a very wide and deep front facing bench seat with a nice back angle.
It is probably the only jeep that has a metal boot similar to a sedan that can be locked keeping valuables out of sight of prying eyes. Other than being a safe luggage storage it also provides for installation of woofers in a car style manner which otherwise would have wasted a lot of valuable space if I were to place a boombox in the rear like you would in an SUV.
The modifications that have been completed so far are as follows:
The entire suspension has been stripped off and replaced with the entire hardware from a series 80 landcruiser.The coil springs, however, are from prado upfront and corolla at the rear.Needless to say it is equipped with diff lockers front and rear.With this modification I have managed to extend its wheel base to 103 inches, about 12 inches more than its factory wheelbase. I have also installed air suspension at the rear so as to augment the weaker corolla springs as well as give me the flexibility to alter the ride height and ride comfort. The shocks also have a soft and a hard mode. I can adjust the air pressure in the airbags on the go with real time display on my dash about the changing pressure inside them. All of this hardware underneath a short base jeep took up a lot of space leaving no room for the regular fuel tank or the exhaust pipe, so I had to install two small fuel tanks instead of the big one, and route the exhaust pipe along the side and above the rear fender. So now I have two fuel gauges with a switch to transfer fuel from one to the other, and no silencer box to muffle the sound, but the sound is not bad and with the free flowing exhaust gas through a non restricting 2.5 inches pipe the engine is happy :). I was always vary of the reliability of my 3SGE EFI engine so with great difficulty I got hold of a non EFI 1kz diesel turbo engine with a gear box that has a 4.30 first gear. So now I don't have to worry about getting wet :). I have installed a 4000lbs Warn winch behind the bumper, the small size of the winch made it easy to fit behind the bumper without extending it and thus reducing the front over hang and the weight. Its low pulling capacity is compensated by keeping two snatch pulleys and some extra steel cable that can triple my pull to a decent 12000lbs. . This has reduced its rear and front overhang drastically. I have installed 33x12.50 tires on 9 inch wide size-15 rims with 1.5 inches negative offset. That has given me a nice wide track width and the wheels are sticking out off the fenders just the right amount. I have been test driving it around and cant seem to find any fault with the suspension. Its soft and comfortable and yet does not have any body roll what so ever.
Major work has been completed and now whats left is fabricating the front two doors, electrical wiring and the rear tail lights. The front lights are all LEDs, the dash has a wide range of gauges notably a turbo boost gauge because I have bought and will be installing a boost controller. An EGT gauge to monitor the all too important exhaust temperatures, a GPS speedometer that also tells me the altitude and direction. It has outlets for USB, 220 volt AC, 12 volt DC, Aux in for its amplifier, a digital ampere meter and volt meter just to name a few.
Il be working on it this weekend too and will update the forum on the progress. I would welcome any innovations or ideas.