Hiace 4wd

[goodwood]

cheers hen

[Toyo Truck]

The IFS centre is not going to fit in the solid axle housing.
I have tried this in reverse (to put a lux LSD centre into an IFS G housing).

Reason is there is a wide varience of centre housings to suit different crown and
pinion combinations. The housing for a 4.88:1 housing is different to the one that
houses the 3.85:1 housing. They can be made to fit, but shims and spacers need
to take up the space of the old crownwheel thickness, etc. But its a hassle.

Look buy your hiace, 2WD if you have to and spend some money on one or all of
the following and you WILL be able to go almost anywhere and if not further than
a stock 4WD hiace without them.

1) A HAND WINCH... get them for about $300 at supercrap or ripco
2) A set of semi decent all terrain (OR light truck tyres work OK too) these will pay for
themselves within the first 100Kms of dirt road driving, or 1 rain storm. stock van tyres
will be shitty off road.
3) A few bread baskets to throw under the wheels when you bog it to the sills in sand.
(the ones they deliver bread with work a treat).

Cheers,
Bart

[takai]

Just get one of these converted into a campervan:

[goodwood]

thanks bart. ive been looking into all of your suggestions, do you know whether it would be possible to raise a hiace and inch or two so i could opt for slightly bigger tyres?
I know a 4wd would make more sense, but seeing as im only going to be going traveling on the odd weekend and one big trip a year, i cant justify spending the extra money on a proper 4wd and all the extra expenses involved from servicing to fuel bills and everything in between.
cheers again for every ones input and advice.
adrian

[Toyo Truck]

Understandable champ.

Troopys arn't exactly easy on the fuel, or servicing costs.
You need like 10L of gear oil just to service the box/transfer in those puppies!!!!

Hiace will kick any 4WDs ass on fuel bills I rekon, other than a suzuki, but touring in one of those
sierra's would be hell. Jimny might be OK, but don't take too much stuff!

OK as for the suspension.
the rear is no issue at all... just put the diff under the leafsprings and use hilux standard
u-bolts and plate to bolt it all up (hilux 4WDs have a spring over axle setup from factory).
But this will lift the back only. This might be enough as your front wheels don't drive anyways
but it'd be nice to be able to steer through the goop and it would mean getting stuck less.

With that in mind, do hiace's have torsion bar or double wishbone front suspension??
If its torsion, wind em up a bit and see how high you can get it.
If its double wish, just get some lifted springs for it if you can.
Sorry man I don't know enough about hiaces!!

Still the hiace, with the all terrain 31" diameter tyres on 15" rims at the back,
the aforementioned recovery gear, and a whole lot of cajones...you'll be right.
Even if you don't, you will impress the fark outta us 4WDers and it'll be easy
to rustle someone up to pull you out!!

I always stop to help the little subie wagons outta the sand before I help the big
V8 patrol with 38" swamp bogger tyres that dug himself 4 1M deep holes with all
that power. At least the guys in the subie were giving it their all!!

[goodwood]

sounds good. im looking at buying it in a month or so. when i do i'll start a thread and no doubt i'll have a few more questions to throw your way! (hope you dont mind!)
cheers again
adrian

[clubagreenie]

Just a thought (and don't flame me). Mitsubishi 4WD express wagon. Parts readily available, good ground clearance (and aftermarket bits as well) seen them far off road. A lot were made into campers for the grey army.

Ebay search (Mitsubishi express) shows 3 4wd's available (2 as campers) $1500- No camp $3950 and $7900-

[Reflex]

I have a Hiace Commuter which has been raised considerably without putting the diff under the springs. At the moment I have just wound the front up to the maximum height then lowered it down 30mm so I have some droop travel which is very important. Without droop travel the front suspension can lift the front wheels off the ground which is dangerous.
I had the rear leaf packs re set with an additional leaf which has given me a few inches in the rear.. The most important thing I think is locking the rear diff either with a Lockrite / Detroit or ARB locker.. The ARB locker needs an air compressor which is handy for pumping up tyres after you lower the air pressures for sandy conditions .. As for the Lockrite and Detroit , they are mechanical lockers and are automatic.. Being automatic they can be a little chirpy/clunky on bitumen , I don't know about the newer lockers on the market which have move toward making them more pleasant on road..
I'm new to Totmods and will look to post some photos.. as I get the work done to my Van.. I will soon address the stock air intake to snorkel it up from behind the driver door .. Water into that intake system can and will completely destroy a motor especially a diesel motor ..

Reflex

[Johnny stav]

Has anyone driven a hiace with the 1kd 3 litre turbo diesel engine ? What do they go like in comparison to a 2rz powered one ? Does anyone have power and torque figures for the super custom ? I think the 2rz engine ones had something like 80 kw at the flywheel .

[Dan_k36]

The 1kz goes very well, way better than the 2rz, but if the 1kd gets hot it's new head time so if it happens in middle of no we're u may be in for a long wait.

[Taff]

I know people are not going to like this but consider a mitsubishi delica.

they are cheap and go great with the turbo diesel. share tons of parts with tritons and pajeros, my mum loves hers and has blazed through the centre has done the finke river, chambers pillar and uluru multiple times. she has done thousands of offroad km touring with her friends/family.

very comfortable and more space/better layout than a hiace as the engines up front not under the seats. this gives them a flat floor from front to back.

edit: holy gravedig

[Johnny stav]

I know people are not going to like this but consider a mitsubishi delica.

they are cheap and go great with the turbo diesel. share tons of parts with tritons and pajeros, my mum loves hers and has blazed through the centre has done the finke river, chambers pillar and uluru multiple times. she has done thousands of offroad km touring with her friends/family.

very comfortable and more space/better layout than a hiace as the engines up front not under the seats. this gives them a flat floor from front to back.

edit: holy gravedig

I've worked on the delica model before I've had to put a few engines in over the years lol . They drive great but their a Mitsubishi . I am looking for a hiace with a 2j 1j or 1uz but can't find anything at the moment so thinking maybe super custom . I need something ASAP . Thanks for the suggestion though