My truck came to me as the best off road-er in the world. I soon learned that this was not the case as it had major over heating problems and very poor wiring on the winches. Plus the pressure plate on the clutch was dead after one day at leek.So with help from little Andy and Pete we attempted to take out the clutch, problem was this truck was built so the gearbox would never come out.Out came the angle grinder and the gear box was liberated. I went to every clutch specialist in Nottingham and Derby,until in some back street little unit a man said oh you have a dual mass fly wheel.So another problem was solved.
Next the rear rad was fitted with stainless tube helping with heat dissipation. That was fun with more bends than a tin of spaghetti, but this was done so there would be no actual 90% bends. Andy asked how I Wanted the winches wiring and together we made them far more reliable and easy to maintain. Since those early days a new fuel pipe system as been made from three different models of car that still complied with MOT standards.ARB lockers have been fitted to the front and rear axles with Ashcroft shafts and heavy duty flanges in the rear axle.
The challenge with this truck as always been to maintain it’s all rounder qualities and that means being able to MOT the vehicle for two years on the trot. I still know that some parts of this truck are ruff but to me it’s always been able to do the business when I commit it to the moment. Plus the more time I spend on it the more it becomes mine and less the last owners.Andy Finnley who built the truck originally wanted a truck that would perform but would be cheap to maintain. Sounds good to me. So here is what she’s made of.
Body is Suzuki SJ 413 with a small truck cab conversion.
Chassis is Suzuki SJ with rangie out riggers
Seats are recaro sport
steering wheel Suzuki swift GTI
In cab there are switches for 10 exterior lights and 5 interior lights both winches plus remotes two kill switches one for the batteries one for the engine. Three for the lockers.Three for the fans inter- cooler, radiator, in cab. Also there is a dual battery monitor that switches between the two battery’s which is controlled by an intelligent solenoid
The engine is a Isuzu 2.5 DT with inter cooler.
Suspension is scorpion extreme with dislocation on the rear.
Axles are 110 Lanny 2004 TD5 with ARB lockers back and front with Ashcroft shafts and flanges on the rear.
Winches are Warn 9000xnd i front and Warn 8000 on the rear with albright solenoid.Bow rope on front and rear.
Complete exterior roll cage going down to chassis at 12 points.
At the moment running on Insa turbo 33″ tyres.
Future plans include a new front suspension that will hopefully incorporate the body dropping a bit more to lower the centre of gravity. Plus just to continue to up grade and make good as we go along.Gaz and i did our first comp a couple of moths ago and had an awesome time, want to do a bit more of that this coming year.