RN46 a good first 4X4? A few generalish questions too..

[floody]

I'm planning on getting into 4wding soonish. I've always liked the look of the RN46 Hiluxes (probably because my old man had a RN30 2wd for a long time) and its my leading choice so far as a first 4x4.
So far most of my car fiddling experiences have been to do with making things get lower and faster on tarmac... I'd like to go the opposite direction here.
I'm not planning on getting a minter, I hope to do a fair bit of engine and suspension work, so I would like to start with something cheap but usable (not a complete heap of crap), but yeah, not mint. I would like the styleside, not a flat tray, and definitely a single cab.
So what should I be looking out for? are there more than one wheelbase option?

-rust?
-driveline?
-chassis?


What would be a good engine conversion, bearing in mind I'm not overly interested in Holdens...
-1UZFE Toyota?
-??? ideas. Injected petrol motors would be good...

what gearbox to run behind the above ideas?could I use the factory stuff? (manual)

And what are traditional mods for these things?
-what gearbox to run behind either of the above ideas? (manual)
-Good value suspension upgrades (I'd like to lift it a fair amount, probably a body lift too).
- How high can you go without serious drivetrain mods?
-How big is too damn big in terms of tyres? are different diff ratios easily available to go with
-Can you get stuff like tube bumpers, cabin roof racks, tube tailgates, that kind of thing, easily?
-Would Race bucket seats and harnesses be a bad idea?

I'd like to build something pretty effective off road, maybe even enter some comps, but I'd rather do proven mods cleverly rather than just chucking money at it/latest fads.


I'd really like to have the mechanical fortitude, if not straight away the skill, to be able to pants my girlfriend's father's '84 2.6 pajero superwagon offroad, really This is an Essential

[stumped]

can't give ya any useful info, but thought i'd say g'day and welcome anyways seeing as noone else has

if ya have a bit of a read thru the yota section u'll prolly find most of the answers have been discussed before, also check out the members section. and remember, search is ur friend

[Pesky Pete]

I'm planning on getting into 4wding soonish. I've always liked the look of the RN46 Hiluxes (probably because my old man had a RN30 2wd for a long time) and its my leading choice so far as a first 4x4.
So far most of my car fiddling experiences have been to do with making things get lower and faster on tarmac... I'd like to go the opposite direction here.
I'm not planning on getting a minter, I hope to do a fair bit of engine and suspension work, so I would like to start with something cheap but usable (not a complete heap of crap), but yeah, not mint. I would like the styleside, not a flat tray, and definitely a single cab.
So what should I be looking out for? are there more than one wheelbase option?

-rust?
-driveline?
-chassis?


What would be a good engine conversion, bearing in mind I'm not overly interested in Holdens...
-1UZFE Toyota?
-??? ideas. Injected petrol motors would be good...

what gearbox to run behind the above ideas?could I use the factory stuff? (manual)

And what are traditional mods for these things?
-what gearbox to run behind either of the above ideas? (manual)
-Good value suspension upgrades (I'd like to lift it a fair amount, probably a body lift too).
- How high can you go without serious drivetrain mods?
-How big is too damn big in terms of tyres? are different diff ratios easily available to go with
-Can you get stuff like tube bumpers, cabin roof racks, tube tailgates, that kind of thing, easily?
-Would Race bucket seats and harnesses be a bad idea?

I'd like to build something pretty effective off road, maybe even enter some comps, but I'd rather do proven mods cleverly rather than just chucking money at it/latest fads.


I'd really like to have the mechanical fortitude, if not straight away the skill, to be able to pants my girlfriend's father's '84 2.6 pajero superwagon offroad, really This is an Essential

RN46 is a good cheap place to start. When looking for one, you will be doing well to find one without rust in the floor, and around windscreen. Both are pretty easy to fix if your are handy. I have built up a RN46 as a rock rig and am fairly pleased with the end result and bang for buck.

The standard 18R is no power house and anyone that offroads them soon swap out the motor, or even go dual transfers. Coomon swaps are rover v8's and holden v6's. You will find heaps in the toyota section on this. I just put a rover v8 and rover auto in my lux and am having big problems with the front driveshaft due to the height of the output on the transfer. Would not recommend this swap. Also had to mount radiator on the tray as there is not enough room under the bonnet.

Stick with a holden v6 and put a Turbo 700 auto behind it. You can get adapters for the v6 to hilux 5 speed box, but since you will have the 4 speed in it, you will want to swap it out anyway. If you went Rover, you can also get bellhousing to suit the hilux box, but the standard hilux transfer case has trouble handling the power of the v8

CV's are also very weak and I would not suggest bigger than 33" tyres using standard CV's. You can buy aftermarket CV's that are heat treated and will fix that problem. Maybe even on 33's you might consider the stronger CV's. They are the weak link in the drivetrain.

A 2" spring lift is generally high enough to fit 33's but you may need to redrill perches and move front axle forward so that the wheel does not rub in the rear of the wheel arch.

With a lift and decent tyres, you should eat Jabbers for breakfast, but if you want to be sure, get a diff lock or two

[floody]

wow! thanks for all the info, that'll definitely get me started!

So no big V8's are going to wedge in there without a fight, hey.... I guess a VN commo and auto will have to do then. I do like the idea of a 1UZFE, but looking at bubs' buildup, it sounds like a big hassle...then again, I guess that would be more than enough power and torque, and not much more expensive (for the motor) than the commodore one...
BUt the commo sounds like a well proven road to take so I guess I'll end up with one.

I was thinking of a tray mounted radiator with some big thermo fans anyway , thinking freeing up some room and putting it out of harms way would be a good idea?

ALso, what about weight distribution? would trying to get as much weight centrally placed be beneficial for trail use? for instance things like battery, radiator, fuel tank....I was thinking tray mounted battery for starters, and maybe a foam filled fuel cell (or twin smaller ones), mounted front and centre in or under the tray, to cure any possibility of starvation by angle at the same time.

[suprasurf]

Cheap Donk = Supra
Cheap Suspension = Rears up front, XD Falcon in the rear
Lock it up = Whatever your budget, 2 X Lokka, or ARB's
Cheap Gearing = Hiace 5.29's

Go from there

[floody]

Cheap Donk = Supra
Cheap Suspension = Rears up front, XD Falcon in the rear
Lock it up = Whatever your budget, 2 X Lokka, or ARB's
Cheap Gearing = Hiace 5.29's

Go from there

But which supra motor are you referring to, suprasurf? 5M-E? 5M-GE? 7M-GE? 7M-GTE? ?
Gives me a good idea though, if you can make a M-series fit in then a 2JZ-GE could be a goer, its the atmo 2JZ with 160kw and reasonable torque..Seen here in GS300's, IS300's and non-turbo import supras.

[bubs]

hes talking 5M-GE or 7M-GE

the 1UZ-FE swap can be done a lot easier than i am doing mine

but it is a BIG motor, hence why i will be running a rear radiator

[Big Bird]

my mates actually got a an 85 single cab lux for sale for bout $3000 - $4000. steel tray but not a bad car overall. especially if ur doing an engine swap it would be perfect because the 2L blows smoke like a chimney. other than that its a good rig. pretty much stock standard with brand new cheese cutters all round. pm me if you want any more info.

[Aza]

as previously stated it is a good cheap first 4x4, there are still a couple around with minimal rust, in the body i aint sure about all but in mine and bubs ln46's we have found rust under the seats on the body and on the floor area mainly. But u might want to ask snafu (previous owner of mine, ps cory if u read this reply to my msgs ) and bubs they might be able to give u more information, btw a 1UZFE engine conversion is alot of horse power but a fair bit of work

[Rorza]

I got a RN46 and its a great first 4b im learning alot and there are heaps of mods that can be done. i'm currently in the process of putting on lifted leaf springs and shocks, 35' tires, new tray with rollbar and changing the 4 speed gearbox for a celica 5 speed plenty of other things to mod.