Racking System

I spent alot of time looking round the 4x4 shows and looking at other peoples trucks, i then designed my own system that bolts to the seat and seat belt mounts, the original design shows an aluminium channel, this holds 3no 20lt jerry cans. Once it was in place i found there was room to move that to the left hand side and mount it on "L" brackets, there is also a similar setup to the right, this holds a 25lt water tank and 2no gas bottles, the water tank is pumped to a tap on the door.

Incorporated into the design is my cooker that slides out complete with 2no storage boxes, the cooker can also be permanently connected to the gas bottles.

6no gommo boxes slide underneath, also a removable 35lt fridge is fitted.

I have also slung a net across the ceiling of the truck to carry light stuff.

I had the metal framework made up by a local blacksmith £150, i then bought a sheet of 1/2" WSB plywood £30, cheap carpet £25, ancillaries glue, nuts/bolts/paint £50, total £255, buy a pre built one for £600 to £800, so massive saving to be had!

Suspension

After doing a bit of research and shopping around i decided to go for an Old Man Emu system, i went for heavy duty springs on the rear, and medium springs to the front, because i have to carry alot of kit in the rear, this is supposed to give it a 2omm lift, in real life it is alot more than that.

I purchased it from TBR UK.

Bull Bar and Snorkle

After alot of searching i managed to find a snorkle that would fit my truck, it had to be modified slightly as it was for a different sized engine, the intake tube had to be moved, i did this by cutting a new hole in the snorkel, removed the tube, inseted it in the new hole and sealed/stuck it in place useing bodywork sealer/glue, i blanked off the old hole using the same method.
I wanted some extra protection to the front of the truck, but i didn't wan't to compromise the classic looks, i found a genuine, new old stock bull bar on ebay, this is a heavy duty bar like they used to be, a couple of modifactions had to be done, it bolted nicely to the chassis underneath, but fouled the bumper, so i had to alter the height of the bumper and make new brackets to allow the bull bar to mount to the top of the chassis.

Wheels and Tyres

I have now had the new wheels and tyres fitted.

Supplied and fitted by Footloose 4x4

They are black modular 16"rims, with 235 85 r16 Cooper Discoverer STT tyres

It has completely transformed look ofthe truck, very pleased.

Off Road Lights

These are a pair of JCB type work lights.
I thought they would be ideal for this use, there are much better lights on the market, but they are extremly expensive, and i would be worried about them being damaged and stolen, these cost about 20 quid from Ebay for the pair, they are very tough and water proof, you can get them from a good agricultuaral machinery supplier, but they are twice as much.
As yet they arn't wired in. i am going to do all the wireing together.

Roof Bars, Roof Tent, Roof tray & Awning instalation

I installed three heavy duty roof bars i got from Footloose 4x4

I then bridged across them with two heavy gauge 2"x1" aluminnium box section, after hunting through the internet i found the alluminium warehouse were the most reasonably priced at about £40 inc delivery.
This was then bolted through using 8mm bolts.

Next i installed my rooftent that was previously installed on my old truck.

It is a Myway roof tent, i chose this one because of its light weight design but rugged construction. I wanted something light weight due to it being a small vehicle and didn't wan't a large wet canvas mass on the roof making it unstable.

The tent has prooved its ruggedness having been used on two trips incuding the Sahara.

Bolted in front of the tent is a Thule roof tray, then intalled along the length of the roof bars is a Fiamma F35 Pro awning, i chose this one because it is small enough for my truck and can be put up on your own, also many types brackets are available, the ones i chose clamp on to the end of the roof bars.

I found a company on the internet called Agent Fiamma that i bought it from.

The Amphicat an introduction

Having previously owned a Suzuki Grand Vitara that i used for work use and overland holidays with Atlas Overland.
I travelled to The Pyrenees and The Sahara Desert in Tunisia.
Now i have now purchased a new Vehicle.







The new Vehicle is a Toyota LJ71 "The Amphicat"

This blog will be a diary of the modifacations and the adventures that we will encounter over the years.
The Vehicle was bought in April 2009 on Ebay for 1800 quid.
It was then given to Footloose 4x4 an overland/landcruiser specialist who carried out some work on the bodywork, including spraying the wheel arches with speedline, and going through the whole car mechanicaly.