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Expo Forum: Introduce yourself here

107K views 142 replies 114 participants last post by  King2023 
#1 ·
Hello all,
I wanted to start this thread to introduce myself, and hope you all will introduce yourselves. Some of you may know me from here or on the trail. I spend most of my time in the Land Cruiser forum. I have been very into Land Cruisers and wheeling for about 16 years. While I am mostly into “hardcore” rock crawling, I am and always have been into exploring and expedition type rigs. I am currently building a stretched cab 1963 FJ45 with a 3.4 Tacoma motor and Taco 5 speed. This vehicle is being built exclusively for my girlfriend and me to explore the most remote stretches of the Baja and the western USA.

Last winter I went to Australia with a couple good buddies and bought a 1984 FJ60 that we traveled the east coast with. The Cruiser is being stored in New Castle Au. And will be used for future trips to the west coast and the interior including the most trying trek in Australia, the Canning Stock route.

On the more Rock crawling side of things. I have a FJ40 Land Cruiser buggy that has been all over the west, from the Hammers, to The North West, to Colorado and everywhere in between, hitting the hardest trails in the nation. While most folks that go on wheeling trips stay in Camp grounds, or motels. My idea of a wheeling trip is to load the buggy with a Coffee pot, camp stove and a sleeping bag, hit some tough trails and camp in the middle of nowhere. I have been all over western Colorado, Utah, California, and Oregon during all 4 seasons living out of the back of a buggy.

Well that’s a little bit about me. If you have any thought or ideas on the direction of this forum please let me know. I think this is a great idea for a forum and look forward to seeing your trips and projects posted up.
 

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#115 · (Edited)
Dave from Russellville Arkansas, i have always done what we now call expedition but back then it was just exploring .. :) the current rig used for that is our 85 fj60 cruiser, its been ultra reliable, and is perfect for hauling canoes,camping gear,and such.. just a few mods, OME heavies, ARB bullbar and 8274 warn, fj62 4.11 chunks and a rear auburn, with 33x10.50 KM2's but it seems about perfect for my wife, 2 golder retrievers and my self, we see dirt about every weekend. Also have a 04 TJ on tons to rock crawl with, but expedition type stuff is where my heart is, and i rarely take the jeep out anymore. i've almost sold the TJ several times to put the $$ into the cruiser and travel fund, and probably will before long.


and our TJ thats rarely used

 
#116 ·
Cee-Jay:13947617 said:
Hello, Cee-Jay here. 88-91 K5 Blazer/Jimmy or 89-93 Ramcharger. I



Thanks,
Cee-Jay
Hey there Cee-Jay
Only suggestion is look for an 86 or so blazer. My dad had an 86 and my mom had a 91. Same everything in options but when my dad was under them working on on them he said all the suspension components were larger/beefier on the 86 over the 91. He said it was like comparing 1-ton to a 1/2-ton. Just something ive heard.
 
#118 ·
Hello from northwest Colorado. Here is my baconator so named for its tasty color and that grease fire smell as it goes by.
 

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#119 ·
Hi from Bozeman MT

Hi, it looks like a signed up on this forum a while ago, but this my 1st post.
Brit Expat, looking to explore western regions USA, Alaska, BC, then hopefully Russia.
My daily driver is good old 92 Land Cruiser FJ80 but my big project that I will start the build thread on today is 87 Tatra T815 TP24 6x6 which is the bases of my Adventure / TrialTruck
 
#120 ·
Dodge Ram 5500 chassis cab expedition vehicle. The Ottr.

Hello all,

Starting an off-road 4x4 serious expedition vehicle project. We're calling it the Ottr. 2011 Ram 5500 single cab, 144.5" wheelbase. Designing and building a composite cabin with a pop-top ala Sportsmobile.

Tossing the leaf suspension in the rear and building a coil/5 link. Extending paralell 5 link in the front. Approx. 3" lift. Continental mpt-81 335's all around.
 
#121 ·
Ottr continued...

Dang, hit the Go button before I was done. Chose the single cab short wheel base to maintain the best off-roading capability we could given the high weight of an expedition vehicle. More details to come. Will get some pics up once we get the blog going. Looks like only way to post a pic is with a url. If I'm wrong about that, please let me know.

Thanks!

D'
 
#122 ·
Hey I'm Jared from Winnemucca NV soon to relocate to Riverton KS but before I do I'm doing an expedition build on an 84 Power Ram 150 360v8 lifted 6 inches with 33s and a 4speed manual. Trading a pair of rifles for it. I figure there are so many people out there doing the expedition thing and starting with suvs lifting them and packing them so full of crap the driver can barely fit. So why not start with a vehicle that can fit all the stuff you need and still have room. Gonna throw a ladder rack on it, buy 3 canvas tarps and ovelap them over the ladder rack so I can sleep in the bed w/o getting rained on. Will also be adding a heavy winch, a backseat for daily driving, air front seats and some e-rated general grabbers. Deffinately gonna start a build thread so I can document it and hopefully get some pointers. :smokin:
 
#124 ·
Hey guys, long time expo lurker here. My name is Kenny and Im in Va. Appalatia is my normal playground, but my old rig has taken me to VT to ski many a time, colorado, utah, cali etc.

Its time for a new rig. This one will be doing the pan am highway in a few years. Its a WJ and will be fully, tastefully built. Ill be on here looking for advice on vehicle legalities and keeping a low profile.
 
#125 · (Edited)
Mike in Delaware. Born 1970 in Michigan. Toured the world on Uncle Sam's Visa card from 94 to 04 & visited many places that don't exist. Now just another married working stiff with two young kids who does nothing but dream about his week and a half road trip each spring usually to some place like Moab or Johnson Valley. Likes dual sport bikes, Cummins 5.9 engines, Dana 60 front axles and Allison Transmissions. I'm also a decent photographer. My dream job would be to get paid to drive around the world and shoot photos. Might audition as a videographer if Charley Boorman and that guy from Star Wars decide to shoot another travel movie...

Here's a pick of my expo rig. She ain't much to look at but I'd rather do my expo'ing in this than a Jeep and a tent any day of the week.



For starters, I don't have to set up camp every time I arrive at my destination. I've got a queen size mattress and blankets to bed down on in comfort rather than a sleeping bag on top of rocks and twigs or some stupid blow up thermarest mattress that the sleeping bag slides off as you toss and turn with your legs toes constricted in a mummy bag. The older I get, the more I like comfort.

I've got enough electricity from the solar panels and battery bank to watch movies on a 22" flat screen with surround sound all night and run a 12 volt refrigerator to keep my beer cold. LED lights inside make it as bright as daylight if I want to read a book.

Bears and Tigers can't get in to my van quickly as they can a tent.

Vans are dirt cheap. You can find something similar to mine for $2000 and I've driven this one coast to coast + over the river and through the woods (over 30,000 miles) 4 times with no issues other than an alternator going bad.

My next Expo rig may be a mid 90's Ford CF7000 cab over flatbed with a 5.9 12V Cummins, 22.5" super singles, 4x4 w/ rockwell axles and a custom built camper w/ dirtbike lift. :flipoff2:
 
#126 · (Edited)
Hi everybody, my name is Scott, and I like to go places where my cell phone doesn't work while wearing shorts (or pants) with too many pockets. :laughing: I'm still trying to figure out the goofy hat and cargo shirt things, and my "expedition" rig isn't currently very roadworthy, but hopefully I can learn from you all.

Seriously, just lurking around here for ideas for my 4runner. It's a '92, SAS on 35sp 60's, ARB front Detroit rear, on 39.5 TSL's. 14" coilovers in front, 9 leaf Alcans in back. 22re, 5 speed, dual cases... just a mild camping rig, really. Built it because my two seater buggy was just too small and impractical for two adults, two kids, and two dogs.
 

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#127 ·
New Expedition Van

Well Hello! I am new to expedition vehicles, I had a need to take it with me... So here I am with an E350 7.3TD project.

It is a little tired but with the Dana 60 and 271 Transfer case in the cargo area I am off and running with a UJOR conversion soon, just need a shop near Redwood City CA to get started with the plasma cutting etc.

I know it's meek and old however a few hundred hours and a few thousand dollars and all will be well for National Park travel.
[Image]
 
#129 ·
Hey guys! Getting my first dedicated rig tomorrow. She's a 1999 GMC Yukon, stock, with a rebuilt tranny and some other miscellaneous things. The goal with her is to turn her into primo camping ground accessing beast. I don't need to climb boulders or do anything crazy so the mods on her are going to be limited.

I'm fairly new to the whole build/modification scene but I'm a geared through and through, just now is the first time I've had all the ducks in a row to get a rig to wrench on.

I'll start a post here about my rig and any questions I have. I really would like any feedback you guys have!
 
#130 ·
Names Kyle, working on getting my MUTT replica back on the road. I live in Central Florida but I travel the state with my dual sport and aim to make this the ultimate adventure weapon! Anywhere the MUTT wont take me, the dirt bike will!

It was converted to a 12v system from the original 24v and I plan on lifting it for a tad bigger tire size and figuring out how to lpck the diffs. Besides that its all lights, speakers, and "oh shit" accessories.

Just finished cleaning and recoating the gas tank. Should be putting some juice to it withing the next couple weeks to see what I got!
 

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#131 ·
I am Ryan from the central coast of California. I've been in some form of off-road most of my life. Started out with a rock crawler 4-Runner but found myself and the family doing more "long" day adventure trips and less extreme stuff. We then moved to a Jeep XJ that was more suited for the long days and miles on dirt roads but too small inside. We have since sold that and I am currently working on building up a '89 Suburban for a family adventure rig. I am putting 1-ton axles with Deaver leaf springs under it for a comfy ride. More to follow...
 
#132 ·
Hello Pirates. Been lurking here for years, but this site can be a pretty hostile place for anyone without 1000 posts or a tube frame crawler, so I've opted to just stay in the shadows. I just bought a 83 Ford-Collins E-350 4x4 narrow short bus that I'll be building into an expedition rig and so It's time I man up and join the show as I already need more from you all then I can get being silent.

Truck arrives to me with 160k original miles, fresh 351w, Dana44F Dana60 R on the Collins factory conversion, running 36" military tires. I've got a FITech fuel injection in the works, mounting a Ramsey 15k in front and duel spares and tag axle rollers into rear custom bumpers (azz hangs out quite a ways on this short bus) . Plan a pop-top, hoping to intigrate a 14 Jon-boat turtle top into that.

Anyways, site won't let me post pics yet, I'll try to revisit this post with a pic if I ever graduate to pic worthy.
 
#135 ·
I'm Kristoffer, used to be in Utah but moved to SoCal earlier this month.

I have an 82 K5 Blazer that I like to take on expedition/moderate wheeling trips. Its nothing special, certainly by the standards around here, but its fun and goes where I need it to go. Site wont let me post pics, but I will get some up when I am able.

Looking for folks in the SoCal area to wheel with on the weekends
 
#138 ·
Introducing myself

Hey guys, My name is Brendt, and im totally new to this forum. I have recently purchased a 1984 ford e350 Quigly 4x4 460! It was used by the new hampshire fire dept as a rescue/utility vehicle until 2001, when it was purchased by the previous owner who did nothing but let it sit in his yard for 17 years. I just recently bought it and am doing a huge rebuild/tiny home conversion project. I figured id sign up so i could document my project as well ask ask everyone for help lol. This is a cool forum with a wealth of information i look forward to contributing to!
 
#139 ·
Hi All,

Tech Tradie from Australia here. I am a trades skills trainer at a technical college in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. I train Mechanical Fitters, Machinists, and some basic fabrication skills. My industry experience is in scientific and aerospace industries.

I have just taken ownership of a new vehicle that will be set up for remote area touring (expeditions) here in Australia. I will start a build thread in the next few days, will be mostly bought components, unfortunately (need to keep it legal) but will hopefully help some Americans see how we do things in Australia :p
 
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