Pirate 4x4 banner

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.
 

Attachments

See less See more
4
#2 ·
Todd here :) Hang out in Shop / Tools mostly but also most other forums mainly jeep and gen4x4.

Currently working on my buggy build, hope to have it done in 1 month. It will be for fun/local competitions but main purpose will be an "expedition" type rig for long camp-outs in the snow and Rubicon type trails.

It's not your standard buggy as it will have a shower, heater, ample storage, MANY spare parts, 10g of spare fuel on top of the 13g tank. 6g or 10g of water although most places we go have lakes or rivers to filter. The rig will also have a 100% welded/sealed roof, interior, and removable windshield, and lambo-doors for those winter runs :laughing:
 
#3 ·
Mark A. here. Die-hard old-school LAND cruiser. Drive to the trail, wheel as hard as I need to TO GET TO MY DESTINATION without looking for 'trouble', and drive it home again. Enjoy the challenges of driving and wheeling old school rigs.

As I get older, I get more pleasure out of seeing how much I can substitute all the fancy upgrades of my earlier rigs for driving skills to achieve the same destination results.

I have a 1976 K-5 which I built into an expedition rig.
I have a 1968 FJ40 which which I built into an expedition rig.
I have a 1964 FJ45 pickup which I built into an expedition rig.
I have a 1984 FJ60, which I am currently contemplating building into an expedition rig.

I have a sickness. Thank you for understanding.:)
 
#4 ·
I'm Wes and I use my jeep to go snow wheeling and explore new hunting, fishing, and camping areas. Plans in the near future are 33s a Rubicon Express 4 inch SUA, rock sliders, ford 8.8 rear with hopefully an OX locker. Sometime in the distant future It will be treated to a 350SBC.



 
#5 ·
My name is Kurt Williams, I'm married to my sweetheart Candace. We live in Sandy, Utah where I run an internet based Toyota Land Cruiser specialty shop (CruiserOutfitters.com) and Candace is a sales rep for a home decor company, her region being the state of Utah. We have a dog, Jada (german shepherd), no kids as of yet. We share alot of hobbies, scuba diving, camping, she likes to shop, I like to work on my rigs. I've got a 72' Toyota FJ40 and an 04' Toyota Tacoma... my wife also has a 66' FJ45 pickup truck we are building into her "yard work truck". I just picked up a rust-free 87' FJ60, I'm deciding if it is the rig for me to keep. I've got a 4BT Cummins Turbo-diesel that I trying to find a home for, this 60 is clean but I'm not 100% sure its the rig I want to keep? Other than that I like to read, research history (specifically Utah based), shoot guns and hike.

I'm a little different in regards to my travel wants and needs... while I've had some amazing times on trails outside of Utah, I really have no desire to seek out more, with the exception of the San Jaun Mtns in CO where I plan to return again this fall. I love seeing more and more of Utah, with each trip I find 10 more places I want to visit. The last couple of years have been "epic" years in regards to my wheeling, I've averaged ~50 days on the trail for each, with at least one 3-5 day trip each month. I've documented most of my trips here: http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/gallery.html though many of the shorter or single day trips don't get posted.

I'm working on a couple of "side" projects based on Utah, one being a "one-stop" planning website, dedicated 100% to overland type trips in the state of Utah, with trail databases, maps, trip reports, etc. Its growing slowly as some of the charter members help add content. In addition I'm working on a book of the American Fork Canyon area (specifically the turn of the century mining operations and trails that resulted), I spend alot of Saturdays at the state historical society archives, digging through maps, letters, postcards, etc... all in seach of content for my book. A good freind has stepped in to help me bring it to fruition, we are hoping to have a very crude 1st draft complete by June 1st of this year. After that project, another good freind and I are planning to work on a San Rafael Swell trail guide. We've collectivley bagged 30+ trips into the area, the idea would be put together a book to help folks plan their own trip. Not sure how it will come together as of yet.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Very cool guys....

Well my name is Jordan. By trade im a race car builder/fabricator. I have always been into outdoors activities (fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, etc) since I was a kid, and when I turned 16 and my first vehicle was a bronco, I got into 4wheeling. Then back in high school I bought my first scout. I finally bought my own house about a year and a half ago (which just so happened to have a shop behind it...perks of being single when you buy your house :p ) So now I figure Ill put my knowledge of fabrication to use with my love of the outdoors and my love of scouts and build an expedition rig.

Its just in its infancy right now...but I think it has a good solid foundation for being an expedition rig...Its a traveler which has a longer wheelbase and will have better road manners, it has a diesel engine that gets pretty good MPG and is reliable, it has a 33 gallon fuel tank, and lots of storage room, solid components and room for upgrades. So I cant wait to get it to the point where I can bring it on a cross country trip, but Im looking forward to it....Im sure you guys saw my thread but in case you didnt here it is:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675540
 
#8 · (Edited)
ross hildebrandt

started my own business mostly because i love fabricating stuff. i really don't have any extreme trails around here so i wanted to buy something comfortable, V8, leather, roomy, and something i could run on challenging stuff. enter my jeep commander. i noticed no one was making parts for the commander. so i decided to start building bumpers for the commander and other protection. so far its going well.

here is what i started with



here it is now. i've put 20K on it since october. we drive it everywhere and love it.



and a good old poser shot.

 
#10 ·
Hi Guys, John B here. Originally built this XJ years ago and ran the rocks with it, havent had the urge to do so since i realized i'm more into traveling the backcountry and seeing the sights out west.

Heres a few pics of the XJ as it's being transformed into an Expedition type rig, still lots more to do.... but i'm making progress.

Cool to see this forum addition at Pirate.



 
#13 ·
Sweet new addition. Now I have a reason to come out of chit chat and the outdoor forums. :laughing: I started wheelin a long time ago and took the natural progression into rock crawling but since I sold my YJ on one tons and bought the JK I find myself more inticed by the long distance expedition type wheeling. Not that I've done any huge big trips yet but that's what I want now. I'm building the JK to be capable for that and I'm thinking about a bike too. Been looking at dual sports and specifically the V-stroms.

I've been spending most of my time over at expedition portal and advriders lately so it's cool to see this new section here.

Here's the Jeep as it sits now.



The only real expo type mods are the 2m radio, navigation, and of course the extra two doors I added for more cargo space. :flipoff2:
 
#14 · (Edited)
Moss Man,
JK’s seem like they would be a great trekking vehicle. Very capable, lots of room, but small enough to be maneuverable, and being so new reliable. As far as newer long range vehicles those have to be one of the best.
 
#15 ·
Expedition Rigs, cool new thread idea. Picked up an 83 E 350 quadravan conversion with a 460, C6, front Dana 60 and a 208 tc. Going to set it up to pit/ chase desert racers in Baja and explore the rest once the race is over.
Needs lotta work, but would like to have it ready for the B1000 in Nov.
Will put up some pics when I get some.
 
#16 · (Edited)
My name's Mathieu, I live in Quebec, Canada (so yeah, I'm french), here's my rig:


1996 Lada Niva, on the picture it's stock and stuck (my tires were pretty much slick at the time :D)

It's small but I don't need much space to feel comfy, I'm used to backpacking with minimum gear... Right now I have many plans, this summer I'll probably change the rear drums for disks, lift it by two inches, change the tires for 32'' or 33'' (and change the gears in the differentials at the same time, going from 3.9 to 4.3 or 4.1 depending on what I can get my hands on) and I'll probably add a basic rollcage (Jeep style) to which I'll be able to bolt a roofrack if I want to... I'll probably be starting soon, right now I have to worry about school, but on the first of may I'll have my baby back to play with :)
 
#20 ·
Ron here from Colorado! Been in the Vehicle Dependant travel for some time now. Been building a suburban for my travels since I have a wife and 6 kids.:eek:

Anyway, you can check out my site in my sig, dedicated to Expedition Travel. Im a little behind on some updates to the suburban, but its coming along nicely. Heres the latest from Baja:

 
#21 ·
Josh here. Its awesome pbb finally got this forum. Its a different way of thinking then crawling and baja. I think everyone would be surprised if we really new how easily and quickly the US could turn sour. If and when it does, theres no doubt what mentality will prevail. Until then, this kind of stuff isn't like putting bananas in your disaster kit. Its like buying a 50cal that you now get to take out everyonce in a while(unless your in cali) for unimaginable adventure. Just moved to the front range in Colorado and it'd be great to meet some like-minded people.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Wow! Nice to see the new forum!

Haven't even logged on in a while - sold the trail beater and have gone back to my roots as a exploratory/historical site wheeler. Still like the rough stuff, but I'm done with the crawlin'.

Current rig is a '98 TRD Taco, on 32" MT/R's, 2.5" extended D'hoes and Deavers, Camburg upper A-Arms, AZRain skid, Stubbs Sliders, I built a rear bumper from 2" x 6" x 0.25 wall square stock, TJM front w/ a Warm M8000. For nav I'm using a Lowrance 3500 C (precursor to the Baja series), and have a Yaesu FT-7800 mounted for comms. Give me a shout - the call is KE7IXX, and I monitor IRLP node #3182, W7JLC.

Mark
 
#23 · (Edited)
I've always been intrigued by some of the vehicles you see in Europe. I used to really like the Camel Trophy trucks. A built up Defender D110 with some skinny tall tires and the roof rack full of gear was always a cool sight, to me. Same goes for a TLC or Mitsubishi. You don't really see this in the US though.

It's very different mentality then what you normally see here (ie., rockcrawling). I'm still a bit torn between continuing my focus towards rocks and camping or do it milder and more well rounded. Maybe go back to 33x10.5R15 or 255.85R16's instead of my 35x12.5R15's and keep it narrower. Keeping my D44 and Detroit though. I wish I could do a old diesel swap from a Toyota or a Mitsubishi but I've got to deal with Emissions. I'd still gear it ultra low though. Choices, choices... :shaking:

Currently have a 2M but I know I should get a HF rig.

Ron nice burb.

Jeff from CA.
 
#29 ·
Just wanted to check in ........


I have a rockcrawler, but most of my exploring is done on my XR650L ... does that count? :D
Hell yes it does! You can get some ground coverd on a bike in short order.
Great way to get a lot of exploring done with minimal junk you take with.
 
Top