Killer B'a 1982 Sunrader 21ftMotorhome, fj80 Solid axle swap and 4wd drive conversion
 

Heres the victim.
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g.../mtrhomtoy.jpg I wont be doing much work on this right away but thought I would post up as it goes from the time I drive it home till the major work begins until it has 4wd.

The sunrader is one of the best conversions out there, it has a 1 peice roof that is almost leak proof.

I will do a 1UZFE swap later as for now the 22R will do while I solid axle swap it and add a transmission with a transfer case to it.

Though I wont be rock crawling, mud bogging, tough trucking this- I will add lower transer case gears (4.7 to 1) it will serve as something to take hunting and camping and the added low range will help with getting it in and out of tight places without toasting the clutch.

I will be adding a large front sway bar to stabilize this a bit since it will be considerabley taller.
4wd front fenders to give additional coverge of the wider fj80 axle.
I will be running a skinny all terrain tire complete with duels in the rear, 32x 9.50 x16s BFGs I hope.

the interior is trashed and needs to be upgraded, at this point 30 years even if not trashed would need work.

There are plenty of RV wrecking yards with current high efficiantcy applieances, Flat screens, stove, fridges etc so I hope to save some dough using some salvage yard RV parts if I can.

Maybe I will have enough leftover for a stripper pole, I bet there isnt a Toy 4x4 with low range gears set AND a functional stripper pole now is there?!!

cant wait to see the progress on this

looks sweet man, i love seing those things 4wd....wish i could get my hands on one just to flatbed it and 4wd it...seen a couple going for free on craigslist...of course nowhere near me but ya kno

http://www.toyotafiberglass.com/fenders.htm
you can actually get some first gen flared fenders that would really give you the coverage. Another cool project, scribed.

Subscribed- Can't resist a rig with a stripper pole! :great:

cool...there would not too many 'factory' sunrader 4x4's
I look forward to seeing this thing:D

what are your plans to get the front and rear wheel bolt patterns to match up since the dually full floater is a wider pattern than the standard 6x5.5?

Probably going to have 2 spares, not alot of ways around it unless I can find the thread about converting the dually rear to using the front small six bolt patternand lockout hub.
or as I will post up tom. I have a small 6 to large 6 cast steel wheel adapter that I may be able to do something with.
for now I have to get it home and start to clean it out and try and update a few things along the way.
Maybe some solar panels with a battery bank and a propane generator. all new cabinets with magnetic door closers. I will just have to see whats available.

I already have the FJ80 axle that I am using, I want to do this on a budget (other projects do that to my wallet) so i will get things along the way, I may go with Virginia 4X4 steering arms.


Hellfire fabworks has some nice knuckles and arm kit but this wont be a hardcore rig so these arms should do fine.

Would be pretty cool if you could get custom bolt on wheel spacers for the front that would match the bolt pattern of the rear, or vise versa.

I have a set of those from a later model 2wd it is an entire hub- crazy massive looking thing and they bolt up like factory to the spindle and use the same size bearing as a standard 2wd.

*UPDATE*

head gasket blew and I had to pull the head and got to find out that the engine had been bored .050 over so that was a surprise, the head was trashed and had been "peened" between the valves to seal cracks (its a scummy way to fix something to sell it 9 times out of 10) on 3 of the cylinders so I had another 83 22r head for it and its all back together with my 38mm weber on it for now 9I rebuilt factory carb and still couldnt get it to idle)

so the build has been slowed down but I am back on track, I have drilled the frame for shackle tubes and welded them in place- I used a 1 inch wider shackle tube and extended the extra inch outside the frame to offset the leaf springs on the 80 series axle I am using. 1 to give better control over the extra 3 inches of leveraging force per side from the wider axle and to get a better mount for the leaf pads on the 80 series axle housing so they arent so close to the diff. my shackles will have a 1 inch spacer on the inside spring side making for a longer than normal spacer on the spring side of the shackle.

will post up pics of the tube in the frame (boring, I know)

I have the 16 inch rims done and will post up pics of those as well.
I used dodge sprinter dually wheels and had a 3/4 ring water jet cut and welded into the center just to center the wheel over the factory hub and redrilled and chamfered the new holes for the Toyota large 6 pattern. I will need to buy a crazy looking adapter for the front small 4wd 6 to the large dually 6. there is a company that does make them

http://customcommercialwheel.com/

that way I am only carrying 1 spare

the tire will be a BF Goodrich 235/85/16 (31.7 X 7) load range E(3042 per tire!!) all terrain or possibly a rugged trail. having to buy six will be a bitch but I am hoping to find a great deal or blems @ this point I dont care how I get them.

The orange and yellow classic Toyota stripe is removed too now.


K so here is a problem I forgot to mention, the front factory spring hanger was once available as a piece you could buy( I have bought 1 set before) - my local dealer says its no longer available here in the states, anyone from Australia on here?
I would be willing to pay for the crazy shipping to get factory hangers as opposed to any of the aftermarket SAS kits which hang way to low and add to the amount of lift (which I dont need) I am holding out until I get these. I have Emailed several AUS Toyota dealers but I am not getting a get a reply.

I know overseas they made and still make solid axle rigs and would still have that frame part available from a dealership. any pointers anyone?

junk yard, just cut one out.

Subd because this thing is going to be cool

Sign me up for the show, subscribed.

Why not French the front hanger?

worst case scenario I can do either of these, both involve alot of grinding to get ready/prepped if I am able to source a couple from over seas I will.
1. not in that big of a hurry, alot to do before I start the solid axle swap.
2. I have a friend in Aus. and a couple in Puerto Rico who are going to see what they can do.
3. just line these up (factory hangers) and space them out 1 inch wider then weld, no grinding other than cleaning metal to weld, either of the other ways will add quite a few hours of grinding and cutting. Im just trying to free up time to wrap up my other projects that need grinding and cutting such as my narrowed 83 cab!! lol-

on the 1UZFE swap, with gas going up like it is I am going the 3RZ route. my 22R isnt all that bad but the 3RZ will be much better on gas and it has more torque @ 1500 rpms than the 22R does at peak, perfect for a "large" truck.

sub'd

Anything new with the conversion? I am totally rebuilding an 18' 1982 Sunrader with a 5 speed and was wondering what it would take to convert it to a 4WD?

Sounds like a fun project. This sounds really weird But I've got a good hookup on stripper poles.

Where? Home Depot?