|
Exterior
fittings: |
 |
My Toyota 4runner, called the "Bundubasher", in
the UK after the OME suspension, ARB bullbar and SAFARI snorkel
were fitted, but still with 15" alloys, BFG ATs and side
steps!
Click to enlarge
|
|
New "Africanised" Bundubasher with....
Click to enlarge
...16" Landcruiser steel wheels, Michelin XZLs and after
I stripped off the wheel arch flairs and side steps, added
a roof rack and rear wheel carrier.
Click to enlarge
|

ARB
Winch Bullbar
Picture © ARB |
My
4Runner came with an A frame nudge bar and a light metal
full width bumber, nice but I thought I'd like to upgrade
it. So I looked around and found the ARB Deluxe Winch
Bullbar (ARB34114070) from Frog's
Island 4x4, and which is an awesome bit of
kit! I'm not going to fit an electric winch yet (WARN
XD9000), not just because of
the cost but the ergonomics of an electric winch are in
question too so I'll settle for my manual winch from BLACK
RAT for the moment.
|
|
 |
Of
course protecting my investment is utmost in my mind,
but so is trying to increase the performance of my vehicle
and allowing it to perform well in many different environments,
and so I've bought, and had fitted, a Safari Snorkel System
(SS106HF) from Frog's
Island 4x4. Not really an essential item it
does though protect my engine from excessive dust and
water and at the same time delivers a continuous supply
of cooler air needed for max. engine performance.
|
Full
frontal Bundubasher! |
Thule
bars & Marine Ply
The
last bar is bolted to the ply - not the roof. Galvanised
U-bolts, nuts, plate & nylocks. |
Roofrack
I'd
like a roof rack for a roof tent and I'd like to be able
to utilise the whole length of the roof. Thule bars will
only fit above the door frames and there is no immediate
solution to the problem of rear support. Because roofracks
for the 4 Runner are so scarce, I tend to think that they
are unadvisable as the roof may be too weak. Sheppard's
book on "Vehicle Dependant
Expeditions" also does not advise roof
racks unless they are in some way supported from the chassis.
Now
I've got a new "low cost" plan! I've been buying
Thule roof bars off eBay and extra fittings from Halfords.
So I've got one roof bar (No gutters, clamp on type) as
far forward as possible, a second (clamp on) foward on
the second door frame with a Thule "short roof adaptor"
behind it giving me a third roof bar 70cm behind the second.
This would support a sheet of Marine Ply (MP) approx:
2m long by 1.2m wide. By using a fourth Thule bar (not
clamped to the roof) I can extend this to 2.4 m in length.
The MP will be held in position by 8 U-bolts. This will
give me a 2.3 x 1.22 m platform on the roof. This gives
me: 1. A "double shelled" roof thereby making
the interior "cooler" and 2. enough space for
a game watching/sleeping platform; it might even take
a spare tire or two! There will not be much weight involved
in this method and the best thing is that it will be cheap!
I'll
be painting the top surface white before I leave (to reflect
the sun) and will be storing the two spare wheels above
the driver and a rooftent to the rear. (I'll also try
and squeeze an awning in along the side!)
|
Total
area: 230cm x 122cm
2
x roofbars, 1 x short roof adaptor plus 1 "free floating"
|
Swing
away spare wheel carrier - courtesy of Lucky. |
Swing
out spare wheel
Fnally
fitted the spare wheel carrier that I got from Lucky on
the Hilux
Surf Forum. Fabricated some reinforcing plates and
just bolted the thing on - no problems.
|
|
1.2m
Aluminium Sand Ladder - bottom |
Aluminium Sand Ladders
Covering
the two side windows (and hung on two specially fabricated
aluminium hooks) are the two sand ladders. They provide
extra protection for the large back windows and are easily
accessible.
NB:
Tried using them as bridging ladders and the bloody things
bent! More usefull if I had bought 2 pairs instead of
1.
|
1.2m
Aluminium Sand Ladder - top |
IPF
800 Series 130W spots
IPF
930 Series (9301) 170W spots courtesy of MattF
Click to enlarge
|
IPF Spotlights on roofrack &
bullbar
The
roads here in Kenya are frikkin awful! When we drove up
from Zim, we mainly did so at night and this was mighty
stressfull. The majority of big trucks that we met on
the "Great North Road" refused to dip their
lights when we flashed them and this caused us to pull
off the road in order to make sure we weren't hit by them.
Having
spotlights on the roof was a good decision for two reasons:
1.
They help you see animals and potholes in the road far
ahead and therefore allow you to take emergency action.
2.
The lights are high enough to get in the truck drivers'
eyes and so they do dip their lights
once you hit them with these!
NB:
MattF of the www.hiluxsurf.co.uk forum donated
the 930 spots! Thanks mate!
|
LHS
Bottom
|
New rear window mesh.
Click to enlarge |
Mesh
over rear window
There
has always been a worry in the back of my mind that someone
might "smash and grab" kit via the rear window.
So I used some of the same mesh used for the dog-guard
to make a rear mesh screen. It locks on the left and right
with pop -riveted hasps and padlocks.
I
got a "Jua Kali" to fabricate some hinges and
bolted those onto the roofrack. The mesh then swings down
over the rear window.
|
New rear window mesh padlocks. Also shown is extra rear cargo
door padlock. Both use pop-riveted hasps.
Click to enlarge |
New light protection.
Click to enlarge
Radiator protection - I'll cover this with mosquito mesh and
it'll make a fine grass seed and bug catcher..
Click to enlarge
|
Light
Protection
To
help protect the lights I used some of the spare material
from above to make light guards and a radiator mesh to
catch grass seeds &c before they get embedded in the
radiator. Both are attached using large hose clamps, this
allows them to rotate up for cleaning the lights. A couple
more odd bits allowed me to make sidelamp protectors as
well.
|
New light protection.
Click to enlarge |
Left view of awning.
Click to enlarge |
Awnings
To
give me shade and protection from tropical downpours whilst
working or relaxing, I've added two awnings that roll
up at the sides of the vehicle. Basically I can park broadside
onto the sun, drop the luff awning and open the lee awning,
thereby keeping the car and ourselves cool. NB: Note the
solar panel mounted at the front of the roofrack (just
visible between the IPF spots), "poo" spade
and the rear mounted 55W spotlight. There's also a lonely
Hela 550 mounted up front - t'other got smashed off-road.
|
Rear view of awning.
Click to enlarge |
Front jackpoint
|
Jackpoints
In
order to make jacking quick and safe I had some jack points
fabricated and welded onto the cross member at the rear
and bolted onto the ARB bullbar at the front.
|
Rear jackpoint |