Brett's V8 ML Triton. "WRONG"

[Bilbo]

Great read and even better looking truck!

Must have been quite a task doing the build thread all in one hit!

yeah it was. Took a few hours. Had to happen at some stage I guess.

[Sootie]

Awesome truck, mega overkill for the desert but any excuse

We went across in a bog stock 76 series cruiser wagon with heaps of gear (supporting moto's) and didnt have any issues and saw lots of other stock trucks (and a subaru forrester) going across

[Bilbo]

Awesome truck, mega overkill for the desert but any excuse

We went across in a bog stock 76 series cruiser wagon with heaps of gear (supporting moto's) and didnt have any issues and saw lots of other stock trucks (and a subaru forrester) going across

Thanks Sootie, Shhhhhhhh re. mods for desert. I feel that I need to take every precation due to traveling with our 3 kids. My wife and I looked at the cost of an overseas holiday including the kids, and thought we could spend that money on the Triton, and have it ready to go anywhere in Australia at the drop of a hat. More a very capable tourer than hardcore weekend warrior.

[Bazzer87]

looks great, I plan on building a dual spare wheel carrier also. What brand and where did you source the body lift?

[Bilbo]

looks great, I plan on building a dual spare wheel carrier also. What brand and where did you source the body lift?

Hi, the body lift was an EBay special. However they supplied blocks 50mm high and 50mm in diameter, I've since put blocks in to suit a landcruiser. They are still 50mm high but they are 65mm diameter. The match up with the original blocks a lot better and help spread the load a bit more.

[Bilbo]

I'm now protected!! It all bolted up relatively easily in the end. A hoist might have been nice though. Now to try and fill the gap between the bash plate and the Xrox. Any Ideas??

[fridgie]

Maybe a peice of checker plate bent to suit with a couple of vents cut in??

Great looking rig mate!

Yeah, I'd be cautious of the dual wheel carrier, put as much heavy stuff as you can in front of the rear axle. With the 2 spares and fridge etc behind the axle that's a lot of weight, will also reduce your towing capacity and ball weights

[Bilbo]

Maybe a peice of checker plate bent to suit with a couple of vents cut in??

Great looking rig mate!

Yeah, I'd be cautious of the dual wheel carrier, put as much heavy stuff as you can in front of the rear axle. With the 2 spares and fridge etc behind the axle that's a lot of weight, will also reduce your towing capacity and ball weights

Thanks Fridgie, I don't generally tow with the wheels on the back. The triton has been set up to be independent. I've got 120lt of water going across the headboard of the tray. Hopefully this will help counteract the weight issues. I think it will need a close eye kept on it.

Cheers Brett.

[Hendrix]

Hey Brett,
Great looking truck. We crossed the Simpson this year and saw 2 utes with broken backs, one a single cab Triton with a load of wood. Keep a close eye on the weight behind the wheels.
Cheers
Hendrix

[VALERIO]

Hi Brett.
Very nice and well build up triton, one of my favorites tritons around here. Love the spare carrier, i've been thinking about to make one to suit to my arb rear step bar

[Bilbo]

A quick update, probably some of you have seen my other posts re modified Xrox.

Here is some quick pics of what I've been up to over the last week.

Had some pipe bent ready for brush bars. This made the front of the car 120mm wider. (Perfect for hiding some zero offset rims)

Spacers made for wings.
Painted, installed bar work finished. (For now.)

Picked up some rims off Gumtree. 16x8 0 off set.

Rims in place, including flares on rear wheel arch.


Mud flaps next............

[Bilbo]

A couple of pics down the beach. Very happy with how it's coming along.

[brodical]

Looks wiqed man...very sweet looking rig!!!

[wi53yz_4wd]

just read your build looks good mate. Did you have to modify the steering or anything else when you did the bodylift also do you know the length of the standard bolts for the body

[trouble]

One of the best builds on this site!!!
Great job mate it looks fantastic!

[Bilbo]

just read your build looks good mate. Did you have to modify the steering or anything else when you did the bodylift also do you know the length of the standard bolts for the body

Hi wi53yz_4wd, for some reason I can't return a pm at the moment. So far fingers crossed I haven't had any issues with the steering. I did use washers and space out the standard support bracket that sits half way down the steering shaft. I found there was enough play there to get the bracket sitting nice.
The body lift was completed a while ago and I can't remember the length of a standard body bolt.

The only thing I could suggest about the body lift is make sure you use the biggest diameter blocks you can find. I used 50mm diameter. I have sitting in the shed 65mm diameter blocks made for a land cruiser to replace the 50mm blocks. The larger diameter spreads the load better. I was sent a picture of a 50mm diameter block that had nearly pushed through or punctured the cab floor.

There is heaps of info on the forum re body lifts, I just followed what I had read. Did it by myself in the drive way with 1 trolley jack.

[wi53yz_4wd]

thanks mate i was going to use 50mm by 65mm thickness as i have seen the same of the blocks going through the floor, off the top of your head do you know if the bolts are all the same size as i can remove one and get the required length to get the job done

[Bilbo]

thanks mate i was going to use 50mm by 65mm thickness as i have seen the same of the blocks going through the floor, off the top of your head do you know if the bolts are all the same size as i can remove one and get the required length to get the job done

There was defiantly 2 sizes maybe 3.

[wi53yz_4wd]

thanks mate i have found a kit on ebay thats from tazzy and comes with bolts for $230 only has polyurethane blocks but i can udgrade to a alloy block at a later date

[bushy91]

Awesome looking triton!
What sort of fuel economy are you getting with all those mods?
And was there a difference in power when you changed the steelies for those alloys? Thanks a heap

[Bilbo]

Awesome looking triton!
What sort of fuel economy are you getting with all those mods?
And was there a difference in power when you changed the steelies for those alloys? Thanks a heap

Thanks mate. The old girl is coming along nicely.

I don't really like to talk about fuel economy, it's auto and like you have said it has a lot of gear on it. The car is like a camper van ready to go at any time. As a family all we need is some clothes and some food and we are off. Everything including coffee etc it packed in the car all the time. This gives you an idea of the weight we carry from day to day. Here we go. I get around 15 to 16 lt/100km. Shocking I know, but a small price to pay I reckon.

The alloys vs steelies debate has been covered on the forum before and this is why I changed. Better acceleration, braking, fuel economy and over all handling. With 33 inch tyres I'd go the alloys every day!

[Mudme]

That's still not bad fuel Econ considering weights and stuff

[Monkeyz]

Ever considered getting a structural welder / engineer to look at the stress points on the chassis rail and get reinforcement plates welded to the chassis rail to avoid the potential for bending ? just remember with the wheels at the rear they are past the tub and their weight will have a multiplying factor added to them when working out load.
as that is one seriously good buildup and it would be a shame to bend it..
Mojo.....

[Bilbo]

This is the next evolution for my Triton. I've started building a Triton trailer, the car is at a point where we can travel comfortably in it, camp, 4wd and have a heap of fun. For a car that I use daily it can become a little tiresome, hence the change.

The Triton as of today has shed its tub, canopy, rtt and twin wheel carrier for an MN tub. The MN tub even though it is longer than the ML
Is still shorter than the set up I had with the twin wheel carrier. I was surprised that right down to the ML vs MN flares were all interchangeable. It was a very easy conversion.

My existing ML tub, canopy, rtt and rear wheel carrier has been mounted to a cut down Triton chassis and converted into a trailer. In front of the tub, I'll mount 4 or 5 dirt bikes. (Have a look at the build.)

The Triton has now become mor usable daily, and then when we go away I have a killer camper/bike trailer.

[RossyB07]

Interested to see how that triton chassis trailer turns out. Cool idea.