Land Cruiser Ultimate 4x4 camper? VIDEO review

[WriterMs]

I viewed a video mentioned in another thread and then the next YouTube video came on while I was distracted. It was done by a pro journalist mainly in South Africa. It starts off slow with him back in in the UK and just talking, so you have to be patient or let it load and then skip over the intro part. Also, if you watch the whole thing, it is something like 40 minutes ... I did watch it all as something quite interesting would come up just about the time I thought I might close out of it.

Here is why I am describing and posting this here:

1. I've seen Bob and HDR and others mention looking into 4x4 solutions that offer some van comforts, etc. This vehicle is based on an older Land Cruiser he had and it goes through the bush of a few different African countries -- it is definitely a boondocking thing.

2. I don't understand a lot of the mechanical stuff he changed but still found it interesting to see... so I figured the mechanically inclined on the forum would find his choices on re-doing the suspension and such interesting. Much later in the video after he is out camping, he goes through many of the other add-ons he did -- from why he chose a certain brand of step rail to how a license plate blocked about 20% of the front end air intake (and that heated up the engine and got worse mileage, etc.).

3. For me, the custom pop-up tent that gave the interior full standing height was amazing. It is something like the roof-top tent in the blog Bob wrote about the French film team.... BUT, this opens completely from the inside of the SUV (the roof had been taken off and modified).

4. One of his goals in this custom design (he is trying to begin selling vehicles with his modifications), is to be able to set up and break down his entire camp set up in 5 minutes or less. The 270-degree batwing awning is fascinating and a part of that set-up.

5. The scenery in Africa where he shows you a few camps is fun to see.

Okay, maybe this is enough of a description to allow folks to know whether to spend time and bandwidth on the video. I forgot to check if there might be a website with text and photos about the rig (sorry).

Also.. note that this guy put some serious money into this.. hiring the roof cut off and modified for the ingenious tent.. brake system replaced...custom aluminum interior cabinets and more. Out of reach for most all of us, I'm guessing, but several of his ideas seemed rather unique.

Okay... here's the link to the video:

 

[mockturtle]

For me, 4X4 is very important. I'm boondocking in a beautiful free dispersed NFS area right now that I couldn't have accessed without it. Obviously, if you do most of your 'camping' in towns and cities, you don't need it.

 

[masterplumber]

I'm trying to figure a way to sleep inside my old CJ 7 so I can get way way back and not have to set up a tent. I just seem to be a little too tall to make it happen without removing the passenger seat, and I don't want to do that. As WriterMS noted many of the modifications are out of many of our financial reach. This CJ 7 is my attempt to build a truly go anywhere rig that is comfortable to live in, at least short term, and to do it on a budget. So far I only have $500 worth of my labor in it. As I start working on it I'll start a build thread and we'll see if I can be somewhat successful.

I love looking at the really cool purpose built rigs even if I can't afford them though. I'm pretty handy and they give me inspiration for projects I can afford by building things myself.

 

[Gary68]

she said utube and africa so i'm kinda on topic

in the boring evening i some times watch this

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV6HJBZD_hZcIX9JVJ3dCXQ

some times a ride along safari and some times remote camera at water hole

 

[highdesertranger]

I will watch the video later but do you mean something like this.

my brother-in-law was born and raised in RSA.  he gets all crazy over vehicles like this.  highdesertranger

 

[Konaexpress]

I'm trying to figure a way to sleep inside my old CJ 7 so I can get way way back and not have to set up a tent. I just seem to be a little too tall to make it happen without removing the passenger seat, and I don't want to do that. As WriterMS noted many of the modifications are out of many of our financial reach. This CJ 7 is my attempt to build a truly go anywhere rig that is comfortable to live in, at least short term, and to do it on a budget. So far I only have $500 worth of my labor in it. As I start working on it I'll start a build thread and we'll see if I can be somewhat successful.

I love looking at the really cool purpose built rigs even if I can't afford them though. I'm pretty handy and they give me inspiration for projects I can afford by building things myself.

Would it be possible to flop the tailgate down and hang something light weight out the back like a diy slide in?

John

 

[MikeRuth]

I miss my 1974 FJ55 wagon, man good times off roading in the sequoia national forest. Not big enough for sustained living but great for a two week camping trip.
Always wanted to do a ground up restoration on it, but alas money and time never came together. Sold it to a guy who did though. At least I know it went to a good home.

Old land cruiser's(land crushers) were truly an amazing off road vehicle. I'm not so sure about today's modern version. One thing about them was they were only 80 inches wide. You could sneak through the tightest of spots.

 

[WriterMs]

I will watch the video later but do you mean something like this.

my brother-in-law was born and raised in RSA.  he gets all crazy over vehicles like this.  highdesertranger

It is not nearly so industrial looking as your pic HDR.  I ran the video and drug it ahead to a section where he is showing how easy it is to set up camp. They were just taking out the batwing 270-degree awning, so this pic is pretty weird with him buried in it. For that and the interior aluminum build shot, I just did a pause and then a screenshot clip. I wanted to show a bit about how the tent raises up (tho its most unique set up in about 1 minute is shown later). And these pics show a little of the custom set up with things hanging on almost all available space (back doors for instance).

Those mechanically inclined and who now brand name parts may not find him as expert as he thinks -- early on he shows all the undercarriage beefing up stuff. So I hope it is not lame... to me the interior stuff seemed great.

 

[WriterMs]

I did not get the awning shot on the last post I did.. I'll put it here.

 

[masterplumber]

That's a 70 series Land Cruiser. probably my all time favorite Overland vehicle as it's small and tough enough to go anywhere, but large enough to sleep in. Unfortunately the only way to get one in the USA is to import one that is over 25 years old.

John, I thought about the tailgate drop and tent thing, but it doesn't meet a couple of my goal. Primarily, it requires setting up, as in swing out the spare tire, open the hatch and tailgate, and deploy a tent. I might as well just deploy one of my tents. Also, I want to be able to just sit up, get in the drivers seat, and drive away, like in a van. That way if I'm camped in Baja and feel like I need to leave, I can, immediately.

 

[MrNoodly]

Or something like this:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/this-extreme-off-road-volkswagen-bus-is-barely-a-vw-at-1761379077

 

[MrNoodly]

Or something like this:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/this-extreme-off-road-volkswagen-bus-is-barely-a-vw-at-1761379077

Or this:

 

[MrNoodly]

Or something like this:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/this-extreme-off-road-volkswagen-bus-is-barely-a-vw-at-1761379077

Or some of these: