The Dune Dog - Matchbox Outfits the Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser

The 2011 model year sees a new addition to the Matchbox stables, the Dune Dog.  Modeled after the Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser, the Dune Dog gets ready to tackle the harshest environments.  Now, I do feel that the name 'Dune Dog' might be better suited to, well, a dune buggy or that sort of thing, I suppose that it is well suited to certain arid lands.  Oh, but it is also suited to so much more.  Matchbox has fitted a roof rack with all the requisite survival gear, a water tank, gas can, duffel bag, cooler and even a chainsaw.  Mounted to the front of the rook rack are four HID lights, sure to light up the cold desert nights.  The roof rack can also be easily removed to give the truck a nice open feel for the more casual wheeling expeditions.  The engine has been fitted with a snorkel for those hazardous desert river crossings.  The hood has been vented to keep the engine bay as cool as possible to keep performance at a maximum.  The Dune Dog has had all of the glass removed to save weight (who wants broken glass all over anyway) so make sure you bring your sunglasses to keep the sand out of your eyes.  More survival kit is mounted one either side of the SUV, where you can find a fire extinguisher as well as an ax and shovel.  Helping to keep sand and mud out of your face is some nice large fender flares, though they do little to cover the massive Matchbox 44's that hold this desert beast high up off the ground.  I do like the lazy dog sleeping in the back of the truck, and I love the fact that they went as far as to include a water bowl for him in the cargo rack.  At the end of a long day racing about in the desert, one thing is certain, the 2011 MBX Desert Endurance Race has met a rugged new competitor that looks to be, truly, ready for anything.

TJ Skyway - Lifting a Matchbox 1998 Jeep Wrangler

The Matchbox 5-pack always offers some unique opportunities for collectors.  One of my favorite 5-packs as of late is the Desert Adventure No. 9.  It is in this particular pack that you will find the 1998 Jeep Wrangler, otherwise known as a TJ.  Some have distinguished this particular model as the Jeep Wrangler Camper due to it's updated roll cage featuring a cargo rack with an allotment of camping gear.  Now right off the bat you notice the race inspired tampos that feature Superlift Suspension Systems as a would-be sponsor.  This leads into my first problem, this TJ does not seem to be lifted in any way that might glorify an aftermarket suspension.  So I took it upon myself to fix that little problem.

With a cannibalistic donation from a MBX 4x4 (one of my favorites) I began sizing up what it was going to take to fit my Wranglers new shoes.  After what was about the smallest amount of modification I have done yet, I had the interior and frame of the MBX 4x4 fitted perfectly in the body of the Jeep.

 

As you can see the TJ looks awesome with the meaty off-road tires and bead-lock wheels, but after I took the first round of photos I thought something was still missing, a full size spare!

After some drilling and cutting (and kindly asking a dune buggy to surrender its wheels) I was able to mount a full size spare tire on the back of my Wrangler.  I could not be more pleased with how this truck turned out.  Not only can this Jeep Wrangler handle some serious trails as well as some rock crawling, but she's guaranteed to get you to even the remotest of camp sites. Till next time, happy fishing!

Swap Shop: Path Beater, meet Rock Shocker

Some time last year I came across the Hot Haulers 5-pack from Hot Wheels.  A big selling point for me was the very nice looking Path Beater, with a sweet race inspired tampo.  One thing that threw the truck off for me was the wheels.  No, it's not that they are plastic (I actually prefer plastic wheel/tires in some cases) but rather that they are rather wide and have a gold line that all in all gave the truck a bit of a goofy look.  Well, lo and behold, I have found the perfect solution, the Rock Shocker from a Matchbox 5-pack.

The painted red rims from the Rock Shocker are a great fit with the yellow and red flames and as you can see below the truck looks much more realistic with the narrower tires.  I threw the Path Beaters old tires on the Rock Shocker for grins, though it is about to donate its chassis to another project.

This mod did require a spot of super glue to hold the axles in the Path Beater, but otherwise the whole thing goes together with just one screw.  Till next time...

4Run Through the Jungle

I am sure that I am not the only person that was very excited to see the Toyota 4Runner get added to the stables at Matchbox.  The "little Toyota that could" has been a very popular choice for off-road enthusiasts since it's introduction late in the 1984 model year.  1985 saw the addition of the fuel-injected 22R-E I4 greatly enhancing both performance and fuel efficiency, so it is no surprise to me that Matchbox choose this iconic first generation 4Runner for their lineup.

After gleefully tearing open the package and rolling the truck around it became immediately apparent that this SUV needed some bigger rubber and some improved ground clearance before it could really tackle the trail.  The main concerns that needed to be addressed were the approach and departure angles.  The stock front bumper was often the first thing to come in contact with obstacles on the trail and offered little protection. Next the mud flaps, while adding an authentic look, the whole "cast-in-plastic" bit made them to inflexible for trail applications, so they had to go.

So now all I needed was a suitable donor to provide not only some new wheels and tires, but also some suitable protection for the front end of the 4Runner.  After considering a few different options I decided that Matchbox's Rock Shocker would be a perfect match. I think the results are quite impressive.

The 4Runner now has a more aggressive stance and a slightly longer wheelbase thanks to the long-arm suspension from the Rock Shocker.  Gone are the plastic mudflaps and the new wheels and tires give the look of a nice set of some trail worthy 35 inch tall tires.  A nice beefy steel tube bumper offers protection for the front end of the truck, while the stock bumper holds up the rear.  The modifications to the interior of the Toyota where fairly substantial and almost none of the original 4Runner interior survived.  Even the interior of the Rock Shocker needed to be trimmed down quite a bit to get a satisfying fit.

All in all this project was a lot fun to put together and really tested my skills with the Dremel.  I hope that you find this an inspiration.  Till next time.

All Jacked Up - Custom Diecast Lift Kits

The other day I was looking through some trucks in my diecast collection and I was gripped with the burning desire to help my old FJ40 reach new heights, by any means necessary.

Putting a "lift-kit" on a diecast truck has been an idea that I have had on the back-burner for some time now, I was always a little worried that the whole process would just be too expensive, too laborious or just too over my head to really be worthwhile, but a unique solution soon presented itself.

I have always admired the suspension system of Matchbox's Off-Road Rider. Not only does the suspension look good, but with a little care, you can actually get it to give you a little bit of travel. So to start, I grabbed my Dremel and went to work on the Off-Road Rider to see what she was made of. Once I cut free the engine/seat/hood combo and made some other small cuts on the frame I began test fitting all of the pieces.

Now it was time to get to work on my Land Cruiser. I began by drilling and taping a hole for a set screw in the center of the post. Next it was Dremel time, and in no time I had the Toyota in pieces in my hand. After sizing things up I saw only one real option, so I got right to work. What followed was a slow process of making small cuts and a lot of test fitting, resulting in a 1968 Toyota FJ40 that is ready to do some serious rock crawling!

The Land Cruiser is an excellent choice for an overland adventure, right at home riding next to a Jeep or a Land Rover. Like most any truck, the FJ, in stock form, is more of a moderate trail rig than an extreme rock crawler. What the Toyota needed was a lift kit by way of a new four-link suspension, and a new pair of shoes in the form of some 42" tall tires on 17" bead-locks. Also a part of the deal is the new steel tube bumper giving me a place to fix a tow line as well as a place to mount a winch.

I must admit I was feeling pretty smug after I lay down my hex driver and examined my handy work. Excepting a few minor details that need some future attention, the conversion looked excellent! The next piece of this project will have to be a winch, but that will have to wait until I find the suitable parts. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty excited at this point and I decided to immediately search out my next vict... urm... project truck. What I found was the Hot Wheels Path Beater.

The Path Beater is a solid quarter ton pickup that looks like it would be right at home on a beach with a few cold drinks and maybe a couple surf boards in the back. I wanted to test how versatile the Off-Road Rider's chassis was with very little overall modification. With more of a lifted street truck look now, the Path Beater is high rolling on some massive new cleats and a major lift kit!

Looking at the undercarriage of both vehicles does little to translate the effort put in to each truck, the Path Beater ended up being much more involved as a significant amount of the original chassis needed to be cut away and a channel needed to be cut in the original bumper to accommodate the "aftermarket" stinger. By comparison, the Land Cruiser was a more straight forward chassis replacement and other than the set screw in the post, there is no permanent modifications to the original truck. In theory I could unscrew the whole thing and have it rolling on a stock chassis in a matter of seconds and the average passer by would never know the difference.

I am really looking forward to modifying more trucks for some serious off-road action. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this article and please check back soon to see what other projects I have cooked up.

Mike's Speed Shop: Evo Wheel Swap

Never to leave well enough alone, I have set out make some improvements to my 2008 Lancer Evolutions belonging to the Clone Drifting Team produced in 2010.

To start my blue Evo needed new wheels as I am not really a fan of the new rims HW is putting on their most recent tuners.








I found that the easiest solution to this would be to swap out the entire chassis from a 2008 version of the same car. This also had the desirable effect of replacing the bright chrome chassis that really just made the car to, well, "pimpin'" for my tastes. Pictured below is the final result.

Next up was my green Evo. The same rims mentioned above needed to be swapped out, but even more important was the replacement of the horrible gold chassis. With the aid of another 2008 Evo I found another chassis. That only left the need for a nice set of rims. The ten spoke rims produced more recently have quickly become one of my favorite HW style wheels. It just so happens that I even found some in the right color.

Finally, I needed to replace the chassis on my favorite of the group. My orange Evo came from the factory with a set of front wheels that rubbed the inside of the wheel wells. While I had no beef with the style of wheels used (5 spoke to be exact), but I just happened to find some that were even better!

All told, the Clones are quite pleased with their new equipment (though I will likely be swapping in some ten spokes on the blue Evo).