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.
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