2014 plans | Robs 4WD Hiace Camper Van | Winch fitting and Suspension lift

Welcome back!

Well, its coming towards the end of 2013, and the time has come to start planning ahead for adventures in the year to come. I've been working away here in Portugal, saving, and I haven't been covering too many miles, so naturally my mind wanders on to what might be next for me and the Hiace..

Since I'm already all the way down here in the south of Portugal, it seems like a great opportunity to explore further - if you look at a map, you can see all the places I am within a few days drive of. So.. I've been talking this over with my mate Rob, and we are looking into doing an exciting overland trip in our two 4WD Hiace camper vans. We are still exploring our options so I'm not able to elaborate on a route yet, other than to say that the trip may last up to a month and take in more than one country.

With all this in mind, Rob has been spending the winter on his Ultimate 4WD Hiace project. Starting from a Yokohama converted part-time 4WD Hiace, very similar to my own, he's been prepping it for an overland trip, having modifications made, and going off for weekends of testing the van and the equipment. I'm going to share with you today some of the details of the off-road modifications to the van.

Having planned out carefully what would turn his van into the ultimate off grid, go anywhere camper, Rob decided that as well as upgrading the suspension, he was going to need a recovery winch. This will mean that if one of our vans is to get stuck, its always possible to be pulled out, and get out of trouble with the least difficulty. The one chosen was a T-Max 9000lb winch which will be powerful enough to recover a vehicle of this size.

I've put together some videos of the mods being done to Rob's Hiace. Check them out..

Dave of bloodredoffroad.com fitting the winch:



You might already have seen the post about my Hiace having the suspension lifted. Well, Rob decided to go for even more height on the back, so the standard rear leaf spring shackle extension would not be enough on its own. Talking it over with Dave, they decided the solution was to lower the front hangers for the rear springs - this would give an overall rear suspension lift of around 4".

Dave doing the rear suspension mods:



As you can see, the van is really coming along. I'll post soon about the interior and other changes he's made to his van. For off-road capability its there - BF Goodrich 235/70/16 Mud Terrain tyres, Winch, suspension lift & hi-lift jack mounted on the rear tow bar frame. Waffle boards on the roof for good measure.

All the workshop photos from the videos, interior photos and more are here.

Stay tuned for lots more about the vans interior, electrics, and more details about the trip we are planning!


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