D40 6wheeler

[Aussietraveller]

Howdy, we are only new to the whole forum thing, so thanks in advance to anyone who bothers to reply..
I have a 06 d40 with an 1850 long alloy tray, we are going around Australia at the end of the year and have started designing a slide on camper to go on the back, problem is the 1850 long tray doesn't give enough space for the much needed toilet shower and room fir the kids, this brought us to the idea of an overhang, not a great idea but one I thought would get us out of trouble, that was until I started googling and found heaps of people having issues with broken chassis's etc . We are now planning on beefing up the chassis to withstand the extra weight but also looking at the idea of either extending the chassis and tailshaft moving the whole diff to the rear ( creating a larger turning circle ) or if we should extend the chassis from the rear and install a lazy axle?
I I've only been able to find one photo of a d40 with a lazy axle but it was of poor quality and had no details of how it was done ( ie. Independent or a solid axle with leave springs) obviously we want to keep the vehicle a practical 4x4 bu have the ability to carry the 2.4mtr camper.


Does anyone have any thoughts or helpful suggestions? Thanks again...
Dave

 

[Aussietraveller]

Oh yeah I am also looking for info on a big lift kit as in 4" + and a chip exhaust package if anyone has info at that also it would be much appreciated.
Dave

 

[Old.Tony]

Dave, that would make for a unique vehicle! The engineering certs would be the most difficult hurdle. The chassis extension is an obvious one, but a lift beyond 50mm (2" in the old scale) will require it as well. You might even need a lane change test with that much height added.

You can get 125mm lifts (5") from Calmini and I'm pretty sure someone here has a 175mm (7") lift, so your 100mm lift isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

If yours is an automatic, the exhaust requirements will be slightly different to the manual, as you may have a DPF fitted. If so, the best thing I could suggest is to take a look at ChipIt and see what they have to offer. Most chips just increase fuel rail pressure, the ChipIt one will do that, but also control your turbocharger's vanes and will CUT fuel rail pressure as well. ChipIt also sell a DPF delete pipe. It's worth looking at if you're changing exhaust.

Other than that, I can't wait to see the result. It'll be an interesting vehicle!

Good luck with it!

 

[KraftyPg]

Check out 4WD Action (or one of them), I haven't read them for ages but there used to be several ads for 6 wheel conversions in one of them, at worst they would be able to give you the appropriate information.

I don't remember which company it was but I do remember seeing a while ago on a company website showing they had done several D40 and Trol conversions (as well as the usual Yota ones) so it's entirely possible, probably expensive and could give you what you want.

There's plenty of people here who read 4WD Action maybe one of them can look through the ads section and see if there is any current ads.

 

[Jason]

http://www.navara.asia/main-forum/866-d40-lazy-axle.html

 

[digbyj]

Hi Dave,
Forgive the vagueness of what I'm about to say but may be if some use. I met a guy a couple of years ago who was taking his massage business mobile around Aus.
He was having an extra axle added to his ute bug here's the kicker... I'm sure that the axle was removable so that you could take the camper off with it and be able to drive around without it, I'm sure that'd how it worked.
You may already be aware of that.
Anyway I remember he was having it done in Tassie. I could find out more if it's of any use to you, I don't really know the bloke but my lady used to work
in a dayspa where he worked.
Marcus
Also I got a question, if you do this, what do you do for storage? - based on if you tow a camper you've got the whole tub you can fill.

 

[nakedape]

If the extra room is that important, you have the coin & you dont want to tow a camper - sell the D40 and buy an Ocka!

 

[mitch92]

See one every day in gladstone, looks good! without the lift of course. Never see any stickers as normally driving on my way outa the hole, but can obviously be done.

 

[RustyNav09]

ive seen one around logan-brisbane-ipswich area. i know thats a big area but ive seen it a few times in diff spots. six wheeler conversion with 2" of lift. would be expensive conversion.

as someone was saying before there is a company out there that does the camper that hooks up and its then a 6 wheeler and once camper is removed its a standard d40 again. ive have sen this advertised somewhere and ill try get some more info.

 

[RustyNav09]

A new truck and new method of connecting to the van - My second slide-on campervan - IsDon's articles and blog

check this out. it mite help you decide. the tray is a lil short but once unhooked

 

[Dave]

Multidrive Manufacturer Geelong , Victoria, Custom Built 4X4 4WD 6X4 6X6 6WD, Toyota Landcruisers Victoria, Heavy Duty Four Wheel Drives, 4 Wheel Drive Sales VIC, All Terrain Vehicles, Emergency Vehicles - Multidrive Technology

http://www.4wdworld.com.au/6x6-Australia.html

Check these guys out.

6WD setups.

 

[Aussietraveller]

Thanks to everyone who has replied, thankfully my brother is an absolute top bloke but more importantly he is an automotive body builder who has been working on chassis extensions for govt vehicles on and off for the last few yrs, we are looking at the possibility of setting it up as independent suspension, the idea of a slide on with axle attached is very interesting to me and I would love some more details if you could, I really appreciate everyone's help I will be sure to include some photos of the buildup, to answer the gentlemans question about storage you will see in the photos ye design of the slide on is perfect ( in my opinion of course) we have managed to squeeze a shower/ toilet kitchen with pantry, wardrobe table with seats a large 3 way fridge and believe it or not it is a 6 birth

 

[KraftyPg]

There was a thread 6 months or so ago that had a link to some slide ons for the D40 and the space in them and just what gets crammed in there was quite an eye opener. Definitely not for me as I like my space too much and couldn't even live in a 24 foot van for more than 5 mins but still brilliant what they can stuff in those boxes.

 

[ONLOCK]

iv also heard on the grapevine monster rides are doing a d40 4" lift kit that includes uca's