Mike's 88 GQ wagon "Sherman Tank"

Time to post up about my big heavy baby.

Pretty standard as far as Engine/Drivetrain is concerned. Will be getting a set of reduced ratio gears soon, and a brand new 2.5' exhaust and extractors.

Suspension is a 6inch lifted ToughDog set up, castor adjusted somehow. Running on 35/12.5R15 Nangkang mud terrains (I'm an ex tire fitter, just because it isn't a brand name, doesn't mean it's crap :)) I will be putting 2inch springs in soon enough, for daily driving, and some 33' ATRs on a new set of rims.

Obvious addons are the ARB steel bull bar, colour matched by a blind man to the rest of the vehicle... set of IPF spotties, one set as a spot light, the other a spreader. GMI UHF set up as well. Also has a set of Recaro seats in the front.

The complete list of things to do is almost endless, but I'll put as much as I can here before we get to pictures!

Long range sub fuel tank.
New rear bar - hopefully winch compatible
A Winch or 2
New UHF
Custom drawers in the rear
Spartan AutoLocker for the front end
Reduced ratio diff gearings
Supersized RTS toughdog damper
Endless air compressor, or something with enough output
Possible water tank somewhere.

That's all I can think of for now. PICTURES!

http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...518_122258.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...518_122240.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...518_122217.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1316.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1336.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1337.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1356.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1360.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1419.jpg
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1424.jpg
Yes, I am getting yanked out of a big puddle by a Hilux...
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC_1500.jpg

That's it for now, more will come as I do stuff to it.

Nice pics mate, look forward to seeing the improvements

Thanks man, she's a work in progress. Happy to take one bit of advice from 4WDaction's Roothy, and pick a truck and stick with it. She's old, but reliable as taxes.

Got new rear lights coming for her, mount for the Hi-Lift. Oversized RTS damper is a week or so away too. And a proper tyre deflater!

On a bad note, found out she had Toyota lock washers fitted on the front end. That being the reason I almost lost my passenger front Hub Assembly, which may have been a little bit of a buzz kill. New Lock washers were purchased today, and a hub socket, so she'll be getting fixed up in the next few days, when a attachment for the hi-lift comes, that will let me lift the front end safely. Also had roughly half an inch thick worth of mud shoved in between the rim and bead on the same tyre, so gotta get that stripped, cleaned and rebalanced. What you get for going out in the raid, in mud, with 20psi. Hell of a trip all the same.

Theyre soopa cumfy lookin chairs mate, i swapped mine for commonhore Vy but yours look sweeeet

They are out of 2 door thing of some sort, but they give great support, I need mine repaired a little, they're getting a bit old nowadays.

It's good to see someone who is not afraid to drive a bigger wagon. Go the whale. Nice looking start. Have you considered talking to your local AC guy to get the AC compressor modified to just be a compressor. Heaps of output easily run pneumatic tools etc and can inflate a 35 quick smart. Who needs AC anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paul C

It's good to see someone who is not afraid to drive a bigger wagon. Go the whale. Nice looking start. Have you considered talking to your local AC guy to get the AC compressor modified to just be a compressor. Heaps of output easily run pneumatic tools etc and can inflate a 35 quick smart. Who needs AC anyway.

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Yeah, was kinda thinking that, but I plan on running this baby to the cape at some point, so I figure AC may be a plus when that happens. Pretty much not sold on any solid plan yet, gonna depend on price really. New AC is about 1k for one of these, so probably get mine reco'd anyway.

The whale is a new one by me, can't tell if you're talking about the lift or a LWB, either way, I prefer a full sized 4wd, and as for the lift, 6inch lift is very safe if done right. The 35s aren't as great as they could be, just pulling together the final bit of cash to get an oversized RTS damper to sort that annoyance out. Not that she handles bad, but the damper will make steering a lot stiffer, and hopefully get rid of some of the the steering wobble that comes from having that much sidewall.

Good News: Spindle has been replaced as well as the lockhub seat, so she can roll again without issue, and the master cylinder has been replaced with a very noticeable effect on the brake pedal pressure. Spare Hi-Lift mount has been put on as well, looks tops.

Bad News: I've had a few people scoping this thing out in a way that is obviously different to someone admiring or criticizing the truck. I've had one chick walking her dog from one way up the street, starring intently and the truck, stop directly behind it for a over a minute, still staring at it, and looking it over, before walking back the way she came. Had another broad driving past it slow right down, again staring and looking it over, until I walked around from the side she couldn't see, and she floored it and sped off. Individually, probably nothing to worry about, but since this has happened with 24hours of each other, I'm seriously thinking someones considering it for a unconventional test drive. Thoughts?

Whales are AWESOME, MQ Whales are even better, more mates you can fit in, more the fuel costs get spread around, more legs, muscle to push you out of booboos.
As for the onlookers, put a pale blue short sleeved shirt in the back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aussiemale

Whales are AWESOME, MQ Whales are even better, more mates you can fit in, more the fuel costs get spread around, more legs, muscle to push you out of booboos.
As for the onlookers, put a pale blue short sleeved shirt in the back.

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Well, I like the space, I don't really fit people in the rear, back doors are disabled! I need to use the spread the fuel cost idea more often though.

I like the blue shirt idea, I may use it!

Good photos. Nice truck.