Don't like the adverts? Click here to remove them
LJ70 Build Thread!
- Thread starter Ben
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Right lets try again!...........................
Yesterday was very very stressful.
My best mate Nelson (who drives the hilux) couldn't make it as his Mrs had gone into labour. (congratulations dude
)
So I only had my other best mate Danny. Danny got to mine for 8am and we started moving boxes across the road to where the container would be positioned.
By 9am a lot of the boxes, the truck, and the trailer(ramp) were across the road ready. So we went inside and waited for the container to arrive. Luckily we were sat in the window watching, because soon the local pikeys turned up and were eyeing up all my stuff.
By 10.15am I was starting to worry a bit as the container which was due at 10am still hadnt arrived.
So I called John Mason (the company who I got the container with) to find out what was going on.
A few phone calls and emails later it transpired that the container had been booked with the shipping company, but for some reason they had forgotten to send a container to me.
By this point it was 12.30 and starting to rain, and fearing the worst I decided to put all the boxes back in the garage and the truck and trailer back around the back of the house.
I was convinced no container was coming today.
Then I got an email to say a container would be with me by 2.00pm.
At 1.50pm it arrived!
So we started taking boxes back out.
It was a bit like tetris trying to stack all the boxes in.
Soon all the boxes and furniture were loaded, and I decided to use an old sheet of ply to help stop anything from moving while in transit.
Next we needed to get the truck in. I was slightly concerned at how high the container was.
I was expecting it to be about 4ft high but it was higher.
I did think of asking the driver to turn the container/lorry around as the ground he was parked on was slightly up hill making the climb up even steeper.
But I decided to give it a go first.
So we set the ramp up.
The first problem I had was my front wheels were spinning on the trailer wheels which were acting a bit like a rolling road.
So we took them off. Then I found the back wheels were struggling to climb up the 4" step up onto the ramp, this resulted in all the wheels spinning.
As can be seen in the video below, re-arranging the timber planks got over this issue.
So with the mighty cruiser in low range and with the rear ARB diff lock engaged up she went!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HowEkkWT8&feature=youtu.be
(cant embed the youtube video.) For some reason the youtube icon is missing from the options? 
Huge thanks to my neighbour Neil for his help guiding me up the ramp, and also for filming the video for me (forgot to press the right button on my camera so it didnt film.).
The reason I stopped half way up the ramp was because my mate stupidly started waving his hands saying stop, as he wrongly thought I wasnt going up the ramp straight.
So with the truck in the container I got it strapped down using the D shackle method.
Huge thanks to the club member who very kindly donated a load of new ratchet straps and told me about using D shackles.
Needed to disconnect the batteries next.
Spare had to come off because the doors wouldnt shut.
Next we needed to get the stupidly big 37" tyres loaded. Man there heavy!
Managed to get a couple down one side.
Put one underneath the truck and stood the other 2 up behind the truck.
Tight, but just fitted.
Some handsome young chap sealed the container seal.
And off the lorry went with all my worldly possessions and my beloved 70 series LandCruiser.
By this time it was 5pm and time for a beer!
Yesterday was very very stressful.
My best mate Nelson (who drives the hilux) couldn't make it as his Mrs had gone into labour. (congratulations dude
)So I only had my other best mate Danny. Danny got to mine for 8am and we started moving boxes across the road to where the container would be positioned.
By 9am a lot of the boxes, the truck, and the trailer(ramp) were across the road ready. So we went inside and waited for the container to arrive. Luckily we were sat in the window watching, because soon the local pikeys turned up and were eyeing up all my stuff.
By 10.15am I was starting to worry a bit as the container which was due at 10am still hadnt arrived.
So I called John Mason (the company who I got the container with) to find out what was going on.
A few phone calls and emails later it transpired that the container had been booked with the shipping company, but for some reason they had forgotten to send a container to me.
By this point it was 12.30 and starting to rain, and fearing the worst I decided to put all the boxes back in the garage and the truck and trailer back around the back of the house.
I was convinced no container was coming today.
Then I got an email to say a container would be with me by 2.00pm.
At 1.50pm it arrived!
So we started taking boxes back out.
It was a bit like tetris trying to stack all the boxes in.
Soon all the boxes and furniture were loaded, and I decided to use an old sheet of ply to help stop anything from moving while in transit.
Next we needed to get the truck in. I was slightly concerned at how high the container was.
I was expecting it to be about 4ft high but it was higher.
I did think of asking the driver to turn the container/lorry around as the ground he was parked on was slightly up hill making the climb up even steeper.
But I decided to give it a go first.
So we set the ramp up.
The first problem I had was my front wheels were spinning on the trailer wheels which were acting a bit like a rolling road.
So we took them off. Then I found the back wheels were struggling to climb up the 4" step up onto the ramp, this resulted in all the wheels spinning.
As can be seen in the video below, re-arranging the timber planks got over this issue.
So with the mighty cruiser in low range and with the rear ARB diff lock engaged up she went!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HowEkkWT8&feature=youtu.be
(cant embed the youtube video.
) For some reason the youtube icon is missing from the options? Huge thanks to my neighbour Neil for his help guiding me up the ramp, and also for filming the video for me (forgot to press the right button on my camera so it didnt film.
). The reason I stopped half way up the ramp was because my mate stupidly started waving his hands saying stop, as he wrongly thought I wasnt going up the ramp straight.
So with the truck in the container I got it strapped down using the D shackle method.
Huge thanks to the club member who very kindly donated a load of new ratchet straps and told me about using D shackles.
Needed to disconnect the batteries next.
Spare had to come off because the doors wouldnt shut.
Next we needed to get the stupidly big 37" tyres loaded. Man there heavy!
Managed to get a couple down one side.
Put one underneath the truck and stood the other 2 up behind the truck.
Tight, but just fitted.
Some handsome young chap sealed the container seal.
And off the lorry went with all my worldly possessions and my beloved 70 series LandCruiser.
By this time it was 5pm and time for a beer!
warrenpfo
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2010
- Messages
- 2,895
Ben a few quick questions:
Did you know the exact internal dimensions of the container as your boxes seem to fit perfectly.
Where did you source the boxes from as I see a number of brand names which can be associated to a member or two on the forum.....or should I not ask.
It would seem that there are a number of latching points for the ratchet straps to attach to are these known in advance or is it a case of just being able to hook the straps almost any where on the floor or the roof.
How long was your ramp as i am thinking on how best to load my 100 series when the time comes.
I take it you had a 20ft container.
Did you know the exact internal dimensions of the container as your boxes seem to fit perfectly.
Where did you source the boxes from as I see a number of brand names which can be associated to a member or two on the forum.....or should I not ask.
It would seem that there are a number of latching points for the ratchet straps to attach to are these known in advance or is it a case of just being able to hook the straps almost any where on the floor or the roof.
How long was your ramp as i am thinking on how best to load my 100 series when the time comes.
I take it you had a 20ft container.
Don't like the adverts? Click here to remove them
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Thanks guys.
Mixed emotions right now, excited, scared, happy, nervous all at once.
Really happy to finally be going. Has taken me a long time to reach this point, and feels really good to finally be making my dream a reality!
I didnt actually measure it.
I used the container sizes on the link below as a rough guide and it seemed work out ok.
http://www.oceancontainer.com/specs.html
The boxes came from a guy at the local carboot sale, I paid £4 for the big ones and £3 for the small ones.
Theres tonnes for sale on ebay but there not cheap. Searching retail crates/boxes brings up quite a few.
Their great boxes, very strong and stack together nicely. Also when empty they all fit inside each other so dont take up too much room. I intend on keeping them and cant see why they wont last a life time.
Some of them had got 60-70kgs of axle parts inside, to give you an idea of how strong they are.
Another nice feature is you only need cable ties to seal them shut.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forums/showthread.php/44896-Plastic-Crates
AFAIK all shipping containers have rings welded to the roof and floor for ratchet strapping stuff down with. But I found there wasnt as many as id hoped, I think there was 5 down each side.
The ramp was 18ft long, and yes 20ft container.
The shipping company could have provided a ramp like Fridayman used, but they wanted £300+.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...ck-collected-this-morning?highlight=container
Mixed emotions right now, excited, scared, happy, nervous all at once.
Really happy to finally be going. Has taken me a long time to reach this point, and feels really good to finally be making my dream a reality!
I didnt actually measure it.
I used the container sizes on the link below as a rough guide and it seemed work out ok.
http://www.oceancontainer.com/specs.html
The boxes came from a guy at the local carboot sale, I paid £4 for the big ones and £3 for the small ones.
Theres tonnes for sale on ebay but there not cheap. Searching retail crates/boxes brings up quite a few.
Their great boxes, very strong and stack together nicely. Also when empty they all fit inside each other so dont take up too much room. I intend on keeping them and cant see why they wont last a life time.
Some of them had got 60-70kgs of axle parts inside, to give you an idea of how strong they are.
Another nice feature is you only need cable ties to seal them shut.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forums/showthread.php/44896-Plastic-Crates
AFAIK all shipping containers have rings welded to the roof and floor for ratchet strapping stuff down with. But I found there wasnt as many as id hoped, I think there was 5 down each side.
The ramp was 18ft long, and yes 20ft container.
The shipping company could have provided a ramp like Fridayman used, but they wanted £300+.
http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...ck-collected-this-morning?highlight=container
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
The driver got out of the cab when it came time to load the truck in.
I jokingly said to him "I take it most people dont load cars like this?"
He said that they regularly take a container to a Russian chap in Birmingham who also uses a trailer as a ramp. He said he exports 4-5 year old BM's and mercs. He said he drives at the ramp quite fast and scrapes all the bottoms of the cars on the way up. He then ratchet straps the back end of the first car up to the roof, and then drives the next underneath it.
I jokingly said to him "I take it most people dont load cars like this?"
He said that they regularly take a container to a Russian chap in Birmingham who also uses a trailer as a ramp. He said he exports 4-5 year old BM's and mercs. He said he drives at the ramp quite fast and scrapes all the bottoms of the cars on the way up. He then ratchet straps the back end of the first car up to the roof, and then drives the next underneath it.
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Yes Andy, or atleast I used to.
Was never really a fan of cross country but used to love downhill and doing jumps.
Used to enter downhill races which were held across south Shropshire.
We used to get as many practice runs as we could get in in the 3-4 hours in the morning, then 2 timed races in the afternoon. At the bottom of the course all the bikes and riders would be loaded into the back of a big agricultural trailer and then a tractor would take us to the top of the course.
I used to be quite fit and would often finish in the top 20 out of about 40-50 riders.
The bike I built myself about 12 years ago, cost about £1700 IIRC. Had the wheels built to my spec, hydraulic Hope disc brakes, Marzocchi forks, and a load of other bits and pieces.
I was going to sell it, but looking on ebay it wouldnt have made much money, so decided to just keep it and ship it over. Not sure I will use it again, I prefer things with engines these days.
I want another motorbike. I'd quite like a trail bike, such a buzz riding off road!
Was never really a fan of cross country but used to love downhill and doing jumps.
Used to enter downhill races which were held across south Shropshire.
We used to get as many practice runs as we could get in in the 3-4 hours in the morning, then 2 timed races in the afternoon. At the bottom of the course all the bikes and riders would be loaded into the back of a big agricultural trailer and then a tractor would take us to the top of the course.
I used to be quite fit and would often finish in the top 20 out of about 40-50 riders.
The bike I built myself about 12 years ago, cost about £1700 IIRC. Had the wheels built to my spec, hydraulic Hope disc brakes, Marzocchi forks, and a load of other bits and pieces.
I was going to sell it, but looking on ebay it wouldnt have made much money, so decided to just keep it and ship it over. Not sure I will use it again, I prefer things with engines these days.
I want another motorbike. I'd quite like a trail bike, such a buzz riding off road!
warrenpfo
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2010
- Messages
- 2,895
Very nice.
Like you I too preferred downhill until my daughter arrived last year and since then have been persuaded to go down the cross country route by being able to buy a new bike. I now ride a nice lime green carbon Nomad and don't think I will go back to downhill. Cant wait for the sun to come out so i can hit the trails again.
Really good for the fitness.
Like you I too preferred downhill until my daughter arrived last year and since then have been persuaded to go down the cross country route by being able to buy a new bike. I now ride a nice lime green carbon Nomad and don't think I will go back to downhill. Cant wait for the sun to come out so i can hit the trails again.
Really good for the fitness.
Doodle
Well-Known Member
The bike I built myself about 12 years ago, cost about £1700 IIRC. Had the wheels built to my spec, hydraulic Hope disc brakes, Marzocchi forks, and a load of other bits and pieces.
I was going to sell it, but looking on ebay it wouldnt have made much money, so decided to just keep it and ship it over. Not sure I will use it again, I prefer things with engines these days.
Pretty much the same reason I still have my Turner, built back in 2000 after I smashed up my GT STS. Not used it for ages, my fitness is shot at the moment so have lent it to a friend who's more active.
AndyCook
Well-Known Member
not suprised you were a downhiller!
they do that here
i used to be light XC biking. now got a Kona Dawg, and built it up myself with Hope downhill disc brakes, stronger wheels, replaced big ring with bash-ring, had marzhocchi forks, now 6" travel rockshox.
still ride up the hills though - but favourite days out are getting up remote scottish trails in the mountains or tops of mountains where usually people only walk and you cannot drive, and riding down amazing technical trails
they do that here
i used to be light XC biking. now got a Kona Dawg, and built it up myself with Hope downhill disc brakes, stronger wheels, replaced big ring with bash-ring, had marzhocchi forks, now 6" travel rockshox.
still ride up the hills though - but favourite days out are getting up remote scottish trails in the mountains or tops of mountains where usually people only walk and you cannot drive, and riding down amazing technical trails
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Always liked Kona's. 
Orange used to also do some nice downhill bikes.
Andy I can imagine you must have some amazing places to ride in Scotland.
They used to hold the world downhill championship at Fort William I think it was. Have you ridden there?
Thanks Chas.
Orange used to also do some nice downhill bikes.
Andy I can imagine you must have some amazing places to ride in Scotland.
They used to hold the world downhill championship at Fort William I think it was. Have you ridden there?
Now why does that not surprise me.All the best down under mate.
Thanks Chas.
AndyCook
Well-Known Member
yes the trails to bike up here, make up for fact we cannot greenlane here...
yes they still hold the Wold cup downhill race at fortwilliam, with the gondola for uplift - a lot of the world riders love the course
i havent biked there, but my wife won race in scottish XC race series there
i have skiied there a lot though, it has the best lift-served backcountry offpiste skiing in scotland - off a cliff at the back of the mountain
yes they still hold the Wold cup downhill race at fortwilliam, with the gondola for uplift - a lot of the world riders love the course
i havent biked there, but my wife won race in scottish XC race series there
i have skiied there a lot though, it has the best lift-served backcountry offpiste skiing in scotland - off a cliff at the back of the mountain
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Found a truck which is for sale 5mins from where I will be staying. If its still for sale next week I'm going to go and have a look at it.
Its a bit more than I wanted to pay but it does come with a road worthy certificate, which means it should be easy to get it on the road.
If I buy a car without a roadworthy certificate, I will have to pay for an MOT style test to get a certificate, and obviously it might need work (money) to get it up to standard.
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/...ilo=Stock&Range=Price:Min,20000~1&sort=~Price
