Monster truck stylee tips & mods advice? + Engine options?

[scooby_si]

Howdy folks,
Really still tempted & toying with idea of going the monster truck style route on a 2+2 or full cab laterish hilux.
Now i've had a gander round likes of LA supertrux for an idea of the various suspension etc options & such costs...Anyway waffle mode off what pearls of wisdom can you folks give me to get such a beasty while still getting a very capable road going vehicle?

Also if i'm looking engine wise is a 3litre beasty tweakable enough or are there any good V8 conversion options which work well (really like idea of a V8 burble )
General questioning off then....
Cheers
Si

[scooby_si]

OK then er how about how often do hilux rolling shells or similar come about, guess i need to call one of the speicalists really to find out best & most economical way to go about it........
Any tips would be well received thou.
Cheers me dears
Si

[da SLUG man]

depends how you want it... go for something with solid axles front and rear so it's more liftable

speak to la supertrux or look on their site for ideas... big wheels / tyres

there's a lot more to it than you'd think... tonyN's probably the best on here to talk to

is it for road or off road?... off road, monster truck probably isn't the best route to take... gotta get a lotta power to turn big wheels and add that to pulling the motor up steep slopes, you're gonna be breaking bits all the time.

for a top notch road motor then you're looking at a lotta money to do it right.

[ChaosinDevon]

OK then er how about how often do hilux rolling shells or similar come about, guess i need to call one of the speicalists really to find out best & most economical way to go about it........
Any tips would be well received thou.
Cheers me dears
Si

Having built and owned many "one off " vehicles over the years my thoughts are as follows.
1. Insurance, get a quote for what you hope to eventually build or buy, customs can be very expensive to insure.
2. Building a "special" can be very time consuming and technically demanding, know your limits, and stick to a budget.
3. The type of vehicle you are talking about often come up as an " unfinished " project, ask yourself why !
4. Buying an unfinished project gets you going real quick, but be sure to take a good mechanically minded buddy with you, not because you are not mechanically minded, but he/she wont be wearing rose tinted specs.
5. Good luck and take heaps of pics so we can see how it goes.

[Vagrant No2]

There is a rolling chassis for sale on ebay at the moment , needs engine finding and fitting and a body of your choice £350 'buy it now'

[Grimreeper]

Some basic to consider

How monster truck do u want to make it.
The more monster the less road going. So u need to get a balance of style and practicality for it main usage.

What sort of lift either susspention and/or body have u in mind depending on how monster u want it.

Wheel size/width.... a 2" lift will enable 31x10.50.15 tyres, a 4" lift will enable 33x12.50.15 tyres. The higher u go the wider u need the wheel base to keep some sort of sability when conering.

Engine wise any engine can be tuned and tweeked but it depends on how much cash u want to throw at it and what performance you want from it. eg torque or speed. But a V8 can be dropped in to a hilux with some adapters etc.
If you have the money and contacts to make the neccasary mounting/adapters you could basically fit any engine you want.

My advice would be to write down what you want the vehicle for, eg road, off road or pose facter. ( i realise we all have/want some of this)

When you channel what you want the vehical to mainly do onto paper it tends to decide its self what it should be like in size/height/style/engine etc.

Ill stop waffling now should i lol

[scooby_si]

it's all good cheers for your thoughts folks.
Guess i dont really totally know what i want i luv the idea of some big ass vehicle for normal road use with a large chunk of showing off althought that said i would like to give the offroading thing a try as i have really enjoyed doing track day thing in RX7 so have no doubt i would love doing the offroad thing in such a beasty. Hmm but yes mainly guna be a road going beast i guess...
V8 just luv the idea of such a burble but i guess it may get a bit beyond my initial budget if doing it all from scratch....
Looks wise really like the look of this beasty on LAsupertrux:


Although might fancy something even a tad more OTT but i guess thats a good £4k+ in tweaks already.... lol
Si

[TonyN]

Try to have a go in a big truck before spending that sort of money, they handle and drive totally different once you get bigger than 33" tyres, or that much lift.

OK for a plaything, but as a daily driver it'll take some getting used to.

[da SLUG man]

Try to have a go in a big truck before spending that sort of money, they handle and drive totally different once you get bigger than 33" tyres, or that much lift.

OK for a plaything, but as a daily driver it'll take some getting used to.

especially with a tyre full of mud and water from emergency repairs!

[scooby_si]

did test drive an old one with a V8 &

Additional 15ins of lift from standard this is a proper lift kit obtained from skyjacker lift kits, extra long leaf springs 6 inch shackle lift, 3 inch body lift, 3 inch oversized tyres, 3 inch extra long travel skyjacker dampers fitted all around, TSL Thornbird 35-14.50-15 like new, stonecrusher alloy weld racing rims and stud covers with double locking nuts on each wheel.

& was a bit lairy on the handling front & didnt like going in a straight line. Looking round supertrux would the likes of hydro steer, Dual Steering Stabiliser & shocks help such things. What is best way to avoid bump steer etc?
Si (wish list grows lol)

[da SLUG man]

don't think you can avoid bump steer... just reduce it a bit and make it less harsh...

[scooby_si]

yeah it's normally caused by suspension travel kinda thing, as i recall, so mahoosive suspension must help that? lol But wide wheels & the previous suspension tweaks i mentioned will help general road holding abilities? Anything else cunning?
Cheers folks
Si

[scooby_si]

PS anyone know if the owner of the one i posted before is on here, Rob?

[da SLUG man]

PS anyone know if the owner of the one i posted before is on here, Rob?

doubt it.... it's a double cab pickup.

[scooby_si]

Aha showing my ignorance i hadn't really noticed that bit, guess that makes for a less catchy web/forum name lol
Seriously thou if it's not a mute point are there any other forums which cover such hilux's?
Cheers
Si (gets coat incase there some political stuff as there often is between similar owners clubs/forums....)