Welcome to the SE BOSS build. On this build we’re going to step outside our comfort zone, break away from the usual style of builds we do and test a few concept ideas and designs and set a bench mark in our touring vehicle builds.

First step is to install the portal axles and upgraded suspension as this must be done before rego or any other accessories fitted. The portal axles used here are a product of Marks 4WD Adaptors. The main key features of this set-up are 6″ drop down hubs, giving you an instant 150mm clearance under the diff with no changes to your suspension/steering or handling geometry. In fact, they’re also much wider than standard diffs so your car will handle better on and off-road with greater stability & footprint and this is modification is 100% street legal Australia wide under second stage manufacturing. Other advantages with the portal axle conversion are upgraded brakes, 16% reduction gears, one piece air locking hubs and the drum handbrake relocated to the rear of the transfer case.

For the suspension, (as this is separate from the portal axles) I have chosen to retain the leaf spring design and opted for parobolic leafs from Terrain Tamer. As you can see, they’re not your typical leaf pack and only have 4 leaf’s per side, greatly reducing unsprung dead weight while still allowing a 3950kg GVM upgrade and the ability to flex somewhat more than a typical set of leafs. From my observation this set up allows more flex than other coil conversions on the market.

For the roof, Its back at the shop and we installed the RhinoRack roof platform fitted with LED light bar and under-eve side lighting a common addition to all our builds.

The tray we built for this build is almost the same as our regular builds other than a few new features we are trialing, like a rear tapered tailboard, quick-connect water system and a removable kitchen pod instead of a trundle draw.

For the shocks I have decided to go with Kings Offroad Racing Shocks with adjustable remote reservoirs, front and back. I strongly believe your shocks play the biggest part in ride comfort and not to skimp out when considering choice on shocks. For the front suspension I have gone with Lovells heavy duty coils with a 1″ lift. Still 100% street legal as this is the legal lift limit is governed by your headlight height. You can however have a 2″ lift fitted with these portals but you must then lower your headlights into your bull bar. I am planning on something special for my front bar so that wont’t be an option for me, more on that later.
I have also upgraded my front flares to a fiberglass overmould giving my wider front wheel track cover and eliminating the need for rubber flaps.

The tray design is to best accomodate every space possible underneath. The aluminum flooring sheets are removable at any time if you ever need to access any of this equipment or just a thorough wash down. You can see the water tank up front, keeping the weight in the centre and over the axle, rear draw carcus and the air system and alloy air tanks between the draw and the toolboxes. Theres a twin piston ARB air compressor in one toolox and a 36v electric chainsaw in the other along with all my tools and recovery gear which I would like to keep on me regardless if the canopy is attached or not.

A few small details around the tray to note are the widened guards to accommodate the wider wheel track, quick connect tap outlet, canopy connection plug and a new feature prototype with the leading edge of the headboard has been shaved off to give the tray design more angles and detail.

Now I am rego ready. The black flooring sheets, towing mirrors, twin spare tyres and the twin stainless exhaust from Torqit really finish it off.

All new cars need to be weighed before rego. In my photos you can see the report explaining individual wheel weight and an overall weight of 2554kg. The kerb weight of a stock cruiser is 2175kg, that means the tray and those accessories fitted to it as per the pic above, roof platform & lighting, 5×35″ wheels/tyres, twin exhaust, GVM upgrade/heavier springs and the whole portal axle converson/replacement diffs came in at 379kg. Thats a bloody amazing result and has left me with a legal allowable payload of 1396kg. I have saved a lot of weight for now by not installing things like bull bar, side steps, canopy, second battery, tow bar or winches (at time of rego) and these are items most people overlook when building their ultimate tourer.

Next up the the roof-top tent. I have chosen the Alucab Expedition Gen3. All aluminium and quite spacious and comfortable inside. My main reason for this choice among others was the overall aesthetic design and how it is tapered at the front in the X & Y plane, giving a streamline style and less wind resistance. It also has lighter canvas and suits me and my personal preference and can be set up or down in around 30 seconds or less.

For our 12v set up, we’ve gone with Enerdrive hardware and a Simarine touch screen display. Specs on this equipment are at the bottom of this post, but its proving to be the ultimate set up and would suit anyones needs and not over the top or over complicated. To brush the topic, its got 200ah Lithuim, AC & DC chargers, 2000w inverter, bluetooth connectivity and a few other goodies.

We love Australian made products, like the Expedition 134 modular storage boxes. They’re waterproof, dustproof lockable, stackable boxes and work great with our aircraft style tie down track system you can see here.

Next up was the intercooler replacement. I have chosen a PDI front mount aluminium intercooler core with this included stainless steel plumbing. (thats two cars worth in this image) As standard, this V8 diesels intercooler is situated on top of the engine relying solely on forced airflow from driving into the wind. This means when your driving slow like during 4WD your intercooler isnt working as efficient as it should. Having this intercooler not only looks the tits but will result in helping maintain power delivery due to cooler intake temperatures, and reduced EGT while under load and studies have shown to be 3x cooler just by not being in the engine bay and on top of the motor.

As part of the Marks 4wd portal axle conversion, they had installed the compressor for the air-operated locking hubs directly where I need to run the new intercooler piping. To overcome this we came up with the idea to mount it in the cavity behind the drivers side headlight, just before the air intake. Although tricky to fit, it couldnt of worked out better- its out of the way, out of the heat, protected from dust mud and water and now not intefearing with the pipework. This has also allowed me to remotely mount the air filter and hide all the air lines within the guard.

Next job was to tackle the bull bar and winch. For the bull bar, I have decided to go my own way and do something custom. To start with I have purchased a 2nd hand ARB bull bar, cut it up and removed the wings and hoop leaving me with the centre main structure piece which i will build off.
This is the only part I wanted to keep as this is the main structure that bolts to your vehicle. I have not modified or changed any section that fixes to the vehicle and will be using the same fixing points and bolts that came with the complete bar. I am merely redesigning the facade. The wings, and a new hoop section. The top hoops are made from stainless steel tube. The main objective here was to reduce weight to preserve my GVM. This is also why im not running brush bars or side steps.

Next I took the bar back off and planning out the wiring for the winch and 7 LED lights. Wiring done for both front and back winches. Rear winch has not been installed yet but have put the provisions in using the 000 gauge cable throughout. The biggest cable available so not to loose any current over the long distance. 
Without modifying the standard battery tray I have designed this alloy bracket to hold the two 500a isolator switches keeping the buttons accessable, and wiring all hidden. I will be setting this battery system up somewhat different to a typical 4wd dual battery system and will not be using a BCDC charger to maintain the second battery.

Instead I will be installing an Australian made Rapid Power fully sealed, liquid cooled alternator which pumps out 150a/14v and is designed for prolonged service in extremely dusty, wet and corrosive environments. The 70 series Land Cruisers weak spot is the standard alternator being so low in the engine bay, once she’s full of mud, you’ll be on a tow truck in no time.

I will be managing the charging of my second battery using a Blue Sea Systems ML-ARC Automatic charging relay. This thing’s a bloody beauty, it will automatically close the circuit when the engine’s running, charging my second battery at a much faster rate than a typical Recarc BCDC charger would. Then when you shut the engine off, it opens seperating the batteries so my start battery is safe from unexpected discharge. The beauty about this device is it also has a dash mounted switch allowing me to overide and link or seperate the two at any time, which will be usefull for winching or jump starting someone. I can even jump start myself if my main battery goes flat! It is also designed for full time marine use so its waterproof (IP66) with all stainless studs.

And lastly the other BlueSea Systems MLRBS, this one will be used as a winch isolator, with the same in-cab switch and manual overide. This one does not have the automatic latching feature which is obviously not needed.

The bull bar has been sent off for sandblasting, zinc powder coat rust proof primer, and has been rubbed back ready for the Raptor Liner treatment.

This ultimate touring beast is now ready for everything I throw at it. 
Keep a look out for more info as I continue to give my baby more goodies!!!

Simarine

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