Ok, I have 2 old toyota landcruiser station wagons. One was my family car for EVERYTHING for almost 20 years (4 kids, little league etc etc).. The other is a 5 speed diesel 4 cylinder from Canada, never available in the US. They are both rust buckets, but they both start, run and stop just fine. I measured up my '59 panel and the width outside the tires is 68" on all three vehicles. The toyotas are 108" wheelbase and the panel is 110". The toyota spring mounts are riveted to the frame and there's plenty of room to the sweep up for moving the springs back 2". Another 10.00 piece of brake tubing and lengthening the driveshaft and we are good. Both toyotas have PS and PB as well as dual master cylinders. The third members and brakes (discs up front) are the equivelent size of 3/4 ton us stuff. So there you have it, a 4wd modernized, correct width panel truck. Not rushing into it as I am about 1/2 way through a '47 2 ton this winter. But.... I'm planning on there being another winter, needing anothger winter project. Just sayin......

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

Doesn't sound too much more difficult than a CV front end swap, just fab up new body mounts. I like it!

 

Hell Gary most of us just use the Toyota steering gearbox! I'm a Toyota fan and I have looked at this type of swap also, so I say go for it. I know you can make it happen.

 

Yeah, the toyota landcruiser thing has been around almost as long as my ford thing. It would look just like the 4x4 panel here, but with six lugs, Oh and Taller tires, like 255 85 16s or 33 9.50 15s, like the truck at the beach. The wagon in the first pic is the one that got the camo job 15 yeras later. Those wagons were a rust bucket looking for a place to rust....One of those two wagons will be a '40 ford woody, if I live long enough. OK, back to the cabinet shop.

 

Good old Toyota, they sure build a solid drivetrain, but you've got to wonder what they were thinking with the bodies, they practically vaporize.

A 4x4 fridge panel has a pretty serious cool factor to it, I say go for! But since you've already got the FrankenFridge, we'll have to call this one the YotaFridge.

EDIT: That stretch of beach looks really familiar, can't quite place it though... The pickup looks nice too, I can't imagine there's many of those around!

Sam

 

Beach is on San Juan Island, just west of Orcas Island. County seat is there, Friday Harbor. Those are actually two different Landcruiser pickups. The one being towed I had finally got from the original owner here on Orcas back in about '95. When I got divorced all my kids wanted to live with me and I wanted to raise them in their home I built for the family years before. Trouble was I had to sell my two pickups to add to the cash needed to buy out my ex wife. The other one I sold was my beloved '38 ford tonner. Well a couple years later, and back on my feet, I bought another fixer toyota pickup from Arizona. That's the one in the beach picture, with my new bride in the shotgun seat. And obviously I've since replaced the tonner with the '59 version of the tonner pickup, and a couple other fords.... Life is good!

 

Frame swapping ain't as easy as it looks. I'm well into the 2nd year of my 57 onto s10 4x4 project. Measure and measure again! Things like inner fenderwells can surprise you. Most newer frames have very few straight sections - unlike the fridges which are pretty straight. You might look into swapping floors. That way you save an awful lot of time fabricating body mounts, ect. It sounds like it would be more work - unless your panel has the dreaded front body mount rot! I even saw a build thread where a guy swapped the firewall as well!

 

Looks good GB, I've never been to Friday Harbor, so I guess I'm thinking of a different beach. But I have been to Orcas with the family, probably drove past your house.

It's a shame you had to sell the 38, but it was for a good cause.

Sam

 

Thanks guys. This build is one for the future like maybe next winter before I even start. Right now I'm up to my whatever with my '47 2 ton stakebed project. Well, it will be a stakebed when I mount my 59's old script bed on it come spring. In the last couple years I have built a flatbed for my '92 f350, and my toyota t100. Then I took the flatbed off my '59 and put on a pickup box. I can't seem to be happy leaving things how they were. But doing that wouldn't be a hobby for me....

 

Hey GB, I cant remember what your question was or what I was gonna say after I seen the pictures of the TWO FJ45s. If you ever want to sell it or find another one please, please let me know. O yea, go for the swap next winter!

 

That body swap seems a natural, I like your vision. When I have done these, we just lower body slowly over the frame until something touches, then support with hardwood shims and wedges. That gives you time to step back, assess options, and design new mounts. I love the 4x4 Toyota running gears, and that will be a bad-*** panel! Go for it!

 

I am lowering the body on my plow truck in that way as we speak. Rust will really make the front of the cab take a nose dive! LOL