Shoji-Wagen

freeze

Adventurer
Hi Expo!

I haven't been on forums for quite sometime so hope I remember how this all works.

I've been pretty heavy in the Toyota 4WD side and still very much at home with Toyota's. I've had the mis-fortune of putting a dent in the C Pillar of my 4th Gen 4Runner and insurance was very helpful with compensation. We've had a few G-Wagen's come through the shop and looking underneath has really shown how much though has gone into the platform... plus some persuasion from a client of ours... I made the leap.

This is the lineage of Toyota's

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Photo by Addison R

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Photo by Big Mike​


Stock and well cared for 2004 AMG G55 with 130,000KM in a province next to ours was found after looking at 4 other not so good examples.

Fresh from picking it up in Saskatchewan. Factory stance.

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With the 4WD's I had in the past, I put them together so they could crawl rocks, burn gravel, float through snow and still go around a corner on the street. Thankfully we're a distributor for Ohlins here in Alberta and a dealer for Viking, ORC, G-Raid, AFN and Front Runner so it'll make this go fairly smooth. First on the upgrade path was to outfit with good suspension and fit my current wheel and tire set up, Second is to build rock sliders with kick outs, and finally fit bumpers and winch. Thankfully insurance payout and selling parts off the 4Runner it will cover the entire cost of the G-Wagen and upgrades.

Let's get started... ok first something we did for another G-Wagen:

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Just a few upgrades and we're almost there.

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And a bit of shake down with smallish rocks and steel shale climbs. So far it feels more planted than the Tacoma and 4Runner.

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These are my thoughts so far... This 4WD is a joy to drive even if it's a solid axle. I'm used to long travel but the Ohlins/Thor combo is working well over the rough in a hurry. I'll most likely take the shock apart and deal with the slow high speed dampening to smooth out the street. High velocity dampening is perfect. However, once bumpers, winch and rear tire carrier go on, the street high speed might be perfect. I'd like to run a heavier rear coil to deal with additional weight in the future. Currently the rear coil can carry itself properly without weight (zero cargo) + Tent/Rack. With a fridge, tools and gear it's sagging. When the bumper is added with the spare 35" tire it's going to really sag out. Need to find a rear coil to carry the weight and be long enough it doesn't pop out at full droop.

Climbing over smallish rocks and steep climbs the slightly longer wheel base than the 4Runner feels really good and going back to solid axle has been excellent. Really missing sliders and skid plating to really get things going. Next year it has to be dialled for Moab and Rubicon.





 

creede

Member
Great looking rig! Looks beefy as hell with those 35's. Do you get rubbing at full lock or under articulation?

I'm interested to hear your plans for the rear bumper and tire carrier as well. I'd love to get my tire, and more importantly my spare fuel mounted to a bumper. I've had my eye on this setup lately.

 

freeze

Adventurer
Thank you creede! There's just the one bolt holding the inner fender on which is catching slightly at full stuff and at partial turn. Full lock it doesn't rub.

Bumpers I'm going with AFN from Portugal. The older front bumper and their new rear bumper. I looked at G-Raid's Desert series which is the one you added. The design of the AFN won out, however, there isn't a fuel provision for the AFN. With the AFN the tire swings out with the rear door. Was thinking of adding ORC's second tank instead to keep the weight low and under the car. Already with a tire carrier it makes things a but rear heavy and up high when climbing.

This rear bumper checks off quite a few features: recovery points, swing out with door, hidden hitch under license plate, and a clean look. Once it arrives in a few months I can start testing it out.

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Trying some more climbs and jamming it though some tight sections I couldn't get the 4Runner though.

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The Front Runner rack did a good job keeping the trees at bay. The driver's Thor Coil is doing some epic rubbing on the bump stop mount. Haven't quite figured out how to make it stop. Did a small upgrade today with adding an aux cable to the command unit. Nice to be able to play more than just CD's.

Just got back from doing some photo/video work for Marlin Crawler for their annual round up. Couldn't get the G-Wagen ready in time so net year it'll go. This year for the first time i rode shotgun with Big Mike.

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creede

Member
Thank you creede! There's just the one bolt holding the inner fender on which is catching slightly at full stuff and at partial turn. Full lock it doesn't rub.

Bumpers I'm going with AFN from Portugal. The older front bumper and their new rear bumper. I looked at G-Raid's Desert series which is the one you added. The design of the AFN won out, however, there isn't a fuel provision for the AFN. With the AFN the tire swings out with the rear door. Was thinking of adding ORC's second tank instead to keep the weight low and under the car. Already with a tire carrier it makes things a but rear heavy and up high when climbing.

This rear bumper checks off quite a few features: recovery points, swing out with door, hidden hitch under license plate, and a clean look. Once it arrives in a few months I can start testing it out.

View attachment 539664

Wow, that AFN bumper looks great. I couldn't find it on their website, do you have a link or a point of contact?
 

freeze

Adventurer
You bet. Talk to Rory at AACBRANDS 951.339.1460. They've become the US distributor for AFN.
 

ZWilson07

Member
Subscribed.

Id love to have one but its hard or at least probably not very wise to finance one and I just cant get myself to dump that much liquid assets out for a vehicle at one time you know.
 

freeze

Adventurer
Subscribed.

Id love to have one but its hard or at least probably not very wise to finance one and I just cant get myself to dump that much liquid assets out for a vehicle at one time you know.


Initial cost is definitely there with the G-Wagen. Here in Canada the price for 2000-2008 is getting more affordable. I was looking at 4th Gen 4Runner V8 Limited 06-09 to replace the one I hadand the availability and price is up there still. It wasn't that much more to get into the G-Wagen taking into account having front and rear locking differentials right off the bat. New ones the price is uber up there!
 

greg.potter

Adventurer
Hi Greg! Thank you! Great hearing from you! Still have the Uni-Mog?

Yes, I still have the U1300L. With the wet summer we had it didn't get driven very much. Did have some fun trips off of the Columbia valley and north of Lilloet earlier in the summer with the Wrangler. Still really enjoying the James Baroud RTT on it!
 

shiann

New member
Love what you've done with your truck. Any updates?

Those LP6 Pros as headlights you did for the customer G really looks wicked, but probably not that practical. Also, those beadlock TE37s are just awesome.
 

freeze

Adventurer
That’s awesome Greg!!! Such a great place... Lillooet slogan gives me a chuckle every time... Guaranteed Rugged! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the tent!
 

freeze

Adventurer
Love what you've done with your truck. Any updates?

Those LP6 Pros as headlights you did for the customer G really looks wicked, but probably not that practical. Also, those beadlock TE37s are just awesome.

Thank you!! Soon the TE’s are coming off and there’s a new wheel being made for it right now. Should be coming September.

The LP6’s are definitely intense! Thankfully the SwitchPro panel has a dimmer so he can be at 15% for the road.

Some really minor updates are newer style projector headlights that came off the white G500. Added Philips D2S XV2’s HID bulbs based on their high lumen output and 4300K colour temperature. This helped immensely with the light aspect. I’ve never seen and HID this bright and clean before. Makes the little Baja Designs almost useless haha.

So far... the rear bumper has finally come in. That might go on today If all goes well.

We did a new exhaust set up to help with our future product we’re about to release. After trying a few combinations with mufflers and resonators this final set up we’re happy with for quiet while still giving good sound inline with the AMG sound. Making it not sound like American muscle wasn’t easy.

We’ve finished a few of the products for this platform and will start testing soon :D

Spring was a bit gnar but the platform has surprised me so far with it’s durability.

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