TROOPY BUILD FINAL. What does it weigh? | 4xOverland 

To be honest Andrew, like some I was very doubtful with the weight of this build, I now commend you and congratulations you on staying true to what has been a difficult time with harsh comments. Best of luck!

It takes a MAN to admit a fault!!! Well done Andrew. Your experiment taught me a lot without any expense. One must never get too old to learn new things. Those that are so clever are the type I do NOT want to be associated with! Good job, keep on doing what you do best!!

Andrew please don't stop broadcasting your learning experience with us. I take great value and joy going along for the ride with you.

I remember you saying at the time that these springs may turn out to be too light. You've made an excellent point about spring load.

As you learn, I learn! 👍Still loving the videos, please keep them coming. Thank you!

10 screws to hold the table… As a radar engineer we sometimes used clear nail polish to prevent screws from vibrating loose because the nail polish is a soft but strong enough compound when dry. On other applications, more exposed to hot/cold temperatures we used epoxy which could only be removed if heated above 150C.

The near 50/50 balance of weight is outstanding !! It's a racecar. Weight Is a living and breathing thing .. you're never it's master but it's caretaker and you work together.This vehicle based on your needs,Andrew, I think it's very promising indeed. Imagine being born with all life's answers .. as some seem to be. Incredibly dull existence indeed.

Like you said, you can never know the true weight until it's finished. Worth a try and I probably would have done the same. Love your work.

Thank for you video and sharing your thoughts. I suppose the transition to electrical cooking and waterheating is the real root of the overweighting. It brought bigger and heavier controllers, batteries and wires. For my camper I'll use traditional gas and diesel heaters and cooking panels.

Dying is better than being wrong on the internet 🤣 Great to see you talking about your mistakes and learning, it is a breath of fresh air!

Andrew as always your rigs are amazing. This one is better (to me) than the green one and I LOVED that one. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Andrew, always love your build process and thanks for displaying your trial and error. I've made the mistake on past builds of doing the suspension first, then needing to redo springs later when the travel weight of the vehicle was done. This time I'm doing the opposite, settle my fairly lightweight camping build first, then figure out the spring rates/suspension I need for it.

I'm SURE you spent more time evaluating the weight than a majority of naysayers. Drive on, you built a great rig! I'm going to guess the weight was in the wood. That gets very heavy, very fast. Very nice cook set up!

On today's episode: A burger is ignorant, an Englishman is stumped, and a troop carrier is chubby.

I enjoy your content very much. I love that you try things from so many different angles and do things differently to most. You give a very honest appraisal of what works and what doesn't, even when its been something that you have felt strongly about, you are not afraid to say that it could be better or it didn't work. I'm sure I speak for most. Please keep doing what you do.

Looking forward to seeing this trip :)

"Not a Nissan Navara in sight" love it. I have one with front of the engine missing on my lawn so I know what you mean. It's my sons though.

You know, I think the parabolic spring is brilliant but really suited to the guy that uses his 4x4 as his daily and for 4 or 5 weeks a year loaded and towing. For a full time tourer, I believe you are better to spring it for your touring load. I built a tourer myself and that is how I decided to go. I am 200 kg over oem GVM but 350 kg under revised GVM. I dont tow either.

Love your work mate. You've taught me a lot.

There's no shame in learning from one's mistakes. It takes courage to share those mistakes and experiences. But to document them, and provide not only just solutions, but next level improvements...that's greatness.

Sad to hear yet another one with bad experiences from RU-vid viewers. To them I say; don’t word an opinion if you don’t know the subject. - I learn from you, Andrew, and I learn a lot! You’re the one with the experience and vehicle. I’m just a novice with a Jimny. But despite the large difference in car of choice - I learn from you. I salute you for that.

For your leather straps which hold the table-I’d be figuring out a simple way to get them to fold inwards when you fold the table up. A hole punched in the middle of each leather strap, bridged by a removable little elastic strap with hook ends would do it. Stretch the elastic strap on before you fold up the table, and when you fold the table up, it pulls the leather straps in out of the way.

Much like Lutus "add lighteness" . Well done! Any update on the kids and if they are enjoying the back to basics Nissan the three of you built?

A wise man constantly learns and adapts. A fool thinks he knows it all. Well done with the build, and I look forward to learning what works and what doesn’t for you!

No attacks from me Andrew! I enjoy the learning process. One day I'm eager to apply some lessons I've learned from you and others to get a squared away 4x4 vehicle of my own.

Andrew - excellent video and as YOU know too well it is just so hard to contain and minimise weight in any Toyota 4 x 4 if you want to make it 'capable' and have practicality and some comfort in over-landing and camping. After 17 months building our 200 series from new (delays getting accessories - it was a 6-7 month build expectation) I am actually over it and thinking to sell and rethink like you have however wait times on Troopys' are now 12 months and no guarantee of getting a new one with the diesel V8 I was told. Cannot wait for the Canning vids!

Hi Andrew, great build and love the idea on the modified table/cooktop! Regarding having more space in the kitchen, is it possible to mount different hinges or doorcatches on the rear doors to make them open past the standard 90 degrees? You see this alot on European vans (where they use it to make room for a forklift to get to the rear bumper without damaging the doors) it's just a thought. Again love the build and experimentation you get to do. Every discovery you share (or mistake as some call it) gives everyone good insights in what could work on their own build without making the costs. Keep u the good work and ignore the ignorant comments!

Keep up the good work Andrew! Always some out there that will try to bring people down. Stay positive!

Owning a mistake. admitting one was wrong is never a sign of weakness. Its a sign of strength, of growth of like you said learning.

Nice one. Love seeing all the little innovations. It can make all the difference

Great episode. I also had a rear spring issue with my 79 not wanting to go down the gym upgrade way because of the ride when empty. I got 300 kg rear springs and found they struggled when loaded so I got air bags and love them and only put 20 to 30 psi in them when loaded and find the ride great.

Fantastic content. Thank you for learning the lessons for us!

Loving the experimentation and detail, the thought process.....

Keep up the great work Andrew.

Thanks again for sharing Andrew! Lovely looking truck and the setup seems to fit your needs perfectly! Really can't wait for the Canning Stock Route trip series to air!

Don’t worry, Andrew. You’re doing it absolutely right and you’re doing it for us to learn something. That’s a great job 👍

Nice rig - well done and thanks for an honest assessment! Weight questions/estimates are always difficult - more so when on a slim target margin. Components/items weights alone need to have weights of wiring, lugs, hardware, plumbing components, brackets, etc factored in - and they add up. I personally would have gone a lesser audio upgrade - Amp, wiring, speakers etc probably over 25kg.

Cool vid Andrew. You can get a small piece of thin black elastic cord with two little hooks on each end and put if on the leather straps in the middle of them so when you close your table they will pull the straps in.

You weren't wrong about the springs Andrew. You clearly stated during the build that you thought they would be too light. I assume you just wanted a starting point on the light end and go from there. As people look at things from their own point of view they may fail to understand that us mere mortals paying full price for these items so therefore don't like having to do it twice. You on the other hand are in the position to have items given to you or at least a reduced price so not such a burden on the pocket. And its part of the reason you vlog to show us what works and what doesn't and I thank you for that.

Well done!

The troopy looks awesome Andrew , I love watching your build video’s

Don't forget to pack a bit of 100 x 25 mm black spongey foam from Bunnings, takes up naff all room and it will be needed to jam in somewhere to stop knocks, squeaks etc inside the troops, and a roll of gaffa tape. Looking forward to watching your trip, bet it is going to be a ripper.

I like what you show, the expert figuring things out. Thanks for documenting.

Ahhh man, I am looking forward to this Canning trip. Bon voyage!

Excellent table. You could probably store your kitchen implements with magnets above the stove?

Nicely done, great build, can't wait to see touring.

Best moment of the week!!

After doing several major 4wding trips lasting months I like many came to the conclusion that my vehicle was way to heavy... Costing in fuel and the 4wd ability of the vehicle ... I congratulate you on this endeavour and the superb vehicle build you have produced 👌 👏

You should have gone the terrain tamer GVM Upgrade regardless because you ended up with the heaviest rear springs anyway. No stress then keeping weight down

I have to recognize that the installation professional humbly recognizes a good idea.

Thank you Andrew, confessions are great leading into your Saintification, as advised in a previous post!

Awesome build. And the fun part is as much as you've lightened the load, it's all pretty low-hanging fruit, which honestly everyone should be doing, and there is a lot more potential if you wanted to go even lighter. For example things under tension can often be built lighter than compressive loads- think suspension bridges vs a Roman-style bridge- e.g. I wonder if you could make a strong frame for the drawers and then have the walls like made of cloth. Or you could start to experiment with carbon fiber- one can actually DIY carbon fiber stuff at home with room-temp curing epoxy, I've discovered. Make your own molds from an existing part you want to make lighter, etc.

beautiful and practical build. Weight issue - forget use of wood, better to use metal framing and thin alloy polymer composite. One person could pick up the whole frame and panels with one hand (barring all the addons which apply for both systems)

Nice job !!

Love this build, well done on the wight saving, with all that you have managed to fit in. Here's to a safe and enjoyable trip for you sell. Look forward to see hiw the Range rover dose. 🙂

I for one cannot wait for the Canning Stock Route video!

Hey Andrew, you made me look up Eric Burger. 😀 Very informative video as always. Thank you!

Great table. Cheers Andrev. 🍻

Nice set-up. I think if you wanted to cut weight further, you could look at plastics/fibreglass/carbon fibre for your interior fit out, plus maybe a carbon lid for your tent. My previous comment at the start was to weigh every single component before it’s added to the vehicle, then once done you know where you could cut weight.

Nice work with the table. Versatility is 'Key' Marty from Perth

How could anyone doubt you mate I love your content keep it up 👍

Your new blue/grey colour Troopy is beautiful!

Well done Andrew!

Andrew, I wonder if you could use airbags to assist with the levelling when camping up. I see Patriot campers use airbags to level off their trailer with RTT on top. Similar idea might work for you and Gwen.

Congratulations! Superb job and a great series of videos. Actually, what I really want to say is: Fuuuuuuucking awesome man!

Very cool adventure ahead. Really looking forward to seeing it

Definitely on the right track with lighter spring, ideally a spring should just hold the static weight of your vehicle and the shock does the rest. If you want a softer spring go for a 2 inch lift but only maybe plus 50kg that way it will compress to your desired ride height. Obviously your springs will sag quicker and won’t last as long but as you say everything is a compromise.

Andrew a great build. I very much like the how little can you do approach, but remain safe. For the wood work if you used 15mm plywood sheet. A single sheet of that is around 24kg/ sheet + carpet cover and fixings etc.

16:18 you could pop rivet an aluminium bar or length of wire rope between the two yellow handles so you can close the rear drawer with one hand.

I still love you and your videos Andrew!!! Best of luck sir!!!

Love the show Andrew, don’t let the Eric Burgers get to you

AH! so THOSE are the springs! Kind of like what I had tried suggesting, but on the other side of the spring. I actually like that approach better. I commented before about the soft springs, and mentioned I was joking in my "attack", anyways, I recalled you had said the springs may be a little on the soft side, and now you know! I like the look of those springs and how they work. I'm hoping they work out for you and I'm looking forward to the Canning Stock series!

It is an incredible build and drawing a lot of inspiration for my own. With regards to your leafs, I'm also being concensus of over springing my 110 defender. Wanted to ask your opinion on air "helper" bags. Are they as good as the reviews claim them to be and do you have any expirence with them? Thanks so much

I don't want to watch your videos anymore (tic). Really think you nailed it with this Troopy. It is a build that I will be able to use! Great show (just ignore all the silly comments).

Nice build young felah, all us 4x4 have our own ideas how our rigs are setup. Mine is the old coil sprung County with the Isuzu motor and plenty of mods. I would say to any man that hasn't made a mistake what have you done with your life and living of someone's misfortunes is not the person you want close.

In the end its an estate car with a pop up roof, there is only so much living comfort and wilderness capability you can bolt on. Nice Job.

This Troopie build looks truly 21st century - congratulations! I'll be watching curiously to see if a GVM upgrade will be on the cards down the line because 42kg doesn't seem like much even though it's only a factor at the very beginning of a trip, when it's heaviest. Hypothetical question - if you were forced to take 50kg out, what would you sacrifice?

Any plan to prevent the rear door from sagging due to all that weight ?

Looks great 👍

Great content as always

Don't waste too much time on these videos critiquing the critics as most of us couldn't care less - try to ignore and crack on, loving what you do, genuinely love it.

I have had many leaf sprung vehicles and I had much of the same problems you are Andrew. There is a reason that the very old leaf spring design has been replaced with a coil spring. I imagine you could save a hundred pounds with coil springs instead of those massive leaf springs that sometimes aid and you getting stuck.

Well done. Useful info. Ignore the haters.

Continuing to love your work Andrew. Real shame you don't do Autograph Overlanders anymore (I was saving up to commission you haha!) but understand why. Good luck in your future endeavours, I'll keep watching! Hit us up next time you want to go camping in outback NSW!

Thank you Andrew. Have been trying to find any info on youtube/net on how the parabolics should look loaded vs unloaded forever. I now know im overloaded and will need to get the bigger parabolics!! Cant wait to see the rangie and troopy on the big trip!!

Great work🏆

Really nice one. Compliments.

Absolutely on-board with the way you do stuff. Whenever I see a build with a simple shopping list of parts I always ask myself WHY those parts were chosen. Are they appropriate? Are they the best choice or are they fitted because they were provided by a sponsor? Were they recommended by somebody else who might be able to explain why they're a good choice? If the build shows the process of deciding which parts were chosen and THEN gives me a shopping-list, I already KNOW why specific parts were chosen. Not only does that explain why those parts were chosen, it also allows me to carry out the same process and, possibly, make an informed decision to make a different choice.

Hi Andrew, i had dreadful trouble getting suspension right on my troopie. Eventually settled on “mines grade” springs which worked perfectly fully loaded but as the weight came off it was awful. There was nothing really available 20+ years ago that worked. Eventually the rear doors drooped and the windscreen started to leak. I later lerned that troopies bodie twist over time and gonout or “square”. Im very interested in your set up this time. Great video

Good to see you have upgraded to the extended Terrain Tamer Shackles. Perhaps if you'd done that originally, you may have been happier with the 3 leaf parabolics because you would have had about 10mm more ride height and a slightly softer ride.

haha Everyone will google and look up Eric Burger 4:11 and let him have it. I hate people that make ignorant comments on RU-vid, comments without no knowledge or science on what they are stating. Keep up the good work Andrew.

could a simple solution be - at the present you have the induction cooker on the left hand side of the table and store the pan on the right hand side. if you swap places and have the induction cooker on the right hand side of the table, instead of being caught between the table and the slide out draws, you can cook at the end of the table facing the rear of the car and the draws would still be able to slide out ???

Andrew, THANK YOU for this build! I'm always learning too. I made the mistake of over springing my previous vehicle [a gen 2 Tacoma] and I have been very conscious of not making the same mistake with my current vehicle [gen 5 4Runner] in fact , much due to your advise, I am currently running 1" coil spacers to get the desired height while I finish adding things to the vehicle [also being very deliberate about keeping the weight down, and only when I'm finished [are we ever finished?] will I decide on shocks and springs.

Please ignore the haters on youtube Andrew. Your videos are Fantasic and are compulsory viewing in our household.

Hi Andrew, do you think that the lighter leafs coupled with airbags may have been a suitable option as well?

Awesome work! Great to see the end result after so many months of following along the build process. It's also a great example of how you never stop learning - no matter how many years, decades, degrees or experience you have in a field. Only a complete moron think he's finished learning. Sadly - they are also the loudest ;) Looking forward to seeing both of these vehicles on the Canning!

Just an observation, you mentioned You don’t want to do a GVM upgrade. A GVM upgrade allows you to legally carry more weight so they add heavier springs and give you a mod plate to say you can carry said max weight. The GVM upgrade is basically saying there is a ceiling to the new weight you can carry within the limits of the max per axle weight. So You have turned around and put in 500 kg springs to affectively carry more weight because the 350 springs were maxing out the capacity to deliver a acceptable ride. So at the end of the day you have done your own Suspension upgrade but just keeping it in the limits of the factory GVM, no cert required. Materialistically all a GVM upgrade is is beefed up hardware to do the required job , Whether it be for better ride or stopping the rear end sagging or making sure the springs are working in their optimum range, it’s just certified. Pretty well every one that’s gone around and put in heavier springs than standard for carry capacity or Lift reasons they’ve done the hardware part part of a GVM upgrade just haven’t had it certified ,that’s the only difference. I’ve had my Hilux GVM upgraded pre-Rego, effectively all that’s increased is 500 kg springs in the back and front. Thank you for your videos I enjoy watching them and seeing new Overlanding equipment Evaluated and used

I’m confused… isn’t your front axle load limit 1400kg? You’re already over that with nil occupants?

fantastic 😁

Watching this makes me want to sell my kidney to buy and build something similar to take the family camping. Keep the videos coming