How I built a 4×4 HiAce campervan

Say what? A 4×4 Toyota HiAce? You betcha! High and low range, diff locks, the lot. Here’s how I converted by HiAce to a 4×4 campervan.

I was faced with a dilemma for an upcoming nine-week trip we were planning through The Flinders Ranges, Red Centre, and returning to our NSW coastal hideaway. Sure, my Troopy could be converted to sleep in and would be more than capable of the trip, but it just doesn’t provide the living comfort we wanted.

So, the search for my perfect 4×4 touring vehicle started. I crossed off many vehicle types for a multitude of reasons, even though some would excel in certain aspects of our planned trip; Unimog, OKA, various 4×4 trucks, Troopy with a chopped rooftop, slide-on camper onto a ute or tray, or other camper vans with constant all-wheel drive. Plus, we also shook our heads at towing anything, so that ruled out camper trailers and caravans.

The newer style Toyota HiAce (300 Series designation) had me thinking. The overall width of it allowed for an east/west bed (it’s quite wide compared to my Troopy). The internal living space has a lot going for it; it would allow us to walk in via two side sliding doors, stand up, access a permanently made bed, access food, clothes and most other storage, plus a kitchen for cooking inside if we had to in poor weather.

The major negative was that the Toyota HiAce isn’t a 4×4, which is the number one must-have on our checklist.

I don’t accept standard

I’m happy to cut, chop and modify to get what I want. I cottoned on to EnduroCo 4×4, who specialise in converting the 300 Series HiAce to 4×4, predominantly for the mining sector. And after much thought, signed the dotted line to purchase a brand spanking new HiAce, truck it to EnduroCo 4×4 in Melbourne for the conversion, then have it kitted out as a campervan.

Having this conversion done pre-rego presents a few advantages (to us); it becomes federally approved, so enables it to be registered and on-sold (if we ever wanted to) easily to any state of Australia. We also opted for the pre-rego GVM upgrade to 4200kg, which allows us to cart more than a standard Troopy. Having everything legal also helps with 4WD insurance if anything ever goes wrong on our travels.

While a few proprietary, custom parts are used in the conversion, it consists of grafting a 200 Series LandCruiser front end with steering, brakes and suspension. The kicker in the transformation is the incorporation of the 200 Series Cruiser transfer case, which provides a full-time 4×4 system with centre diff-lock for the HiAce, as well as high and low range selection. That’s why this 4×4 converted van is superior to any other off-the-shelf system that Mercedes, Volkswagen or anyone else can currently supply new.

I ticked a few other boxes in the HiAce 4×4 conversion too…

I also ticked a few other boxes in the conversion; a rear E-Locker, Tanami snorkel, 175-litre long-range fuel tank, full underbody protection plates and rock sliders to protect from rock rash given the overall ground clearance is still a little low compared to my Troopy. A complete Pedders suspension kit and upgraded braking system to back up the GVM upgrade were also installed on the HiAce at Enduroco 4×4.

I also thought outside the square by fitting a Bush Company 180-degree awning. No, you can’t buy mounts to fit this type of awning, so I had them custom-made by a local fabricator and Nutsert/Rivnut onto the van’s body. We also used two canvas walls a few times to keep wind and rain out while cooking and spending time under the awning. The system worked a treat and other than my inability to reach it without a step, it was fast and easy to set up.

I’m too tall

Given I stand at six feet on the dot, I still can’t quite stand up straight inside the high-roofed SLWB HiAce. So we had Jacana Motorhomes (at Taree NSW) install their pop-top roof, which is gas strut assisted to allow a reasonably easy lift. The opened, sloped roof incorporates canvas walls with large, zipped openings to expose insect screens on three sides, allowing internal heat to escape and a beaut breeze to keep the insides fresh.

I also had Bushranger 4×4 Gear / Kingsley Enterprises install a set of side sliding windows with insect screens to allow more natural light in and even more ventilation.

My internal design

We looked at many off-the-shelf campervan fit-outs for our HiAce 4×4 and crossed them off our list. Yep, they mainly offer some fancy-looking and comfortable floor plans, nice leather-clad seating and plush materials, but we wanted something else.

Instead, I drafted a 3D internal fit-out with natural-lacquered, lightweight ply that could be cleaned easily as needed and offered maximum storage for clothes, food, camping gear, recovery gear and tools for lengthy and remote touring.

Water, fuel and power

Water

Most campervan conversion mobs offered us 70 or 80 litres of water, which I couldn’t restrict myself to, given our want to be self-sufficient for long periods in remote places. I ended up with two 48-litre rear-mounted wheel arch tanks that are gravity fed via a drinking hose and manual tap. Point the hose down, turn the tap on, and water comes out. Tap off, hitch the hose up, and it stops – simple!

Behind the driver and passengers’ seats on the HiAce 4×4 conversion, I also fitted a pair of 60-litre water tanks connected to a Shurflo 12-volt water pump. This allows us to pump water to a kitchen flick mixer on the passenger side kitchen and the rear-mounted shower flick mixer. That gives us 216 litres of water. Yes, it is about 216 kgs (plus the weight of the containers) extra to cart around. That’s one of the reasons for the GVM upgrade!

Fuel

A replacement 175-litre diesel tank has been massaged into the standard tank position but takes up a lot more length alongside the tail shaft. A long-range fuel is a must, so it was non-negotiable.

Power

12-volt power is via a complete RedArc system for this HiAce 4×4 campervan. It incorporates two 200amphour lithium batteries (400 amps all up), a 2000-watt inverter, the manager 30, Rogue system and a screen to allow complete control inside. When outside, it can be controlled via the phone app. While there is a permanently mounted 275-watt solar panel on the pop-top roof, we also carry a 240-watt RedArc solar panel for when camped up for extended periods to ensure the batteries stay topped up.

Heating

We installed an Eberspacher diesel heating system to heat water for both the kitchen and shower flick-mixers. It also allows hot air to be ducted inside the HiAce cabin for heating on chilly nights. A bit of luxury for me!

The fridge

We opted for a MyCoolman 96-litre fridge freezer to store all our cold and frozen food, and I’m happy to say it performed faultlessly. This is the first time I’ve travelled with a freezer while camping, and wow, the great food we took with us, thanks to the enormous capacity and the ability to store frozen foods for long periods.

How’d it go?

10,000 km in nine weeks, via an awful lot of dirt roads, smooth and rough, potholed and corrugated, low range rock-hopping, sandy dry riverbeds, and a couple of beaches saw the HiAce 4×4 conquer the lot. But, in all fairness and giving myself a massive pat on the back, it only managed via my bloody careful driving and mechanical sympathy.

Ya’ see, even though the van has been lifted an overall 150mm from standard, it lacks ground clearance, especially given that the SLWB (super longer wheel base) suffers with ramp-over angles. I’ve given the rock sliders and underbody armour one hell of a hard time, slowly sliding over rocks, boulders and ledges that could easily have inflicted more damage than we scored. Again, my driving got us through.

Tyres; I’ll admit I was most hesitant at using the supplied Yokohama G015 all-terrain tyres on the HiAce 4×4 campervan. Sure, they are LT rated and designated as an all-terrain pattern, but that pattern left me with little confidence for mud or hard-core offroad tracks where traction is king. I wasn’t even confident in them lasting the long-term abuse of gibber-strewn dirt tracks, so I purchased a second spare and a double pack of tyre plugs, just in case.

Yokohama, I eat my words …

But, Yokohama, I eat my words and bow to how these tyres performed throughout this trip. They performed almost faultlessly. On road, as you’d expect, they were perfect in dry, wet, slow and fast conditions returning a quiet, precise steering feedback. I can not express enough my amazement at how well the G015 handled fast dirt and gravel tracks without a single chip to be seen. I had bet money that they would see severe chipping, staking and blowouts, and I’d be limping into remote towns on the steel rims. Boy was I wrong!

They performed faultlessly on the sandy tracks and beach runs with lowered pressures. So, will I continue to use them? I’d still prefer to have something with a bit more bite to the tread when we get into more muddy and slippery track conditions. Something along the lines of the newly released Yokohama A/T XD G017 looks like the goods for still offering decent on-road performance and a more off-road, high traction-oriented pattern.

If the carcass and rubber compound are as good as my current G015 tyres, they’ll surely be a winner. Not that I want a mud terrain tyre on the HiAce 4×4, but the next step up to Geolandar M/T G003 looks to be a superb replacement for my Troopy when it’s due. Horses for courses, I know, but I’m rather excited about trying different tyre patterns and compounds.

Future enhancements

To be honest, I don’t think in its current guise, the HiAce would make it without a lot of help, via the challenging tracks to places like Cape York, the Kimberley or other such exciting remote touring destinations. Given that’s what we want to tackle, I’ll look into ways to make the HiAce 4×4 more of a genuine go-anywhere campervan.

How?

Initially, I’ve been waiting for a new style of winch-compatible bull bar to be crash-tested and ADR approved. It also incorporates two rated recovery points and upswept outer wings for much-improved approach angles to replace the horrendously low plastic bumper bar. It will also provide a perfect purchase to mount decent driving lights. Stay tuned for that update.

Next, I’ll talk with an engineer about a suspension lift, larger tyres and any other means I can legally use. There is the possibility I can’t legally do much else to gain ground clearance, but I’ll get back to you regardless.

In regards to the drive, I’m happy with just a rear E-Locker, but a front locker would be a perfect off-road enhancement. As I mentioned, the lighting will be upgraded and will be most kind to the eyes – again, stay tuned on that front.

As for the winch, I am waiting on an exciting new winch to be installed and tested. Lighter, smaller, faster; I’m busting to give it a whirl but can’t say much more yet.

Hop onto Facebook and search “Aussie HiLander” for all the tracks and fantastic destinations we put the HiAce 4×4 through on its maiden voyage.

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