The Apprentice

No money? No problems … neat HiLux is the resultof hard work and meticulous planning.

- Dan Everett

I HAVE been a big proponent of apprenticeships ever since I failed my own spectacularly. While their primary purpose is to teach the ins and outs of a specific trade, they more often than not equip you with a set of skills you’ll use almost every day of your life. From knowing when to shut your mouth and when to point out those more qualified are doing it wrong, to hands-on skills and the ability to make a few hundred bucks for a Saturday’s work. But, without a doubt, the one skill that’s universal across every apprenticeship is learning how to achieve your goals with barely two cents to rub together. While the Hilux you’re looking at now might have had a few key upgrades when apprentice electrician Taylor Shaw got his hands on it, it’s that can-do attitude which turned it into the off-road beast it is today. 

When Taylor first took the keys two years ago, the live-axle conversion had already been undertaken by a local fab shop – with a few loose ends left to tie up. The custom 4x4 shop had sliced and diced the OEM independent front end away from the chassis and grafted into place a custom live-axle housing based off an 80 Series Cruiser. It runs an 80 Series diff centre, axles and steering knuckles, but the whole lot has been shoehorned into a one-off sheet-metal housing with the pumpkin flipped to the passenger side to suit the Hilux’s transfer case drop. The arrangement is held in place with a set of off-the-shelf 80 Series radius arms and a Panhard rod, all going to custom-fabricated mounts on the ’Lux’s frame. While the hot-glue gun was out, an 80 Series steering box was added to the arrangement, with extensive plating to reinforce the chassis.