An 80 Series Land Cruiser Built for Grand Adventures

80 Series Land Cruiser Built for Grand Adventures

“Hank the Tank” is Anthony Sicola’s ‘94 80 Series Land Cruiser. He purchased this Toyota off-road beast in stock form back in 2010 with intentions to build it up and drive it around the world on a grand overland adventure. Life got in the way a bit, but this vehicle has still seen lots of travels and has some more grand adventures in its near future.

This 80 Series Toyota Land Cruiser came with the name “Hank the Tank” from its previous owner, and it just stuck. While Sicola is unsure of exactly how this Land Cruiser got its name, it is most likely from Will Farrell’s drunken alter ego character in the movie “Old School.” These days, this adventuremobile is usually just called “Hank.”

Grand Plans

Sicola and his wife Astrid found inspiration for their world travels in a news article about a man named Nicholas Rapp who drove around the world in a ‘96 Toyota Land Cruiser. Their wanderlust was piqued, and they decided to follow in Rapp’s tire tracks. They purchased Hank in 2010, and quickly set about building up the stock 80 Series for worldwide overland adventures.

They planned to start their big overland journey at the beginning of 2012 by driving south on the Pan American Highway to Ushuaia, Argentina. Unfortunately, Astrid was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in August 2011, and they were forced to abandon their around-the-world overland travel plans.

“BESIDES THE LIVING AND GEAR STORAGE SYSTEMS, SICOLA ALSO OUTFITTED HANK TO WITHSTAND SOME THE MOST DEMANDING OFF-ROAD ENVIRONMENTS IN THE WORLD.”

A Second Life

Even though a life changing disease halted the big overland trip, even before the wheels started turning, Hank has still been on some grand adventures all across North America. Sicola has driven it to 28 states, 3 Canadian provinces and 17 Mexican states so far. Sicola is also well known in the North American overland community these days, as he is the sales and communications director for Overland Expo.

In 2012, Sicola entered the Maya ‘End of the World’ Rally, which was set to finish on the day the Mayan calendar predicted that the world was going to end. Astrid was still too sick to travel, so Bryon Dorr joined the team. They named their team #teamAstrid. The rally was an overland style, location-and-challenge-based scavenger hunt, which took the team from Guanajuato, Mexico, to Bacalar, Mexico, over a ten-day period. Besides a little vapor lock issue while refueling at altitude in a remote mountain top Mexican village, Hank handled the 32-day, 7,000-plus mile adventure from Santa Cruz, California, without any issue. In the end, Hank carried #teamAstrid to the overall Rally win and a massive end of the world party in Bacalar.

Since the big Mexican rally adventure, Hank has only really seen one big change. Sicola recently swapped out his old, folding-style roof top tent, low-end awning— which required two people to set up—and heavy steel roof rack for an all-new roof top system.

The old, folding-style roof top tent was actually causing Sicola to pass on camping adventures, as it was a clumsy, awkward and time-consuming system to set up and break down. It used to take him 30 minutes to set up and 45 minutes to breakdown the tent system, and his new setup takes about 5 minutes to set up and 10 to breakdown. Sicola says, “We can now be sitting under our awning drinking a beer in the time it takes most people to open the cover on their roof top tent!”

Overland Mods

The biggest modifications on any overland adventuremobile are usually the shelter systems. Sicola now has an Alu-Cab Gen III Expedition roof top tent and Alu-Cab ShadowAwn 270 awning atop Hank. This hard shell RTT is crazy simple and fast to set up and breakdown while offering a ton of comfort and utility. The ShadowAwn wraps around two sides of the vehicle creating a massive shaded living space out of the weather. Maybe most importantly, it is easily and quickly set up and put away by one person.

Inside of Hank you’ll find the rear seats missing, a custom cargo divider behind where the rear seats usually are and a fully integrated storage system in the cargo area. The cargo divider keeps gear from flying forward during a sudden stop and makes gear and valuables harder to get to by thieves.

“HANK IS LIKE MOST ADVENTUREMOBILES, WELL SET UP, BUT NEVER FINISHED. SICOLA STILL WANTS TO REFINE A FEW SYSTEMS AND REFRESH THIS 80 SERIES A BIT.”

Custom rear window bars keep gear from breaking the rear slider windows and keeps thieves from accessing gear, even if they break out the rear side windows. An Outback Solutions Drawer System, with fridge slide, keeps gear secure and organized while also providing a secure, easily accessible mount for the ARB 50-quart 12v fridge/freezer.

A portable propane camp stove takes care of the cooking duties and is fueled by a Worthington 5lb propane tank mounted to the rear bumper swing out with an AT Overland Equipment bracket. A Tripp Lite 1250W industrial inverter offers up plenty of 110v electricity to power small electronics and charge camera batteries.

Under the hood you’ll find a Slee second battery tray kit holding down two Optima batteries, a Yellow Top primary and a Red Top secondary. A National Luna Dual Battery Controller manages the batteries. Besides a beefed up electrical system, mostly to handle the extra draw of the 12v fridge, the engine bay was left in stock form. Sicola intentionally left the engine alone, as sourcing OEM Toyota Land Cruiser parts in countries around the world is relatively easy, but sourcing custom upgraded parts can prove much more difficult.

Offroad Mods

Besides the living and gear storage systems Sicola also outfitted Hank to withstand some the most demanding off-road environments in the world. Hank is rolling on 33-inch BFG KO2 tries wrapped on American Racing Baja aluminum wheels.

To better bring the extra rolling weight of those bigger tires and a heavily loaded Land Cruiser to a stop, Powerstop front rotors and 100 Series brake pads were installed. Also, a full Old Man Emu (OME) 2.5-inch lift was installed in order to fit those bigger tires, gain some ground clearance and handle all the extra weight of the modifications. The suspension setup consists of OME medium front shocks, OME heavy rear shocks and OME coils at all four corners.

Once Sicola got Hank riding right, it was time to armor up. A quality airbag compliant ARB Deluxe Bull Bar protects Hank’s nose, while a Slee rear bumper with swing outs protects the rear. ARB side rails with fender protection help keep Hank’s sheet metal shiny and make it easier for passengers to get in and out of the truck.

The front bumper is the mount for two Light-force Blitz 240 HID off-road driving lights. The rear bumper swing outs carry a full-size spare, fuel and water jerry cans and offers a ladder for easy roof access. An ARB Safari Snorkel is mounted to the front passenger fender and provides clean, cool fresh air to the engine.

No proper overland vehicle would be complete without proper recovery tools. Mounted in the front bumper is a WARN M12000 winch running 150 feet of synthetic line. A Factor 55 Flatlink E allows for safe closed-system winching. A full complement of recovery gear, including a set of Maxtrax, is stashed inside the truck. An ARB Twin Compressor, along with a host of air accessories and a tire repair kit, make trailside tire repairs and airing down and back up again a breeze.

Hank’s Future

Hank is like most adventuremobiles, well set up, but never finished. Sicola still wants to refine a few systems and refresh this 80 Series a bit. Some near future mods include mounting Maxtrax to the Alu-Cab roof rails, repainting the hood and building out some secure storage in the rear seat area. Further out, Sicola hopes to upgrade the suspension and add a solar charging system for those longer stays off the grid.

Besides some small upgrades and refinements to Hank’s systems, the Sicola’s are most excited about some big overland adventures on the horizon. They have plans to drive Hank to Panama, across Canada and to Alaska in the next few years. This adventure-mobile is ready for action.

Adventure Dog

Sir Digby is the Sicola’s Jack Russell Terrier adventure dog. They rescued him from the California Central Coast Jack Russell Rescue about four and a half years ago. He loves rides in Hank, wilderness adventures and sleeping in the roof top tent. Sir Digby is excited about all the adventures with Hank on the horizon.

UPGRADES

Hank the Tank 80 Series

PLATFORM: 1994 TOYOTA 80 SERIES LAND CRUISER

ENGINE: 24-VALVE 4.5 LITER INLINE SIX-CYLINDER

SUSPENSION: OLD MAN EMU 2.5” LIFT, OME HEAVY REAR SHOCKS, OME MEDIUM FRONT SHOCKS, OME FRONT & REAR COILS, OME STEERING DAMPER

WHEELS, TIRES & BRAKES: 16” AMERICAN RACING BAJA ALUMINUM WHEELS, 285/75/16 BFG AT KO2 TIRES, POWERSTOP FRONT ROTORS W/100 SERIES BRAKE PADS

ACCESSORIES: ARB DELUXE BULL BAR, ARB SIDE RAILS W/FENDER PROTECTION, WARN M12000 WINCH W/WARN SPYDURA 150FT SYNTHETIC LINE, FACTOR 55 FLATLLINK E, SLEE REAR BUMPER W/TIRE CARRIER/LADDER & JERRY CAN HOLDER, LIGHTFORCE BLITZ 240 HID LIGHTS, ARB SAFARI SNORKEL, ALU-CAB LOAD BARS W/FRONT RUNNER BASES, ALU-CAB GEN III EXPEDITION RTT, ALU-CAB SHADOWAWN 270 AWNING, AT OVERLAND 5LB. PROPANE BRACKET, WORTHINGTON 5LB. PROPANE TANK, BROG SPARE TIRE BAG

INTERIOR: CUSTOM CARGO DIVIDER W/REAR WINDOW SLIDER BARS, OUTBACK SOLUTIONS DRAWER SYSTEM, OUTBACK SOLUTIONS DRAWER/FRIDGE SLIDE, ARB 50QT 12V FRIDGE/FREEZE, TRIPP LITE 1250W INDUSTRIAL INVERTER, ARB TWIN AIR COMPRESSOR, MAXTRAX, SLEE SECOND BATTERY TRAY KIT, OPTIMA YELLOW TOP BATTERY, OPTIMA RED TOP (SECONDARY BATTERY), NATIONAL LUNA DUAL BATTERY CONTROLLER