the chinook

The genesis story of the worlds first Land Cruiser Chinook.

A world of options

  After months of deliberating, we had a breakthrough. A complete rolling chassis of a 1996 fzj80 came up on marketplace. It was complete with axles, suspension and electronic locking differentials. Immediately we jumped on it. We brought it down to Westcan Overland and Jason confirmed that this new plan of swapping the entire chassis underneath the Chinook would be possible.

Picture this. 

It’s October 1st. You just heard the familiar whoosh of your text message making it’s way to your landlord giving your months notice. You have 31 days to finish building the motor home of your dreams and have it ready to drive to Denver, Colorado in the heart of winter.

Scary huh? More like thrilling!

Sometimes you have to reach into the back pocket of your own dream jeans and pull the card most unfamiliar. Unfamiliar, radical, obscene, but most importantly, not forgotten. Held in your hand is the reason you lay awake at night, the reason for a mid day smirk, the reason this life feels meaningful. Maybe this card is a lifestyle change, maybe it involves wealth. Maybe this card is double sided and covered with family photos. Maybe it’s covered in stamps. And if you’re lucky, you don’t need to brush the dust off the card because you visit this moment often. 

Our card is an abstract print of Toyota truck parts scattered among landscapes only seen in postcards. In the centre is our fully built Toyota Chinook ready to take on whatever the world wants to throw at it. Ambition radiates off this card, and we can’t help but get excited every time we look at it. 

Choosing to play this card could change our lives forever, and we’re ready. 

100 Days



After 100 days we sat in the machine that we spent countless hours bringing to life and left the place we called home to begin our biggest chapter yet.

In that hundred days we built the worlds first Landcruiser Chinook, the home on wheels that will take us around the world. Although we have the vehicle to point at and physically touch and show off, this build was so much more then that. 

This build brought to surface every feeling that life has to offer. The pure elation of the transformation brought smiles I didn’t even know we had. The joy of succeeding at tasks together as a team. The growing confidence we gained every day as we learned new skills and techniques. We celebrated every time a part fit because we knew that we were one step closer. We laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, and shared many high fives. If you’ve ever built something from the ground up, you know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. This build also tested how far we could push ourselves. With the addition of a deadline, we prioritized the finished product over most things. We lost a normal sleep pattern, our appetites, and all of our social life. There were tears, there was anger. When small tasks took days and parts stopped showing up, we questioned why we were doing this. 

Thankfully we left that Toyota covered card out on the table, and visited it every day. We knew why we were doing this. We knew this would give us the life we had been writing about for years. We knew it was going to be worth it.

So when we both sat in the tiny cab, felt the roll of the engine and it moved out of the shop, we were speechless. There are no words, it didn’t feel real. We kept waiting for the stall, the bump, the crash the bang. It never came. Everything we just built, worked. Sometimes there truly are no words for a feeling and I will remember that day for the rest of my life. 

Credit where it's due

Westcan Overland

The one outstanding key component that made this dream build possible is Westcan Overland 

The Story: Jade is actually the main reason Stacey and I are together. She knew I was into Toyotas and came and looked at an '87 4runner I had for sale. She didn't buy it (It was pretty janky) but I sent her the ad for "Jade" and told her if you don't buy this then I will. Well she bought it, and I ended up doing a bunch of work to it and that's when we got together. We had to squeeze quite a bit of lemon juice out of this rig but now she's better than ever and has taken us on our longest road trip to date.

The Specs: 

• 1985 Toyota 4runner
• Factory solid axle
• 22re with a W56 5 speed transmission
• New frame! Thanks to Fabsall and 100 hours of welding
• New everything pretty much lol!
• Custom front bumper by Westcan Offroad Design
• Custom rear bumper by Westcan Offroad Design
• With spare tire swingout 
• 4.30 diff gears F/R 
• 1st gen 4wd pickup grille swap
• LED headlight conversion
• 35x12.5x15 Antares Deep Diggers
• 15x8 Aluminum wheels custom painted
• Kenwood stereo with subwoofer and wakeboard speakers
• Custom 'chop-top'

The Story: Born from a combination of an '86 2wd from California and an '83 4wd from here in BC the Yeti made his debut in March 2018. He had been semi built by a friend of a friend of mine 5 years prior and sat most of the year only being driven a few times each summer. Before Stacey and I were dating, (I was totally courting her) I took her down to look at the truck with me (she's cool like that). We test drove it, and I new I wanted it, and she knew I was going to buy it. I said to her "this thing is like a sasquatch" and she said "nah, it's more like a Yeti." And so it was from that day forward. Since then he's had some significant upgrades in looks and performance. November 2020 he was rolled in an offroading accident and the cab was replaced with another '86 2wd cab (the blue one).

The Specs 

• 2wd to 4wd conversion
• 22re with 4 speed
• Dual transfer cases with twin sticks
• Custom front bumper from Westcan Offroad Design
• Custom rock sliders from Fabsall 
• 5.29 Yukon Gears F/R
• Lock right lockers F/R
• Custom thick wall driveshafts from Western Driveline 
• TG rear bumper
• OTT Hi Steer with FJ80 "555" tie rod ends and ARP knuckle studs
• Big brake upgrade/braided brake lines
• 37x12.5x15 Interco TrXus tires
• Currently on 15x10 Daytona Steelies painted bronze
• Mint interior with custom center console and wicked stereo set-up
• Magnaflow 2.5" exhaust with stainless tip
• Bilstein 14" 5125 shocks
• Runva XP11500 Winch, synthetic rope and wireless remote