Athertons 2010 Prado 150 GXL D4D Build

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Thanks mate, I had thought that they would throw the speedo out a little, but it doesn't seem to have too much. One thing I have noticed (having little experience in changing tyre sizes before) is that the car seems to roll on a lot more- If that makes sense. Being an Auto it had very little "engine braking" to begin with, and has basically none now (or that's my seat of the pants feeling at least). Road noise is similar to my old Continental AT's, might be a touch louder, but nothing silly- I just turn the wireless up a bit more I'm told that as they wear in a bit more they'll get a bit quieter as well, they've probably only got 150kms on them at the minute.

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Have a talk to John at Zordos about suspension. Worth a trip to the big smoke.

Wish I had of seen this earlier mate, just looked at his website. To be honest I think I've got the same kit from Superior Engineering that Zordos sell- Those being Bilstein Struts with Dobinson coils?

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Wish I had of seen this earlier mate, just looked at his website. To be honest I think I've got the same kit from Superior Engineering that Zordos sell- Those being Bilstein Struts with Dobinson coils?

Probably the same. John looks after his customers.

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Something that has been on my mind is the situation with drawers and back seats- My initial inclination was to rip them out and put a set of drawers in, but I've been told that I need a modplate for that as I'm reducing the seating in the car- Can anyone confirm in this is true? In addition, can anyone reccomend a set of drawers for under 1K. I know Supacenter do them, but they don't make a set of wings for the 150. If I can't find a cheapish set somewhere I was thinking of either modifying a wing kit to suit, or perhaps even making my own- Some of the solutions I've seen (Looking at you ARB) seem pretty expensive for what they are.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

If it is a permanent change then yes you need a mod plate to drop to 5 seats and a mod plate to go back to 7. That includes taking the seats out and not having any set plan to refit them until sale time.

What I do is refit the seats during the year and make a note of that... It is doubtful that you would be caught out anyway.

With regards to the rear set up I made a base board and side wings and fitted a fridge and battery on the driver's side. Battery box has a BCDC charger and Anderson plugs for solar and alternator in feeds. That allows the set up to be easily removed and refitted. Look at this link:

http://www.pradopoint.com.au/showthr...-D4D-automatic

The woodwork and carpet was less than $150 and a couple of weekends.

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Looks good mate, cheers for that. My BCDC charger is in the bonnet with the second battery so I'd not need it there. What I would like to fit is an upgraded inverter (hopefully in the space where the factory one is. I've drawn up a cad drawing of what I want it to look like if I go down the path of building my own. (the white lines at the back are where I'd have the battery installed)- Was planning on sitting it on its side so it'd fit within the profile of the drawer base.

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Picked up my shocks from Superior Engineering today (and got a replacement Compressor from 4wd Supacenter). Can highly reccomend both, superior were really easy to deal with in change of plans with the pickup arrangements, and 4wd SC were fantastic with a RMA claim- Even if their stuff is a bit shite compared to decent brands, I was really impressed with the no questions asked attitude and they were really helpful with arranging a replacement and offered to ship it to me even without the return of the old unit.

Attached are some pics of the big girls shiny new stockings- Which hopefully will go in this weekend sometime.

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Shocks went in this weekend, really happy with the ride so far. They perform great offroad, although they are a touch firmer on road and perhaps a little more jittery on really minor imperfections in a bitument road that they old gear would have softened up because it wallowed so much (if that makes any sense). On the hard stuff it is a million miles better and the cars feels so much more composed when hitting ruts and big corrogations. I've managed to obtain a lift increase of over 60mm as my springs and struts had sagged so much at the front and the car now looks a lot "tougher" than it previously did. I've attached some before and after shots to give an idea of how much it has been raised. The first shows the car as I purchased it, the second is with some 265/70 BFG KO2's fitted without the lift, and the third is as she stands today. Pretty dramatic how the whole stance of the car has changed- I'll actually be able to drive up the beach now without feeling like I'm a grader

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

What are your heights front and rear (bottom lip of rim to guard)?

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Just had a look now mate, don't know how accurate it is as she's parked on a bit of a slope outside the man cave. At she's sitting it's 825 on the back and 810 on the front. I did complete measurements as part of the install, however I took them from the center of the wheel to the guards.

[juz Member Find all posts View Profile Close juz]

The rear looks low. Should be around 840mm.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Front is a tad high too but I would expect that to settle to around 800. Full fuel tanks? Rear is a bit low. If you add 1/2 17" to your earlier measurements how do the measurements compare?

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

Nah, she's at about 1/2 tank of fuel. I'm going into town today to get a wheel alignment and everything checked out by a reputable suspension place in town (Gympie). I've taken photos of how I've been measuring the height just to clear up any confusion. My measurements last night were a bit off (probably not surprising since i was trying to juggle a torch and tapemeasure at the same time )

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Measuring is correct.

[Atherton Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Atherton]

I think technically the lift is 40mm on the front, however this wouldn't account for the droop in the rear- When compared to others here it'd be interesting to see if those heights are consistent with these types of struts and spring combinations. I've attached a photo of my docket for refrence on exactly what I got. As for the front being a bit high, I've got heavier springs in there than I technically need at the moment- The winch has yet to go in with the bash plates, and that alloy bar is getting swapped out for a steel one. EDIT: Call me inattentive, but I just saw on the docket that those rear springs are marked as SWB- I wonder if I've been given the incorrect springs as I've obviously got the 5 door model.