Maroon Prado 120 Setup Ideas / Opinions - What looks good on a RED Prado if anything.

[RedThing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RedThing]

Looking for ideas please.

We have a 2005 Prado 120 GXL Petrol, Red/Maroon with the standard stuff on it plus:
- Dual battery setup to run the Engal (Two Century batteries, one deep cycle. With Traxide SC80-12 unit)
- UHF
- BFG All Terrains Tyres
- Portable Air Compressor

- Had it a couple of years now and will most likely keep it for a good number of years still. Even it is getting up around the 180,000KM mark.

- Done some touring up to Alice Springs and around the place

Now we are looking for some ideas and opinions for setting the Prado up with some more gear for a good touring 4x4.

Being RED I'm struggling to decide what colour and style of bull bar to install. I like the look of the ARB bars but the only bar and colour I have seen that suits the RED is the alloy Sovereign Bar.

We mainly want it for touring and camping weekends really. Nothing to serious off road.

Main things I'm looking at doing is:

- Lift Kit - The standard original springs are getting a bit saggy. Recommended brands for good touring springs and shocks suited for Outback travel up the centre etc??
- Bull Bar - What colour would suit the red and preferences on the styles available??
- Roof Racks / Basket - Thinking about just a rhino bar setup or ARB. Mainly for chucking some fire wood on top, shovel, fuel.

Any thoughts.




Wiring still needs cleaning up. Two Century batteries, one deep cycle. With Traxide SC80-12 unit.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Hey mate,

Welcome to the team, I really enjoy giving advice on turning a stocker into a rocker, seeing as I have recently done this myself, albeit to a 90 series!

When it comes to your mentioned 'lift kit', I tend to believe that many people want to achieve looks over functionality when it comes to this gear. I would recommend spending good money on what is essentially keeping your vehicle from looking and behaving like a stagecoach. I have Lovells springs and KYB Excel shocks and find the combination to be affordable and comfortable. I would say that Old Man Emu or a combination of Lovells springs and Bilstein shocks to be probably some of the safest options and giving a long lasting and high quality result. Also pay attention to the spring rates, so that you get the right ones for your loading. A heavily loaded car (read: fridges, steel bars, winches, dual batteries) will obviously need HD springs to support it.

Bullbars are always a subjective topic. I have an ARB Deluxe and its a solid piece of kit. The optional colour coding is not however. I have found it to be very thin and it scratches incredibly easily. I would go the standard black powdercoat if I had my time again. I think you'd find that black would suit the burgundy nicely, and save yourself a few bob too. I looked at some of the cheap copies coming out of Asia and figured the extra couple of hundred bucks was worth it for a proven product. Although for the price, I would expect ARB to be including LED indicators and parkers with stainless steel fixtures by now.

I can't speak from experience about the roof rack, so I won't go into that, although I has a Rhino tray on my old Surf and gave it a hammering. Very good quality and workmanship.

All the best and keep us posted as you start to add stuff. Remember, you only get what you pay for.

Reidy

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

I've seen a Flinders Prado with a colour coded ARB bar on here (not sure where) and it looked really good.

If I find it I'll let you know! There are a few threads on here where people have asked for pics with various bullbars fitted - they might be a good start.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

One of the SA guys, Crowey has red 120 with color coded bar and it looks fine. My ARB bar is color coded but I got the local crash shop to paint it, they used a special painy hardener and it is vary good finish and at least as tough as the powder coating it replaces.

So many options for suspension, have look in the suspension section and read,read, read! I have the OME and am happy with them.

Cheers Andrew

[iantz Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close iantz]

Kitting the car up for touring? Lift kit = definitely. I went with the Ironman setup and have been very happy with it. The handling is better, although stiff in the rear as I went with HD coils. Once I put the camper on, or load the back up, it's very good. I would buy them again, personally. I don't necessarily subscribe to the 'you get what you pay for' mentality in its entirety. I think that you need to research what it is you want/need and find the product that suits. Certainly, if you spend pittance on something, then don't expect much in the way of quality. But, there's quality products out there that range drastically in price and you can safely save dollars on some modifications.

As per kitting up with other goodies for touring: Bullbar is a good idea if going remote, and is useful for mounting spotties which are also useful when out bush on the highway. You should also seriously consider an air compressor for adjusting tire pressures on the go. A roof basket is good if you're actually going to use it, and I see lots of cars getting around with nothing on top. So spend your money elsewhere if you have the room inside the vehicle in my opinion. I have a platform on the roof as opposed to a cage. I've never had problems tying anything down on the platform and would go with one again.

Good luck with the build. But, I should warn you that Pradopoint.com is a bad place to be if you only want a 'few' mods, as so much goes on here you'll find yourself doing every and any mod to your car that you can think of!

[butane8 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close butane8]

i think " iantz ",pretty much said it all...

the iron man suspension package for the prado is what a person like yourself needs to start with... cost for buck, quality and improvement to your prado.. the ride is nice .. no probs here, and was one of my first mods.. still happy..

as far as the colour goes mate... good luck with that maybe a respray or a lot of dust and mud... keep it dirty it'll look tuff'er

the advice is if ya get too in love with the " purple people eater " be prepared to stop .plan what you want at the end and work backwards to a rational beginning.. evan now the ironman 40mm lift was better than the mickey thompsen's as far as improving the useage quality of your prado... i you cant see what you want ,.... wait spend money on something else..

cheers butane

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Crowey has red 120 with color coded bar and it looks fine.

Thanks AJ - thats who I was thinking of.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

If u like the sovereign bar look I have seen some Steel bars painted silver to give a similiar look to chrome?? Food for thought.


Hutch- 2012 Prado 150, some TJM Kit.

[RedThing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RedThing]

Cheers all for the input. Options options options.

Lift Upgrade
First mod I'm going to do is the suspension upgrade with the lift for sure. Interesting points made above about the Ironman setup for cost verse performance. After all the reading over the last months on suspension opinions I'm reading about Bilsteins shocks and King Springs alot, then OME, Lovells etc.

The good thing is my brother in law has a mechanic shop and has offered to help with the job of fitting the gear, so that will be a good cost saver. The issue I am struggling with is picking the spring and shock combination.

If I just go for one of the big name brands mentioned above I guess you can hardly go wrong?

Bar
In regards to the bar, its not that urgent. Main reason for getting the bar is for extra protection and extra entry and exit clearance height in the front end. I think I'll take a trip down to ARB in Bayswater and get a closer look at the models and colours. Theres got to be something that will make a red prado look half good.

Racks:
I agree with iantz comment on the racks. I am in the same opinion that the roof racks most likely will just become an annoying addition most of the time that hardly will be used. The main reason I'm thinking about racks, is for the touring trips to get stuff out of the car and chuck firewood up on top, get the shovel out of the car, and possibly load some extra fuel or the gas bottle up there if need. Other than that all our other gear fits neatly in the back. Think ill leave that one for a while.

Regarding the other bits and pieces. We have a portable air compressor that we carry, and have replaced the Grandtreks with a set of BFG All Terrain.

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Yep stick with the name brand suspension. My tip is to go for medium springs but put polyairs in the back for when you are loaded. This works well and they can be let down when there is no load so you get a softer ride. I have OME medium springs and OME nitrocharger sport shocks. 60,000 km old now and still fine after CSR,Arnhem Land, Simpson,all of the main desert tracks in the centre as well as the high country.The backs fade a bit after an hour or two of corrugations but always come back when allowed to cool a bit.I may chuck a couple of Billsteins on the back if I do another desert trip but for the moment they are fine. Neil

[crowey Member Find all posts View Profile Close crowey]

One of the SA guys, Crowey has red 120 with color coded bar and it looks fine.

Cheers Andrew

Looks fine???? Pfft....' It looks bloody awesome

Redthing, i think there are a few pics on here of it, if you want a few pics, pm me your email address and ill send some through

Cheers
Crowey

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Looks fine???? Pfft....' It looks bloody awesome

Redthing, i think there are a few pics on here of it, if you want a few pics, pm me your email address and ill send some through

Cheers
Crowey

Well Awesome for a red Prado, would look better if it was white

There was another red Prado at the GTG with the colour coded ARB bar, no reason not to go the colour code.

Cheers Andrew

[RedThing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RedThing]

Ended up buying a set of Bilstein shocks BE5-A713 and BE5-A712 and King Springs (Medium) KTFR101 and KTRR102.

Haven't fitted them yet. But looking forward to it. The old shocks have had it, so expecting the ride to be much better.

Just had a new window screen fitted and the first trip up country, sure enough we get a truck coming towards us that kindly threw up two stones and has left me with a nice crack running down the window screen again. so annoyed.

[RedThing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RedThing]

Finally fitted the Bilstein shocks and King springs on the 120 Prado.

ride seems good but one thing that is a surprise and not so good, is when you take it over a speed hump slow or fast the front wheels seem to skip/hop/jump as they come down like the shocks are not extending far enough or something. Has anyone had any experiences like this?

Going of many forums most people seems to use the BE5-A713 and BE5-A712 models so I thought it should be fine.

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

Maroon isn't red. Ferraris are red, Alpha Romeos are red, Corvettes are red. Your Prado is Maroon. If you want a red one, bring it to me and I'll paint it for $10K. I'll even chuck on some neat silver flame graphics.