shorty - pros and cons

[NatSX Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close NatSX]

I'm interested in thoughts of others who've actually owned a shorty..... even if, God forbid, not a prado. I love my sx but have at times wondered if I should have paid a few more $grand for a gxl.
pro's:
tow rating higher..... but don't use it
maneuverable in Bush and carparks
rampover angle better
I took back seats out so it's never my turn to drive to lunch, pub etc if there's more than 2 people
more affordable at the time though looking back probably not a big difference
slight advantage in soft sand due to weight?
slightly better fuel economy?

cons:
more difficult getting stuff out of middle of car when touring the outback
obviously a bitch if you have kids in carseats, which I don't
no one seems to make sliders, drawers, cargo barriers etc standard for a shorty

Whart are your thoughts and why?
I use mine as daily driver in city, for weekends in high country, outback touring...... mostly don't go for super hardcore stuff but have been known to stumble across the odd sticky situation.

Nat.

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

I have had an SX since very shortly after they arrived. It must have been a quiet day/week/month as they had one in a suitable colour and I got a huge discount and an unbelievable trade in.

Really like the size, manoeuvrability and economy around the city and in the traffic. Much easier to park than our Subaru Liberty and uses substantially less fuel around town.

Hate that there is no back door to throw the briefcase and bags of groceries in and if you toss it on the front passenger seat the seat belt warning alarm goes off.

I started four wheel driving in a Landcruiser BJ73 mid wheel base which I ditched for a four door Patrol when we had a kid. I kept up with Patrols until he learnt to drive and then downsized.

The big four door with a cargo barrier made it easy to indiscriminately throw stuff in the back and it was all easy to get to. We now tow a small camper trailer in the bush and have enough space but need to pack a lot more carefully.

It is completely standard except for dual batteries and Polyairs in the back springs. We had no trouble driving Melbourne to Darwin with three people doing the Flinders ranges, Oodnadatta track, Lake Eyre when it was full, the West MacDonald ranges, Litchfield, Kakadu and Darwin. A second trip to Ayers Rock via Oodnadatta track again, Dalhousie, Mt Dare and Finke. Without all the "extras" hanging on the outside we had no trouble getting it and the camper on the Ghan for the trip home.

Biggest complaint is the last trip sandblasted the camper removing any exposed paint not protected by the inadequate stone guard. The pissy little mudflaps on the SX are a joke. The shcks on the camper look like they were hit with a 12 gauge loaded for elephant. An extra 20 Litres of fuel would make our trips a bit easier.

My only other significant complaint is that so far I have not been able to suppress the noise from the engine and electricals so that we can use the HF radio whilst mobile. Still a work in progress.

No more Shorties. Hurrumpf!

S.

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

I have a "God forbid, not a prado" shorty and it has been a great vehicle over the past 5.5 years.
It does support all the standard accessories in the front bit (winch/bar/dual battery etc) that the poorer longer cousins have available.
I have an Aux tank so 120 litres of diesel available, uprated suspension and polyairs
Constructed my own shelf to sit my Waeco on as there was no point leaving it sitting on the floor when I can get 60 litres of storage boxes underneath the fridge.
The local Milford dealer fitted a cargo barrier to mine based on arms available as spares from other vehicles and the LWB set didn't fit.
Car has gone everywhere it has been asked to go Cape York, Flinders Ranges, Simpson Desert, Simpson Desert via Hay River Track etc with myself and two kids onboard. I have learnt the art of Tetris packing including using a Rhino bag on the roof. For the longer 3 week trips we always plan for top up stops as none of the group wants to carry 3 weeks of suppliers as it makes little sense.

My 60% rear seat sits permanently in the garage so I can transport others if needed but if it's only me cargo barrier goes in and 40% seat sits next to the 60%.

Now if the challenger had been available at the time I might have purchased it as the next step up in size below the full mid sized vehicles, and sometimes my kids do think they should have a door each. As they are now 10 and 14 they have long since come to understand the life in a shorty.

[NatSX Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close NatSX]

sweetpea,
I hear ya on the "no back seat for the groceries" thing.....and my bloody dog sets off the seatbelt alarm about 30‰ of the time as well as being a crap navigator. I'm interested you mention radio noise - in the Simpson desert this year I could not get anything on the standard radio but a mate in a challenger could get various am radio stations. I've been meaning to start a thread on it. I have uhf but not hf so don't know your issue..
Nat.

[NatSX Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close NatSX]

hi Josh,
the hay river track is a great trip isn't it...... I certainly don't have a problem with the places my shortly can take me and glad you have enjoyed yours too.." might have to put the smaller back seat back in.

[geertpike1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close geertpike1]

I love shorty's. i had a BJ71-13Bt,after that 120 shorty now a 150 shorty.
I have another car for riding with wife and kids.
Greetz from Belgium

[geertpike1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close geertpike1]

[geertpike1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close geertpike1]

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

My only other significant complaint is that so far I have not been able to suppress the noise from the engine and electricals so that we can use the HF radio whilst mobile. Still a work in progress.

No more Shorties. Hurrumpf!

S.

Out of curiosity, what have you guys attempted as a means to suppress the noise? I'm an autoelec/accessories fitter and there has never been noise I can't get rid of.

[fatty boy Member Find all posts View Profile Close fatty boy]

I am happy with my shorty 99% of the time. There are times when I wished I had 4doors. But to get some of features I wanted in 4doors is gonna cost me a lot more.
A few disappointments with shorty is that -
- we lost aux-tank. To added that it is ~13/1400.
- not much room at all for stuff to carry, unless fold the seats. I used to carry full carton of water bottles/ fully packed overnight back and still able to do grocery shopping. One can say that the <a href="https://www.catalogueau.com/">catalogues</a> are helpful for saving more but who knows?

Other than that - I am happy with mine so far.

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

If you take the seats out do you get heaps of room versus some more room?

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

Out of curiosity, what have you guys attempted as a means to suppress the noise? I'm an autoelec/accessories fitter and there has never been noise I can't get rid of.

So far not a lot.

I followed someone else's advice and fitted clip on ferrites from Jaycar to the injector cable, good earthing to the antenna and receiver and filtering to the 12V supply to the radio.

I have no antenna mount at the moment but before the next trip I'll try bonding the body to the chassis, the bonnet and back door (if I mount the antenna on the spare) and the exhaust.

If that doesn't work I'll buy a satphone.

I have been running HF in the mobile since the seventies and this is the first vehicle that has been anywhere near so difficult. 3.6Mhz was OK but I didn't drive at night, 7Mhz was poor, 8 Mhz was really poor and 14/15Mhz was completely obliterated.

Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

S.

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

Nice! but that dark colour would be a bitch to keep clean in the dust and really hot in the sun as I had no aircon.

I had big tyres on my BJ-73 and they looked good but I thought they were a bit too big and a bit of a handful on long, corrugated high speed runs if not fully loaded. They also tended to float a bit on sloppy mud which lead to a few anxious moments.

S.

[Wannabe Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wannabe]

I have the SX and really like. I took put the back seats and put in a water tank. I got a set of drawers made up from Drifta. They already make about the same size for the FJ Cruiser, anyway they will custom make. I plan to replace the 87L fuel tank with a 137L one.

[SOL Find all posts View Profile Close SOL]

I love my SX. Like all things horses for courses. Not all 4WD's suit all people witch is great because we now have the diversity of vehicle types that we can debate the pros and cons of. It is of no concern having the two extra doors. Their is a back door to throw all my junk in.. I have decided to drop the left and rear seat out and put draws in when I have saved enough to by them.

SOL.