Is the 150 showing any signs of cracked inner guards

[150gg]

Just check the battery. It is a Century N70X. I haven't been on many corrigated roads. Well nothing I would call extreme or even close to it. Most of the K's have been on sealed roads.

[rob_macca67]

Yes I do have a ARB dual battery system installed. Not sure of the weight but it is a N70 battery. 60k km. Adelaide

Are u sure its an ARB one and not a Piranha Brand as they sell both. The ARB battery Carrier I've got would not fit a N70 battery in. A N70 batteries are usually 300mm long and the MAX battery that I can fit into my ARB carrier is 265mm in length.

Have or do u drive along many corrugated roads?

Just got ours back from being repaired by Toyota..... time will tell how things go from this point onwards....got the car for the next 3yrs b4 I have the option to change vehicles if I decide to (possibly a older 100's)

[150gg]

Your the 2nd one on here that has reported a crack on the RHS, most on here seem to be on the LHS where the main battery is...... Just curious, but do u have a dual battery and if so, what is the physical size and weight of it? What sort of Battery tray do u have??

You don't state how many kms u have on your car.... or your location ???

rob

Yes I do have a ARB dual battery system installed. Not sure of the weight but it is a N70 battery. 60k km. Adelaide

[KarlCaudwell]

Looks good. I hope it holds

[rob_macca67]

OK..... picked up the Prado today after repairs done..... reasonably happy with the results. Just got to decide what / where to put the 2nd battery. I'm thinking of 2 types of setups depending on the type of trip I plan to do.....

For any black top touring with the van in tow, I plan just to install a ARB battery carrier and a smaller battery back into where the space is provided on the drivers side.....
For more remote touring (tenting) where corrugated roads will be encountered, I thinking of relocating the Aux battery to the rear of the car and mount the 12v compressor in its place under the bonnet. Just need to have an easy way of swapping over between battery and 12v compressor. It's just an idea for the moment as I don't really trust having the Aux battery under the bonnet when driving on heavily corrugated roads. Majority of the time, the 2nd battery will be under the bonnet as our outback trips only happen once every 1>2yrs at the moment. This is just my thinking for the moment......

Pics:

[Schniff]

Hey Schniff.....

Was your cracks on the RHS or the LHS..... I seem to remember yours being on the LHS (not that really makes a difference I suppose)

Just thinking out loud here..... but if yours was on the LHS under the original battery its probably a bit hard going to a smaller/lighter MAIN battery.... But if I went to a smaller/lighter AUX battery for the RHS, do u reckon that would help reduce the chances of it happening again?? Probably clutching at straws here......

rob

Mine was passenger side.

I'm not an expert but I reckon it would lower the threshold, but you are still going to spend every trip worrying about it. With metal fatigue, once it starts to go it generally doesn't stop. Remove the battery, remove the problem and sleep well.

For the starting battery you could go an Optima red top that punches 720 CCA and only weighs 14.4kg, that's 7-8 kg less than the oem battery. I reckon anyone with a Prado that does hard yards should consider this option and relocate the aux to the rear. Anyone considering buying a prado for doing hard yards in comfort should instead save their pennies for a Landcruiser 200 GX IMHO or Disco 4 if you can live with Land Rover.

[rob_macca67]

They welded and added some plate reinforcement.
Did a real good job, you couldn't tell anything had been done. It cracked again not that far from where it had been repaired.

Hey Schniff.....

Was your cracks on the RHS or the LHS..... I seem to remember yours being on the LHS (not that really makes a difference I suppose)

Just thinking out loud here..... but if yours was on the LHS under the original battery its probably a bit hard going to a smaller/lighter MAIN battery.... But if I went to a smaller/lighter AUX battery for the RHS, do u reckon that would help reduce the chances of it happening again?? Probably clutching at straws here......

rob

[rob_macca67]

They welded and added some plate reinforcement.
Did a real good job, you couldn't tell anything had been done. It cracked again not that far from where it had been repaired.

Thanks for the heads up..... will look at relocating battery then....

[Schniff]

They welded and added some plate reinforcement.
Did a real good job, you couldn't tell anything had been done. It cracked again not that far from where it had been repaired.

[rob_macca67]

They didn't replace the guard?? May I strongly suggest you move the battery all together. Strengthening the area will just transfer the weakness elsewhere and just cause it to crack twice as fast.
Found that out the hard way.

No.... they didn't replace the guard as I knew they wouldn't with Toyota paying....

When they repaired yours, what did they actually do.... Did they cut the section out or just weld it up or added some reinforcing, etc ?

rob

[Schniff]

They didn't replace the guard?? May I strongly suggest you move the battery all together. Strengthening the area will just transfer the weakness elsewhere and just cause it to crack twice as fast.
Found that out the hard way.

[rob_macca67]

went down to the panel beaters today to how a look at how the repairs are going..... well, I must say I'm happy with what they've done and the re-inforcing that they've put in to strengthen that area..... Should get it back tomorrow. I think I will reduce the size battery that I use there as well just in case.....

Now.... Just got to plan our next outback trip to test the repairs out b4 lease and warranty runs out....

[rob_macca67]

Well.....

The Prado went in for its repairs today.... hopefully should get it back by the end of the week..... while its there its getting its 50k service as well. I had a look under it b4 dropping it off and notice a small wet patch of grease over the rubber on the rhs lower ball-joint. Looks like there might be a small pin size hole in the rubber.... we will see if they replace that as well.....

After dropping off the car to Toyota I went around to visit the people who will be repairing it. The guy was an older fella who's been in the game a long time.... He was VERY surprised to see the crack and in his opinion, he reckons it a design fault in the way the inner guard is shaped in that area.... He suggested some ideas on how to prevent it but in the end it will be a experiment as to whether it will work or not.....


ON A SIDE NOTE: The front suspension (top arm mainly) looks very much like the same top suspension arm on the 100's series which has been known to have the top ball joint rip out when the vehicle is lifted too high and it looses its downwards travel... can anyone tell me if the arms are the same or not??

[Schniff]

150gg, if Toyota won't cover it the dealer will have to pay for it to get it repaired. I dare say there will be some interesting words between the dealer principle and Toyota Australia.

[rob_macca67]

Your the 2nd one on here that has reported a crack on the RHS, most on here seem to be on the LHS where the main battery is...... Just curious, but do u have a dual battery and if so, what is the physical size and weight of it? What sort of Battery tray do u have??

You don't state how many kms u have on your car.... or your location ???

rob

Just found a crack in my RH side inner guard. 2010 150 series GXL. Took it to my Toyota dealer. He took photos, weighted the car etc. When I asked what happens from here he said its up to Toyota but the Prado's aren't designed for these steel bars (ARB)!! I said well you guys put it on!! If the Prado's aren't designed for the ARB bar then way did you put it on? I can guess what is going to happen here! Hopefully Toyota will stand by their 4WD's. Is it still Landcruiser country????