Is the 150 showing any signs of cracked inner guards

[Schniff]

Rob, I feel your pain mate.
Toyota will blame the bullbar and second battery no doubt. Read through this thread regarding the 'pendulum' theory. I assume by right side you mean drivers side? If so remove the 2nd battery and don't go offroad as it will get much worse very quickly. My passenger guard has all but separated from the radiator support panel!

Another failure at the two year mark... I don't think too many people would be inspecting the guards on a regular basis, I mean why would you? Makes you wonder if the problem might be a bit more widespread.

[SWR]

Gday rob_macca67

Before you go to Toyota i would put the rig over a weigh bride and take the GVM and especially the front axle weight certif with you!

If all within spec (Not close to max spec) then you have them by the balls.

If close to front axle weight then loose some weight and get re- weighed then go to Toyota.

Cheers

PS Full fuel tank is classified as distributed weight so go with full tanks (@ weight bridge) and include the weight of your passengers in the total weight as they (Toyota) will be aiming for the axle overload clause

[rob_macca67]

Well...... NOT VERY JAN!! ....Just checked under the LHS Guard - all good..... went to look under the RHS inner Guard.... A CRACK !!!

What the ??? one trip out west and look what happens.... can't believe it..... Looks like it's a trip down to the local Toyota Dealer with my nearly 2yr old Prado to find out what can be done..... Hopefully under Warranty.
Accessories fitted: ARB Steel Bullbar / Dual Battery / Lovell's suspension and that's it.

What will be Toyota's likely response be, so I can prepare and answer b4 hand??

a Non-Happy Prado 150 owner....

[Peterpilot]

Gordon,
By far the biggest restriction to wheel travel and flex is OE shocks. They are too short and restrict down travel, which in turn restricts flex. Aftermarket shock absorbers are (generally) longer and offer more articulation, better control and better fade resistance.

That's not very correct bro.

The front of the Prado has a coilover suspension design (oft confused with MacPherson struts) which top & bottom out before the shock, so aftermarket shocks will not make any difference to travel at the front.

The rear shocks I've measured including OME and Koni RAID for Prados and various others for other cars were all exactly the same effective extended length. Shocked me initially I gotta say, but on reflection, the limiting factor should be the suspension design otherwise you get into issues around brake hose length & propeller shaft angle.. not to mention the alignment of your rear axle.

In short you can't really talk about longer shocks & more wheel travel without talking about heavily modified vehicles.

How then do you explain achieving an extra 40-50mm down travel on the front and rear of my 120 series just by changing from OE to aftermarket shocks? If the limitation was the suspension design rather than shock length, then why did fitting longer shocks yield almost 2'' more suspension travel? Since this is OT, I suggest we continue this discussion in another thread here: http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...895#post360895

[Gordon]

I see what you did. There that fixes it.

[Gordon]

who? me? I don't mention much in my build up at all :P I got bored. I'll get back to it one day.

Not you, CQ. Sillyperson.

[D4D]

Fair comment I get grumpy after the second whine.

[Gordon]

Silly me, I thought that was your point all along...

Fair comment I get grumpy after the second whine.

[wooley]

And as has already been discussed it has always been a rare problem, even with the 120s. You don't mention suspension in your buildup..?

who? me? I don't mention much in my build up at all :P I got bored. I'll get back to it one day.

[Gordon]

And as has already been discussed it has always been a rare problem, even with the 120s. You don't mention suspension in your buildup..?

[wooley]

For all the talk in this thread there only seems to be 1 confirmed case, that is one PP member with the issue that has posted pics. And one other non Pradopoint member has been mentioned. Which makes you wonder with all the 150's on PP with bullbars and suspension mods and what not as too why the problem is seemingly so limited?

Cheers Andrew

I know of one other case in a 150... but after driving with him on Saturday... I'm actually at a loss as to why only the guards have cracked... I can only assume the rest of the body and chassis will explode soon.

[AJ120]

What is the latest model this has been noticed on..

I'm wondering if they've fixed it along the way.

For all the talk in this thread there only seems to be 1 confirmed case, that is one PP member with the issue that has posted pics. And one other non Pradopoint member has been mentioned. Which makes you wonder with all the 150's on PP with bullbars and suspension mods and what not as too why the problem is seemingly so limited?

Cheers Andrew

[D4D]

"why everyone should do the same as me"

Silly me, I thought that was your point all along...

[Gordon]

By far the biggest restriction to wheel travel and flex is OE shocks. They are too short and restrict down travel, which in turn restricts flex. Aftermarket shock absorbers are (generally) longer and offer more articulation

That's not very correct bro.

The front of the Prado has a coilover suspension design (oft confused with MacPherson struts) which top & bottom out before the shock, so aftermarket shocks will not make any difference to travel at the front.

The rear shocks I've measured including OME and Koni RAID for Prados and various others for other cars were all exactly the same effective extended length. Shocked me initially I gotta say, but on reflection, the limiting factor should be the suspension design otherwise you get into issues around brake hose length & propeller shaft angle.. not to mention the alignment of your rear axle.

In short you can't really talk about longer shocks & more wheel travel without talking about heavily modified vehicles. Unless you're inadvertently talking about timebombs.

Otherwise I agree with you & particularly where we've gotten sidelined by arguments about what works. The point of this thread (as AJ summarises) is to explore & provide insight - for people who's expensive rides are falling to bits - reasons for it and ways around it. Stiff suspension, bullbars, tyre pressures, speed & terrain all contribute... there's enough evidence in here to make that irrefutable. Doesn't make everyone who has bullbars, OME springs and ARB bullbars wrong, just means they work for some people and not for others. Depends on the use your car receives, where you live, how your drive etc etc.

This gets frustrating (the argument as much as the firm suspension) because it's not helpful and digresses into banter about "why everyone should do the same as me", which distracts and confuses the people who are affected by the problems and are looking for solutions.

Oh no I though this one was coming to a close....

[AJ120]

Just to get this thread back on topic, as I said in my first post the problem with the gaurds (like most problems in life) is most likely caused by a combination of a number of factors.

Vehicle design could be better? Of course it could or else no one would have an issue.

Extra weight caused the issue? It must have some effect, but how much is the question.

Suspension too stiff of badly set up? It important to get this correct, not sure what Scniffs rides like but it could be a factor.

Tyre Pressure? It's part of the suspension of the vehicle, get it wrong and it transfers more stress onto the vehicle.

Driver error or driving too fast? Only Scniff knows how he drives, although what one person thinks is reasonable may not seem reasonable to the next person.

Bad luck? maybe his car had a bad batch of steel they pressed the panels out of, or something unlucky happened on the trails.

When travelling to place like the Cape, and the Kimberly and across the Tanami you are pushing your machinery to extreme limits in some cases, it a big tough unforgiving country. Get a couple of the points above wrong, or even all of them just slightly wrong and things are going to break.

Suspension, tyres, tyre pressure, speed, wheel placement, get all of these things correct and chances are you won't have a problem. The real question is which of the possible problems has the most effect and which have only had minimal effect? If we knew the answer to that we wouldn't be having this debate would we.

Cheers Andrew