Is the 150 showing any signs of cracked inner guards

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

Anyways AJ, if you think there isn't real 4wd opportunity in Central Australia you haven't been far off the track... ;p

I didn't say that though did I, there is some great 4wdriving opportunities in central Australia, and no doubt plenty of places that I have not seen. However in my experience the requirements for suspension, ground clearance, articulation etc is a lot less than in the high country.

So once again every modification has its place it all depends on where you go and what you do.

Cheers Andrew

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

hehe. Come up here and say that...
(And I mean that in the friendly way) Where this Blue Rag anyway I'm coming your way at the end of the year and will show your blue rag my blue rage.

(Oops snapped with Andrew. the above was @D4D)

Andrew, yeah I agree. The mainstream use in Central Australia doesn't require clearance or articulation. In facet the mainstream use in CA doesn't require any more than a Commodore and a couple of jerrycans. And yeah it's all compromise. For me and my 120 I chose bottoming out over the side-effects of raising and I understand why others choose the opposite.

As long as we all keep doing what we love....

G.

[Schniff Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schniff]

Andrew, yeah I agree. The mainstream use in Central Australia doesn't require clearance or articulation. In facet the mainstream use in CA doesn't require any more than a Commodore and a couple of jerrycans.

.. until it rains!

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

hehe. Come up here and say that...
(And I mean that in the friendly way) Where this Blue Rag anyway I'm coming your way at the end of the year and will show your blue rag my blue rage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPPS2eofit8

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

D4D what was the point that your making with that video?

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Gordon wanted to know what Blue Rag was like, hence the video.

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

Thanks, first time I played it there was no audio so I didn't know what it was about, spotted Pat Callinan and thought it was a Nissan ad

Amazing scenery.

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Looks nice will try get there this summer thanks.

[Dusty74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dusty74]

For me and my 120 I chose bottoming out over the side-effects of raising and I understand why others choose the opposite.

As long as we all keep doing what we love....

G.

I'm glad you understand people choosing lift but for the life of me I can't understand why you would "choose" bottoming out.
I'm lost

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

Going back to earlier in the thread before we had all that fun with tyre pressure, just did a quick calculation on the weight of some typical accessories, please correct me if these are wrong;
Bull bar - 70kg
Second battery - 25kg
Winch - 38kg
Compressor - 8kg
Under body guards - 15kg

That's a total 156kg of which about 140kg is hanging over the front of the wheels (any big bumps are going to multiply the force on the front of the car). Once you throw a few people and gear in the car the static load is going to be close to the 150s axle limit of 1450kg (I'm guessing its around 1250kg empty). I'm surprised that there is so little margin.

My winch is 23kg (tigerz11 12000lb with rope)
8kg for a compressor sounds a bit high unless you have the new twin ARB, although I haven't weighed mine but I don't recall it being anywhere near that heavy.
Second battery may go 25kg, but that and the compressor can both be mounted elsewhere if front axle weight is a concern, my battery is in the rear in the 120, no problems at all.

Cheers Andrew

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Well, I choose bottoming out because it actually doesn't happen very often, the Prado is well protected anyway. With the 120 I took off the guards, bashed out the dents and repainted them a few times - replaced the engine & gearbox guards once too. I'd rather do that than modify because...

On the other hand, once you've raised and stiffened your suspension you have to live with it all the time. Stiff suspension on bitumen is awesome but on open dirt roads gets pretty tiring day to day from comfort and control points of view*. Then there's the "real offroad" stuff: the stiffer the suspension, the less wheel travel you have. Look at some of those videos of cars with wheels in the air - that almost never happens to me as I'm able to get maximum articulation out of the thing.

As I mentioned earlier I'm lucky now with the 150 as the under body clearance is much tidier and the bigger tyres means I seldom bottom out at all, even on the roughest rock crawls. Actually it's a damned remarkable vehicle given the apparently minor makeover.

At the risk of further criticism here's one where my wheels did come off the ground, well me and my friends. Note the LSD jump into action...

PS *just thought I'd better qualify this to avoid another debate about suspension: I have a very light setup so can get away with light springs and damping. I appreciate that people with heavier setups find the OEM suspension too soft and wallowy on high speed open dirt roads.

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

my battery is in the rear in the 120, no problems at all.

Cheers Andrew

Mine too - being a throwback to my experience in my first car I've been too scared (and too tight since I already have the setup) to stick one under the bonnet of the 150... I do have one installed under the bonnet of the new 150 work car I just bought though and will be watching (and reporting on) that space folks!

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

Then there's the "real offroad" stuff: the stiffer the suspension, the less wheel travel you have. Look at some of those videos of cars with wheels in the air - that almost never happens to me as I'm able to get maximum articulation out of the thing.

Oh it was the aftermarket suspension that made me lift a wheel here



Glad I got that worked out now

Cheers Andrew

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

Oh it was the aftermarket suspension that made me lift a wheel here



Glad I got that worked out now

Cheers Andrew

Andrew I can see your problem here.... Not enough weight over the front axle to pull the front end down.......


Steve

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

At the risk of further criticism here's one where my wheels did come off the ground, well me and my friends.

No chainsaw?