Time For a Change??

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

My fellow PPers.

Its occurred to me that the Prado may no longer suit my needs. I love this car, and its tough saying that I might need to change.
After a recent camping trip with the Miinister for finance and our dog, it occurred to me that there just isnt enough space!!! I know, who'd have thought it.
Once the dog and fridge are in the back, there is no room for anything else so the back seat becomes a storage location. Im not a fan of having heaps of gear on the back seat, and this renders my 7 seater down to a 2 seater...

My thinking is, its time to build a touring dual cab - Ranger or Hilux - with a touring canopy like this (Canopy package 5): http://www.norweld.com.au/what-we-do/canopys/
It gives us a box for the dog, room for our fridge, a roof rack for the swags and then a big open space for all of the stuff previously sitting on the back seat.

My travels in the future will obviously include the Vic High country (as well as the various campsites near Benalla), but we plan to do a nice central aus trip in the future (Nothing too remote, but far enough away from the real world). Mostly, any vehicle will be used for the drive to work or on the highway.

Can anyone here talk me into keeping the Prado? Or provide any advice on setting up a Touring Dual Cab?

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

Cut the back off the Prado and turn it into a dual cab????

[RBJET Member Find all posts View Profile Close RBJET]

The main reason I bought the Prado was for the coil sprung rear, economy as a daily and just how nice they are to drive in general.
I have thought about making the change to a ute a few times though as I think it would suit my needs better but I'm too scared to give up the daily and long touring comfort.

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

I came from what your looking at getting. We find the prado better as we are family of 4 there is more room for the kids but the space loss of the canopy sucks,if it was just me and wife would have a dual cab any day of the week over the prado

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

Cut the back off the Prado and turn it into a dual cab????

Thought about it...but i dont think it would look right!!! And would likely cost me a small fortune.

The main reason I bought the Prado was for the coil sprung rear, economy as a daily and just how nice they are to drive in general.
I have thought about making the change to a ute a few times though as I think it would suit my needs better but I'm too scared to give up the daily and long touring comfort.

I'm yet to test drive any of the newer utes, but I am reliably informed that they are getting much better in terms of comfort. And the level of kit exceeds that of the comparable Prado.

I came from what your looking at getting. We find the prado better as we are family of 4 there is more room for the kids but the space loss of the canopy sucks,if it was just me and wife would have a dual cab any day of the week over the prado

At the moment its just me, the missus and the dog. No plans for any kids at the moment, so thats not a real concern. Would like a dual cab so I can move more than 2 people if required.

[gspy4u Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gspy4u]

Had the same problem re space. So kept the Prado as main tow vehicle etc and bought a dual cab for when i need one. Best of both worlds.

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

Had the same problem re space. So kept the Prado as main tow vehicle etc and bought a dual cab for when i need one. Best of both worlds.

Unfortunately, not an option for me...

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

The back of the Prado gets clogged up and the fridge takes a lot of space.

We took out the single middle row passenger side seat and mounted the fridge there. Also added a Drifta drawer system in the rear. That leaves the back free for everything. Can still take one or two passengers, and on a non-trip drive it is just like a normal wagon.

Not sure I'd like the rear vision mirror blocked out by the rear box on a daily drive. Probably get used to it though. If I were heading that way, probably go for the 79 series instead of a hilux.

Also, Jeep is working on a ute version of their Wrangler but still a year or two away:



https://www.4x4australia.com.au/news...-for-australia

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

Not sure I'd like the rear vision mirror blocked out by the rear box on a daily drive. Probably get used to it though. If I were heading that way, probably go for the 79 series instead of a hilux.

The 79 is a bit out of my price range and is probably a bit too basic for my liking. That bubble popped when I sat in one for the first time.

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

Fridge and dog cage where the middle row of seats is. This leaves the whole back for gear. Take fridge and dog cage out when not touring. Simple and cost free. Who needs extra passengers on a trip anyway. It is very easy to completely take out the middle row for a trip if that is your fancy. It frees up even more space.

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

I'd do that, except our third passenger is not a DOG!

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

My Prado is on the market and I have a new 79 series dual cab arriving mid January. The Prado has served me well and been on a few adventures, as did it's predessessor (98 Prado), but the towing and gear carrying capacity is not up to my needs. Many of the newer dual cabs, such as Ranger and BT50, advertise 3,500kg towing but you read many reports where they actually can't carry a load whilst towing at capacity leaving many to have no bar work, winches, drawers, roof racks, etc in order to keep GVM down. The 79 might be a bit of a dinosaur but I have spent a lot of time in them and troopies and know what I am getting into.

[MacroP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MacroP]

For something different.

Last year I bought a cheap hot dipped galvinised 7x4 caged box trailer new for $1200. Once home, I instantly ripped off the axle and springs and upgraded to a bigger axle with Toyota hubs. This was an obvious weak point in the trailer but the rest seems OK. I put some new black 6 stud 17" steel wheels and matching tyres to suit the Prado. I added some large checker plate aluminium wheel guards to match the new much larger tyres. I've also added a nice aluminium toolbox up front and some plastic water jerry cans on the side. Inside the toolbox is a battery and 12V water pump and spiral hose connected to the jerry cans. There's a solar panel on the toolbox to keep the battery charged. I can put a rooftop tent on top of the cage when needed for camping.

Other things I've added are...9kg gas bottle mount, pneumatic tyred jockey wheel, LED floodlights on a 3 metre swiveling pole and a low profile off-road trailer coupling (Ark) so the Prado rear door can still open.

Current spend is a tad over $3k including the trailer. Rego is around 60 bucks a year.

To be honest, it's hard to tell I'm towing it as it's still small and light but certainly frees up space inside my Prado and there is hardly any change in fuel economy. I can notice it.....when towing on very soft sand if I don't let its tyres down but letting the Prado's tyres down is normally enough.

At the end of the day, I can still use it as a box trailer to go to the tip as everything is added around the outside and not the inside.

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

For something different.

Would love to see a pic

[MacroP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MacroP]

Would love to see a pic

Here's a few stages of change. Still more to add - it's never ending. I'm now looking for some aluminium storage boxes to sit behind each wheel guard to fill the space to the rear.