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Loz's 120 GXL D4D Prado

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  • #31
    Then on the 28th of August, the prado got into a little altercation with a wash out on a dirt track up in the victorian high country, and now they tell me I won't see her again until the 20th of October

    Here's the story:

    We had been 4wding all weekend and had just stopped for lunch on a pebble bank in the middle of a river. After lunch, we had 1 last track to do before we went home. We were going at about 30-40km/h as it was rocky but smooth. 2km's in we noticed a few wash outs so backed off the speed. I was going up a steeper bit (10-15 degrees) when before I could do anything there was a concealed wash out and I feel in it at about 20km/h. Bang! I bottomed out hard. Drove out of the washout and got out to inspect the situation, everything was good with the exception of the driving lights which moved 1", pushed those back into their sport and off I went.

    The car drove perfect so though nothing of it. At the end of the track, we stopped to air up our tyres. Tyres pumped up, I closed the bonnet, and noticed that it was sitting up a little bit on the LHS, didn't think anything of it at the time, and figured it was just an optical illusion. Drove back to melbourne and got the car washed 2 mornings after. After washing it, this is the first thing I saw:



    I was a bit bloody disappointed, but still didn't connect the two events.

    Got to work and at lunch, I started stewing on that, and the moved bonnet and showed one of my fellow workers the scratch and shifted bonnet. He's looked at it and goes.. hmm doesn't look good, go to a panel beater as your front left fender has shifted.

    Off I go...

    Anyway, turns out I bent the engine bay skirting and the front left fender, as the front left tyre when it bottomed out, smashed up against the guard and pushed everything out of place. Got told it was no small job as half the engine would need to be dismantled to get to it and that I should contact the insurance.

    Off I go on my merry way to contact AAMI, and get told to go to one of their SMART centres and in 3 days my car would be fixed... ripper I thought!
    As soon as I get there, the mechanic looks at me and goes... mate way out of our league. Leave it with us, we'll get AAMI to have a look and they'll get it fixed.

    Get a call a couple of days later and get told that it's a 6k job and that it'll be done in 2 weeks. 4 days later, get another call saying that upon further inspection and measuring, my chassis bent a little bit on the front left and that they'll have to send it to a 3rd mob to get the body removed, chassis put back into it's spot, then sent back for the panel work and then I'd get it back in late october. I also got told that this is an extra 8k on the quote... Now I got told to await another call from AAMI as the insurance bloke wants more info on the accident.

    I'm starting to get a little worried that they're going to weasel their way out of fixing my car because of the suspension upgrade, or who knows what!

    I guess we'll wait and see... In the mean time I'm car less, but on the upside I've borrowed my dad's 200 series V8 twin turbo diesel, and I'm loving it

    Lorenzo
    Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
    ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
    [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

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    • #32
      Good news... The assessor has ok'd the job and by the sounds of it might be getting my car back mid-october! Fingers crossed!

      In the mean time, my borrowed car got downgraded to a little boxy merc... ugh! I'm breaking the SEN man rules... victorian's will understand what I'm talking about...

      Beggers can't be choosers I guess!
      Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
      ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
      [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

      Comment


      • #33
        Good stuff....at least they didn't knock the claim back.
        2007 3.0L D4D GXL, ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, dual batteries, Bilstein/Lovells 2" Lift, Mickey Thompson ATZ 4 Ribs, ScanGauge II, UHF CB & HF/VHF/UHF Amateur radios
        [img]http://www.fuelly.com/smallsig-metric/57576.png[/img]
        [URL="http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?21244-Homers-07-GXL-D4D"]My Rig Buildup[/URL]

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        • #34
          Yeh I'm so glad. Even because I had the upgraded suspension and didn't add it to my policy yet. All panel beaters and others I know bagged the hell out of AAMI, but I have to say that they've actually been brilliant. They didn't do things in halves, and approved the most expensive, most thorough quote ie. they didn't cut corners. I'm very very impressed and will be recommending them to anyone who asks.

          Anyway, bit of an update. Turns out my chassis wasn't actually bent. They had 2 white prado's at the repair shop and mixed the paperwork around. All they had to do was unbolt one of the front tongues (the one the bull bar is bolted on to), reposition it, and re bolt it down.

          I'm heading in now to pick up my medium front springs so they can upgrade those for me (free labour)

          They're going to put my car back together early next week, then 10 working days to get the skirting + quarter panel fixed and I should get it back in about 2 weeks.

          All in all, not too bad, I'll be going alot easier on washouts from now on...

          PS: The guys at the chassis place bagged the crap out of the prado's saying that they were panzy offroaders and their chassis were made of butter. They said, if you want a proper 4wd chassis you gotta buy a LC200. I explained that I don't really care and don't have 100k lying around and that I love my prado. It wasn't bought to smash it on the 4wd tracks and that this was a one off accident.

          Bloody grease monkey, where does he get off bagging the rig?
          Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
          ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
          [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

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          • #35
            Originally posted by Lorenzo View Post
            PS: The guys at the chassis place bagged the crap out of the prado's saying that they were panzy offroaders and their chassis were made of butter. They said, if you want a proper 4wd chassis you gotta buy a LC200. I explained that I don't really care and don't have 100k lying around and that I love my prado. It wasn't bought to smash it on the 4wd tracks and that this was a one off accident.

            Bloody grease monkey, where does he get off bagging the rig?
            Did you see his Lada Niva parked in the "Grease Monkeys" car park? No wonder he can give you informed statements like that Lol.
            Glad to hear that you are getting a good out come from this one.
            Cheer Troy
            SOUTH AUSTRALIA GATEWAY TO THE OUTBACK!
            2003 GXL V6 AUTO 120 CHAMPAGNE MICA [DUNE]
            LIST OF ACCESSORIES GROWING, WISH LIST SLOWLY DECLINING

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            • #36
              Installed the new Solenoid from LeighW.
              Made a big difference.

              Will post improvements soon
              Lorenzo
              Senior Member
              Last edited by Lorenzo; 10-05-2012, 06:05 PM.
              Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
              ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
              [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

              Comment


              • #37
                Had a gripe with my ED5 battery.

                Turns out it was a little on the flat side and alternator couldn't charge it past 50% even with the diode installed.

                Put it on the charger overnight and it now runs like a dream!
                Lorenzo
                Senior Member
                Last edited by Lorenzo; 10-05-2012, 06:06 PM.
                Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
                ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
                [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

                Comment


                • #38
                  Ordered a set of drawers from ARB. Looks like they're coming in next week!

                  Can't wait!
                  Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
                  ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
                  [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Installed my drawers this weekend!




                    Took me about 5 hours yesterday to get the drawers in, and then another 3 hours today to do the side wings and drill and bolt in the tie down points for the fridge. ARB's instructions completely suck and told me to do the wrong thing... I worked it out myself and changed the position of a bracket and now it works 100%.
                    Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
                    ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
                    [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Coming along nicely there Loz
                      [COLOR="black"][b]William[/b][/COLOR]
                      [SIZE="1"][COLOR="gray"]Prado 150 GXL D4D Auto in White![/COLOR][/SIZE]
                      [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?18483-William-s-150-GXL-D4D][U][COLOR="blue"][SIZE="1"]My Rig Build-up[/SIZE][/COLOR][/U][/url]

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                      • #41
                        Cheers mate!

                        ARB Winch bar is going on tomorrow afternoon. Was supposed to be a this afternoon job, but got some family stuff on.

                        Also gotta look at getting a winch. Thinking the Tigerz11 10,000lb with the dyneema rope:
                        http://tigerz11.com.au/products/GRAN...-DYNEEMA-.html

                        At $649 it's a bargain. And I'll only use it once a blue moon so wasn't going to drop $2k on a warn winch. What are you running mate?

                        Anyone got any comments on the Tigerz11? Good gear for occasional use?
                        Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
                        ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
                        [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          I am in a similar position, in the end after a heap of research I settled for the 12000lb Tigerz. The new shipment is due to arrive in Australia early June so I am looking forward to it arriving.

                          My thoughts were that I was better off paying the extra $50 odd dollars to buy the larger pulling power than the 10,000 as some redundancy. The 12000 and 10000 are the same weight so the extra power seemed the logical step.

                          Cheers

                          Dave

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                          • #43
                            Dave,

                            if you're getting your specs off the Tigerz11 website, they're incorrect... if you read closely, apparently those 2 winches have the same pulling rating, power etc. Looks like a case of copy and paste gone wrong... I was going to get the 9,000 but it only has 1-2 yr warranty, 10k and 12k have 5yr warranty... also don't really want the extra weight if I can avoid it... and the 10k should do the job nicely!
                            Loz - 2007 GXL D4D Auto White
                            ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, 2" OME Lift, ARB On-Board Air, Safari Snorkel, GME TX3440 UHF, GME AE4018K1 antenna, Redarc/Exide ED5 dual battery system, ARB 47L fridge, Cooper AT3's 265/70/17, LeighW's voltage booster, Lightforce 240XGT's, Outback Solutions Drawer Systems
                            [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?20863-Loz-s-120-GXL-D4D-Prado&highlight=loz%27s]My Rig Build-Up[/url]

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Hi Lorenzo,

                              Good point about the numbers, I asked the Australian distributor to confirm whether there was a weight difference and assured me that they the same weight. Hopefully he was right because I am the same as you and have been trying to keep the weight to a minimum!!

                              Cheers

                              Dave

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Lorenzo View Post
                                Cheers mate!

                                ARB Winch bar is going on tomorrow afternoon. Was supposed to be a this afternoon job, but got some family stuff on.

                                Also gotta look at getting a winch. Thinking the Tigerz11 10,000lb with the dyneema rope:
                                http://tigerz11.com.au/products/GRAN...-DYNEEMA-.html

                                At $649 it's a bargain. And I'll only use it once a blue moon so wasn't going to drop $2k on a warn winch. What are you running mate?

                                Anyone got any comments on the Tigerz11? Good gear for occasional use?
                                Hey buddy, just missed you on PP chat tonight.

                                Anyway, a tigerz11 for $649 is an absolute steal! It was a toss up between that and the magnum 9K that I have now. If I were to do it again I'd get somethin faster and probably go with rope rather than cable. It's just a pain getting the cable realigned after every use. Should have got the tigerz11!
                                [COLOR="black"][b]William[/b][/COLOR]
                                [SIZE="1"][COLOR="gray"]Prado 150 GXL D4D Auto in White![/COLOR][/SIZE]
                                [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?18483-William-s-150-GXL-D4D][U][COLOR="blue"][SIZE="1"]My Rig Build-up[/SIZE][/COLOR][/U][/url]

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