Loz's 120 GXL D4D Prado

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

I just read a winch comparo article:
http://www.avenger4x4.com.au/library...nchComparo.pdf

I think I got my heart set on the Tigerz11. Going to head over there the weekend before the long weekend and pick one up I think... will come in handy on my wonnongatta trip! Do these fit alright in the ARB winch bar? Heard it may be a bit of a squeeze as they're so long

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

Bullbar went on tuesday night. I was very skeptical about attempting this job myself and thought it was going to be a lot harder then it actually was. Had a mate who is pretty good with this sort of stuff help me (read... he did it and I helped do up a few bolts)

Post-Op:


Naked Prado:


Getting the bar on... most people have helpers or jacks... we enrolled the fork lift!

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

The bar on! (Lights etc. still missing)


Note to others... bullbars are sharp when you're trying to do up bolts:


Everything all fitted up:


This is what I'll look like at night time if you're an unlucky fox or kangaroo:

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

Went and got a new aerial on Saturday... the RFI one was very crap and now that it was mounted lower on the bar (bar level as opposed to the bracket on the loop like the sov bar) it was a good 20 cm shorter then the roof.

Went and got a GME AE4018K1


The GME brochure said it's supposed to come with a PL259 plug to connect the Antenna to the GME TX3440... I didn't get one not sure if they forgot to give it to me or maybe it actually doesn't come with it... can anyone enlighten me? I may ring the shop on monday and get a please explain.

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

Nice work Lorenzo, time to upgrade your signature!!

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

This is how I got the Lightforce XGT 240's on (I think they're aimed a touch high but they do pick up from where the high beams stop... so it's ok I guess):
They stick out probably about 1-2cm from the bar


Had to reverse the brackets to ensure they fit under the bar loop:


Whilst I was researching about the winch bar, a photo I couldn't find was the top view of one of these to see how big the winch clutch/gear hole was... well here it is:


And also a pic of the tow points of the arb bar... they look so strong and thick... I wouldn't be worried using them to get winched out... If they ever do come up with a ratings standard... this thing will more then double it I reckon!

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

Nice work Lorenzo, time to upgrade your signature!!

Yup! Working on it... Got a few more pics to add yet!

Managed to do some damage to the rear door trim... not sure when it was, but it's been there since before I had a fridge/drawers, so they're not to blame:

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

Some day time shots of the fridge/drawers set up:


With my trusty 120cm wide sleeping bag! You never know when you're going to need it! It's the warmest most comfortable thing I've ever owned... Waterproof outer so if you have a leaky swag you'll be dry as!

Also, encountered a bit of a problem... When I rewired the fridge socket, I had it on the RHS and replaced the original socket, that was ok pre drawers... but now, my draw slide is on the lhs to make it easy to access the fridge without opening the door fully. Also been told that the slide on the rhs will prevent you to open the fridge as the lid will hit the top lip of the open door.

So I tapped into the cable that I ran back there at the height of the back of the 2nd row seats. Ran my cable under the carpet where the boot carpet overlaps with the front carpet, ran it up the wheel arch and out where the lhs pocket is with the little trap door.

From there, I removed the pocket and drilled a hole in it to make my plug go through:



And I also made a little cut out in the bottom of the trap door to allow the lead to come through:

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

This is what it looks like when it's all in place:



It was quite a cheap job... bought a Narva socket for about $12 and I had some left over cable from when I ran the fridge cable the first time... did manage to blow the fuse whilst installing as I forgot to unplug everything from the battery ... Silly me! But at least I know that my system works and fuse works too... well it used to work... $6 got me a new one!

Now I want to run some sort of a loop beside the fridge that will prevent the cable from falling in the void left by the fridge slide when the slide is out... cable hasn't fallen in, in all my attempts, but it will happen one day and I'll have warm beer... not going to be happy!

The other socket I left as is... that's also running a merit sized hole. Might yank it out and put a standard sized socket in it to allow me to run a wider range of accessories:

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

I also installed a little torch holder for my 18650 Next Torch... It's an awesome torch... rechargeable batteries and the torch can be charged via USB or the same charger as your TomTom... It puts out 200 lumens and can be programmed via ur PC to different modes... The holder I used is supposed to be a belt clip, but it was straight enough...

I got some double sided 3M sticky stuff that you use to attach picture frame hooks to the wall with, did a bit of pushing to make sure it stuck and pronto!




Torch always at hand and on charge

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

I'm finding myself having more and more gizmos to charge up and constantly pulling out plugs to plug something else in... might free up a bit of space with one of these:



Will have the iPhone and torch charging off this in one port... and the tomtom charging off the other port... that should do it!

They're $9 on ebay... they look like the original ones which you can only buy in the usa for $30 delivered... apparently they're exact fakes and it looks like they are real griffins and the factory is selling them out the back door to some resellers... People even commented that the fakes work and look better then the originals... I guess I'll try the $9 fakie as its a next day delivery as opposed to 2 weeks out of the states!

[Ryno78 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryno78]

Mate you will be stoked with the 120, awesome model with heaps of potential and very capable
... Nice find!! Cheers Ryno

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

Well, after my most recent 4wd trip I lost a mud flap.
Just lost my bum virginity to Toyota after they charged me $120 for a new one (clips included).

I haven't had a chance to stick it on yet, but noticed that all the clips bar one are plastic. Just thinking wether I should just use those or perhaps look at making extra holes and running some proper bolts and washers... Stop the mud flap running off on me again.

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

Nice build up Loz.

You mention you put some merit style outlets in - does the ARB Fridge have a merit plug does it?

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

Cheers Madkore,

Yup... It's a merit plug on the ARB fridge and it has a red cap that goes over the top if you want to use it in regular cig sockets