Gem's new toy

[Gem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gem]

Well after I waved goodbye to my old hilux it took less than a day before I began the upgrade of the new Prado...actually I tell a lie: the first upgrade happened before the hilux even left the driveway.

To start with I bought a 2001 turbo diesel manual Prado GXL. Fairly stock standard: original ali bar with fog lamps, single battery, dual tanks, side steps, extra row of seats, tow bar and brand new Dunlop tyres.

First photo's: (note the heeler inspecting the new addition to her driveway!)

[Gem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gem]

The very first thing was to remove the extra seats to free up the space in the back - we have 2 furry children so the boot space is better than seats (although I would like to point out the two furry girls get the back seat and we put the esky etc in the back!).

Next was to remove the road tyres and replace them with some Bridgestone AT's. I would have liked to have gone for a set of BF Goodrich as I had them on my hilux and they took me a loooong way. However, I couldn't justify the price when I've been told the Bridgestone's are just as good and about $80 cheaper per tyre!

[Gem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gem]

I'd barely got the new tyres on before I dropped my new toy off to my friendly neighbourhood mechanic, who doubles as my auto sparky as well, so that he could install a second battery, battery isolator, additional 12V plug in the back and the brand new top of the range electric brake controller my partner found on eBay for his new Goldstream pop-top camper lol

P.S. To give you a bit of a timeline:
14th December - Bought car
15th December - Picked up car
16th December - Replaced tyres
17th December - Bought camper trailer
18th December - Dropped car off at mechanic's
2oth December - Sold Hilux
21st December - Picked up car from mechanic
23rd December - Picked up camper trailer

It was an expensive Christmas for us lol

[boomer52 2014 Track Topaz owner! Find all posts View Profile Close boomer52]

...unfortunately my list of extra's is a LOT shorter than my wish list! But I'm working on it.

Gem With a blank canvas you can be more creative! You've made good moves so far, keep up the good choices, and try to manage to stay out of the bankruptcy courts like the rest of us!

[Gem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gem]

True boomer, and I suppose if you look at it that way I also saved money on the initial purchase because it didn't have that many extra's.

I'm thinking next on the list is the media upgrade...still has the current tape/cd deck...neither of which I use! And I'm beginning to despise that fm transceiver thing that I've put up with for about 6 years now! I go green every time we get into my partners car and he just plugs his iphone into the lead coming from the centre console and ta da!

Also very soon on the list is the awning...trip over Xmas up north of Jurien bay, fishing on the beach and the two furry girls were just sitting there in the sun staring at us and wishing for shade lol We trawled the Jurien bay shops for some sort of sunshade and only came up with a beach umbrella. Not good with a breeze. If I had the awning then all would have been peachy!

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Next was to remove the road tyres and replace them with some Bridgestone AT's. I would have liked to have gone for a set of BF Goodrich as I had them on my hilux and they took me a loooong way. However, I couldn't justify the price when I've been told the Bridgestone's are just as good and about $80 cheaper per tyre!

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I got the Bridgestone AT's when I last needed tyres, money well spent I reckon. Just did a trip through the Flinders and I couldn't fault them, no punctures or chipping.

Looks like a nice tidy car, have fun with the build.