Charlie's 2011 GXL D4D...Gritting my teeth and psycing up to do it myself.

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

Hi fellow PP'ers,

Due to company requirements I had to update my Prado from a 2007 Petrol GXL to a 2011 Auto D4D, so I'm massively in debt again!.
After the warranty expired my much loved 120, using the info on PP, I fitted it with Aux battery, Primus IQ brake controller, hot wire for camper trailer and polyairs.
I need to do this for my 150 now.
I'm probably going to chicken out and get toyota to fit a towbar but I also like the look of the Parkside bar. As I live in WA Wynnum isn't a viable option. I think I would fit the factory loom myself if I don't use Toyota.
Derek sent me the ABR battery tray yesterday and it looks very straight forward.
When I was getting quotes for an installed Aux battery the rep told me that the Redarc doesn't work with the "smart alternator" on the 150, but from what I see on this site people are using them without issues. I am planning on fitting it to the mounting points on the ABR tray provided for the Petrol steering fluid reservoir. I may be having trouble searching the forums but I'm finding the detail on how to do all of these things on a 150 is not as impressive as on the 120. i am planning to put up my proposed install so i can get the benefit of your input . The main wiring of the Aux battery is well documented in this part of the forum so I'm going to cut my teeth on that first. I have some 35mm cable and I am going to use that. !st pics in a week I hope.
Thanks for the info thus far.

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

I fitted the tekonsha controller today. After disassembling lots of the dash in search of a connector for the brake controller I gave up and installed a 20A self resetting breaker next to the main battery. The only thing I am uneasy with is that I hooked into the main battery +ve with 6mm wire to the breaker, therefore it is unfused up to that point As I really liked where my controller sat in the ash tray of my 120 series I decided to locate the controller in the central cup holder.
To get access I removed the two silver side trims and gently lifted the whole console top up. I drilled a hole on the passenger side rear of the cupholder and put a grommet in.
I tapped into the brake light line at the trailerECU plug red wire. Otherwise I followed the examples in this part of the forum. Thanks once again for your excellent write ups.

http://postimage.org/image/ci8vmpekv/

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

Dual Battery installed

I have just completed the dual battery install, and I am happy with it.....unusual for me.
I used the ABR battery tray which fitted easily and had detailed instructions, colour pics on the ABR website are clearer than the B&W printout included. The aircond is a pain but I bought a smaller aux battery so I didn't have to try and bend it out of the way. It was recommended by the power crank guys in Welshpool and was on sale. I ve dealt with those guys for ages so i took their advice.
I used the holes provided for mounting the steering pump reservoir in petrol prados for mounting the REDARC.
I used 50 sq mm cable for the wiring, running the main +ve over the top of the radiator, and attached the earth to a threaded hole in the engine block. I now notice that that is actually the engine head.... do you think that matters? It's where I put the earth on my 120 prado system.
I used the projecta fused +ve terminal for the aux battery it fuses both input and outputs.
http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/sh...nal-fused.html


I liked the look of a fused "toyota style" battery teminal on the ABR website for the main battery connection. If my car was out of warranty I would have taken one to my local auto-elec and had him crimp it on to the existing wiring so both batteries were fused. I decided not to only because I didn't want to mess with the standard wiring. A nice solution though. So the main battery connection is unfused, as was my 120.

I ran 6mm wires to the rear cargo area via the passenger side. To get the cables through the small spare openings in the grommet I used some WD40. Where the cable runs down the side of the passenger area the plastic sill trims have a brace to the floor which I needed to cut down.

I have removed the third row seats and put a temporary floor in. thats the next project.
Thanks once again to everyone who posted the info that Ive used.