Matt's 150 GXL

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Bit cold were u r, we had 25 at 6am this morning.

Na, we are on the coast for a few days.. Ya just gotta love putting up the camper and annex in the pissing rain !

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Pretty impressed with the camper electrics. Been using the batteries to run the fridge, the water tank pump and all the LEDs inside, plus 12v outlets for kids DVD players. Been camping for three days and nights. I checked the voltage reading tonight at my Anderson plug, still reading 12.2volts. Not sure how many amps are left, but with 210amps worth of camper batteries, I'm not too stressed

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

This set up is impressing me. On way home yesterday morning refilled Prado after 720km. Used 86 litres of diesel exactly. In that distance did 300km towing a full camper and 420km wandering about the coast (stop go traffic, no highway). That's 11.94 litres per hundred kilometers.


Then on the return trip home with the car full of gear and the full camper in tow, it averaged 12.1 litres per hundred. That's off the scangauge, not the bullshit in dash Toyota computer..

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Scan gauge is set spot on. The Toyota dash reads usually between 0.6 and 1.0 litre lower than the real world fuel usage figure. I guess that's how Toyota like to give people that warm and fuzzy feelin.....

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Well I was a keen as for this Saturday to rip out my front struts and fit my AJ Strut spacers, but the damn postman let me down !

Can't wait for next Saturday ! The tools are ready ad I've got beers ready to go !!!

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Thanks Andrew,

Roll on Saturday.....,

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Big arvo in the shed this arvo, bloody 42 degrees didn't really assist in the process. I ripped out the front tough dog struts in the 150 and refitted them, along with AJ 6mm strut spacers. The job wasn't too bad, I did the lot in four hours with no help. I torqued everything to Toyota specs and have to run the Prado around the block and torque the lower strut mount bolts up.

Not to bad of a job. Belly guard off, sway bar off, upper control arm ball joint split and separated, strut out... And then back together in reverse. I'm a mechanic of 20 odd years, so it wasn't to hard for me. I reckon two backyard blokes could handle the job easy as.

Here are my numbers. I reckon the front will settle about 10mm, which will be fine.

Before :
Front passenger - 775mm
Front drivers - 775mm

Rear passenger - 845mm
Rear drivers. - 845mm


After:
Front passenger - 815mm
Front drivers. - 815mm

Rear passenger - 845mm
Rear drivers. - 845mm


Few happy snaps -

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

Looks good Matt... but hell of a hot day to be working in the shed. Love the safety boots though.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Glad they fitted I was sure they would but yours is the first 150 to have them fitted. Looks like the 150 has longer studs than the 120 as well.

Cheers Andrew

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Glad they fitted I was sure they would but yours is the first 150 to have them fitted. Looks like the 150 has longer studs than the 120 as well.

Cheers Andrew

A big thanks to your engineering skill Andrew. The quality and fit is top notch. I would recommend his mod to a 150 and its very easy to carry out.

Did your front ride height settle very much Andrew ? I am pretty happy with the height gain, 6mm spacer resulted in a 39mm initial lift, it will settle I think ?

Interesting to see the difference in these two photos -

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I added a second spacer under the spring seat when I did mine and only ended up with about 20mm increase, I would be pretty confident they will settle at least 10mm from where they are.

Cheers Andrew

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

I added a second spacer under the spring seat when I did mine and only ended up with about 20mm increase, I would be pretty confident they will settle at least 10mm from where they are.

Cheers Andrew

Mate I would be happy with that

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Just gave the car a good run around the block and over a number of speed humps to settle the front end down. Now it's time to toque up the lower strut bolts. Settled like you said Andrew, sitting around 800mm now mate.

[SOL Find all posts View Profile Close SOL]

Matt, It is looking good.

SOL.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Matt, It is looking good.

SOL.

Thanks SOL, I've been sorting the little things out, step by step.

It's not finished by a long shot !