Reidy's 2001 GXL 95 Series

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Well been here for a while now so I thought it might be a good time to share the story so far and a few pics of my 2001 GXL Manual Turbo Diesel.

I picked her up in March 2011 from a nice family in Tumut, NSW. 148 000 km on the clock and a few goodies to get me started. It had a standard Alloy Sovereign Bar, Lightforce 170's, a Redarc Dual Battery System ( - battery), turbo timer and GME 3400 UHF. BFG All-terrains rounded out the package which had about 30 0000km left on them. I happily handed over the very reasonable price and took ownership of my fourth car in 3 years



I had a few things in mind when I decided I wanted to personalise it. My main concern was to keep it economical and comfortable, which has been maintained thus far. I also like my gear to look good.

First thing I did was pinch the second battery off my old Surf and dropped it in the Prado. After selling the Surf a week after picking up the Prado, I then convinced myself that a new suspension package was more important than the interest payments (hindsight, probably not!). Capital Steering and Suspension lined me up with Lovell's springs and KYB struts and shocks. The difference was immediately noticeable, with a much firmer ride and a bit of a lift (probably not as much as I wanted). The jury is still out on the KYB's. I tend to think they will probably be swapped out in the not too distant future for some Koni's.

From here, I got the stock muffler cut out and opted for a straight-through number. Got a nice improvement, the turbo now kicking in about 1600 rpm with a bit more pull and great sound. Room for improvement though, so I'm looking at a Taipan system down the track.

Also did some little things at this point, such as try some blue covers on the Lightforce 170s (don't bother) and found a spot between the air cleaner and the second battery for a $100 air compressor. Fits like a charm, no drilling and has been very helpful so far. Picked up a cheap cover to hide the Grandcrap spare on the back.

With the lift:



Having seen my mates Black Widow storage solution go into the back of his 80 series, I was very impressed, but not with the quote I got to get my own. Surely PP has a solution?



MUMSRIG and a few others gave me the inspiration to build a drawer of my own. I didn't think there was enough room to warrant two drawers so I chose to build one. I used MDF and ebay 100kg runners and latch. I secured it with bolts into the existing 3rd row seat hardware and a turnbuckle on each corner. It took a couple of weekends to finish, and the end result is pretty good. The only issue is the little bit of flex in the top that two drawers would have fixed, that may cause a few dramas if ever pack it up with some heavy gear. For under $400, I'll take the compromise.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

I finished it off with some carpet from Bunnings and realised how helpful they would be immediately!




The truck was getting some good use by now. Out chasing fallow one weekend we managed to get terribly stuck. Lucky for us we came across some other 4WDers who kindly helped us out and even let us use their TELSTRA not BLOODY VODAFONE mobile to contact home. I decided then and there that solo trips require some good recovery gear, and a winch was next on the list.



Three way snatch required, as dad always says, when I do it, I do it properly!

The quality of the radio in the 95 series leaves a bit to be desired. Picked up an Alpine unit for a good price just before Christmas. I now had full Ipod integration through the glove box and Bluetooth handsfree, which is fairly useless on the road with Vodafone, but thats another story...

Another ebay find, a digital dual battery voltmeter, looks a bit dorky but it does the job admirably and I can see it from the back where most of my power demands are.



At this point it started to look like a Prado Command Module! I decided to move the UHF to the left of the gear stick on the passenger side, hide the ext. speaker under the coin holders and move the turbo timer to under the ignition.

I installed a Narva slimline spot onto the back to get some extra light in reverse. Removed the reflector/baffle thingy to get a spread rather than a thin line. It was something I had 'in-stock', so I will probably replace it with a LED unit in the future.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Unfortunately, I had my first bingle at this point due to a stupid manoeuvre by a driver in front which left the bar looking a little skewif. The repairers ordered an ARB deluxe bar with a new set of IPF Extremes (800XS I think). With a cut and polish, it looked like a new vehicle!



Tigerz11 had 10000lb dyneema rope winches on special, so I snavelled one before a hunting trip. Took a couple of hours to install with a bit of swearing, cursing, a bit of paint and a 120 kg mate to wrangle the bar for me. It's on there but I want to take it off and do it again. The bolts provide are interesting lengths and in the rush I forgot to rustproof the holes for the hawse. Lessons learned there.

Some more 'in-stock' bits and pieces in two Hella Comet 550s mounted on the aerial tabs up top. I retained the GME aerial bracket from the old bar to facilitate this. Had to buy a donor set of cheap lights from Supercrap to get the mounts, as they were missing. Not completely sold on how they look up there, but I will see when I get them wired up this week.

This photo is how she looks ATM, last Friday in the Brindabellas tackling some very slippery mud with my mate in his 80.



Sure enough, couldn't get the bloody thing bogged to test out the new winch and in all likelihood I will never get bogged again after installing it!

At this point, I have a few things left to do. I need some new tyres and I'm looking at going to 265/75 r 16 to fill up the guards a little. Then I'll add a TJM Airtec snorkle and possibly look at exhaust and chip combo. Underbody protection may be on the cards also. I'm happy with the practicality so far. Fuel economy sits at about 11.2L/100km. I have a small budget that takes a while to save up for things like tyres, so its a slow process.

In terms of reliability, it's been pretty good. I've had a new starter motor put in it after the old one started becoming embarrassing and had a spot of bother with a clogged up radiator, but got that fixed before any trouble. Very thankful, considering the 1KZ's appetite for cylinder heads. It runs on a diet of Baldwin oil filters, Penrite semi-synthetic and genuine fuel filters. I'm also looking at installing a water seperator soon for added protection.

You may have noticed Bert hiding behind the winch solenoid, every 4WD needs a mascot!

A very happy prado driver! Thanks for reading!


Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Booked the Prado in for new tyres next week. 265/75 r 16 BFG A/T KO at $315 a corner, very happy with that price. I'll probably get a Silverstone A/T for a spare at $220 fitted. They look almost the same as a BFG. Adam at Bob Jane Fyshwick should be able to help out anyone in the ACT if they're after a set at that price. Other quotes ranged from $340 to $370.

Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Update: New tyres on this afternoon. Wow! What a remarkable difference. After resetting bob janes 48 psi pressures, I have a new car. Can't really tell any difference in terms of acceleration yet. Will update with photos soon.

Reidy

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

Looks great, you sure have done a lot to it.

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

Nice setup you have their Reidy. It certainly is progressing well.

48 psi??? Are you serious? Whats their deal with running such high pressures?

[MDST Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDST]

Looks very very good!!!!

48 psi it's too much I think. 35 psi in the back and maybe 38-40 psi on front ( ARB bar and winch ).

Cheers

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Update: New tyres on this afternoon. Wow! What a remarkable difference. After resetting bob janes 48 psi pressures, I have a new car. Can't really tell any difference in terms of acceleration yet. Will update with photos soon.

Reidy

Well I've been away for a few weeks, so I thought I might give a quick update of what's happened since I've had the new tyres fitted.

Took off headed for Fraser Island on the 26th June. We left Canberra and headed for Sydney for the first night. I had a full tank of fuel, two people and camping gear on board, a freshly cleaned and oiled Unifilter and Flashlube for the first time. I set tyre pressure to 38 psi all round.

I immediately noticed that the speedo is now reading slightly slow, i.e. reading 105km/h, actually doing 107km/h. Acceleration is marginally slower, although I'm already used to it now and don't care too much. Noise was excellent being dead quite, no humming etc. Ability to hold speed up hills maybe slightly compromised, yet she just seems to work a bit harder and maintain it nonetheless. Due to the new tyres, I think any gains in power due to Flashlube may be offset.

At Sydney I topped up for the hell of it and added the corresponding measurement of Flashlube. Hit the Pacific for Newcastle, and then up to the Thunderbolt Way as an alternative to the New England. Arrived in Armidale and then continued to Ipswich the next day.

The Thunderbolt Way was a windy bit of road, with areas of roadworks in the steep bits resulting in a slow trip. However, after filling up in Ipswich and doing the calculations, I arrived at a very surprising outcome. With a bit of weight, 265/75s and a steep mixed drive of about 1000 km, I returned 10.7 L/ 100km. Considering my best run to date has been 11.2 L/ 100 km, I'm quite astonished, since I was expecting to see a drop in economy. I'm not sure if the speedo being out slightly has affected the calculations, but it seems that flashlube may be a legit product. I was sceptical believe me.

In response to ##########, that is a terrific setup for the filter! You must have read my mind as I was about to knock up something very similar.

I may do a quick right up of our trip to Fraser Island shortly.

Cheers,

Reidy

[Guest Close Guest]

If you are reading directly off the odometer to get the km for your fuel economy calculation, you should put in a correction factor as larger tyres will result in lesser km on the odo. If you add on the correction factor, your (actual) fuel economy would be better.

[Prado91 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado91]

I have posted the pre filter thing Reidy in the diesel 95 section if you are interested.



Catch you later, the Roo.

Lucky you have the intercooler version

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

If you are reading directly off the odometer to get the km for your fuel economy calculation, you should put in a correction factor as larger tyres will result in lesser km on the odo. If you add on the correction factor, your (actual) fuel economy would be better.

Well that's a bonus then!

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

This is the Prado at Moheno wreck on Fraser Island. The new tyres look a lot better in my opinion as they fill out the wheel wells nicely. All in all, the car performed faultlessly and it was a great trip! If only I hadn't lost the number plate off the front, and a bonnet protector clip (wtf?)...

Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Brown Davis bash plate arrived today, watch this space! My radiator hose had a run in with a root on the weekend, so I thought it would be a good time to whack one on.

Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

So I got a really big parcel delivered by the postie today.



Took me a couple of hours to fit up, including shooting down to Bunnings to get some 8.0x30 Stainless bolts, because unlike most, I didn't have "original fittings and fasteners".



Quite an impressive bit of engineering. Unlike some others, this one has an oil drain hole with a cover and plenty of ventilation up front.

I bought it from DNA Offroad online and was delivered quick smart from Melbourne. Very impressed with this business. (Thanks ########## for pointing it out)

So I should keep my bottom radiator hose comfortably in place now.

Reidy

Update: The drain hole in on the bash plate doesn't work well. This might be different on the V6. Oil runs out the sump plug and straight over the cover only to run out on either side of the steering rack. It's a pain to take on and off so I might make up an insert that will catch the oil and direct it down.