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.
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.
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