Big Whitey - Another White 150 GXL

[stevep84 Find all posts View Profile Close stevep84]

Awesome looking truck RWO. It looks great and the fit and finish of the accessories is a credit to you.
It's a shame you are hanging around the Hunter area a bit longer so I can pick your brain when I'm fitting my accessories.

Steve

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Dual Battery System

This was my first major mod after getting the vehicle. It's a relatively simple Redarc SBI12 system with an Odyssey PC1400 AGM installed in the engine bay on the drivers side. LeighW's voltage booster is also used to aid charging of the AGM. I did all the research on getting the Redarc BCDC but couldn't convince myself the system would have worked better than what I chose to install. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't but I haven't had any drama's with charging yet and when I do I will look at changing something, for now if it ain't broke....

I plan to get a 240v Ctek smart charger to condition the battery one day, but that's still on the todo list and my crappy normal one does the job for now when I remember to hook it up.

This is my "high current" distribution fuse panel, if you look closely it is split in half, one feed is from the main battery and the second is from the aux on the other side.


Panel rubber lids closed, if you look between the fuel filter and the fuse box you will see the Redarc isolator. The OEM setup came with a "PTC relay box" in this location with 3 unpopulated relay holders, all my research pointed to this being for an additional heater in a cold climate vehicle, to me it was just wasted space that I could put to better use so I butchered it out, terminated the wires and put my isolator there to keep it close to the main battery (manual says to do that to manage voltage differences between batteries and stop isolator cycling).


Aux battery


I won't bore people on what runs where and cable/fuse sizes unless you really want me too.

The new battery terminals are the 3 way projector ones (not the fused ones, I looked at using these but they just didn't have enough capacity to do what I wanted and keep it neat), they required some minor modifications to the factory battery cable lugs to fit but nothing my Dremel couldn't fix.

The "fuse box" is the modular Cooper Busman LMI "Little Block", I purchased all the modules from otrattw *HERE*. You need to buy in 3 piece sections and create what you want by joining them together.

The 4 Way bus bar has a bit of a story behind it, I knew what I wanted but couldn't find it for sale anywhere so I sent an email off to Cooper Busman head office in the US via an online form. I received a reply from a nice lady the next day saying the product was only new and they didn't have any stores selling the parts that they wanted them to be selling. I thought it was a dead end with more wasted money so I started looking at new options and about a week later a package arrived in the mail from the US that had the 4 way bus bar and a few other little bits. They did this all at no cost to me (shipping alone was probably $20) and must have forgot to tell me it was coming. Either way, I can't fault their products and especially not their service!

The only minor inconvenience to the LMI buss's is because I purchased from the US they are imperial 3/8 and 5/16 studs which is a bit of a pain as the rest of the vehicle is metric. If you look up the product data sheet for these it lists all the options, one of which is with metric threads but this wasn't available when I purchased, probably is now (maybe look to European sellers as I'm not sure it is available in AU).

I deviated from the norm a bit with the Aux battery and didn't use a tray just a thick piece of insertion rubber (about 4mm I think), it's good enough for cold climate vehicles that come installed with two batteries, so it was good enough for me. I removed the fixing for the AC pipe on the battery tray and drilled a hole in the side of the pedestal and re-fixed the AC pipe to that with a rubber lined P clamp (if you look directly below the AC charge point you can just see the top of it), this location worked out pretty well, it doesn't bend the pipe from it's original spot and keeps it just as secure as the OEM fixing. It's been like this for nearly 12 months and I haven't had any problems yet. I do however want to speak to an AC mob about getting a new pipe made up to move the charge point away from the battery, although there is clearance and even with vibration it doesn't hit the battery, this is only because the battery is off centre to the tray and I would like to have it sitting central, for added piece of mind. An OEM battery clamp is used.

The Odyssey battery is an awesome little number with 65AH in a physically small package, don't let the size decieve you though as it still weighs about 25 kg (I you listen closely you can hear that guard cracking in protest). I opted to purchase the battery with reversed terminals as I thought it would work better with my wiring, but I now regret this as I didn't have any room to mount the 2 extra fuses (both of those positive leads are fused but it is hidden next to the battery and they are a right PITA to change). It is also on the todo list to change this battery to one with standard terminals and weld a plate to the battery clamp to mount the fuses on top of the battery and make them a bit more accessible. My original plan was to be able to use this battery to replace the main one but that doesn't work either due to the feed coming from the OEM fuse box being too short to reach the terminal of a physically smaller battery. Does anyone want a slightly used Odyssey PC1400?

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

Plates look good. Are all the bolts recessed out of the way? Thanks for posting up the fuse arrangement, looks really good. I think I will track some down. Good bit of PR too.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Pre Filter

The pre-filter is a Terrain Tamer DKLC30, which is just a non-rebadged Stanadyne FM100. I chose this unit as it has a higher flow rating than the Racor one (less pressure on the fuel pump?), liked the idea that it bolted to existing holes (see below) and can use Caterpillar filters which seem to be cheaper than everything else (I operate machines in the mines, so I also had to have something with a CAT label on the vehicle!).

My initial intention was just to bolt this to the guard next to the main filter, but when I actually received the box and felt how heavy it was (without any diesel in it) I started having second thoughts and designed a bracket. The new bracket sits between the OEM filter and it's bracket and is clamped down by the OEM filter bolts, it also has two supports that bolt up to the holes that I was originally going to use in the guard. While it fits it's not perfect, so my job for tomorrow is to make a couple of shims to improve the fit and place less pressure on the guard, should be a simple task...


I also need to get one of the shorter filter elements to make access to the water trap a little easier but may not bother doing this until I replace the filter I have.

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

Mate, take a drive up to Gloucester and have a good look at Drifta before shelling out 3k on ORS. Even if just for a comparison, you might be surprised and save some big coin.

Tell Mark, I sent ya.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

stevep84: Still here for another 2 months (at least) and happy to provide any info I can, just ask...

mjrandom: Yes, bolts are recessed. I will take some photo's underneath tomorrow to show fitment. As for Cooper Busman, I'm more than happy to give credit where credit is due. It's nice to see a company as large as them remember that the little people like us do still exist and are probably the reason they are where they are today.

Matt: Will do, my only concern with the Drifta set-up is them being made of wood (i.e. extra weight and more prone to failure if they get wet). A mate of mine brought the Drifta camp kitchen and it does look like they know how to make a quality product though.

[stevep84 Find all posts View Profile Close stevep84]

stevep84: Still here for another 2 months (at least) and happy to provide any info I can, just ask...

Cheers mate. Hopefully my Disco sell soon because that is funding a lot of the accessories for the Prado.

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

I was really tempted to pull that relay block out and put my CCT breaker on a bracket there but there are a lot of wires in and around the thing. I just had a look (after jacking up the back to measure droop) and I reckon I can fit the same setup with enough fuses for me and the CCT breaker on top of the fuse box. Good find.

What did the fuel filter end up costing? I'm still 50/50 on fitting one. Good idea with the bracket there was a PPer who posted he had cracked the inner guard holes mounting the Racor directly. I even made up a longer bracket for my GENUINE Provent as well. That also let me route the hoses so they rise in the middle.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

IIRC filter was about $200 as the TT kit with hose, barbs and clamps. In hindsight it was a waste of money buying the TT kit as I have to replace the element with a shorter one, buy right angle barbs and will use spring clamps anyway. If you buy directly from a CAT dealer I'm pretty sure you can just get the housing and filter you want and I read somewhere it was only about $150. For me the filter was a no-brainer, buying fuel in outback WA is like a lotto!

The relay box wasn't a big job to get out, the hardest part was to trace the wires and confirm they weren't going anywhere and then work out how to unhook it off the side without breaking the fuse box. I just cut the plugs off and shrink wrapped/taped all the wires back along the existing harness. The Toyota monkeys probably wouldn't even notice it's missing now...

Edit: I just picked up the latest Repco catalogue and they have the same filter kit (not sure if it's in a TT box) for $248. The scary part is the small print that lists the filter prices below, $79 for the 30 micron and $89 for the 10. WTF Repco, these are not much more than a $17 replacement part?

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

It's all too neat for the techs to think anyone has touched it. If I was going bush I would definitely fit the 2nd filter but as it is I don't go that far. Obviously still a risk if you roll into a service station 10 minutes after the truck leaves. I relied on changing out one or other of the factory filters on the 120 every 10k and the fuel system was as clean as a whistle after 130k.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Ok it's been a while since an update (too much time working on the car and not enough browsing PP), so here goes....

Jobs completed over the last few weeks have been:
Incab switches (see below) and wiring for winch control and driving lights
Secondary filter all installed and working (photo's to come)
Led upgrade, I originally purchased a kit from Led Lad, but it was utter shit and not worth the $45 he charges, most of this has since been replaced with individual purchases from ebay
Diff and fuel tank breathers (photo to come)
Rear light pole (just need to install the light)
Changed to 3 way and re-wired "rear lights" switch to go through relay so I can pull a second trigger from the reverse lights

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

In Cab Switches

Winch isolator and in-cab control installed with wire run to the winch location. I'll buy a winch some day...

I removed the 4wd switch panel in my auto and replaced it with one from a manual to get the 2 extra switch positions (toyota part no 58844-60030), I ordered this from the local dealer and he must have made a mistake as it only cost me $32, needless to say I paid and left quickly! These switches were quite easy to install as there was plenty of room above and below, but they still required some serious dremel work to the panel and black silicon to secure. Both switches are led lit, isolator has red led to indicate it is on and green that lights up the label and is wired to the dash lights. The winch control is green led upper and lower (both wired to dash lights) and is a momentary on/off/momentary on.


Battery isolator and driving/roof light switches. I'll buy some driving and roof lights some day...

Major work required to get these suckers to fit in without causing problems for the switches below. I basically had to cut the switch as far up into the panel as I could, otherwise the bottom part of the switch would hold the idle up button slightly in. The switch rockers still overlap the switches below, but they do not actually touch. After hacking the panel up there was not much left to hold the bottom of the switch, so a heap of black silicon now does the job, if one ever fails I'm pretty sure I will be buying a new panel! The OEM switches can still be taken out if I pull the caps of the rockers. All switches are wired to the dash lights (there was an unused but live plug behind the panel so I pulled dash light power from that) and have green leds on the top and red leds on the bottom to indicate they are active. The "Aux bat" switch is wired to the override wire on the SBI12 isolator and the red led in the bottom of the switch comes on when ever the led in the isolator is on.

The wiring and relays for driving lights and roof lights have been installed and ready to go when I harvest the money tree...

All switches including two custom orders are from http://www.otrattw.com and I can't recommend these guys enough for anyone who wants carling switches.

[M3R Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close M3R]

Great write-up. Excellent attention to detail. Looks fantastic.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Had a few hours to kill yesterday with some mates while our wives were at a baby shower and we were watching the kids down the park, what better way to keep the kids entertained than go for a wheel! We had a ball literally 10 minutes from Singleton with some nice rutted and muddy slop pits as well as a few easy rocky sections. Unfortunately I didn't get any photo's of the track, but my mates 200 was muddy brown from the top of the windows down and he was stoked.

Traction wise the Prado and 4 ribs held up brilliantly with only 1 or 2 rutted sections where I regretted not dropping from highway pressure, but in the "lets see who can cover their car in the most mud" stakes, the ATZ's failed miserably compared to both of the other car's running 33 muddies (one MTZ's and the other KM2's). I had 2 minor casualties, the good ol' front fuel tank bash plate now needs a little straightening again (I'm getting sick of this, AMTS if your reading us 150 owners need a decent set of fuel tank bash plates) and the "Toyota" trim around the tow bar receiver was pulled off about 100m into the track dragging the towbar over a ledge. I have ripped this thing off a few times now and for some reason I always seem to find it, but for those of you thinking about an OEM towbar, short of a kaymar dual bar it's probably the best protection available for the rear end of a 150.

Anyway, after a new pressure cleaner and an arvo outside, the bus is clean again and I scored a bit more free top dressing for the lawn (I'm working my way around it one 4wd outing at a time)!

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Looks way too clean now RWO! It's fun getting them dirty but not so fun the cleanup afterwards hey.