Tin175's White GXL 150 build

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Hi Guys,

This site has been a valuable resource for my build so I'd like to share what I have done with my Prado and keep everything in one place.

I've always enjoyed 4wd and camping when growing up. This is my first real 4wd. Was driving a soft-roader Kia sportage prior to this.

It all started when I was reading a report about resale value in the Sunday paper while sitting at Maccas. I noticed that the claimed fuel economy of the Prado diesel was below 9 litres/100k. Got me thinking that I could afford to run a real 4wd.

So 2 weeks later I picked up a 2010 GXL 150 diesel auto with 90k on the clock. Very tidy and stock standard. Had canvas seat covers, UHF and genuine rubber floor mats. This was in June 2014.

I have a young family and we enjoy our camping. The Prado opens up many more options and we plan on doing some 4wd touring and maybe tackle some of the must do destinations. ie Cape York, Simpson, etc...

The aim of this build was to make a comfortable tourer that would still fit in our short low garage. Means that 2 inch lift only and no bullbar.

Modifications so far

HID hi and low beam
DRL's
LED interior lights
Rhino platform rack with HD leg kit.
Dual battery with 100ah AGM battery and VSR isolator
Wiring to the rear with extra 12v, usb, anderson and voltmeter
Rear camera on demand switch
Front camera on OEM display
Minecorp front bash/sump guard
TG150 guard
Catch can
Scan guage
Techstream
Wind booster
265/70 R17 AT tyres
Dobinson rear springs 2" lift with Coil rite HD airbags with sleeves
Bilstein shocks in the rear
Profender OE 2.0 adjustable struts in front
Diff drop
Front sway bar relocation
Fridge slide
Maxtrax mounting bracket

Future modifications

Roof rack mounted led light bar
Rear door fold out table
Underbody water storage
Rear LED camping lights
Hook up 240v inverter to 2nd battery
Snorkel

Will add photos over the next few days.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Headlights and LED interior

One of the first mods I did was to install HID hi and low beams. I ended up getting some ebay HID kits for $25 a pair posted.

I ordered 5000k bulbs but they still look fairly blue. Next time around I'd probably go warmer as I feel the warm color penetrates better.

For the interior lights, I bought a $25 kit from ebay. At the time I was too lazy to remove the covers to see what bulbs I needed. They were just T10 and some festoon bulbs. Probably could have bought LED bulbs separately and made my own kit for about $10. I ended up swapping the two main roof lights out with some 40 LED panels. This made the biggest difference and is almost too bright. Some to the T10 bulbs have started flickering or going dim so it would be an idea to buy a few extra.

HID low and hi beams installed. Park light still original.


I point the low beams all the way down and haven't had anyone flash me. I have noticed a slight color variation between the left and right bulbs. I suppose I can't expect too much for $25.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Pioneer Platform rack

Next on the list was to get some extra storage space.

We usually use the company dual cab ute which can fit alot more than the back of the Prado could. We also recently bought an Oztent so need some way to carry a 2m long tent bag.

Due to my garage being only 2050 high, it only left one option. Rhino Pioneer Platform rack. I couldn't make up my mind whether to get the feet which clamped onto the rails or the Heavy duty feet that replaced the rails. I ended up getting the HD feet as it gave the higher load rating and was slightly lower than the clamp on options. After doing the 2" lift, I'm glad I went this option as I only have about 20mm clearance to my garage door.

I went the 1.9m long rack and installed it myself. Most difficult part was removing the original rails. A quick search on Prado point made the job easier. Pretty happy with the rack and the look on the car. Only disappointment was the cost of the rack considering that it is made in China. I thought they might have still been made locally considering the cost of it.

Now I have something to bolt all the other bits too. On the list is front Led bar, Rear work lights, Maxtrax and shovel holder and maybe an awning.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Front / rear camera install

After stumbling across this thread I thought it would be handy to be able to check trailer or bike rack and also to connect a front camera to the factory display.

It took me a solid 8 hours to get it all in and working. The switching and relays took the longest to figure out and test. Pretty happy with the result. You can find more info here

Front camera is an Ebay item http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151126413...84.m1439.l2649

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

Nice Prado build there mate! Looking forward to seeing more photos. Did you find the HID's helped a fair bit with your vision? How do you like the windbooster?

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Nice Prado build there mate! Looking forward to seeing more photos. Did you find the HID's helped a fair bit with your vision? How do you like the windbooster?

With the original lights I could hardly tell they were turned on. The HID's do put out more light but it is a bit cool for my liking. I find the warmer light makes it easier to see the road. I guess that's why most street lighting is yellow. Next time I'll go for 4300k bulbs.

The wind booster worked better than I expected. Overall power has not increase and was not expected anyway. However it does give a satisfying sensation of power and urgency that you can't quite replicate by stomping on the pedal. Would I spend $200 buck again? I'd probably rather get a straight through muffler put on for similar dollars.

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

I would also go 4300k and i believe most factory HID's are around this temp. It probably does differ with the cheaper kits though too. I never understood why ARB made their spot lights 6500k as you're right, the higher the temp the less light output is measured from what i've seen.

Fair call on the windbooster mate Thanks for the feedback on that too.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Bash plate

Didn't like the look of the sand scoop standard bashplate. Managed to score a Minecorp bash plate for $150.

Good design and well made. Large drainage holes in the right places and all bolts are recessed so they don't get ground off.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

2" Lift, Profender, Bilstein, Coil rite

Wasn't planning to do a lift for a while but was too distracted reading up about lifts I decided to get it done so I don't waste anymore time researching.

Original plan was to just do airbags in the back and 6mm strut spacers in the front. This would give me give me 10-20mm lift.

After reading the DIY suspension install on this forum I thought to tackle it myself and save a few dollars. I decided on a king spring and bilstein combo. These can be had with the front struts already built so no need for spring compressors. I also decided to put HD coil rite airbags in the back too. Might as well while I have it all apart.

While shopping around for the best price I noticed the Profender 2.0 coil over strut. They worked out to be about $100 more than Bilstein struts and allows me to easily fine tune the final ride height. They currently only have springs for no or minimal accessories, which was fine for me. They look nice and blingy too.

Decided to get the diff drop kit and swaybar relocation plates too. So what was going to be a few hundred for airbags and strut spacers has turned into a $2000 hole in my pocket. Aim was to get a 50mm lift in the back and 40mm in the front and be able to pump up the airbags when loaded with camping gear to maintain clearance.

All the bits arrived on a Friday and it took me about 6 hours to get everything in with a bit of help from the misses and kids.

Ended up getting the no load Dobinson springs in the rear, with HD coil rite lifted airbags.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Rear suspension lift

Started on the rear first.

Put the back up on jack stands, removed the old shocks and disconnected the sway bar on both sides.

Put jack under opposite side and jack up til the drooping side coil comes loose.

Prep airbag with sleeve and airlines. Cut and drill out bump stop and shove it all back in. Make sure to check for leaks with some soapy water.

Install new shocks (Bilstein BE5-A713), reconnect sway bar and she's all done.



Pic of just the back done. With 20 psi in the bags there is about a 70mm lift.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Profender OE 2.0 front struts

Fully machined and anodized coil overs are very nice. Adjustable height collar and spherical bearings top and bottom so not more worn rubbers.

The springs are a smaller diameter, around 90mm.



The front suspension was not as easy and smooth as the rears. I couldn't get the steering knuckle off to make room to remove the standard strut. After 30min of mucking around I decided to undo the ball joint on the Upper control arm which was much easier to dislodge. I had to undo the brake and ABS line so I wouldn't stretch and strain them while it was all apart.

The Profender struts are about 30mm longer than the standard struts.



The extra length made it a bit hard to get it all back in. Got the misses to push down on the lower arm and it all went together nicely.



Bolted UCA back up and brake and abs lines and checked they were still OK at full droop. I'm getting about 70 extra mm of droop. Not sure how to measure properly but that was how much lower the bottom of the disc brake was.



The blue looks pretty good in the wheel well.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Diff drop and sway bar relocation

Not really a fan of replacing CV's doing a diff drop is cheap insurance.

CV angle before diff drop. It's a bit low already so probably didn't need a diff drop for a mild lift.



CV angle is about the same with diff drop and new struts. Front lift in this picture is only about 25mm so CV should be level once lifted up a bit more.



Swaybar relocated



Bash plate went back on with supplied diff drop spacers. I'll still need to make up some thick spacers as the diff mounts are touching the bash guard.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Job done and the numbers

The rear took 2 hours and the front took 6 hours. I was pretty buggered by the end of it as I was suffering from the man flu at the time sniffling and coughing while on my back or crouching. Had to get it done as we need to drive the car that night.

Here is a pic after the lift was done. Front look low. I didn't have the tool to adjust the collars.



The measurements before and after. These were measured from the bottom of the rim up to the guard.
The rear airbags had 20psi as per recommendation to stretch and seat bags.

Front right. 752 to 775 (23mm)
Front left. 751 to 773 (22mm)
Rear left. 780 to 852 (72mm)
Rear right. 780 to 845 (65mm)

Need to let the springs and airbags settle and adjust up the front springs.

Front droop. 886mm bottom of rim to guard. Not sure what stock was as I didn't think to measure.

The ride is noticeably tighter and more controlled. No more diving and body roll has greatly reduced. Back is much firmer and speed bumps aren't as nice as they used to be.

I've made a c-spanner to adjust the front struts. Aiming for 40mm lift in the front. I'll let everything settle for a week or two and then get an alignment done.

[Westcoast Mark Member Find all posts View Profile Close Westcoast Mark]

Nice looking build mate! I installed the same roof rack on my 150 last week :-)

Looking forward to seeing what else you add.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Front adjustment

Made up a C-spanner and adjusted the front springs.

Took a few goes but have got 40mm lift on both sides now. For some reason the right side didn't need as much as the left. I ended up lowering the spring collar by about 10mm to get the extra 20mm lift i wanted.

Looks better now.