My build up for 'Sandy'

[petesboyz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close petesboyz]

Hi to all, I will showcase my ideas (usually stealing from others then modifying it my way (as is the purpose of this forum))
To get it started, Sandy joined our family in Jul 08 and as such is a 2008 D4D Dune in colour.
So far I have added:
Complete set of sandgrabba mats (front, middle and rear),
3/4 length roof rack ($700 on evil bay),
Dual battery tray (evil bay)
Projecta 150 amp battery isolator (also evil bay) (some sort of theme here I think)
GME TX3440 UHF with 4.5db ant.

The Dual battery and roof rack were pretty standard installs, as have been covered in this forum a couple of times so I wont bore you with my install. But I will show you where I mounted the UHF, As has been done before MUMSRIG as an example under the dash in the drivers foot well, I thought I would go better, as i didnt have the gear to make the mounting plate, and wasnt going to drill any holes.
I pulled the center console out and low and behold there is a lot of space there, even a couple of pre tapped bolts holes.
The Coax is run inside corragated conduit, to the firewall, then thru one of the big rubber grommes, up under the dash then down into the center console, the power is piggybacked via the 12V power socket. Pictures will explain it from here




There is little or no noise loss as the radio is mounted so the speaker is facing up, and can be heard without any distortion


More to follow

Pete

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

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

Any exterior pictures?

[petesboyz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close petesboyz]

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

I finally got off my butt and have taken some pictures of Sandy


these two are the exterior.

below are the UHF install, under the center console



UHF 4.5db with independant earth and spring


Coax entering the firewall


Dual battery install





more to follow when I do more work

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

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

Looking good. Dune always looks classy.

Can you post some pics of your roof rack too? What type is it?

[petesboyz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close petesboyz]

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

Looking good. Dune always looks classy.

Can you post some pics of your roof rack too? What type is it?

I got the roof rack on evil bay for 700 good ones, it looks like an ARB copy.
Not really happy with the mounts as you have to put them onto the rack first, as they are bolted from inside the mount before you bolt it to the roof, and then they were about 15mm out. The rack itself is very solid (45kg all up), but is very noisy when the wind goes thru it (wind deflector and or spotties to be mounted on the front or remove when not needed).
Will post more pictures as I have to drive to the gold coast from melbourne over the next week, and will post pictures and fuel usage when I get home (travelling up the Newell Hwy, looking for geocaches along the way as I have a geocoin from Germany to drop off)

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

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

Installing the radio under the console works well, its worth fitting the mic extension cable so if you have any back seat drivers/passengers they can use the mic too.

Be aware though, that a fibreglass whip aerial fitted to a Air Bag compatable Bull Bar has a very short life when driven over corrugated roads.
Mine lasted less than 2 hours! and talking to people in Alice they said straight up ... oh, you have a Air Bag Bar don't you lol

Anyway, welcome to the world of Prado and enjoy Sandy 8)

Lee

[petesboyz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close petesboyz]

Re: My build up for 'Sandy'

Here are some pictures of the latest in a long line of upgrades for Sandy,
She is now 2" further away from the ground with the help of http://www.suspensionstuff.com and their mates rates kit of Lovell from and Dobinson rear springs.

images below

Before lift (Tallarook)

Coils old and new (you work out which is which)

Shocks old and new

The final product

Sorry no had a time limit on getting the work done so there was no pictures taken of the work done on the front, but I will say I can be done without removing the steering linkages, but it is a little fiddly.

Will let you know how it handles when I can get time to take her out

Pete

[petesboyz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close petesboyz]

Next works

I now have official approval to wire my second battery directly to the back of the car,

Quote "since we are going for a weekends worth of winery crawling, it would be a good idea to have the fridge running constantly to keep said beverages cold!" unquote, and she agreed, so it was a quick trip to jaycar for some 25A cable and a couple of plugs and now the installation has started.

Today I ran the positive and negative from the engine bay to the back, nothing different to what others have done so far, so I didnt take any pictures.

I will do some more work tomorrow and will take pictures of my work