OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

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

I have been a lurker and now a registered member for a little while but I have been slack and have not started a Rig Build Up........until now.

My wife and I are planning to travel around over the next few years, we have travelled quite a bit overseas and driven around the UK on a number of occasions, but as we get closer to retirement we decided that we would get a new 4WD and see how many kilometres we could put on it. I guess it is in the blood, my parents still tour around (on bus trips) these days and they are in their 90's so I have a few years left in me.

In early May 2009, we were looking for a new GXL and after Mrs OldGreyGuy saw a few she started looking at the VX and Grande models in the showrooms and started dropping hints about leather seats and sunroofs. Next thing I knew we had found a demo Silver D4D 5-Speed Auto Grande that was getting to the point where the dealer had to move it on and so I picked it up at a significant saving. The build date on the compliance plate is 2008/12 and it was first registered in March 2009. It really only had 4,500k on the clock and had been through the first service and had all the rattles and gripes sorted.

Options included in the deal were:
- Carpet protectors (front & rear)
- Bonnet protector
- Front windows tinted
- Hard colour matched wheel cover

When you look at how optioned up the Grande is there isn't much more that they can put on and I had decided that any additional options would only add to the amount of luxury car tax we would have to pay so we struck the deal there and then.

Front view


Rear view


Side view


Major Accessories Fitted:

In order of fitting

Towbar
Cargo Barrier Part 1 Part 2
Pradopoint.com Sticker
Rhino-Rack Sportz Bar
ZCG Scalar GRN480 UHF Antenna
GME TX3340 Preview
UHF install - GME TX3340
Kaymar rear tyre spacer
ARB Deluxe Winch Bar

There are a number of additional items that I am thinking about adding to the Prado, I'll add a wish list here and extend this thread as I build up the rig.

Wishlist

:arrow: Rear drawers
:arrow: Dual battery system
:arrow: Spotlights
:arrow: Rear worklight

Thanks for reading this, please feel free to offer any suggestions or links to your own rigs if you have already successfully built it up with one of the items I have planned.

OldGreyGuy

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Good stuff OGG!

I love seeing the first pics of someone's rig and then seeing it transform over time.

So do you have any thoughts of where you wanna take the rig on its first trip?

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Welcome to PP. Nice looking grande. All that is needed from here on is a snorkel and better tyres.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

All that is needed from here on is a snorkel and better tyres.

And don't forget the PP sticker! Good to have you on-board OGG 8)

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

So do you have any thoughts of where you wanna take the rig on its first trip?

Well, I'm only able to make a couple of camping trips near Brisbane over the next few months as I am working on a project under contract and will be unable to get more than a day here or there over the next 7 or 8 months. So it is probably a long weekend up past Noosa in the Great Sandy National Park area.

I also want to go to Carnarvon Gorge soon, but long term, I would like to go the Kimberleys (last there in 1975) as well as Uluru, the Olgas, Oodnadatta, Wilpena Pound, Tasmania, Margaret River, etc.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Towbar

I moved this from the original post into it's own post and have put a link back in the build-up section of the main thread.

Our plans for our Prado include buying a camper trailer or van as well as being able to hitch up my trailer for general use and so the first thing was to add a towbar. I've previously had a Hayman-Reese towbar and so naturally I opted for a new HR bar. I had looked at a number of Toyota standard towbars but I preferred the HR one and so I had one installed.

Hayman-Reese Towbar




I opted for the round 7 pin plug as it matches the trailer I have. When it was installed however the default holes in the HR for mounting the plug mount mean that the plug is hard up against the mounts for the D-shackles for the chain. This was knocking against the d-shackle all the time and I wasn't happy with that. I drilled a new hole to allow the mount to be moved to the other end of the mounting point to allow for some room and I'm much happier with it now.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Cargo Barrier Part 1

One of the things that concerned me about touring in a 4WD is that in a crash or panic stop the likelihood of loose cargo hitting the passengers is high. Having seen a number of accidents where this has happened, I resolved to install a cargo barrier. There are a number of threads and build ups where people have installed cargo barriers and after reading through them all I was more confused than when I started.

My problem is that I have a Grande with side air curtains which seems to limit my choices, I like the Autosafe Industries barriers that do not require holes to be drilled but I was unsure as their website does not specifically list the Grande and the photos I had seen did not clearly show how much clearance was available for the curtains. Some other folks here on Pradopoint have installed this model barrier into Prados with side curtains so I rang and spoke to the folks at Autosafe and discussed the model and the space available and decided to try it, ordered one and it arrived within a few days.

This is the side area where the clearance is critical:


Unpacking the delivered cargo barrier was pretty simple. wrapped in protective plastic, the mounts and hardware were all in a thick plastic bag which was attached to the barrier with a cable tie. The barrier is solid and has all the warning labels and emergency hammer attached with more cable ties. There is a warning label on the barrier specifically for vehicles with side airbags as well as the usual warning about not sitting behind the barrier.



The installation is supposed to be simple enough for an IT bloke like myself so I cleaned out the back of the Prado, laid out the necessary tools and started. Here is where it started:


The only part of the installation where you have to remove anything from the Prado is the rear passenger handles. I couldn't really see if there was a lot to remove the plastic covers so took my smallest screwdriver and lightly inserted this into the front edge of the cover. The plastic cover just popped off revealing the screws underneath and removing the handles was really simple:


The rest of the installation only took a few minutes. The top mounts just screwed into place and only need a large Philips head screwdriver and a 15mm spanner to complete. Autosafe provide sufficient rubber washers which are placed between each of the connecting mounts so the whole unit is rubber mounted to resist vibrations. After installing everything 'finger tight' and adjusting the position so I was happy with it, I then tightened everything up, cleaned up and it was finished. Here are the top and bottom mounts:


I am planning to install a set of rear drawers, and so I was interested to see the bottom mounts. I think that there will be sufficient room to mount drawers but the base is either going to need some cut-outs to accommodate the mounts for the barrier, or I can mount the barrier to the drawers. A pradopoint member (Lenny) was kind enough to send me the vision files from his drawer installation so I plan to measure these mounts up and modify the plans before making my drawers.

Here is the finished installation from the back and the front. I have also included a shot of the side which shows the amount of clearance which will probably accommodate the side airbags.


Now to move on to the rear drawers.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Cargo Barrier Part 2

Updated 12/09/2009 - Now with knobs

I was looking through catalogues for some hardware when I found some M10 Lobe Knobs for sale at OVESCO. I thought these may look better than the bare nuts on the cargo barrier, so I ordered a couple.

OVESCO M10 Lobe Knobs:


Standard nut on the side mount point:


Installation was simply a matter of unscrewing the standard M10 nut and replacing it with the M10 Lobe Knob and tightening it up by hand.

M10 Lobe Knob installed on the side mount:


I probably should have thought about this and picked these up before I installed the cargo barrier as the standard nuts had marked up the paint a little. I guess I will have to touch it up a little and put them back on. Oh well a job for another day.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Pradopoint.com Sticker

I guess this is not a major modification but I figured that it was worth a post.

I was lucky enough to be given a Pradopoint.com sticker and so I figured that it should be in a prominant place on the rear windscreen:


So if you spot me give me a wave

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Good stuff OGG.....

its like a blank canvas at the start .....love it

great to follow the individual build ups...

cheers Joey

[Sunday Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sunday]

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

OGG: I'm enjoying seeing this build progress from a pretty much standard rig (if you can call a Grande standard ). While it's incredibly inspiring to see some of the highly involved builds with seemingly all the available mods it can also be a bit daunting for those of us just starting!

Are you considering a bull bar & spot lights at all?

Regards,
Sunday

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

OGG: I'm enjoying seeing this build progress from a pretty much standard rig (if you can call a Grande standard ). While it's incredibly inspiring to see some of the highly involved builds with seemingly all the available mods it can also be a bit daunting for those of us just starting!

Are you considering a bull bar & spot lights at all?

Regards,
Sunday

Sunday, For the first few months of owning the Prado I did my share of reading and talking to folks and then I discovered Pradopoint.com and I also felt overwhelmed by some of the different builds and levels of skill involved. I certainly felt that I would never be able to live up to some of the high standards displayed in some of these builds. What is in these build up threads is however the knowledge that some of these good folks have put on display for us all so that some of us who feel challenged can know what is possible and give us the incentive to go out and do it. I have also found that many of the people who have really complex build ups are really nice and don't mind answering questions (if they are clear and well put). It is certainly giving me (an IT guy) the confidence to tackle the things I have previously thought of as too complex.

My build up is of course a result of the decisions I am making about how I plan to use my Prado. I'm probably not planning to be the most adventurous rock-hopper, nor do I want to test how deep a mud-hole I can go through. I have enormous respect for those folks who can do this and detail how they have set up their rig for these purposes, but at the end of the day I want to go touring and so I will be setting this on up for going places in a fair degree of comfort and safety and the modifications I hope will support this.

The bull-bar and spotlights will come, I am thinking the ARB deluxe bar will be a future mod and then some lights but I have not decided on which lights yet, but this site is a great resource for researching what others have done and shared through their build-ups, I expect that I will take an example from someone else and refine it to suit my needs. In the mean-time I have made some mods to support my short term needs as I have a lot of work commitments right now, but I am working on my drawers to support short term trips and will be looking at doing the bull-bars sometime mid next year.

Looking forward to seeing your build-up in the coming months,
OldGreyGuy

[Sunday Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sunday]

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

OGG: agree completely about the knowledge base & willingness to share on this forum. I did a lot of research before purchasing my Prado, much of it through the various threads available here at Pradopoint. It gave me the confidence to buy my 2003 GX (even though it has quite high mileage) and enlightened me as to the possibilities available to me to progressively modify it to meet my specific needs (like you, mostly touring). However, I've hit a bit of a stumbling block & may have to alter my plans but more about that in another thread...

Looking forward to hearing more on your build including the drawers.

Cheers,
Sunday

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

Rhino-Rack Sportz Bar

I was looking for a set of these as a handy spot to strap on a set of Maxtrax. I did pick these up second hand from a fellow at work who decided to get a full rack, turns out he had bought them and had never fitted them as most of the parts were still sealed in the bags.

Not much to do to install these babys as they fit right on:


So now I have a place to strap the Maxtrax on without it having to be in the cabin.

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

Re: OldGreyGuy's 2008 D4D Grande

ZCG Scalar GRN480 UHF Antenna

I have noted that there are a couple of schools of thought about UHF Antenna placement, the traditional bullbar placement which seems to be the most common, or placing the Antenna somewhere high on the body. I don't really like mounting the antenna on the fender and after seeing the trip reports from the 2009 GTG where it has been reported that a number of Antennas mounted on bullbars broke I started looking at some of the alternatives.

I noticed a thread on UHF antenna positioning which had some interesting alternatives but then I saw a post where the antenna had been placed on the roof rail from D4D which made a lot of sense to me. While the antenna fitted, a ZCG Scalar GRN480 is only a 4dB gain antenna it is fairly high up and clears all the obstructions in the cabin of the Prado so that a longer antenna on the bullbar normally has to clear. In the linked threads and D4D's build thread there is a number of instructive comments that should help anyone trying to install an antenna on the roof rail. In particular there is a link to an article at LCOOL on Fitting a Rear Video Camera, the advice in this article on locating the cable was invaluable to fitting this modification.

Having pointed everyone to the above threads and article, I am going to concentrate on my variations and how I fitted the Antenna mount.

The difficulty with this modification is that there is no readily available mount and fittings for mounting an antenna on the roof rail. Rola and Rhino-Rack have them for mounting onto their roof racks, but these will not fit the roof rails. I have tried to limit the amount of metalwork I have had to do as I don't have ready access to a metal shop so making the mount was going to be a problem. I also am trying to limit making holes in my Prado so I tried to find a way to make a mount.

I picked up a piece of 20x200x1mm bracket material from Bunnings and cut off 2 of the 8 sections to form the part of the bracket that fits inside the rail, each of these sections is predrilled with a 5mm hole which is not threaded. I also picked up a L bracket from Dick Smiths, this comes anodised in black and I wanted this to match the colour of the rail. I taped and clamped the two pieces together and drilled a 5mm hole through the Bunnings bracket into the L bracket so that the holes would eventually line up. I then drilled this out in the L bracket to 7mm so there would be some clearance and tapped the Bunnings bracket with a 6mm thread. Putting a piece of 1mm rubber strip between the two pieces I used two stainless steel M6x16mm cap screws/washers to connect it all together ready to mount on the rail.

Here are the parts:


I'm still not sure about the L Bracket. I have not cut it off just yet (mainly because I am rubbish at metalwork), but I may think about this and go back and do it.

There are a couple of threads that already describe how to remove the roof rails. I only needed to remove the right rear cover and this was easy following the instructions. Thread 1 Thread 2.

Getting the bracket into the rails was simple, once the cover was off the end of the rails is exposed and I just slipped the bracket into the rail and positioned it behind the middle mount for the rail and tightened it up with an Allen key, making sure that it was level. Installing the cable mount into the bracket was simple and I ran the cable back down the rail. There is a little slack here and the Rhino-Rack mounts also hold the cable in position. Here is how it looks mounted on the roof:


I then ran the cable back down to the end of the rail, remounted the cover to hold the cable in position and that was the easy part


The article at LCOOL on Fitting a Rear Video Camera really does contain all the information you need to know about fitting the cable back through the mount for the tail-lights. I made sure that any of the sharper edges under the tail-light were covered by insulating tape to ensure that it would not rub against the cable and then used a snake to work through the path back to the channel at the rear door. I did have to pull the top of the inner lining back to see exactly where the snake was being fouled at one point. Mrs OldGreyGuy came out and gave me a hand but she is camera sensitive and there are no photos of that. The main reason I did that is that there are seat-belt tensioners and safety curtains in my Prado and I did not want the UHF cable to interfere with these. Everything else is as per the LCOOL article.

The cable runs along the floor channel and exits at the B pillar and goes under the seat where I plan to mount the UHF set. I soldered on the PL-259 and now I just need to mount whatever UHF system I decide to get:


Here are a couple of additional shots with the antenna mounted:


When the antenna is not mounted I took D4D's advice and am using a 13mm size rubber cap from Bunnings.

Many thanks to D4D for showing the way with this, it was a big help.