AJ120s 2009 D4D and DIY camper trailer

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Actually Michael this trip really confirmed for me that I want, no need really a Blackvue camera to capture all the things that randomly happen in front of us on trips. This trip the wildlife was intense, Lots of Roos as you would expect, loads of Emus with heaps of young chicks, Frilly's, Goanna's, Wombats.......... and one animal (saw 2 of them) that we have never seen before in our travels, keep an eye on the trip report for that one!

Oh Sleepy Lizards everywhere as well.

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

This mod is a little out of left field but I'll post it up in case anyone is interested.

I have had issues a few times with the retaining pins for the handbrake shoes falling out on rough roads. This doesn't cause any immediate problems other than often making some horrible scraping noises, but its a pain in the backside stuffing around with these. I replaced the pins with bolts a while ago but they can slip out of position, so whilst working on some other stuff today I took out the handbrake shoes and welded an end on the slot where the pin (now bolt) goes so it cant ever fall out again.

Time will tell if its a good idea or not

Before and after shots on one of the shoes, obviously I did all 4.







Cheers Andrew

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Those pins are a royal pain, especially when they get stretched and won't hold tension. How does the bolt work?

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Those pins are a royal pain, especially when they get stretched and won't hold tension. How does the bolt work?

Throw the pins away, replace with a bolt and nyloc nut.

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

A few more minor changes. Our satellite phone has always been a little bit of a pain as to where to carry it, we want it charged and in easy reach from the drivers seat in case of something like a vehicle fire as it may be our lifeline. In the past it has just floated around in the console or the passengers foot well which is not ideal.

Anyway the roof console seemed like a good spot for it so I pulled that out, added a charging outlet, put in a false floor over one of the radios and added some netting to the side of the opening to stop it falling out. Whilst I had it all apart I also changed the wiring for the UHF's, before fitting them in the roof console I had it wired through the ignition so they turned on and off with the ignition. When I fitted the roof console I hard wired them direct to the battery. There are pros and cons for both systems and after having had both I reckon through the ignition suits me best, so I added a relay underneath the passenger A piller cover and switched that through the ignition.










Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Transmission Cooler

I should have done this mod a long time ago but just never got around to it.

I picked up a Davies Craig trans cooler the other week. Wanting to keep the install looking as neat and "factory" as possible I used the bonnet catch support to mount one side of the cooler, it needed removing and some subtle massaging, cutting, welding and drilling to allow the cooler to be mounted. I also fabricated another upright for the other side.

Customised bonnet catch support



Custom made upright mount.






Finished job



Cheers Andrew

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

Good mod, Andrew mines made a huge difference, especially when towing. At least 20 deg, and I haven't seen it over 80 deg since its been in.

[rorza Member Find all posts View Profile Close rorza]

It seems that WS fluid thread has given a few of us inspiration to install these transcoolers haha.

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

Yeah I reckon Rorza. I'll do mine soon too. Nice work as usual Andrew.


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

I should have done this mod a long time ago but just never got around to it.

I picked up a Davies Craig trans cooler the other week. Wanting to keep the install looking as neat and "factory" as possible I used the bonnet catch support to mount one side of the cooler, it needed removing and some subtle massaging, cutting, welding and drilling to allow the cooler to be mounted. I also fabricated another upright for the other side.

Customised bonnet catch support



Custom made upright mount.






Finished job



Cheers Andrew

I hope you did two........

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Good mod, Andrew mines made a huge difference, especially when towing. At least 20 deg, and I haven't seen it over 80 deg since its been in.

I don't have anyway of measuring trans temp (yet), my scangauge is an old one that cant read the temp, so hopefully some gauges down the track will let me see how I am going temp wise, its gotta be better anyway.

I hope you did two........

The way I did it was overly complicated and quite time consuming, so no I only did one

Cheers Andrew

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

Fine, you may do mine in a more efficient and stronger V2. This post will be removed in 3 days

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

Fine, you may do mine in a more efficient and stronger V2. This post will be removed in 3 days

He could probably make up a batch of them and sell them on here real quick. I'll take one 😀


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[rorza Member Find all posts View Profile Close rorza]

I'd be in also.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

As Andrew never does things by half, you might all find the bracket will cost you more than the cooler and outlive the Prado!