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  • It really depends on the usage for me, how often, what's it doing blah blah.

    I have plenty of cheap shit that's surprised me/been perfect for my usage. I'm not a pro at anything lol

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    • It finally arrived....



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      • - Storage cubby installed.
        - GPS module for head unit installed.
        - Carplay on wifes phone tested, all good. No Vehicle speed sensor required for that on this model head unit.
        - As much as I like wireless Android Auto, because I am plugging my phone in to charge anyway, it now uses wired AA and it's clearly faster.
        - TuneIn radio works without any changes in AA so that's nice.
        - Spent only a few mins fluffing about with the Aerpro lead to see if I could get reverse image without needing that second screen plugged in, but I could not. It appears you need to bridge at least 2-3 pins and I was not willing to risk damaging the screen. I have wrapped it safely and secured it in behind the dash. A guy on Facebook told me it can be done and his auto elec did it for him though.

        The storage cubby is just a bit narrow and just a bit lacking in depth to fit an iPhone8 and a Galaxy S10 in it without any overlap and you wouldn't be able to close the door with charging cables connected unless they were on an angle. Bigger phones would struggle - still it gets the phone and cord up out of the way from where it was which I wanted.

        What next? Still musing about exhausts =\


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        • Looks neat mate, well done.

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          • I'm still alive.

            Not a heap has changed as I mostly have it the way I want it. 110ks now and everything has been fine.

            I had a major trans service done by Toyota at 100ks, it has had 2 minors done prior. Even having had 2 minors done before, the difference was quite noticeable which is interesting as the car doesn't do what I would consider heavy work. Difference being smoother shifting and less obvious change from Park to Drive.

            Normally I would DIY that job, but the WS fluid was $400 worth for me to buy alone, and for $500 Toyota did the job for me, plus removed the stripped front diff drain bolt (I bought the Kaon kit that included the removing tool but my drain bolt was already too far gone).

            I do still dream about putting a raptor supercharger on it and have come close to installing an exhaust a few times but read so many mixed things about it having very minimal/no performance gain which is all I care about so I've held off.

            I might do my own cat back as a DIY project and see how we go, the section over the rear axle looks challenging as I'm a very amateur welder.

            I did just pop in some Kaon rear door shims as my door was clipping the guide, I also had to flip the striker 180 as it had been lightly bent over time from the door hitting it. Closes perfectly now, I used both shims. Only need a 12mm socket, breaker, and a T40 bit (if you flip the striker).

            Shed is also finished and my hoist is in, which is just an absolute game changer. Engine and box out of race car in prep for new one also.

            Prado winch helped me get cross bar up via a pulley block lol

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            'Dan'
            Senior Member
            Last edited by 'Dan'; 13-09-2021, 11:49 AM.

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            • Wow. I just spent my entire night reading this post from start to finish. That's one helluva story you have posted. Thanx so much for the tips & tricks. My next "todo" item is wire up some stedi (https://www.stedi.com.au/micro-st352...bg0VwaAjkkEALw _wcB) to the rear bar. Just need to figure out how to wire them so they come on with the reverse lights (easy) but also have a switch on the dash to turn on as work lights....
              Keep up the good work.

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              • Originally posted by Indiana View Post
                Wow. I just spent my entire night reading this post from start to finish. That's one helluva story you have posted. Thanx so much for the tips & tricks. My next "todo" item is wire up some stedi (https://www.stedi.com.au/micro-st352...bg0VwaAjkkEALw _wcB) to the rear bar. Just need to figure out how to wire them so they come on with the reverse lights (easy) but also have a switch on the dash to turn on as work lights....
                Keep up the good work.
                Hah, cheers mate, not much of a story, just another guy stuffing around with cars.

                Have recently installed a Cel-F also, for boosted 4G signal, unit fits nicely in the rear cargo area trim plastics and ended up using a Kaon spare wheel mount rear antenna which sits nicely out of your view, but has made the car a touch taller.

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                • Update time. Forum is so old and lame it's limiting me to 5 attachments per post so I am splitting this up.

                  Car is approaching 130ks now, weird to think I've put over 60ks on this already and had it 3yrs+ I don't tend to keep my cars for long but this will be here a little while yet, especially with the used car market being insane.

                  Aside from your minor servicing I've recently replaced plugs with fresh NGK Iridiums (didn't notice any difference which is always a good sign to me). Old plugs were coming up 90ks and I was a bit concerned about them being seized but they came out quite easily, I also used anti-seize on the new ones so hopefully I or the next guy has an easy time of it too. Straight forward job but you do do need some longer extensions and a knuckle to get the rearmost passenger side plug, I also opted to remove a couple brackets for hoses up the back for clearance.


                  The big news is towing mods as we recently bought a little 16ft van as an upgrade from a tent we only used twice and I must say even after only 1 trip in the van so far I am converted. Van is a custom job from, it was the owners and seems to have been well built and setup (hot water, solar, battery, diesel heater, TV, tons of storage, bike rack, awning, great ground clearance, etc) and weighs 1500-1800kg which is about as much as I like to pull with the Prado anyway. Here it is on its first outing, this was when I decided to get airbags. Oh I also grabbed some newer series GXL rims with new tyres as the K02s were getting a bit low and were definitely getting skatey, so far I much prefer driving on these as they are quieter, have better grip, and the economy is better. I kept the other rims so I can swap out for when I have to do any decent off roading. So far I am seeing between 18-21L per hundred, when towing the camping trailer with all our stuff in it I was getting 14-16L.

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                  So, airbags were called for and I only just got those in last night before we head off this weekend for a week away, thanks Aus post... It's a decent job and took me a solid 4hrs (and I had already made myself a little mounting tab so would be worse if not). I hadn't done the job before and a second set of hands would make life a lot easier when getting the springs in and out, the car was also filthy and wet so everything was slippery and had to work with. I'll know if they are a good thing or not this weekend, I left them at 18psi for testing leaks and I can feel that the car is a bit firmer in the rear on the drive into work this morning.

                  Youtube clips cover the install pretty well, I ended up opting to remove the swaybar mount bracket on the passenger side (the second and more difficult side) and needed a jack handle to apply some leverage to get the last bit of clearance needed to get the spring in and out.

                  Having a jack and a decent length of wood is also handy to applying upward force on the axle at certain points to make life easier (on the driver side to help drop the passenger side spring especially). A second set of hands would be really helpful at some points, they say it's a 2hr job, and that's fair in terms of just getting the bags in and throwing the lines out the back on a car where you can leave the springs in, but in a Prado the springs must come out and if you want to do it neatly and have a Toyota tow pack, add some extra time as the tow pack needs to be dropped to allow you the clearance to screw anything to the top of it. Or you can attach to the rear bumper directly or the side of the tow pack to save time.

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                    In the above pic you can also see the extra Anderson plug I installed and ran back into the rear power setup, this allows the fridge in the van to run while driving. That was done separately and yes it required the bloody tow pack to be out of the car again as I wanted to weld a nice strong bit of 3mm plate as I know how Andersons can be sometimes, the air line bracket is just painted aluminum with some good button head self tapers. I've realised that getting to the back of the valves to change them out/reseat air lines if needed will be a pain now as I've tucked them under but I wanted them protected given they are now part of the suspension effectively and I wanted a tidy install as I see a lot of rough looking brackets just tek screwed in everywhere.

                    I didn't have the time to do it myself so had an auto elec put the tow pro in quickly before I collected the van, he did a decent job and I find it nice and easy to use.

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                    I also added a Kaon trans cooler which went in no worries and the kit has everything you need, including fluid so long as you order it together. I've always thought the Prado trans temps were a bit high for my liking even with the stock cooler and this has improved it noticeably and the converter and pan will happily run along in the low 70s towing the van on the highway. When the trans unlocks converter temps can still almost reach 100, vs the 110-120 I saw previously if I let it, but they recover much faster and the pan temp is barely affected. The key is still keep the trans locked but I've always driven with that in mind after learning about how this behaves. To get a nice angle for the hoses to avoid kinks etc I opted to leave the lines longer and loop around, I also clearanced the plastic air guide near the passenger light in one spot.

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                    The last piece of the puzzle was a bit of a bonus as I'd been toying with the idea of a lockup controller and reached out to owner of the Lockup Mate Plus gear to see if they did Petrol 150s, they didn't but he said he was travelling past on holiday in a few months and would be happy to put one in my car and use it as a semi test bed to see how it behaved vs the diesel, as a result I would receive the kit for my troubles so I said sure.

                    Marshall was very good to deal with, knowledgeable and good attention to detail, he installed then spent a few days tuning and then left me with it to test and report back so the tune can be refined as needed. I've had the Lockup Mate Plus in the car for a few weeks now and I can definitely say it helps the trans hold lock longer and makes the shift down to 4th when it happens more pronounced and straight back into lock. The car did randomly throw 1 hissy fit at one point just coming into town in an 80 zone rolling into a round about, lit up some warning lights etc, but no codes were reported and that hasn't happened again and I cannot replicate it, we're both scratching our heads. I'm not sure I'll drive with it on all the time as there are instances were you want the converter to unlock for smoothness, but it's a single click on the LED to turn it on and off and it's fairly instant. As it is now, it does not do anything under 65km/h but that and various other things are configurable, such as lock sensitivity (how much pedal will it tolerate before it unclocks) and it's early days. I'll know more after this 2000k+ trip.

                    The LED itself is blue and fairly unobtrusive even at night, when you first start the car it slowly pulses to tell you the trans temp is not warm enough yet and switches off when it's ready.

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                    Other than that, it's just been regular servicing. Oh I did fit some newer OCAM weather shields as I complained way back when I got mine about the gap above the mirror mounting point on the front doors where it let water in, I can say the newer ones they sent me with the foam there do stop that leak, I had those in the box for well over a year lol.

                    I also had to remove my winch and unstick it as it had seized from minor water ingress and lack of use, easy enough to do, just clean up the little rust spots lubricate and put it back together and in, now I try and run it out and back in more often/especially after washing the car. They are not quite water tight on the motor side, there isn't even a rubber seal, it's just an interference fit which is a bit disappointing, but it is a Kings product so you get what you pay for. I mainly use mine for moving trees more than anything and since I picked up a rear hitch mount shackle I mostly use that instead (though with Farm ute we got recently the Prado will be doing less of that work now).

                    All pics posted here are also in this album in the forum is doing weird stuff with sizings - Imgur: The magic of the Internet

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                    • Nice updates, my Kings winch has seized as well, I'll try the unsticking trick, I've barely used it but it's nice to know it's there if needed.

                      Interested in how the lock up converter goes longer term, I'd be keen for one as well if you end up happy with it. How does it go with cruise control enabled?

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                      • Originally posted by malloc View Post
                        Nice updates, my Kings winch has seized as well, I'll try the unsticking trick, I've barely used it but it's nice to know it's there if needed.

                        Interested in how the lock up converter goes longer term, I'd be keen for one as well if you end up happy with it. How does it go with cruise control enabled?
                        We did 2500ks towing the van over the school holidays. I can very much recommend it as a towing aid, especially when driving in manual mode S4 or S5, just holds lock better and makes the car better to drive/easier to maintain trans temps/speed etc. It "can" help with economy but I opt to drive at 110+ locked in 5th vs 90-100 locked in 4th and that extra speed really eats fuel, I average low 19s for the trip but I priorities trip time/speed and overtook countless other vans. That's not great given the van is comfortably under 2t, but to be fair, that's 3-5L more per hundred than without it and we paid much less for accommodation.

                        It did throw another code while away then once again here for 3 in total so I have another lockup mate unit sitting on my desk with new firmware to swap in after testing with Marshall as it appears the cross over point for unlock and gear change at certain speeds on decel overlap in the petrol differently vs diesel. Each time the code has been thrown it was exactly the same situation (not towing, rolling with no throttle while decelerating at speeds from 80 down to 50 with low RPM) never when towing.

                        I have turned it off for regular driving until I swap the new unit in and test further, he also made some changes I requested such as unlock on gear changes for smoothness and adjusting the lockup sensitivity, but this is unique to my setup as I'm tuned etc.

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                        • Originally posted by 'Dan' View Post
                          ... I opt to drive at 110+ locked in 5th...
                          We drive almost exactly the same by the sound of it. I'd rather stick to the speed limit and pay a little extra in fuel than annoy other drivers. We do a lot of free camping and arriving 30 mins earlier can be the difference between a good spot or not. Our camper is also only a little over 1t so tows nicely at 110+.

                          I don't know why I didn't think of towing in manual mode. We're heading back to SA from Darwin right now so I'll have plenty of opportunity to try it out

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                          • Originally posted by malloc View Post

                            We drive almost exactly the same by the sound of it. I'd rather stick to the speed limit and pay a little extra in fuel than annoy other drivers. We do a lot of free camping and arriving 30 mins earlier can be the difference between a good spot or not. Our camper is also only a little over 1t so tows nicely at 110+.

                            I don't know why I didn't think of towing in manual mode. We're heading back to SA from Darwin right now so I'll have plenty of opportunity to try it out
                            Marshall recommends it as does the owners manual in all towing situations I think, with the lock up mate or not. Its just better with it.

                            All that said, let's say its 10% better at staying locked, it's not 50% better. The petrol still really needs the extra torque down low of a 4L barra.

                            Diesel would benefit more, but even Marshall said the car was very nice to drive, tuned on 98 (we tested with sick tune also).

                            All in all, I prefer towing with it than without it.

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                            • Originally posted by malloc View Post
                              Nice updates, my Kings winch has seized as well, I'll try the unsticking trick, I've barely used it but it's nice to know it's there if needed.

                              Interested in how the lock up converter goes longer term, I'd be keen for one as well if you end up happy with it. How does it go with cruise control enabled?
                              Forgot to add, no the cruise is still just as shitty as ever and will overshoot the target speed by too much when climbing a hill, now it just sometimes does it locked in 4th or 5th lol

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                              • Car is about to click over 150k, been looking around at what else is available as we've talked about going a bigger van - next year or 2, but really there's not much in petrol unless you want a Patrol and to me they are a bit big/thirsty for everyday driving and dropping 80-90k on one doesn't excite me - fine for a cool car, but a daily driven 4wd? Yuck.

                                Plan is to finish a project car I've been working on with the kids - Mondeo XR5 with a spun bearing, drive that for a bit/swap it/sell it for something else once or twice so I have something more fun to drive on the daily commute/school run and a bit less thirsty and stop clocking up k's on the Prado as much and see if the next gen has a petrol hybrid option like we see in the Lexus range.

                                Farm ute is taking care of dirty work around here, but is unregistered so Prado still needs to go wood carting with the trailer.

                                Malloc getting a GVM upgrade on his existing parts got me thinking, could I do the same in Vic then add a supercharger to this Prado and then have Van options up to 3T or so? That would do us and it already has the mods for towing... Hmm...

                                About to remove the lockup controller and send it back for firmware update, I was able to replicate the code throwing behaviour and Marshall thinks we've finally nailed the conditions that cause it - it's almost spot on as it is, but we both thought there was room for a little improvement still.

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