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Hi all, just thought I'd start showing the progress of my build of my prado. It's an 09/07 GXL D4D 6spd. I bought it with 70k on the clock in about May 2010. I didn't pick it up til June. It was a totally stock update GXL. It was the manager of Parks and Wildlife in a northern NSW town's company car. It was serviced by my sister's mechanic so I was able to check up on how it had been treated etc.
Before I picked it up I had an Ironman suspension kit put in. Its the type "C" with foam cell shocks, an Ironman commercial bar(bummer since the Deluxe bar has now come out with the driving lights!!) and Ironman snorkel. Here is how it looked...
Here is the missus going for her 1st drive, the day after I picked it up and drove back up to Brissie!!
In the next pic you can see I have added a black bonnet protector as well as some 55watt HID converted Blitz 240's...
These lights really do turn night into day! I wanted to mount the lights a bit further back where they would have a bit of protection from animal strikes but couldn't. I had to use some kind of spacer to have enough clearance. I had been into a motor parts store in Darwin a couple of months before for a spacer for something on my last car,(a highly modded N13 Pulsar)and found a helpful chap who gave me this piece of nylon...
It is 50mm in diameter. I just cut a biscuit of about 17mm thick for each light.
In the above pic are my lights... the one on the right might have a faulty globe... (I recently bought a second set for a work ute and showed them to the lighting man and he gave me two new replacement globes!!)
Since I had lost the driving lights in the bumper/bullbar switch, I put on some little spots just to widen the field of view...
These are just a temporary add on til I can find some smallish lights that will do a better job. I was thinking of a pair of 6inch LED lightbars...
Next up, we were driving down the Pacific Hwy from Brissie to Ballina in the wet and had a scary experience. We aqua-planed down the road for close to 200M... So, I put new tyres on the next week since my wife uses it to drive lots of country Km's with her business. I chose Toyo Open Country A/T 265/70LT's...
When I put the new tyres on I realised that I would need to space out the spare wheel bracket, so I used the same nylon. Again I cut a biscuit of about 18mm for each wheel carrier bolt...
Along the way I've converted nearly all lights to LED's. We just purchased a Garmin 1490T that I am in the process of loading up with Topo maps. I have a diff breather kit(see next post!!) that I am yet to install lying around somewhere too! That's about it for now I think. We intend to deck it out for some long outback trips probably towing a camper. I really like the UEV 490, but won't be buying for at least 18months so will wait and see what else comes on the market. We lived in Darwin for 5 1/2 yrs and I did a bit of remote building work. So am hoping to go back and visit some of those places recreationally. Also, the Kimberley's are calling loudly! So is the Tanami and Tassie, and the Cape etc...
My 5yr old son has decided to call the Prado, Bill! I don't know where he got the name from but there it is, here is how Bill looks at the moment...
The wishlist at this moment is, dual batteries, more lights, UHF, HF, another set of rims with muddies, on board compressor, not sure on whether to do diff locks yet, rock sliders, better underbody protection, better sound system... for now!! I'll keep updating this post as I get the time to add pics to fill in some of the gaps in the story...
I also have a 47Litre EvaKool fridge... Still waiting to design the rear drawers and storage to attach a fridge slide...
Before I picked it up I had an Ironman suspension kit put in. Its the type "C" with foam cell shocks, an Ironman commercial bar(bummer since the Deluxe bar has now come out with the driving lights!!) and Ironman snorkel. Here is how it looked...
Here is the missus going for her 1st drive, the day after I picked it up and drove back up to Brissie!!
In the next pic you can see I have added a black bonnet protector as well as some 55watt HID converted Blitz 240's...
These lights really do turn night into day! I wanted to mount the lights a bit further back where they would have a bit of protection from animal strikes but couldn't. I had to use some kind of spacer to have enough clearance. I had been into a motor parts store in Darwin a couple of months before for a spacer for something on my last car,(a highly modded N13 Pulsar)and found a helpful chap who gave me this piece of nylon...
It is 50mm in diameter. I just cut a biscuit of about 17mm thick for each light.
In the above pic are my lights... the one on the right might have a faulty globe... (I recently bought a second set for a work ute and showed them to the lighting man and he gave me two new replacement globes!!)
Since I had lost the driving lights in the bumper/bullbar switch, I put on some little spots just to widen the field of view...
These are just a temporary add on til I can find some smallish lights that will do a better job. I was thinking of a pair of 6inch LED lightbars...
Next up, we were driving down the Pacific Hwy from Brissie to Ballina in the wet and had a scary experience. We aqua-planed down the road for close to 200M... So, I put new tyres on the next week since my wife uses it to drive lots of country Km's with her business. I chose Toyo Open Country A/T 265/70LT's...
When I put the new tyres on I realised that I would need to space out the spare wheel bracket, so I used the same nylon. Again I cut a biscuit of about 18mm for each wheel carrier bolt...
Along the way I've converted nearly all lights to LED's. We just purchased a Garmin 1490T that I am in the process of loading up with Topo maps. I have a diff breather kit(see next post!!) that I am yet to install lying around somewhere too! That's about it for now I think. We intend to deck it out for some long outback trips probably towing a camper. I really like the UEV 490, but won't be buying for at least 18months so will wait and see what else comes on the market. We lived in Darwin for 5 1/2 yrs and I did a bit of remote building work. So am hoping to go back and visit some of those places recreationally. Also, the Kimberley's are calling loudly! So is the Tanami and Tassie, and the Cape etc...
My 5yr old son has decided to call the Prado, Bill! I don't know where he got the name from but there it is, here is how Bill looks at the moment...
The wishlist at this moment is, dual batteries, more lights, UHF, HF, another set of rims with muddies, on board compressor, not sure on whether to do diff locks yet, rock sliders, better underbody protection, better sound system... for now!! I'll keep updating this post as I get the time to add pics to fill in some of the gaps in the story...
I also have a 47Litre EvaKool fridge... Still waiting to design the rear drawers and storage to attach a fridge slide...
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