Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Well my trusty silver 2007 GXL has gone after many great trips including Cape York, Gibb River Rd, Gt Central Rd, and all over WA. I have opted to go for a GX this time. Here are some of the reasons:
1. It's around seven grand cheaper than the GXL.
2. There's only two of us. We don't need to carry around extra seats under the floor with the associated extra weight and loss of space.
3. I have put wider rims (Speedy Grande) with BFG's on it for a change over of only $900.
4. No roof rails. What are they about anyway? I can bolt crossbars direct to the roof giving extra space between them and less height.
5. No fog lights. I will put the ARB ones in the bullbar with a Sidewinder wiring harness - cheaper and better.
6. The computer screen, reversing camera and parking sensors don't interest me. They are more for soccer mums.
7. The black grille and door handles look good on the Blue Storm - along with the black rims and black bullbar (coming).
8. The second row of seats in the GX are easily removeable - we take them out on long trips to give extra storage and less weight.
9. The drawer system from my 120 will fit straight in to the GX with little modification.
10. The side steps on my 120 got hammered with stones and bent by rocks. I will put some rock sliders on this one anyway so I didn't need the flimsy GXL ones.
11. The mechanics of the GX are identical to the GXL.
12. The interior trim is almost identical to the GXL apart from the steering wheel and hand brake trim.
Here is the car as delivered from Toyota.
Doug

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

The first thing I have put on the car are the Speedy Grande rims with BFG's (265/65 R17) which I have had sitting in the garage for two months. Bob Jane's had the rims on special in December so I bought them then.
Doug

[meatman61 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close meatman61]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Hi Doug, and all the other PPers out there. . Great to see another Blue Storm on the Rig Build Up. Have been watching Burnsies also. I new to the Prado world. Have bought a Blue Storm also. Still on boat from Japan Still about 2 weeks away, jumping out of my skin waiting for my dealer to give me the call. Thanks all for the top information , tips and pointers. Trev.

[xlr8_87 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close xlr8_87]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Haven't seen that colour before, looks great! especially with the black rims/grille. Will look even better with a black bullbar (and maybe sliders as you mentioned)!

[Giles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Giles]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Looks great with the wheel and tyre combo!

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Well the bullbar is now on. I went for the ARB in the end because I like the look of it. It is a winch bar but the winch will have to wait until our next desert trip hopefully later this year. The aerial is for my mobile phone and stays on the car permanently. It is too high to fit in the garage when mounted on top so I reluctantly took to the bullbar with a drill and mounted it on the side (the 120 had this mounting due to not having aerial tags on the top bar). ARB put a pair of fog lights on it for $70. I bought an excellent wiring loom from Derek at ABR Sidewinder for $30 so total cost was $100 (another GXL feature ticked off the list). The switch on the loom pushes straight in to the dash and fits perfectly.

Here is the mount I made for my Telstra Explorer mobile phone. The law is about to change in WA making phone cradles compulsory. The Explorer (ZTE 165+) is a great phone. I bought it because of it's outstanding performance in the bush and the fact a car kit is available (Ebay $160). I had the earlier model for four years and it never missed a beat.

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Next was a Parkside Towbar. This was only $695 compared to around $900 for the genuine Toyota one. They are a reputable company which has been making towbars for years. I went for this one because 1) it is a very solid bar with good mountings 2) there was no bumper cut required 3) it is hardly visible below the bumper giving better clearance 4) I don't like the HR type which only bolts on directly behind the tongue receiver - I had major problems with that type (a genuine Toyota) on my 120. 5) I also don't like the genuine Toyota one because it hangs down so far and still requires bumper cutting. 6) The tongue receiver is the same height on all the bars mentioned.


I bought a Tekonsha P3 for $149 on Ebay and an excellent wiring loom from Derek for $105 with full fitting instructions which made it easy to fit. The brake controller is mounted on the right hand side because I had concerns about clearance for the knee airbag which I understand deploys out and upwards. I haven't hit my knee on the Tekonsha yet. Note the foglight switch on the left.

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

The work continues. The Old Man Emu suspension has now been done resulting in a lift of 65mm at the front and 75mm at the rear. This will settle a bit but the main advantage to me is the heavy duty rear suspension for towing our single axle off road caravan. It has a ball weight of around 250kg. The snorkel was added at the same time. I tossed up on the TJM one but the ARB Safari won out in the end because of the better water drainage and the top can be turned around in extremely dusty or other adverse conditions. I have also installed a Rhino roof rack base kit and using the crossbars from my 120. This also allows me to take off the bars and put on the 1800mm Rhino aluminium tray when doing long 4wd trips. I will add photos of the dual battery system when I have finished the wiring of all the extras.

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

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Awesome Doug. I see a fresh ring of sand on those BFGs lol. Go get it more dirty then take more snaps :wink:
Looking forward to more of your build up

Cheers

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Yeah, they sprayed that shiny sticky s**t on the tyres when they did the 1000k service. I always forget to specify not to do that. Apart from the sand sticking to the tyres it smudges the polish on the rims! Seriously, the car gets it's first test starting today. We are heading to Walpole on the south coast for a week. Towing the van, so it will be interesting to compare the difference from my previous 120. I hope to wear all the shiny stuff off the tyres while we're down there.

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

Re: Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

Just back from a trip down south sea kayaking and bush riding. Towing the van the Prado performed well - no different to the 120 really. Here is a pic.

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

I kept my home made drawer system out of my 120 with the hope it would slot straight in to the new GX. Although the rear cargo area width is the same as the 120, Toyota have reduced the depth by around 100mm. This necessitated rebuilding the back of the drawer unit to make it fit. The second row seats also lean further back in the 150. As a result my Waeco CF50 only just fits in. If I had opted for the GXL I think I would have been struggling and certainly wouldn't have been able to open the fridge lid without sliding it out the back door (not always possible when the caravan is hooked up with the stone guard in place due to door not able to open fully). We also occassionally use a Two-Zone extension on the fridge which would be impossible in a GXL because of the height. My drawer system incorporates a 50L water tank behind the seats which is imperative when we go bush for extended periods. A fold up table lives permanently below the large drawer and there is space down the side of the unit for a short handle shovel and tyre repair kit. Normally our camp chairs travel on top of the drawer held in place with tie down straps.

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

Nice buildup coming along DougP, looks sexy in blue. How much were your rims mate ?

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

Hi Doug
Enjoying your build up mate.
The Black on Blue looks really good.
How did the OME suspension perform towing the van?
Cheers Troy

[DougB Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DougB]

G'day Golly
The rims are Speedy Grande and cost $189 each. They were on super special at Bob Jane before Christmas so I actually bought the rims and tyres two months before the car arrived.
Troy
The OME performed well towing the van although it did have a different feel to my old 120 which had a different lift kit. My van is single wheel with quite heavy tow ball weight and the car didn't sag much at all when I hooked up. I use a Hayman Reece weight distribution hitch which evens things out nicely forcing a little bit of weight back on to the front wheels of the car. It will be interesting when we head north for our annual trip to Ningaloo Station in June. The van will be loaded to the gunnels with water, food and red wine so we will see then how the OME holds up. I don't expect any problems. If it's anything like the 120 you hardly know the van is behind you!