Doug's 2011 Blue Storm GX

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

Cheers for the DougB, an option for me depending on price of powdercoating the rims. Awesome

[Guest Close Guest]

Doug,
Not sure if you are aware but as far as I know, Speedy only makes the Grande wheels for the 120 series offset. If you mount it on a 150, it will reduce the vehicle track and make it "not so pleasing in the eyes of the law". There is a Grande with ET10 offset for the Ford Ranger which will increase the track and therefore push the tyres out. Not sure if it then goes past the body to require add-on flares.

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

G'day Andrew
Yeah I'm aware of all that. I checked with the tyre dealer who rang the state rep for Speedy who said they have fitted heaps of these to the new Prado. The dealer did me the courtesy of also ringing Speedy head office and they also agreed they were suitable and were sold for the 150. At the end of the day we're talking 5mm (which is this much l<>l ) on each side. Fitting different tyres will make much more difference than that! I know there has been much discussion on the forum over this issue (most of which I have read) but most of it is purely poster's speculation and opinions not backed up by any sound factual knowledge or evidence. There are also heaps of 150 owners running the genuine 120 rims on their cars. I doubt that Constable Plod will see me driving down the street, spot the 5mm narrower track and whip out his tape measure. I am also equally sure that I am not compromising the safety or performance of the vehicle. Insurance companies would be drawing a long bow to deny a claim over 5mm unless it could be proved that the narrower track was the cause of the accident!

[Guest Close Guest]

Hi Doug,
Agreed. 5mm isn't much. Just exercising my duty of care. The tyre dealer or the distributor should make the buyer aware of the legalities though, just like a window tinter should if the customer wanted a shade darker than legel.

Doing calcs on the difference in track and the centre of gravity at around 800mm, the tip over angle is 44.73deg (150 wheel) vs 44.55deg (120 wheel on 150). So the difference is very small at less than 0.2deg.

[Note: I chose 800mm as the center of gravity because at this point, it gives me the greatest difference in tipping angle. Any higher or lower and the difference is reduced.]

And while I've got my spreadsheet setup, if we look at what the effect of a 100mm lift (very conservative) is (and again assuming that the CofG is at 800mm), then the tip over angle is 44.73deg (no lift) and 41.37 (100mm lift). The diff is 3.36deg. The difference is halved if we are talking a 50mm lift.

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

Hi Andrew
Interesting figures. I have a 50mm (2") lift on the GX which actually lifted the car around 70mm. So if I've got this right even with my narrower offset rims and the lift kit, my tip over angle would actually still be less than someone who had a 100mm lift (which is legal) on standard factory rims? I guess at the end of the day it's all academic to me cause I don't use my 4wd on extreme slopes or for rock climbing, etc - more for towing the van, beach driving and bush tracks. I don't see the point in extreme 4wding just for the sake of it.

[Guest Close Guest]

Hi Doug,
Yes your summation is correct.
I don't intend on doing extreme stuff either but it is always in the back of my mind - fully loaded car with stuff on the roof and going sideways on a sand dune !!

[tqhafiz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close tqhafiz]

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

like the way you think... just get what you need... good

[Peter Millard Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Peter Millard]

Doug, rig looks awesome. You have inspired me because I have placed an order for a White GX and waiting for a delivery date. BTW you list for buying GX over GXL was exactly the same as mine, still haven't seen one with the 3rd row of seats removed yet !! Looking forward to the flat floor for good storage. Have you removed that stupid plastic wheel cover yet. Be interested to see pics of the dual battery system. Will probable cancel the Toyota towbar now have seen how good Parkside is. Have you looked into who makes rock sliders/side steps?

Some pics of your draw set up would be good. Enough room for engel and storage

So i will just have to wait for the new arrival..........

[adamr7 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close adamr7]

You have convinced me, Im going to sell the GXL. lol

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

More pictures coming shortly. I am waiting on the arrival of some black powder coated steel sidesteps from OAQ in Queensland in the next week or so. I actually don't mind the hard wheel cover. Never had any problems with the one on my last 120 series. On this car the hard cover fitted easily over the wider BFG tyre on the spare no probs. Tyres will deteriorate if exposed to constant sunlight so they should be covered where possible and I have found soft vinyl covers to be totally useless.

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

Peter
There are pics of the drawer system on page 2 of this thread.

[dougee Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dougee]

Hi Doug this is dougee I just came across your post while doing a search on blue storm Prado
And was surprised to read about myself for the most part, as I too have silver GLX D4D that I have traded
for a blue storm 2011 GLX D4D, mine has and will have a TJM alloy bull bar and winch, tow bar roof rack ect
Regards dougee

[carrera944 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close carrera944]

hi doug,
what's the stock wheels offset?
gxl and all other is 25p, i think grande is 30p,.
so, if your stock wheel is 25p, isnt it illegal on road as the wheel track is decreased by 10mm.

Regards

[Graphite75 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Graphite75]

Hi Doug,

First time on this site, Just wondering where you got your water tanks from, and who makes them. Should pick up My new rig about mid Nov GXL D4 Auto, Nice set up you have.
Cheers Glenn

[Chatty Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Chatty]

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.

Nice..... What sort of floor mats are you using, I need some for mine.