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I bought my first Prado, a 90 series in 2002, and we always loved it.
The build up of that car is at http://www.lcool.org/technical/90_se...rado/ivan.html for anyone interested.
We replaced it in 2005 with a 100 Series Land Cruiser which also got some modifications so that we could do the trips we had planned.
The lease on the 100 Series was up in Dec 2010, and we had always wanted to go back to a Prado, so in Jul 2010 started looking for a white 2008 GXL. It had to be a D4D (sick of petrol economy), manual (kids learning to drive now), with under 50,000 k for under $50,000. We found the car at Traralgon and had it shipped up to Canberra in October. It had The same day we left for Brisbane for a holiday with friends and loved the way that it drove (and the economy we got on the highway (9.5l/100).
There were quite a few things which I had taken off the 100 Series which I would transfer to the Prado:
- GME 3400 UHF Radio
- Rhino Rack (including ARB awning, and Fred's Arm (I reckon there's not much point having an awning on the side of a car - when all the action is at the rear - the Freds Arm lets you pivot the awning around in about 30 seconds)
- Custom Rack Sack for the roof rack (better size and quality than commercial options)
- OffRoadSystems Drawer System
- home made fridge slide
- Engel 39l Fridge
- Twine Shower, and 12lpm pump
- Air Compressor
- Fuse block and power regulator to run all the extras at the rear of the car
- Dell X51V PDA to run TomTom and OziExplorer
- Water Pump and 60litres of water - links to this from the 90 Series build up above, but I don't think the jerries will fit so easily in the 120.
There was still quite a few things that I wanted to do, that had to be done new - all of this was done through Ritchie at Hume OffRoad:
- Replace the Sovereign Bull Bar with an ARB Deluxe. Much better angles for off road.
- Driving lights
- Safari Snorkel
- Suspension (Ridepro HD springs and Bilstein Premium Shocks through Darren at AutoCraft - the third car he's set up for me.
- Second battery tray
- Cargo Barrier
- Mickey Thompson 265/70/17 AT4
- extended Diff Breathers
- Kaymar rear bar (didn't like the exposed rear panel - thought it could be easily damaged. Also the tow bar was way too low)
In addition to the items I brought across from the 100 Series, there were a couple of other 'new' items that I fitted myself
- Turbo Timer
- ScanGuage II
- Second battery
- 100A cable from front to rear with circuit breaker
- Run speaker wire to the rear of the car for a UHF extension (useful in camp)
- Replaced the power to the front 12v outlets so that it is constant power, and also ran a power outlet into the pouch at the back of the front seats - kids can connect their bits and pieces and if the power source is in the seat pouch, then all the left over cabling can also be in there out of the way rather than all over the floor.
Future things I will get around to soon:
- Rear fold down table - similar to that on the 90 series link above
- Rear LED light for 'the kitchen'
Future major items I hope to get done:
- Front and Rear ARB Air Lockers (I've broken a front diff before and it wasn't pretty)
- Sliders
So here's the photos - some for comparison, so have shown the car a month ago (as purchased), to what it is now - enjoy
The 90 Series
The 100 Series
New off the block - well, as new as a 2008 car can be.. ;-)
The bullbar - not very big on the Sovereign bar - prefer ARB - better approach angle IMHO
The new bar - getting lights on it on Monday.
Side view of the Sovereign bar
Side view of the ARB bar
The rear of the Prado - wheel cover isn't going to fit on the new tyres, rear bar looks very vulnerable!
The Kaymar bar - a bit more solid if it gets close to the ground
Side view of the standard rear bar
Side view of the Kaymar bar
Dell Axim X51v for TomTom and OziExplorer
seems to be a popular place to put it - out of the way in any case
Finished product from the side - complete with Rhino Rack, Freds Arm and ARB awning (all straight off the 100 series)
The build up of that car is at http://www.lcool.org/technical/90_se...rado/ivan.html for anyone interested.
We replaced it in 2005 with a 100 Series Land Cruiser which also got some modifications so that we could do the trips we had planned.
The lease on the 100 Series was up in Dec 2010, and we had always wanted to go back to a Prado, so in Jul 2010 started looking for a white 2008 GXL. It had to be a D4D (sick of petrol economy), manual (kids learning to drive now), with under 50,000 k for under $50,000. We found the car at Traralgon and had it shipped up to Canberra in October. It had The same day we left for Brisbane for a holiday with friends and loved the way that it drove (and the economy we got on the highway (9.5l/100).
There were quite a few things which I had taken off the 100 Series which I would transfer to the Prado:
- GME 3400 UHF Radio
- Rhino Rack (including ARB awning, and Fred's Arm (I reckon there's not much point having an awning on the side of a car - when all the action is at the rear - the Freds Arm lets you pivot the awning around in about 30 seconds)
- Custom Rack Sack for the roof rack (better size and quality than commercial options)
- OffRoadSystems Drawer System
- home made fridge slide
- Engel 39l Fridge
- Twine Shower, and 12lpm pump
- Air Compressor
- Fuse block and power regulator to run all the extras at the rear of the car
- Dell X51V PDA to run TomTom and OziExplorer
- Water Pump and 60litres of water - links to this from the 90 Series build up above, but I don't think the jerries will fit so easily in the 120.
There was still quite a few things that I wanted to do, that had to be done new - all of this was done through Ritchie at Hume OffRoad:
- Replace the Sovereign Bull Bar with an ARB Deluxe. Much better angles for off road.
- Driving lights
- Safari Snorkel
- Suspension (Ridepro HD springs and Bilstein Premium Shocks through Darren at AutoCraft - the third car he's set up for me.
- Second battery tray
- Cargo Barrier
- Mickey Thompson 265/70/17 AT4
- extended Diff Breathers
- Kaymar rear bar (didn't like the exposed rear panel - thought it could be easily damaged. Also the tow bar was way too low)
In addition to the items I brought across from the 100 Series, there were a couple of other 'new' items that I fitted myself
- Turbo Timer
- ScanGuage II
- Second battery
- 100A cable from front to rear with circuit breaker
- Run speaker wire to the rear of the car for a UHF extension (useful in camp)
- Replaced the power to the front 12v outlets so that it is constant power, and also ran a power outlet into the pouch at the back of the front seats - kids can connect their bits and pieces and if the power source is in the seat pouch, then all the left over cabling can also be in there out of the way rather than all over the floor.
Future things I will get around to soon:
- Rear fold down table - similar to that on the 90 series link above
- Rear LED light for 'the kitchen'
Future major items I hope to get done:
- Front and Rear ARB Air Lockers (I've broken a front diff before and it wasn't pretty)
- Sliders
So here's the photos - some for comparison, so have shown the car a month ago (as purchased), to what it is now - enjoy
The 90 Series
The 100 Series
New off the block - well, as new as a 2008 car can be.. ;-)
The bullbar - not very big on the Sovereign bar - prefer ARB - better approach angle IMHO
The new bar - getting lights on it on Monday.
Side view of the Sovereign bar
Side view of the ARB bar
The rear of the Prado - wheel cover isn't going to fit on the new tyres, rear bar looks very vulnerable!
The Kaymar bar - a bit more solid if it gets close to the ground
Side view of the standard rear bar
Side view of the Kaymar bar
Dell Axim X51v for TomTom and OziExplorer
seems to be a popular place to put it - out of the way in any case
Finished product from the side - complete with Rhino Rack, Freds Arm and ARB awning (all straight off the 100 series)
Matty80
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