Wombat's 2021 Tourer Build

[wombat81]

G'day all. The new truck finally arrives on Friday after many delays (original delivery date was early September).



It's a 2021 Manual SR 4x4 Dual Cab Chassis with:

• Aluminium tray
• Alloy bull bar
• Lightweight winch
• Compact LED Light Bar
• Tow bar
• Reversing camera

I'll be putting my aluminium canopy from my current 2010 Hiluxonto it, but I'm completely rebuilding the interior. I'll be building the new canopy fit out with aluminium Qubelok from Capral. It's going to be pretty complex. Hopefully it works out well. I'm going this way mainly for weight reduction. We've got a new Dometic CFF70DZ to go in there on a Dunn & Watson fridge slide. It replaces the two old Waeco CF50s. I'm going all in on Renogy electronics including:

• 100ah Lithium battery (maybe 2 if need be) with a smart display
• 30amp DC DC charger with solar input with a bluetooth module
• 1000w sine wave inverter

Other initial jobs:

• Wiring up a Redarc Towpro Elite brake controller for the new caravan that (allegedly) arrives in December
• Wiring up a Redarc SBI12 isolator for the caravan fridge connection
• Mounting the canopy

Jobs for further down the track:

• Gough plastics 50L under tray water tank
• under tray tool boxes
• UHF radio

Lots to do but looking forward to it.

[wombat81]

Picked up the new truck on Friday. Pretty excited. No build pics to show yet but I thought I might put up a couple of pics of the alloy winch bar. The Toyota guys tell me it's a completely new model. 5kg lighter than the steel bar but (allegedly) as strong. Looks good, I reckon.





And the factory compact LED light bar. I'm not sure it was great value at ~$700 ex GST. But Toyota wouldn't fit spot lights as they say they can screw with the camera system behind the Toyota emblem. I'm yet to give it a decent test.

[wombat81]

First cab off the rank is installing the Redarc SBI12 battery isolator. I have no intention of putting an auxiliary battery under the bonnet of this vehicle. There will be 2x 100ah lithium batteries in the canopy to power everything under sun. The only reason I might end up with an aux lead battery under the bonnet is if I find myself doing lots of winching. This is only going to be a touring vehicle. The winch is only a last resort if we get really stuck somewhere with the caravan attached. So I'm planning on using it rarely.

So having said all that, not aux battery tray means there's nowhere obvious to mount the isolator. These two wheel arch holes line up. One is threaded and I used a bolt in the other. Rubber underneath to stop the paint wearing. I had a heap of welding cable from an old welder lying around, so using that where I can to avoid voltage drop.

The isolator is being used in the tow bar power supply. The Jayco caravan we're getting has one of those fridges that doesn't run off the caravans battery system. It's 240v or gas or 12v only when the car is attached. It's not an Anderson plug, it's incorporated into the 12pin trailer plug. I'm not the biggest fan of that setup, but we'll see how it goes.

[wombat81]

Got the canopy mounted before xmas.



I've got most of the wiring done, lithiums, charger etc installed. I've done the floor of the canopy fitout. Just need to add some shelving for kitchenette etc.





Sorry about the messy shed.

I've ordered my suspension kit. After lots of too-ing an fro-ing I've decided to go with Bilstein shocks all round, King springs on the front and 500kg EFS springs on the back. It's a 45mm lift kit. I've ordered it through my local Fulcrum shop and they'll do the install for me. I've installed suspension before but I'm not up for the time commitment this time around.

[wombat81]

Finally got my 45mm Bilstein/King lift kit installed by Fulcrum today. Ordered in January. I got the 500kg rear spring option to handle a fully loaded canopy + caravan. Happy with the height increase from stock. Cost me $2874 installed. 5 year warranty.

[Dk90sr]

Hey mate,
Nice looking build, I’m about to order the very same car.
Just wondering do you have any regrets about going manual? I was wondering about going auto but I’ve always had manual tourers. When I test drive the n80 it had a bit of over rev on first gear that I wasn’t a fan of. Love to know your opinion cheers

[wombat81]

Hey mate. None at all so far. Like you I've always had manuals. 6th gear seems like nothing more than a fuel saving feature. The first 5 gears seem almost exactly the same as my previous kun26. Reverse on the top left takes a bit of getting used to. I've read that clutches don't last particularly well, similar to previous models, but mines only 10k old, so no issues with that yet. Keep in mind that the auto offers (apparently) significantly higher torque than the manual (420nm vs 500nm), but I haven't felt like I need more torque even when towing the caravan. The trade off is that transmission overheating can become an issue with the auto.

The main reason I went manual was to save a few thousand on the price and waiting time for a manual was less. It's already an expensive vehicle without paying a few thousand extra for auto. If money wasn't a concern and I didn't care about the wait time I think the auto is probably a better option but having said that, I'm 100% happy with my manual.

[Honeyeater]

Hi Wombat....did you fit a UHF Radio yet? Just wondering if there are any issues with the electronics as the owners manual says to see your Toyota Dealer before fitting one....I just fitted mine today 2021 SR5 and wondering what to expect. I have the factory steel bull bar which has antenna mounting points, so i assume that parts ok?

[wije]

@wombat81 Did you custom build the canopy. I note that you have got the angles to match the Toyota allow tray headboard that is rare with off the shelf canopies.

[wombat81]

Hi Wombat....did you fit a UHF Radio yet? Just wondering if there are any issues with the electronics as the owners manual says to see your Toyota Dealer before fitting one....I just fitted mine today 2021 SR5 and wondering what to expect. I have the factory steel bull bar which has antenna mounting points, so i assume that parts ok?

I haven't got one yet. Waiting for the bluetooth units to drop in price a bit. I haven't heard of installation issues. I installed on in my MIL's 2019 model without issue.

[wombat81]

@wombat81 Did you custom build the canopy. I note that you have got the angles to match the Toyota allow tray headboard that is rare with off the shelf canopies.

That's just coincidence. The canopy is from my old KUN26 but I'm happy with how well it fit the new tray. It is custom, but not specifically for any tray. I just got it made taller than usual. It's 1000mm tall, from memory. Usually they're only about 850mm, I think.