GI Joe's buildup

[GI Joe]

Hi all,

My name is Steve.

I have a 2006 SR5 Xtra Cab V6 petrol. I bought it used about three years ago, from a tradie in Sydney who used it for work and occasional wheelin weekend trip around NSW. It came with the following Mods:
50mm ARB Suspension lift and heavy duty springs in the rear.
265x75 R17 MT MTZ’s on 17x8 alloy rims. Not sure what offset they are.
Dual batteries
IPF Spotties
Uniden UHF Radio
Leather seats
DVD Player
ARB Delux bar and Magnum 9000 Winch
Tradesman Racks

It had done 74000 Kms and apart from a couple of minor dents in the rear tail gate she was straight and clean.
About a week or so after I took her home, I started on ‘phase two’ upgrade which included the following:
ARB Lockers front and rear
Long Range petrol tank
Direct injection LPG with a 55 litre tank under the tub where the spare wheel normally sits.
Extended diff breathers
ARB 40 litre fridge
Plasma rope for the winch



Ultimately I wanted my truck to be good to go for touring but also well equipped to deal with those weekend wheelin trips with mates. You know, the ones that end up with you doing crazy stuff that would break a lesser car.
Anyway, after my trip away I’ve a little cash stashed away and the missus has been convince that it should be “invested” in the “improvement” of “our” weekends away and holiday’s car!
Phase 3 upgrade consists of the following:
XROX bar from OL
Buds Sliders from VMN
RCC rear jack bar
Buds dual cab tub rack from Buds
Dynamic 16x8 0 offset black steelies x5 from MR
285x75 R16 MT Claws x5
Sprint booster from Ultimate suspension
50mm body lift kit from VMN
Straight through muffler
K&N air filter from MR
I would love to be able to fit 4.1 ratio diff gears but the budget dictates that this will have to wait till Phase 4.
Most of the above has been ordered and I’m like a kid at Xmas waiting for them to arrive. I’ll keep you posted as I spend the next couple of weeks playing around in the garage fitting it all up.
Im picking up the sliders and lift kit from Rod on Tuesday BTW

[ScotsMan]

That's quite a list mate ,utes looking great keep the pics coming

[Hilux Max]

Welcome mate.....looking forward to the upgrades...will be a different sort of "weapon" than your usually used to

[GI Joe]

Haha Thanks guys. Yeah Im a bit excited to be honest.

[dute]

Sounds all looks like it will be a good touring setup . . . keep the photos coming . . . . .

[MarkYounger]

Thanks for serving. Sounds like your gonna have a beast after phase 3. Keep us up to date.

[GI Joe]

Ive been runing direct injection LPG for about 20.000 kms now with no problems but after reading in an LPG thread here about some of the issues others have had I decided it would be better to be safe than sorry. Today the weather was a shocker and there was really nothing better to do than spend the day in the garage. So, I fitted a flash lube kit, smoked tale lights and pulled the sports bar off so I can paint it black.


With dual batteries and LPG squeezed in under the bonnet there is not much room but I found a perfect spot front left just behind the head light.

I reckon the new rear lights look much better then the old red ones. Just need the new rear bar to turn up now.

[GI Joe]

OK, so I've spent the last couple of days in the garage. I've lost some bark off my nuckles and Im pretty sure that my thumb nale will fall off soon after I squashed it between a spanner and the chassis. But hey, who cares. Check out the pics



I must give a big thanks to Rod from VMN not just for his 50mm lift kit but also all the advise as to how to fit it all. It took me about 8 hours all up but that was mostly because all the bolts on the bash plates were rusted up. I took to them with a cold chisle and a big hammer in the end
The XROX bar was easy but a bit tedious because it comes with about 50.000 bolts and nuts!
I fitted the ARB recovery pionts while I was at it, but if you look closely you'll see that I have only 2 bolts holding it in. I have to drill through the bar mounts to fit the third one and my drill bit has gone missing. I'll do that job tomorrow.


Next came the sliders from Buds. I love them

[MarkYounger]

Looking awesome man. I really like the tube bars.

[ScotsMan]

Wow looks Tuff what a transformation

[kyle300exc]

Nice build, I have a simliar set up but yours looks a lot higher at the front. Im thinking possibly because the xrox would weigh a lot less that my ARB delux. When I fitted Rods kit it looked massive but when I lowered my bar and winch back on it took on that familiar nose dive, bugger. What are you planning for the inter cooler? and 1 other thing I could suggest. I just cable tied my coolant bottle on it shifted off road and cam in contact with the pulley that wore a nice hole in it.

[GI Joe]

Thanks guys,

Yeah Kyle300exc, I had an ARB Delux bar on and I compared the difference in weight yesterday. HUGE, the XROX bar can be lifted easily by one bloke and Im changing the big winch fairlead tomorrow for a much lighter plastic one. My Rig still sits too high in the back though due to the heavy duty springs. Im thinking of taking one of them out to level it out and improve articulation.
The washer bottle I have painted black so that it dosent look too out of place because I cant figure out where else to put it No room under the bonet any more. Thanks for the tip about the Zip ties as they are once of my favorite remedies for most things

[dute]

Looks very good. . . Well done.

[Jack S]

Monster
Great work man, looks insane

[helmut79]

Very nice looking rig mate

[Hilux Max]

Nice progress soldier boy! Well done.

Suggestions if I may?

Paint the Xrox bashplate black to blend it in more with the rest of the vehicle, unless you like it standing out.

And secondary, a suggestion regarding the washer bottle....not sure how much room you have under the bonnet (you said not much) but I fitted an aftermarket washer bottle inside the engine bay when I fitted my xrox bar.

Bought one of these kits -


and fitted here -


I then cable tied and trimmed the inner plastic liner up behind the headlights for a nice clear even look -

[GI Joe]

Thanks for that Max. Ill check out my favorite repco shop again and see if I can find an after market washer bottle.

I kind of like the XROX bash plate to stand out a bit! Is that bad? Haha

[KTM525EXC]

Wow!!! What a build up, that's one tuff looking lux you have there mate

[white_hilux]

that is looking great mate. you should come out wheelin with some of us one time

[Alby]

Nice transformation. Well done