Packer's black beast

[Packdaddy]

Well, I've been on the forum since late last year and didn't think that I'd really done anything worthy of a 'build' thread! I kinda figured that compared to some of the awesome rigs on the site, my truck's fairly stock and I only really have run of the mill mods planned for it. But the more I learn from this site the more I realize others can learn from and enjoy what I put up too, so here goes!

I bought the car in Jan this year, it's a 2011 pre face-lift SR5 and was 6 months old when I bought it. Already had factory hard lid, tub liner and alloy bulbar:


The day I picked the car up, it went straight to the tyre place and got five 265/70/17 BGF ATs fitted. It's my daily driver and primarily does K's on the black top... But in hindsight I kinda wish I'd just gone for muddies! That day I also got to ARB Dandenong and picked up the rear bar step, fitted that arvo by myself with the help of a couple axle stands and a trolley jack.

Since then mods I've done are:
Back seat mod
Seat belt beeper
Safari snorkel
Ultimate suspension 2" lift
Windcheetah roof rack with Rhino tracks
Sunseeker II awning
Tie down tracks in the tub
ARB compressor under the bonnet (fitted yesterday but haven't wired it yet)
ARB aux battery tray (buying aux battery components one at a time to soften the blow!)
custom rocker green/red LED switches for spotties, winch and compressor

I've also ordered an ARB deluxe winch bar... Been three weeks and counting... And bought a Tigerz11 winch which is waiting patiently for the bulbar as well!

Next few mods will be:
Spotties
UHF
Recovery points
Sliders (if I can find side airbag compliant ones that I like )
Head unit

Some pics:











As for me... Used to be a spray painter till I joined the navy and now fly helicopters out of Nowra. Love camping, fishing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, RC planes, guitar, working on cars and of course a bit of wheelin! Pretty new to the 4wd scene though so don't have much experience off road... But I'm working on it!

Hope to meet some of you guys in the future and have some fun!

[Qwerty]

Nice one. How do you go maintaining the black duco !?

[10 luxxxx]

Good to see you finally got round to some pics mate nice rig.
Any chance of a photo of your tie downs in your tub.
Cheers.

[Packdaddy]

Haha yeah it's not ideal but does look the goods I reckon. My theory is black looks dirtier, which on a 4wd fits the part! So I just don't wash it and hope that equals more street cred

It is a bit painful washing it and finding new scratches all the time though, but hey, it's a fourbie, that's what they're for.

[Packdaddy]

Good to see you finally got round to some pics mate nice rig.
Any chance of a photo of your tie downs in your tub.
Cheers.

Cheers mate! Haven't got any pics of the tie downs at the moment but I'll grab some and put them up in the next few days. The tub's half full of fire wood n crap at the moment but I'll see what I can do. They're the ones from ARB and work a treat. They're also exactly the same as what we use in the aircraft at work!

[Alby]

Nice setup

Are you out at Cresswell in Booderee NP?

[Packdaddy]

Nice setup

Are you out at Cresswell in Booderee NP?

Thanks Alby. Nah I'm based at Albatross in Nowra although I did my officer training at Creswell a few years back, beautiful part of the world there! Nowra... Not so much!

[Alby]

Yeah I hear you. At least there are some nice places close to Nowra

[dute]

A good setup packer. . . Well done. .

[dute]

A good setup packer. . . Well done. .

[kyle300exc]

Yeah I hear you. At least there are some nice places close to Nowra

Vehicle looks good Packer, we do a bit of wheeling out the back of the naval base down there. It has some great 4wdriving on offer. Might T something up one weekend if your interested?

[Packdaddy]

Yeah I hear you. At least there are some nice places close to Nowra

Vehicle looks good Packer, we do a bit of wheeling out the back of the naval base down there. It has some great 4wdriving on offer. Might T something up one weekend if your interested?

Mate I'd love that, sounds great! Where a bouts do you usually get to? Yalwal area? I got down to tianjara on the weekend but didn't really know where to from there so wasted a bit of time. Found tianjara fire trail in the end. Wheeling with just one car and no winch is dubious though if y ask me, so I'm not that adventurous yet!

Well... I do have a winch but it's not much use in the back seat

[kyle300exc]

I haven't led a trip down there myself yet,but am in the process of organizing a small group to go in 3 or 4 weeks. Monkey Gum in the Yalwal area is a great run, as is wombat flats.
You wont need your winch but coming up out of one of the creeks it would be good to have some rock sliders or similar. If you haven't replaced them yet the alloy steps just done last very long off road. Just for piece of mind anyway.
Ill keep you informed.

[Packdaddy]

Yeah I'm keen to get out there and get dirty! Just haven't had anyone to lead the way!

I would've bought some of buds sliders by now except for the side airbag compliance issue. Not quite sure what to do there - I don't rate any of the others as highly as his, but don't wanna screw around with insurance. Ideas? Ive read the ARB ones a not as good as buds, saw some snake racing ones online today that looked ok... I prefer how buds ones angle up a bit though

I know some people just get buds ones none the less but I'm pretty dubious on that. Knowing my luck I'd get t-boned as soon as I got them

[kyle300exc]

Arb warn that they are not a 'rock slider' more of a step. Which I thought Id get away with Insurance compliance are big issues, particulaly when your car is new.

[benzo]

Your bus looks real good and practical mate.. i really like the standard 17's reckon they look tidy!

[Packdaddy]

Cheers benzo! I reckon they're the best of the stock rims... I initially thought I could put up with them and save money on buying others... But the offset is giving me the shits. I thought about spacers for the meantime but I'm not so sure about how safe they are. they're not all that wide either.

I'm loving the dick cepek rims at the moment, might get some down the track sometime

Kyle - how ave the ArB 'steps' held up so far? You like em?

[kyle300exc]

They are bent and have dented my sill from climbing over a fallen tree. The front bracket basically collapsed under the impact. They're fine for clay and gentle climbing, and protect far more than the stock step, but I will either get some of Buds or make my own.

[Packdaddy]

Wow ok, so they really aren't sliders then.

I just checked the snake racing site and theirs are 05-09 sliders... I can only assume this means they aren't airbag compliant either. I've emailed them an inquiry, so we'll see.

Any other options anyone knows of?!

I might call AAMI and see what they have to say about it, after all I can't see how they'd negatively affect the airbag sensors... If anything, i think they'd transfer the shock to the sensors more so and make them more sensitive. Probably not great either, but safer than them not going off!

[Packdaddy]

They are bent and have dented my sill from climbing over a fallen tree.

I do have a chainsaw though... So could prevent this particular issue!