NewHilux.net

Well seeing as I cant get to work today due to flood waters, Ive decided to finally make a buildup thread to document what Ive done. Ive been hiding in the background for sometime now and never managed to get around to doing this due to my slackness So here goes.

Mine is a 2010 plate charcoal SR5. I ordered it in early Dec 2009 around the time of the tax cut. There was a 3 month waiting list, so I only manged to pick it up in Feb 2010.

Heres some photos of it all brand new and shiny looking


She got a lil dirty on the way home


So this is how she looked 8 months on:

These were the mods at that point in time:
ARB Deluxe bullbar (colour coded)
IPF 900XS spotlights
Midnight Express tint on the front windows
Safari snorkel
Alphaline Auto tonneau cover

The tonneau I found to be very good, as it doesnt have the dicky looking elastics on the sides and involves no drilling whatsoever. It also fits the sports bar perfectly It cost me a little under 400 bucks, which I found to be very reasonable. It took about 90 mins to install but it would have been much easier if I had another set of hands. The hardest part was taking the sports bar off.



She looks naked

The extender plates go on the outside of the sports bar plate then you have to squeeze the bar so that it goes on the inside of the 4 plates. Can be a little tricky. Make sure you put some towels or sheets on the side of the tube so you dont scratch it


Once the bars done lay the 4 side rails down and clip them together with the corner joiners. Attach the rails to the edges of the tub using the clamps provided, and put in the 2 cross bars.


Then clip the tonneau and shes all done. Heres something I prepared earlier



Note the rollbar sits just over an inch higher, but IMHO it looks so much better now and flows with the line of the body.

Heres a lil something I picked up on ebay

Nice diseasel mate

I like the colour and the tonneau looks tidy.

Not sold on the brake light though

Keep us posted with your mods

Round 2
Heres some pics from when the boys and I went camping up at the Gemfields near Emerald, The place had had 3 inches of rain the night before which certainly made for some interesting driving, especially with stock tyres and suspension.


So after that trip I decided new suspension was "needed"

I went for a Tough Dog 2' lift with adjustables shocks, HD/winch springs up front and medium leaves on the back. Heres some before and after photos. You can see how much the bull bar weighed the front down.
Before

After

Before

After



Now I just need some bigger tyres. Im thinking 31x10.5x15 Cooper STs with the SR5 rims. Stick with them for a while then move on up to 265/75/16s

I have also put on a set of Skog's Diff breathers (Thanks Mark!!), which have come in very handy lately.

jap wrote:Not sold on the brake light though

Haha thanks mate. Its only a sticker so I can rip it off once i get sick of it

She is getting there mate love the colour.I would get that colour if i had the choice

very tidy dude, but cause my ute has elastic straps on the tarp r u calling it dicky lol. thats not very nice

Nice looking rig Shanno, tonneau cover look sthe goods

Ace

good work mate

i love this colour

helmut79 wrote: tonneau cover looks the goods

Nice!!

x2 i like that idea

Thanks fellas

tdah2, my comment still stands

be80hilux wrote:She is getting there mate love the colour.I would get that colour if i had the choice

X2

Shanno : park them side by side an well see who turns more heads lol

tdah2, What the utes or the tonneau covers lol

shanno; yeah good point bro but i was always told by my old man to not do things half assed so we'll go utes with canopies on

Haha fair enough, but then we will both lose Dont get me wrong, canopies are bloody handy but IMO dont look that good. Then again theres some out there that look pretty decent, like the new ARB one. Bloody expensive though. Oneday

looks good mate..

im interested to see a pic of your tonneau open though ? esp around the rollbars..

Steve

Oops my screw up i ment tonneau. yeah i agree with u on that one cnapies destroy the lines of a ute a bit . but no we both wont lose just you. LOL.
Out of curiosity tho does it stretch much if u have sumthing a bit bigger or higher underneath im guessing not? As its the elastic clips on most that allow the give.

Steve, I assume want to check out how the frame and everything looks? The rollbar is just lifted up and the tonneau wraps around it and has rubber on the edge so its fairly water tight. I'll chuck up a pic when I get around to it

Tdah2, It can stretch a little bit but you can lift the cross bars up to the highest setting (has 2) and it lifts it all up by half an inch. Otherwise i just unclip the sides and roll it up to the headboard where there are two velco straps to secure it.

Heres some photos of the tonneau for Steve. They arent that good cos i took them quickly tonight but you can get the idea.


Ive also swapped over the headlight bulbs to a set of Osram Night Breakers. These are simply awesome lights, especially on low beam. Got them from PowerBulb in the UK, 38 bucks delivered. Bargain!
Next on the list are tyres. Going for Coopers STs, got a quote for $295 a tyre in 31x10.5x15.
Does this seem about right?
Also what are people opinions on getting a set of 4 or a set of 5? Is it better to run 4 real good tyres and a cheaper spare seeing as it barely gets used (i have a steel rim spare)