Been hanging around here for quite a while now, and thoughtit was about time I got a bit of a buildup happening.
We bought the Hilux back in October 2009. Its ex NSW Police car, and was pretty much stock when we bought it except for:
-ARB Bullbar
-Warn 9000lb Wich
-Reversing Beeper
-Lightforce 170 Spotties
-Tinted Windos
-Cooper AT/R Tyres on Factory Rims
I cant seem to find any photos of it as we bought it, but we all know what they look like.
It didnt take long before we started looking into the mods we wanted.
And in short time it had a Safari Snorkel, Razorback Steel Canopy, Full set of Black Duck Seat Covers, GME TX3400 courtesy of Opposite Lock in Adelaide (big thanks to Jeff - awesome bloke to deal with and always manages to remember us, even comes up to say hi when you walking past their stand at the 4wd Shows and remembers mine and the missus name).
Shortly after, I had enough of the crappy standard stereo (I was used to a aftermarket syetem in my AU Fairmont with Soundstream Splits, Alpine HU, and a couple of Pioneer Subs), so we put in a Kenwood Full AV System with inbuilt Garmin GPS and 4 Alpine Speakers in the doors. Its no show stopper, but heaps better than the original.
A heap of other mods that came about at the same time:
-Dual Battery System with 115Ah AGM Battery with Redarc Dual Battery Isolator
-Turbo Timer courtesy of Newpro Tech
-2nd 12V Socket in Cab with Constant 12v power from 2nd Battery
-2x 12v Sockets in rear of tray with constant power from 2nd Battery
Once we decided that the Coopers on the car were absolutely shagged, we decided it was time for some new wheels and tyres. The missus was dead set on the thing having legal tyres on it at the time so it scored a set of Cooper ST's (cant remmber exactly what size). And about this time the old girl was looking like this:
All the rest of the mods are a bit of a blur, the old girl has been pretty quiet for a few months now, but it has had the following:
-EGR Flares
-ARB Rooftop Tent and Awning
-Rhino rack roof rails
-3 inch Manta Exhaust
-55ltr Water tank behind back seat
-2inch Ultimate Suspension Lift
-Reverse Camera
-2x38Ltr Engel fridges (one on ARB Fridge Slide)
-Mammoth Weaved ute mat
Below are some photos of her at different stages:
Flex of the old girl on the loading ramp at home before the 2 inch lift. If you look closely you can also see the reversing camera .
Some flex shots of the girl after I finished fitting the new suspension. The guys at Ultimate Suspension were great, and I love the suspension. Handles a hundred times better than the old OEM stuff did!!
One of the recovery points. Took a small amount of modifying of the ARB mounting plates. Nothing too drastic though.
3inch Manta Exhaust. It needs shortening up slightly, as can be seen in the photo it took a couple of knock up the Flinders over easter this year.
Had the Lux on a few trips since we got it. Last easter we did 3000km over the easter break, including Googs Track, Mulgaria Station, Leigh Creek to Innamincaka to Tiboburra to Broken Hill and home again. But probably the toughest wheeling its done was only a couple of weeks ago up at Warraweena Conservation Park on the Mt Gill Track and the Dunbar Loop. And thanks to this rock (and a few other rocks as well)
My side steps are looking a bit like this
I am now due for a new set of Buds Customs side steps (just cant decide whether I want the infill panels or not).
Also on the same trip, we were heading down a section of track known as "Suicide" which is probably a 400m very steep descent I staked a tyre about 50m in and had to complete the rest on only three tyres
Which gave me a good excuse to get these this week just gone (31x10.5R15)
Im sure Ive missed a heap of other things weve done, but I absolutely love my Lux, and cant wait to get into the rest of the growing pile of stuff Ive got to put on it. But before I let you know what else I have planned some random photos of the old girl:
Now we are at present stage, and the Lux is about to go into its next build stage. Whilst I have more plans for it in the future, I have a pile of parts in the shed to go in the Lux and and the New Johnnos Evolution Camper Trailer we ordered a couple of weeks ago.
Things sitting in the shed to be installed are:
-Redarc DC-DC 40 Amp Charger
-Redarc Electronic Brake Controller
-Projecta 240V 15amp Intelligent Battery Charger
-Projecta 600W Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Also on the list to be organised very shortly are:
-Buds Sliders
-Full set of Buds Underbody Guards.