Brad's never finished Hilux...

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Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Mon, 15 Jun 2015 6:19 +0000

Well the time has come to stretch the memory bank and comb through the receipt pile and try and document how my hilux came to be. I have been lurking around this site in the shadows for 3 years now and have found it to be an excellent source of information, inspiration, talent and humour :lol: :lol: I hope to share with you all what I have learned, and maybe even provide a little inspiration for someone to take to their near new pride and joy with an angle grinder, spray can, welder, hammer, bigger hammer and whatever this big brown land can throw at it :twisted:

In the aim of licence preservation, and after having spent many years growing tired of dragging lowered Commodore and Falcon utes into the bush, 3 years ago I decided to trade my wonderful/loud/fast/fun VE SS ute in on a brand new 2012 SR D4D dual cab lux 4x4. While I don't have any photos of my car back then, it looked a little something like this:

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Thankfully it didn't stay looking like this for long. First modifications ordered and installed were of the usual ARB tick and flick sheet variety. Deluxe bullbar, Safari snorkel, canopy and tradesman rack, black sunraysias and 31" BFG AT's. I guess touring and camping were the main focus back then, hence the plethora of ARB accessories, but also a lack of knowledge that there was other options.

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The second photo was the aftermath of my first camping trip away with the hilux. Up until this point I had regretted my decision to get rid of my SS but once I got the lux off road it really came into its own and I was reminded why I got the thing in the first place. Also on the way into camp that weekend I cleaned up a wombat and the hilux took it like a boss whereas my old ss would have gone home on the back of a tow truck!

Next came the electrical stuff. Dual batteries, UHF, Runva winch, Lightforce 240's, light bar. outlet in tub, upgraded stereo (Pioneer head unit, Pioneer rear coaxials, Infinity splits), key in ignition beeper removal and seat belt beeper removal (thanks to this forum). Also the rear seat mod was done early on in the piece.

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I knew I wanted 33" tyres on my truck so i set out to make that happen. In hindsight, I had no idea what I was in for. I had seen several current model Hilux's in magazines with 33s so I knew it was possible. I had read that you needed a 3"-4" lift to make that size tyre fit so I ordered a 4" EFS/Bilstein lift kit from Superior Engineering including UCA's, very basic diff drop (re; spacer) kit and Brown Davis bash plate and went about getting it all installed.

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Then out came the precision toolkit! Cut, smash and bash. then weld.

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I was very happy with how it turned out. Despite the fact it took me quite a while to find out that you need a specific front wheel alignment with as much castor as possible, within factory specs, to get the tyre as far away as possible from the firewall. This resulted in probably a little bit of excessive guard and flare trimming, and a few experimental chunks out of my new MTR's, but we live and learn. Plus, I've already done half the necessary mods to clear 35s!!!! lol

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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Mon, 15 Jun 2015 6:20 +0000

Apologies for the big photos. Having some computer dramas. Next batch will be properly sized :?
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby TOYZX on Mon, 15 Jun 2015 8:34 +0000

Looking good man!
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby Kizzzaaa on Mon, 15 Jun 2015 9:15 +0000

The rear looks like its working nicely ( droop wise ), anything special about the rear suspension setup?
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Tue, 16 Jun 2015 4:08 +0000

At the time those photos were taken it had EFS light duty leaves and bilstein shocks. Could not carry any weight but it flexed really well. Nowadays I'm running Rekon shocks and reset factory leaves.
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby jaydo on Tue, 16 Jun 2015 8:20 +0000

Looks epic mate. Still trying to decide whether I want to run 33's or not. Currently running 32's but I wanna play with the big boys and get 33's haha. Tough decision though being my daily driver as well as my weekend warrior though.
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Tue, 16 Jun 2015 6:18 +0000

Do it bro you will not regret it[emoji48] I am running them as dailies now. But off-road that extra clearance is well worth the effort. Plus it looks mad tough[emoji38]
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Wed, 24 Jun 2015 7:14 +0000

Modifications slowed down for awhile at this stage due to a prolonged period out of work. I kept myself occupied doing little things like wasting money on Tigerz11 sliders which lasted 24 hours on the car! (what was i thinking) before doing it properly via the Buds sliders through Monster Rides and ploughing it through any mudhole I could find. Ah, the beauty of hindsight!! the pox sliders cost me $400 and mud enthusiasm cost me an alternator,idler pulleys, blocked radiator, probably numerous bearing issues that haven't surfaced yet and countless trips to the carwash. Needless to say i drive around the puddles now.

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I also removed the Toyota sticker from the tailgate, installed diff breathers, dynamatted the front doors and rear wall and performed a rear quarter chop after punching in the bottom of the tub dropping into a very deep aforementioned mudhole.

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By this stage I was working again which means income and I was disappointed with how the Superior/Bilstein/EFS lift was holding up so I decided to do the lift properly. I couldn't carry any weight in the car without getting seasick at the sight of a gentle bend so I ordered a set of factory 2" reset leaves from Hilux Max and Rob from The Suspension Centre. These were a marked improvement, although as expected a bit firmer ride but I believe a perfect all-round set up. Rekon shocks were also fitted and the Superior greasable spring hangers were retained.

Moving to the front end, I kept the Superior upper control arms but ordered in some Monster Rides Rekon front coilovers, front diff drop brackets, progressive bump stops, sliding sway bar links,swaybar relocation brackets, and a weld -in diff protector was mated to by old Brown Davis bashplate, rather crudely by yours truly! I installed all of the MR stuff myself which was rather challenging but rewarding.
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby Fixa4377 on Wed, 24 Jun 2015 7:21 +0000

Bloody nice build up mate :)
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Thu, 25 Jun 2015 6:14 +0000

Thanks mate!
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby kitdoctor on Sat, 27 Jun 2015 11:10 +0000

Mud=maintenance
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Sun, 12 Jul 2015 3:58 +0000

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A few things in the pipeline
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Sun, 12 Jul 2015 4:31 +0000

A few other recent mods done but don't have pics of include:

-3" Sterling exhaust (awesome!!)
-scanguage 2
-rear 4WD Systems Lokka (rather crude but effective, what I expected really)
-dashmat (extra 10kw easily, at the wheels of course)
-window weather shields for that extra street cred with the oldies
-new floor mats after my all my race shifting wore through the rubber
-canvas seat covers to stop the hounds destroying the back seat

I know its been said before, and I don't think I actually believe it myself, but I am really trying to focus on just finishing the damn thing off and using it for what its meant for. I have been slowly building up the tray for awhile now, with the aim to have a lift off dog cage/lockable tool and camping storage set up with canvas cover maybe taking up half the tray length leaving the rest open for whatever.

Also when I had the rear lokka fitted they told me that the pinion bearing was on the way out. I have no idea if they were just trying to con me into spending an extra $500 (!! :o :o ) to replace it or if they were being genuine. Either way I have been wanting to re-gear for awhile now so I just bit the bullet and ordered the good gear from Matty at Monster Rides. And I figured there is no point opening up the front diff without locking it as well so at the start of August the lux is going to Harrop for a front E-locker and front and rear re-gear/overhaul. Fingers crossed the rear pinion bearing holds up another few weeks!! :twisted: :twisted:

I assuming all this will make feel all warm and fuzzy and I won't have to spend anymore money on it, lol.
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Sun, 12 Jul 2015 4:34 +0000

Oh and a few tidy up things like catch cans, secondary fuel filters, light bars, sub- fuel tank, water tank etc., etc.

I am convinced its an addiction.

Probably need to stop researching lefty/crawler boxes too....
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 6:19 +0000

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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby miccos on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 12:44 +0000

Nice work bradles87 looking good.

2 questions for you if you don't mind;
#Your tub liner, was that cut at the top to fit with the canopy?
#The big bit a ply on the tub, have you bolted that down at all?

Cheers
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby jakelux on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 3:36 +0000

Rigs looking good man.
Where have you been playing in the mud? looks deep!
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby Sinan on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 3:50 +0000

Very interested in the light bar and brackets mate. Also how do they bolt up.
cheers
Simon
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 4:36 +0000

miccos wrote:Nice work bradles87 looking good.

2 questions for you if you don't mind;
#Your tub liner, was that cut at the top to fit with the canopy?
#The big bit a ply on the tub, have you bolted that down at all?

Cheers


Yes to both questions mate!
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Re: Brad's never finished Hilux...

Postby bradles87 on Wed, 29 Jul 2015 4:38 +0000

jakelux wrote:Rigs looking good man.
Where have you been playing in the mud? looks deep!


Cheers bro. Think that was Toolangi. Mainly hang out there or Cobaw, Mt Disappointment, Kinglake etc
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