Slain's Overlander
Posted: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 4:43 +0000
Hey all; thought it was about time I contributed instead of just leeching information
This is my log of work for my HiLux. My taste in cars has definitely matured over the years as I was hell-bent on purchasing a Honda S2000 a few years ago. I then transitioned to having a love of utes and was going after a sports ute as my first car. My mate then introduced me to camping and off-roading and I decided to go after a four-wheel drive as overlanding has become a mainstay for me now.
After a bit of research and consulting with the budget I had settled on seeking out an extra cab manual diesel 'Lux. That was a bit of a stretch but I did track down a dual cab that had an attractive kilometre count. After an NRMA inspection and a bit of negotiation, she was mine.
2006 Toyota HiLux SR Dual Cab, Manual Diesel 4WD.
I purchased it from a dealer who purchased it from an auction but the car was previously owned by Energy Australia. It had a touch over 93,000kms on it and was also pretty stock which was important to me. It did, however, come with a bullbar which I assume is a fleet bar (can't locate a brand on it), a canopy (think this is an ARB Classic going by an internal sticker), and a Hayman Reese towbar (P/N 2136RW).
The NRMA found a few issues that got fixed prior to purchase (dampness at the transfer case, weak struts on the canopy) and a few issues to watch out for (suspension bushes and mountings wearing, dent in the bash plate indicating off-road usage [asked specifically for a look into evidence of off-road use], rust). There was also a deep cut on the passenger side and holes drilled into the tub (which looked a little beat up). Something I wasn't happy about was that when I climbed into the tub, there was a razor blade in there.
I planned to leave the car at home the next day and camp out at Lake Lyell Recreation Park before meeting a group at Jenolan Caravan Park in Oberon. Unfortunately, my mate's Jeep Wrangler broke down so the HiLux had its first test. In three days of ownership I clocked up just over four hundred kilometres of travel.
I was happy with everything but I could tell it needed some work as it had trouble reversing up some loose terrain at Lake Lyell.
Alas, buying the car had depleted my savings so simple accessories came first.
A HAIGH Sunland Dash Mat - Black (P/N T7901) and a RAM X-Grip/Suction Cup Phone Mount (P/N RAM-HOL-UN7BU, RAM-B-201U-C, RAP-B-224-2U). The dash mat was hard to track down but fits well minus the velcro pads which adhese poorly (as all dash mat adhesive does). There's not much to say about the phone mount; RAM Mounts is pricey as they're modular but their products work extremely well.
R.M. Williams Rubber Floor Mats - Black in the front and Road Gear Rubber Deep Dish Floor Mats - Black in the rear. I want to get some Sandgrabba floor mats but they are too expensive right now. The front mats fit well but the rear mats slide everywhere on the vinyl which is hazardous for rear passengers who assume they have solid footing.
Seat Belt Covers 'cause I came back from Mount Coree with a nasty scar that made it look like I'd gotten glassed in the neck. It was mainly from craning my neck over on the Gentle Annie Trail.
Completed the folding back seat modification for some easily accessible storage space. There's not much to say here except that I get a horrendous noise when someone sits in the back and this is going to make it a cinch to fix that. I plan to add netting here to hold gear taut against the seat.
Genuine Toyota Grip Assists and Grip Sub-Assembly (P/N 74611-0K040-B0, 74603-0K020-B0, 90159-60353) 'cause lowly SR buyers don't take passengers apparently. I'm pretty peeved that they don't come with covers for the screws. Also, those plastic screws (if you can call them screws) that occupy the holes in the cab are a nightmare to remove.
EDIT: note that I have received the wrong part for the rear despite the part numbers being correct.
Billet Race Craft (BRC) Quad Breather Kit but I've only installed the front and rear differential hose. I still need to source a push-in fitting for the breather above the bell housing and I'm not confident on installing the remaining breathers (transfer case and gearbox [whichever isn't the breather above the bell housing], fuel tank, etc.). They'll go in eventually though.
While I bought the boring gear and completed the cheap modifications that I could, the car racked up a few thousand kilometres:
Wombeyan Caves:
Revisiting Newnes:
Ascending Mount Coree where a 'roo decided to give the car its first scar with me when it jumped into my passenger door instead of the bullbar.
Winter and a few other extenuating circumstances meant taking a small break from camping and kicked me into savings mode, the fruits of which you will see in my next post...
This is my log of work for my HiLux. My taste in cars has definitely matured over the years as I was hell-bent on purchasing a Honda S2000 a few years ago. I then transitioned to having a love of utes and was going after a sports ute as my first car. My mate then introduced me to camping and off-roading and I decided to go after a four-wheel drive as overlanding has become a mainstay for me now.
After a bit of research and consulting with the budget I had settled on seeking out an extra cab manual diesel 'Lux. That was a bit of a stretch but I did track down a dual cab that had an attractive kilometre count. After an NRMA inspection and a bit of negotiation, she was mine.
2006 Toyota HiLux SR Dual Cab, Manual Diesel 4WD.
I purchased it from a dealer who purchased it from an auction but the car was previously owned by Energy Australia. It had a touch over 93,000kms on it and was also pretty stock which was important to me. It did, however, come with a bullbar which I assume is a fleet bar (can't locate a brand on it), a canopy (think this is an ARB Classic going by an internal sticker), and a Hayman Reese towbar (P/N 2136RW).
The NRMA found a few issues that got fixed prior to purchase (dampness at the transfer case, weak struts on the canopy) and a few issues to watch out for (suspension bushes and mountings wearing, dent in the bash plate indicating off-road usage [asked specifically for a look into evidence of off-road use], rust). There was also a deep cut on the passenger side and holes drilled into the tub (which looked a little beat up). Something I wasn't happy about was that when I climbed into the tub, there was a razor blade in there.
I planned to leave the car at home the next day and camp out at Lake Lyell Recreation Park before meeting a group at Jenolan Caravan Park in Oberon. Unfortunately, my mate's Jeep Wrangler broke down so the HiLux had its first test. In three days of ownership I clocked up just over four hundred kilometres of travel.
I was happy with everything but I could tell it needed some work as it had trouble reversing up some loose terrain at Lake Lyell.
Alas, buying the car had depleted my savings so simple accessories came first.
A HAIGH Sunland Dash Mat - Black (P/N T7901) and a RAM X-Grip/Suction Cup Phone Mount (P/N RAM-HOL-UN7BU, RAM-B-201U-C, RAP-B-224-2U). The dash mat was hard to track down but fits well minus the velcro pads which adhese poorly (as all dash mat adhesive does). There's not much to say about the phone mount; RAM Mounts is pricey as they're modular but their products work extremely well.
R.M. Williams Rubber Floor Mats - Black in the front and Road Gear Rubber Deep Dish Floor Mats - Black in the rear. I want to get some Sandgrabba floor mats but they are too expensive right now. The front mats fit well but the rear mats slide everywhere on the vinyl which is hazardous for rear passengers who assume they have solid footing.
Seat Belt Covers 'cause I came back from Mount Coree with a nasty scar that made it look like I'd gotten glassed in the neck. It was mainly from craning my neck over on the Gentle Annie Trail.
Completed the folding back seat modification for some easily accessible storage space. There's not much to say here except that I get a horrendous noise when someone sits in the back and this is going to make it a cinch to fix that. I plan to add netting here to hold gear taut against the seat.
Genuine Toyota Grip Assists and Grip Sub-Assembly (P/N 74611-0K040-B0, 74603-0K020-B0, 90159-60353) 'cause lowly SR buyers don't take passengers apparently. I'm pretty peeved that they don't come with covers for the screws. Also, those plastic screws (if you can call them screws) that occupy the holes in the cab are a nightmare to remove.
EDIT: note that I have received the wrong part for the rear despite the part numbers being correct.
Billet Race Craft (BRC) Quad Breather Kit but I've only installed the front and rear differential hose. I still need to source a push-in fitting for the breather above the bell housing and I'm not confident on installing the remaining breathers (transfer case and gearbox [whichever isn't the breather above the bell housing], fuel tank, etc.). They'll go in eventually though.
While I bought the boring gear and completed the cheap modifications that I could, the car racked up a few thousand kilometres:
Wombeyan Caves:
Revisiting Newnes:
Ascending Mount Coree where a 'roo decided to give the car its first scar with me when it jumped into my passenger door instead of the bullbar.
Winter and a few other extenuating circumstances meant taking a small break from camping and kicked me into savings mode, the fruits of which you will see in my next post...