Micks Blulux

[2010Blulux]

Hi guys

Been lingering around here for a week or so and figured I might as well start a buildup page. A little harassment from you guys will help keep me motivated to keep going forward.

I picked our OCT 09 Dualcab SR5 Manual Diesel up new in December 2009. My first new truck. I was originally just planning to keep it fairly stock. Something reliable for the misso to drive while I'm away for work and a comfy beach cruiser while I'm at home. I have an old Bundy with 36" swampers for thrashing but it's been off the road for a few years and keeps getting put on the backburner for other projects. First the house then the shed and now a new hilux.

The planned mod list from the start was just a set of all terrains a bull bar and some lights. But now its a little different

So far I have
Ditched the side steps and rear mud flaps
Pulled off the odd sticker
Fitted my old Garmin GPS
Lifted the front up to level the truck out (came up around 3" with just a set of springs for now)
Thrown a set of 31x10.5x15" Cooper STT's onto the SR5 Rims
Modified the poxy factory bash plate / splash guard thing by regularly pounding it into things

Still on the list (and hopefully all ticked off before our Simmo trip next october)
Tonneau cover
Finish my mini mudflaps
Install the Delkor 900cca 100ah battery I just picked up with a redarc solenoid
Jerry can rack dealo in the tray
Bullbar
Lights
Might throw in the old ARB compressor from the bundy
Bilstein front struts and rear shocks
2" Body lift
and a set of sliders after I wrapped my passenger side sill around the door last trip to Glasshouse

[2010Blulux]

Here's some pix







These were all a week or two after I picked it up. All stocko at this stage





These are from the day I picked up the new rubber. This is a little track just up from the local post office





And these last couple were taken up the point at DI a couple of weeks ago. There you can see the missing side steps and just catch a look at the yellow Ironman coil fitted up front.

[esme_13]

good looking truck mate and a new one. what are you going to do with the rear mud flaps as i bought a second hand sr5 which has some dodgy looking ones on it. i also had to add bb, bfg's canopy and a dual battery system. The red arc system i put in is great. one handy hint i was told that the second power point in the cabin should be connected to your dual battery system as it makes things easier as you can recharge things and take your keys out and leave the truck.

enjoy, if you want to sell them let me know

[helmut79]

Welcome aboard mate nice rig.

[VMN]

Welcome aboard mate. I might send you a PM with some ideas.

[2010Blulux]

I've been a bit slack lately but I'm starting to accumulate a nice pile of goodies in the garage for when I get home.

So far our 70l EvaKool fridge has turned up and today the Alphaline tonneau showed up today (only ordered it this morning)

I haven't really got alot done lately. I was in the process of cutting out some new shorter mudflaps from some 3mm HDPE sheeting but I decided to just cut down the factory units by about 3". I'll throw up a pic when I get home.

On the list for Thursday / Friday next week is fit the new Tonneau, Run some wiring and mount a 50a anderson plug in the tray for the fridge and fir up an Ironman snorkel that should turn up in the next few days. Then heading up to DI for the weekend.

Should have some more pics up on Friday arvo.

Mick

[mann]

welcome buddy

plenty of info here mate!

Nico

[2010Blulux]

Here's whats new. Just got back from a top DI trip with the boys. Still awesome even though it flogged down for most of the time
The EvaKool Fridgemate didn't miss a beat all weekend Kept the beer and food below 4 degrees C the whole trip. I haven't had a chance to get my second battery in yet so just had the fridge plugged into the ciggie socket and left the ignition on ACC most of the time with the stereo turned off and the fridge at it warmest setting after the last beer of the night. All went well thankfully. The warmest it got to for the night was 4.2 C and the lux still started up no worries in the morning (I was a little worried and had a charged up jump pack and a set of jumper leads just in case) Probably not the best thing to be doing to my start battery but it will do for now.



Fitted Fairly well with the rear seat folded down. I just pulled the plastic covers off the seat hinges and strapped to down to them



70L is heaps of space when your not wasting it with ice



Just shows the wireless thermometer receiver velcro'd to the dash and my 6 year old Garmin that never gives up.

Also fitted an Alphaline Tonneau cover on Thursday. I was really impressed with the customer service from these guys. Everything came well packed however there were no instructions in the box. I'm sure they would have sorted it out if I had called but thought I'd have a few cans and just give it a go. All went pretty well, had a few goes at getting the spacer brackets for the Sports bar the right way around and had to give it a good bit of persuasion to get it back in.



Really happy with the fit



My favorite bit shown here is being able to open the tailgate without unbuttoning the cover



You can see where I had to cut slots into the liner for the clamps. I had to cut the slots taller than I would have liked to allow the thick bottom of the clamp through the hole. A bit of black Sika will tidy things up

After the last trip out to glasshouse I did a little damage, Massaged a sill and tore off a mudflap.
While I had the mudflaps off I gave them about a 3" trim so hopefully they don't get snagged up next time. As for the sills the sliders will have to wait till after the Simmo trip in october



That about does it for a few days I'm just about to order an x-rox front bar today so I guess it and the snorkel will be next.


Mick

[bill_i_am]

Looking good mate. Will have to catch up for a wheel someday

[2010Blulux]

Had some pics in my camera from a little work on the Bundy last break thought I might post a couple.

I've had it for years now. Before I took it off the road about 3 years ago it was running 36" swampers on 15x10 steelies. 2" body lift, 3" suspension, front air locker and a LSD rear with standard ratio's. I melted a piston going up the hill into Gypmie a while back, fitted a new engine but with building the new house and moving and getting a new ute I haven't done alot with it.

So last break I pushed it into the shed and started on the chop job.



Before



During (should never have given my mate the grinder...My 9 month old nephew could have done a better job



After

I've stripped the front gaurds and radiator support attacked some of the rust repairs then stripped the diffs and all the brake and fuel lines out. My welder died in January so I have to wait to get it fixed before I do anymore.

I'll try and keep the rest all hilux related


Mick

[9W6VX]

The Garmin 76CSX is a tough bugger......

I have a 60CSX and it's good. Don't even need to use the external GPS antenna as I can get down to 3 metre accuracy.

I used to own a Bundera too and it was my best 4x4 ever. It went everywhere!

[2010Blulux]

The Garmin 76CSX is a tough bugger......

I have a 60CSX and it's good. Don't even need to use the external GPS antenna as I can get down to 3 metre accuracy.

I used to own a Bundera too and it was my best 4x4 ever. It went everywhere!

I'm stoked on the Garmin does everything I need it too (get me back to camp in the middle of the night) and a bunch more

Looking forward to getting Bundy going again. Its been a few years now I wont know myself

Mick

[2010Blulux]

Well unfortunately all the good stuff starts to happen just as I leave for work again.

Our Ironman snorkel turned up at the door today I had enough time to tear open the box for a look. Seems tidy enough, will see how good once its fitted.

Hopefully by the time I get back in a few weeks we'll have our flash new X-Rox bar waiting for us and my personal favorite so far............Monster Rides REKON......

Can't wait to get home to fit all this new stuff up. Hopefully the next 18 days dont drag out to badly.


Mick

[2010Blulux]

Had a busy first few days back home. Got the XROX front bar fitted up Wednesday night and for such a cheap bar I'm pretty bloody happy with it. Just have to move the washer bottle and spray some black paint around now. I've got a whole bucket full of bits the got stripped off. There were a few annoying little bits like having to remove the headlights to unscrew the little brackets from the bottom of them.

Everything all stripped




Ive got a couple off rated towing eyes to fit up to the provided holes in the front. The bar even has a couple of slotted holes in the front for the factory threaded clips for the number plate. I think I might black out the blue bits showing through still thinking about it though.

Yesterday I got hold of my Rekon gear. I got front struts, rear shocks and sway bar spacers. Next time round I'll go for the diff brackets and UCA's. I rushed straight home and started tearing my front end apart. It's a pain having the bundy taking up the shed cause I have to work on the Lux in the garage I keep having to go back and forth for tools and beer. Anyhow getting the original struts out again was no problem but getting these massive bloody things in wasn't as easy.


At first I split the top balljoint to get the old strut out but couldn't get the new one in this way after a few cold beers and a bit of dicking around I ended up having a win. I loosely put the top balljoint back together and unbolted the bottom one from the swivel hub. This prevented the CV from limiting how far down I could push the lower arm. Then I marked the little indicator plates and loosened off the lower control arm mounting bolts. Bobs your aunty, Slotted the strut in couple of finger tight nuts on the top, got the bottom bolt through, then slipped the trolley jack (very carefully) under the LCA and jacked it up to compress the strut enough to be able to bolt the bottom balljoint bracket back up again. I have to give some credit to Matty here too, I tried to call him a heap of times to see if he had any magic tricks, unfortunately he's overseas and couldn't answer his phone, however took the time to get back to me via sms a few minutes later, by then I had it sussed, he then followed up a few more times to make sure everything was all good. Can't complain about that.

The comparison shot, The new strut was nearly 100 mm longer

New strut in place

Had to grind a tiny bit from the washers for the swaybar bracket bolts on the bench grinder so they would fit the holes in the spacer.

Loaded up our new swag to head out to a mates block to give the front a bit of a raping so it can settle in before the wheel alignment. Its a three pole double dome jobbie, got it delivered to the door for $300 in the canvas bag. It fits perfectly between the sports bar, and I just do up the Velcros on the handles around the top of the bar, No hope of it falling out

So for I am bloody stoked with how well it drives. I'm going to throw in the rear shocks tomorrow and then head out for a good day of driving. So far there is a definite improvement in on road handling, and so far the little bit I have done off road has been very impressive. I'll try and get some god flex pics tomorrow.
I'll find the measurements I took to post up for comparison aswell. I know when I first dropped the car back on the ground and went for a spin I had 820mm from bottom of standard SR5 15" rim to the guard. At the lowest setting I think thats a bit over 4" however that will settle.

[Jack S]

Always love seeing the REKON gear fitted, looks awesome man going well!
Especially the xrox bar mmmmmm makes me think!....

[2010Blulux]

Always love seeing the REKON gear fitted, looks awesome man going well!
Especially the xrox bar mmmmmm makes me think!....

Cheers mate...I reckon its a great bar for the money

[helmut79]

What height do you have the front set at mate?

[bill_i_am]

I have to agree, Monster Rides certainly come to the party in terms of after sales service. I also had a bitch of a time putting my front struts in but after a few phone calls to Matty and the crew (and some creative use of trolley jacks) I managed to get them in. Have you had a wheel alignment done yet?

[danmcccc]

LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE definately paint the bit behind the wings black man

[2010Blulux]

What height do you have the front set at mate?

I've got it set as low at possible for now

I have to agree, Monster Rides certainly come to the party in terms of after sales service. I also had a bitch of a time putting my front struts in but after a few phone calls to Matty and the crew (and some creative use of trolley jacks) I managed to get them in. Have you had a wheel alignment done yet?

Creative is defiantly the word. Hadn't had an alignment yet, heading out today and tomorrow to do a couple of tracks near home, (not a lot of bitumen and try and get it to settle a bit first, got it booked in for Tuesday.