A P Platers 'Official' Build
Posted: Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:53 +0000Hey guys and girls, I've already got a build posted up but it was pretty rushed and not very detailed so this is gonna be my 'official' build.
I bought the ute mid September last year as I was getting my Ps early December and wanted to do a bit to it before I started driving. The ute came with a factory snorkel, factory bar, steel tray and tinted windows. Everything else was factory except for the tyres.
This is her the day she was picked up.
I drove it around for a couple weeks like that before I did any mods just to get the feel of it as I had come from learning to drive a manual in an F250
. Big difference
Anyway, had been doing a bit of night driving and the stock headlights were pretty shocking so I put an El Cheapo 20" lightbar off ebay on it which I was pretty impressed with. The previous owner had a set of spotties on it but I couldn't talk him into sellin em, so I used the existing wiring for the lightbar. After about a month there were fuses blowing left right and centre so I tore the lightbar and wiring out of it and found that the wiring used was real dodgy so I kept the bar off it for a while.
When I got the ute the rear tyres were smooth as, so I was just gonna replace them as the front ones were brand new but I bit the bullet and put new tyres and wheels. After a bit of looking around, I got a pretty good price for a set of 245/75r16 KO2s, which in hindsight I should have gone 265, but all part of the learning experience I suppose
Put a set of black sunnies in with the tyres and I reckon it changed the look of the ute to no end.
After that blow to the savings, I wanted a bit more light output so i landed a set of lightforce 240 Blitz converted to 35w HIDs and threw the lightbar back on with new wiring. Love the spotties but the reflection off signs is pretty harsh and i wouldn't go any bigger than 35w, saying that they throw a heap of light down the tracks and the lightbars is partnered perfectly with them.
Put some reverse/work lights on the tray too which helped a heap when reversing, i just wired em up so that they can only come on when the ignitions on and don't come on with reverse as theyd definitely be a bit hard on the eyes for someone behind me in town.
Tray lights at night. Ute is about 25 metres from the fence.
After driving it around for a while on my Ps, the ute felt like at was getting rougher and more unstable when conering which i thought was the new tyres but i realised it was the suspension. I had always wanted to put a lift in it cause i like the look of em and i want to be able to carry a bit of weight as well. After doing a bit of shopping around, i decided on going with EFS due the the quality, price and the place in town had them in stock. Got the lift put in early January and i was really impressed with the ride and the look. It handled better around corners and was a lot smoother than before. the only problem was that the tyres didn't fill the wheel arches as much as they did before, but already planning for a set of 32" KM2s
That's the old girl after the lift. It ended up being a 3" in the back and a 2" in the front because of the 300kg constant springs.
So that's about it, got a few smaller things like a Bluetooth radio, led interior light and changed the colour of the dash lights to blue just to keep from getting bored. Did an EGR clean the other week and found about 10-12mm of crap all through the elbow, throttle body and inlet manifold which took about 4 hours to clean but the fuel economy has increased dramatically which is pretty schmick. Always doing stuff to her and doing abit of offroading when i can. Next thing on the list is a new bar. Cant decide over ARB, xrox or buds customs. Have to wait and see what the funding decides
I bought the ute mid September last year as I was getting my Ps early December and wanted to do a bit to it before I started driving. The ute came with a factory snorkel, factory bar, steel tray and tinted windows. Everything else was factory except for the tyres.
This is her the day she was picked up.
I drove it around for a couple weeks like that before I did any mods just to get the feel of it as I had come from learning to drive a manual in an F250
. Big differenceAnyway, had been doing a bit of night driving and the stock headlights were pretty shocking so I put an El Cheapo 20" lightbar off ebay on it which I was pretty impressed with. The previous owner had a set of spotties on it but I couldn't talk him into sellin em, so I used the existing wiring for the lightbar. After about a month there were fuses blowing left right and centre so I tore the lightbar and wiring out of it and found that the wiring used was real dodgy so I kept the bar off it for a while.
When I got the ute the rear tyres were smooth as, so I was just gonna replace them as the front ones were brand new but I bit the bullet and put new tyres and wheels. After a bit of looking around, I got a pretty good price for a set of 245/75r16 KO2s, which in hindsight I should have gone 265, but all part of the learning experience I suppose
Put a set of black sunnies in with the tyres and I reckon it changed the look of the ute to no end.
After that blow to the savings, I wanted a bit more light output so i landed a set of lightforce 240 Blitz converted to 35w HIDs and threw the lightbar back on with new wiring. Love the spotties but the reflection off signs is pretty harsh and i wouldn't go any bigger than 35w, saying that they throw a heap of light down the tracks and the lightbars is partnered perfectly with them.
Put some reverse/work lights on the tray too which helped a heap when reversing, i just wired em up so that they can only come on when the ignitions on and don't come on with reverse as theyd definitely be a bit hard on the eyes for someone behind me in town.
Tray lights at night. Ute is about 25 metres from the fence.
After driving it around for a while on my Ps, the ute felt like at was getting rougher and more unstable when conering which i thought was the new tyres but i realised it was the suspension. I had always wanted to put a lift in it cause i like the look of em and i want to be able to carry a bit of weight as well. After doing a bit of shopping around, i decided on going with EFS due the the quality, price and the place in town had them in stock. Got the lift put in early January and i was really impressed with the ride and the look. It handled better around corners and was a lot smoother than before. the only problem was that the tyres didn't fill the wheel arches as much as they did before, but already planning for a set of 32" KM2s
That's the old girl after the lift. It ended up being a 3" in the back and a 2" in the front because of the 300kg constant springs.
So that's about it, got a few smaller things like a Bluetooth radio, led interior light and changed the colour of the dash lights to blue just to keep from getting bored. Did an EGR clean the other week and found about 10-12mm of crap all through the elbow, throttle body and inlet manifold which took about 4 hours to clean but the fuel economy has increased dramatically which is pretty schmick. Always doing stuff to her and doing abit of offroading when i can. Next thing on the list is a new bar. Cant decide over ARB, xrox or buds customs. Have to wait and see what the funding decides
shit, that's a wait and a half. Yeah I I'll probably go with the ARB. Thanks for the feedback
