NewHilux.net

In considering what mods I will and won't do to my new Hilux, I was thinking it'd be a good discussion point to have the best and worst mods to make to a 4wd. I'll start

BEST:
Diff locks: front and rear, they got me out of numerous PITA situations quickly and easily where other recovery methods would have been time consuming and/or dangerous. Also got me through some obstacles I don't think I could have gotten past without them. I swear by them and will definitely get them on the new Hilux

WORST:
Endless air compressor: It was fitted to allow us to run air tools, mainly a rattle gun, as we were frequently swapping all 4 tyres on the vehicle (off road tyres were good for a max speed of about 60 km/h). Problem was, the compressor ran off the engine, which caused 2 problems, 1, the mount broke about 3-5 times causing a god awful rattle that made you think the Vehicle was about to die, and 2, the engine had to be running for the compressor to run.... and the last thing you want while changing tyres, and jacking up the car is to have the bloody thing running... WORST.... MOD..... EVER

HONOURABLE MENTION:
2" (or other) suspension lift: It's the unsung hero of off-roading, you can't always tell it's doing anything but it no doubt saves the underbody from a lot of bumps and scratches, not to mention keeps you from getting hung up and increasing all the relevant driving angles. And no boubt makes the ride down a rough track a lot smoother

How about y'all?

Hey Scratcher

With the 'Diff locks: front and rear' are they air or electric or ... ???

The rear seat mod. is the best for me

Thanks

Elocker would be the best

worst....... Air locker was great but compressor annoyed me, heavy duty tough dog springs (old ln106 was more comfortable), anything roo systems/tigez11

Hey guys, there is already an extensive 'least favourite/regrettable mods' thread (linked below), might be better to keep this one limited and renamed to 'Best mods' then? Just an idea...

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=23131

ahaha coming up with a new thread is never a good idea on this forum. I feel a merger coming on! lol happens to the best of us.

sa_lux wrote:Hey Scratcher

With the 'Diff locks: front and rear' are they air or electric or ... ???

The rear seat mod. is the best for me

Thanks

They were ARB air lockers, never had an issue with them. Compressor only ran the lockers as the main compressor was the separate (and annoying as all hell) unit.

ChrisD wrote:ahaha coming up with a new thread is never a good idea on this forum. I feel a merger coming on! lol happens to the best of us.

Hahaha, yeah, I did search before starting it, oh well

Hey Scratcher

scratcher wrote:They were ARB air lockers, never had an issue with them. Compressor only ran the lockers as the main compressor was the separate (and annoying as all hell) unit.

So you had a compressor for the air locker & a 2nd compressor for rattle gun ???

I dont know much about air lockers, I heard someone on a TV show recently say that todays 4x4s are not 4x4s until they have lockers because the old utzs had locking hubs !!!

Thats why I was thinking about e Lockers, no need for compressor

Best is dual battery with solar.
Worst is front mount winch, every bogged vehicle will "attempt" to hail you down.

sa_lux wrote:Hey Scratcher

scratcher wrote:They were ARB air lockers, never had an issue with them. Compressor only ran the lockers as the main compressor was the separate (and annoying as all hell) unit.

So you had a compressor for the air locker & a 2nd compressor for rattle gun ???

I dont know much about air lockers, I heard someone on a TV show recently say that todays 4x4s are not 4x4s until they have lockers because the old utzs had locking hubs !!!

Thats why I was thinking about e Lockers, no need for compressor

Yeah, but locker activation only compressor is tiny. It's kind of a handy fail safe for accidental activation as you can't turn on the lockers without turning on the compressor first. If you ever drive on sand you'll want a compressor anyway so getting one that can inflate tyres and activate lockers isn't a big deal.

As for locking hubs, the only real advantage I can see for that is that you can use low range without being in 4wd. Thinking about it, the locking front hubs are only on live axle vehicles, so my assumption would be that for an IFS vehicle, the hubs are either unnecessary or impractical. Someone might know the actual reason but I'm reasonable confident that no IFS vehicle comes with manual locking hubs.... possibly a subject for a separate thread?

wasn wrote:Worst is front mount winch, every bogged vehicle will "attempt" to hail you down.

Hahaha, The vehicle with the lockers also had a winch.... it was never used I reckon I'd rather snatch someone out than winch them, though I guess it depends where you get bogged

hmm, tough choices. the auto locker could be best and worst. could say the same about the 33's, and the tray and canopy and a few other mods.

on the plus side, I've had a lot of fun times and been to a lot of remote places

oh yeah, the winch has only been used once, and it wasnt during my 3 month top end tour

Whats wrong with the auto locker?

I recon my auto locker is the best $500 Ive spent on the lux by far. Ultimate suspention would be equally best mod. Really smooth on rough tracks and handles weight easily.

Worst is probably the TJM bar. It does its job ok now but when fitted they didnt tighten the bolts so it nearly fell off on the HWY and the fog lights have never worked. They said they would replace them under warranty but only if they did the job them selves, I said they will never be going near my car again. Also the bar vibrates so much that my driving lights fall apart regularly but that could be the lights.

Which brings me to the IPF spotties (rectangle ones). They have fallen appart 3 times but so far ARB have replaced them every time. ARB admit they are shit lights and break if you drive rough tracks.

Cheers,

Chris.

Best mod was the urgrade to a v8 cruiser
But the best/ favorite mod I had on the lux was the canopy setup. Made camping so much easier

pisso01 wrote:Whats wrong with the auto locker?

nothing wrong, just the nature of an autolocker
on road manners when the vehicle is empty or when doing tight turns uphill are not the best
off-road they're fantastic!

Yeah I agree they can be a bit annoying some times but I guess you would expect a bit of that for the price tag.

Cheers,

Chris.

my Lux was built for off-road, so I shouldnt complain about it's on-road manners

What’s the best mod you have done to your hilux so far? Just starting my build so keen for some ideas.


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The mod I use every day and is one of the cheapest is the slow release strut on the tailgate.

If ya got kids the full time power window mod. Check out the thread on mods for $50 or less. Loads of good tricks. The 2wd low is awesome too!

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Seat belt beeper delete and rear seat mod
Both cost nothing but a bit of time

Pedal booster is good bang for your bucks