New Tonneau soft cover & Tailgate Struts

[Romsey]

Removed the factory hard lid on my 08 N70 DC V6 LPG today and fitted the Ute Covers Direct clip in rail softcover. Was about a 3 hour job. My main use for this Hilux is as a low klm daily city driver and to transport my dirt bike to the trails.

Removed the hard cover and tub liner to access all the hard cover fittings. Cleaned the tub, put some rust converter in a few areas that had prev been drilled. Sprayed the tub with rust preventer and refitted the factory tub liner. Drilled and riveted the clip in rails and fitted the cover. Turned out really well and the soft cover is tight. Cost was $300 inc delivery, Oz made in Melbourne.

https://www.utecoversdirect.com.au/coll ... neau-cover

I got the gas struts from Grunt 4x4, again Oz made, $249. Took about 30 minutes to fit and now the tailgate damps on the way down and you can flick it up easily with your fingers to close it. Although the RH side cable seems to be taking all the tailgate weight whereas the LH side cable is somewhat loose, will need to chat with them on Monday.

UPDATE 23/5/22 : Spoke with Grunt4X4 about the sagging LH passenger side cable. Turns out the factory hole where they advise to fit the strut & cable to is larger on the passenger side vs the drivers side (9.75 mm vs ~7.95 mm diameter) The bolt they provide being the same 7.14 mm diameter for each side. This is why the passenger side cable has slack in it. I can perhaps fit a larger diameter bolt to resolve this but I need to find a ~10mm bolt with a shaft on it > 10 mm diameter that will allow the support cable & strut to move freely once the bolt has been tightened. Grunt 4x4 do not seem to care about this and simply offer a refund claiming to have shipped thousands of units without any issues. Pretty disappointed in their attitude. I purchased their expensive unit over cheaper imported solutions as they claim to make these in Aus and I like to support local manufacturers but they don't seem to want to support me.

UPDATE 31/5/22 : Ordered 10 x 10mm (OD) x 8mm (ID) x 1mm steel shims from a supplier in VIC ($13 delivered). They should be here in a few days. Going to experiment with these in the oversized factory 9.75mm hole by filling out the hole a little or filling the shims to see if I can get them to fit in the oversize hole and get the slack out of the LH side support cable.

Not recommended for N70 2008 and possibly other years? I have asked them if they have a larger diameter bolt as they have these kits for other models of 4WD which may use a larger diameter bolt than the supplied 7.14 mm diameter bolt. I am awaiting their answer and will update when I can.

https://www.grunt4x4.com.au/collections ... ut-systems

Next jobs are adding a TPMS system and doing the headlight lenses with a 3M headlight cleaning/UV protect kit. Will likely buy the Stedi LED light bulbs, still considering. Also waiting for my ARB Smartbar brackets to fit my used ARB Smartbar. Also some rear parking sensors and a tailgate handle reverse cam to replace the cam mounted above the rear license plate.

I am trying to understand what I should do with my wheels and tyres. I currently have 18’s which look ok but I presume make the ride firmer for my intended city car use. I recently added a complete Ultimate Suspension system for $3K but the car still feels a bit firm. I dropped the tyre pressure from 40 to 34 which made it a little better for comfort but at the expense of fuel economy. Also added new front discs DBA and pads and braided brake lines.

My Hilux has 238,000 klm so next week I am taking it to a local Auto Box specialist and changing the Auto Trans oil and filter and dropping the prop shaft to check the uni joints and centre bearing which I suspect may need changing as I am get a low speed driveline clunk on start and stop. I will have everything else looked at, all my bushes and ball joints are good, some I have already replaced.

I am definitely over capitalising this old V6 Hilux, I know that. But, I specifically wanted a V6 Auto with LPG and am happy with my choices. I want to repair and upgrade all the common items so it drives perfectly and does not let me down. I intend to keep it for 4-5 years and will put on about 30,000 klm. I normally buy new cars so in my books I am way ahead and I don’t want diesel.

[Romsey]

Update 9/6/22 : Fitted a 10mm OD x 8mm ID x 1mm shim to the LH side hole for the tailgate strut support bolt. This took the slack out of the LH tailgate cable and resolved the issue. Both the LH & RG Tailgate support cables are at about the same tension, if anything the RH side now has a very slight slack. I could do a bit of filing on the shim or the hole to make it perfect but for now it is a big improvement.