I thought the site got permanently shut down haha
Same
Good to see it’s back up.and running.
1 Like
Insurance, it sank 
Watching one of my favourite YouTubers 
John is a fkn crack up and certainly knows how to tell a story
Some indication of how owning a newer Toyota might not be all it’s cracked up to be @Deadsquid
The comments section is an equally good read hearing other people’s similar stories.
I fucking hate newer cars wouldn’t touch em with a 10ft pole especially the electrics. I’ve worked on a fair amount of them from all brands and they all have two things in common they are all built really cheap with shithouse engineering and poor designs and they also are built to die quickly at the low low price of double if not more then what new cars cost back in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s etc.
As much as people have there pissing contests about whether old Toyotas and Nissans are better everyone can agree that both brands made brilliant cars hilux’s, patrols and land cruisers are all still on the road for a pretty good reason.
Also new car interiors genuinely hurt my eyes and don’t function well there have been certain times at work when I’ve had to move cars and spent genuinely 5 minutes figuring out how to shift it into drive because they’ve done some stupid ‘high tech’ design. Don’t get me started on push button starts and button electronic handbrakes either they are terrible.
All absolutely true mate
I hope you can find something that suits your needs at a good price and condition.
Definitely go for some grandpa spec low klm vehicle, whether it’s petrol or diesel, whatever make or model, just do a bit of research on their known problems and what to look out for when buying them.
Yeah I’m hoping that there’s something out there for me I can probably find something that’s been maintained well in my budget but potentially not low K’s. I’ve set my self a budget of $15000 for a 105 series manual and I’ve started putting money away to hopefully get to that goal halfway through next year. Will hopefully be able to get $7000-$8000 for my current car which will immediately be dumped into fridges, bull bars, roof racks, draws etc
If I manage to find a diesel in the specs that I want in my budget I’ll definitely consider grabbing it and doing some after market work and chucking some stickers on it to turn it into a turbo diesel
Worst case scenario I can look at 80 series Land Cruisers because they are way cheaper
A good pensioner owner 80 series is something that I would be aiming towards over a 105 series.
Better price start point, more of them available second hand and the mechanicals are just that bit more basic and old school than the 105’s.
Those old 2H Diesel engines and drive lines will also easily last through to 1 million klm and more if serviced and maintained properly… so buying one with 400-500k on the clock, it will still have plenty of life left in it if it’s been looked after
Don’t go too overboard on the whole BCF catalogue car thing as is what I call the 4WD’s with all the shit hanging off them everywhere 
It’s one thing that you will learn with time and experience, that less is more when it comes to going off-road and camping.
I’ve nicknamed my GQ build the “featherweight 42”, as I am stripping absolutely EVERYTHING possible off the vehicle and refitting ONLY the parts that I need to have it do the job that I want.
It already came with the Rhino Racks, bars, lights, big tyres and high lift kit, but everything is being removed and only keeping the tyres/lift, no side bars/steps, no rear bars or spare tyre carrier and replaced the steel bar with a lighter custom Aluminium version.
Keep in mind that this is my last vehicle, and I’m setting it up for myself, not caring about resale value or any of that stuff that would hinder me being able to modify it as I want it.
Have removed everything that didn’t work or doesn’t have to be on it for legal reasons, such as the whole air conditioning system, right down to all the plumbing, dash internals, heat exchangers, compressor and even the cast iron compressor bracket off the engine itself 
This was a heap of weight of something that didn’t work and I didn’t want, as I’ve never had a vehicle with AC anyways 
The rear seats and front passenger seat and their associated seatbelts/nuts/bolts/brackets, rear window wiper, wiper motor and washers, rear tyre carrier and any other nuts/bolts/brackets that are bolted onto the vehicle that are serving no purpose are all gone.
All The rear door glass, wagon side glass is being removed and replaced with 6mm Black Perspex along with the rear window winder mechanisms being taken out in the process.
I’m using my years of knowledge and experience building Race Cars, Rally Cars, Drag Cars, Track and Hill climb Cars to apply the engineering and physics into an old 4WD to get it to drive anywhere with better handling, weight distribution, fuel economy, power and reliability.
This is all gained by taking as much weight as possible out of the vehicle, not adding more weight by fitting extra stuff on! 
The weight that I can move around, or am looking to put into it, like the spare tyre, fridge and compressor, is all mounted at floor level between the two axles… giving a much lower roll centre and more even weight distribution/drive/grip on the front and rear axles.
Taking into account the weight of the driver, battery and mechanical components all stacked on the RHS from the factory, the trick is to counter balance that weight in the opposite direction.
Hence the fridge will be bolted to the floor where the passenger seat/footwell runs, spare tyre is fixed just behind that on the floor at the passenger rear door, the compressor is in the same are running sideways behind the centre console.
The rear floor wells and step down from the old rear bench seat will have flat floor up to behind the front seats, with hinged panels to access all the floor space underneath that will be where heavier things like tools/spares/recovery equipment etc can be stored in the centre of the vehicle and down low
This leaves the entire cargo space empty with a full length floor to utilise for my camp mattress and plastic tubs of camping gear.
Plenty more, but I’m sure you get the idea!
With an original kerb weight of only 2050kg, I’ve already knocked it back down around the 1800kg mark after weighing everything that I have taken off, and the end goal with the rest of my weight diet I’ve calculated to be around the mid to high 1600’s!
With a GVM of 2800kg, I could strap a Hyundai I30 to the roof and still be under GVM
At this weight point as a daily driver, the standard NA TD42 Diesel will suddenly feel like it’s been turboed, the fuel economy will be the best it can get and the steering/braking will be vastly improved with the proper weight distribution and lower centre of gravity.
It’s all good fun keeping me busy, but most of these modifications getting things like the spare tyre/Fridge/tools etc as low as possible has also been designed to allow me easier access, as my back is fkd and I can’t bend/lift anything anymore… hence why the roof rack and high spare tyre mount were the first to go!
Reminds me my son outlaw mate, the stories he told me about being Vale` parking at the Casino. Spent 2 hrs trying to get an Audi to go into reverse only to figure out the shifter was right in front on the windscreen HUD
Watching… Pulp Fiction, been awhile
Yeah one lever is all a man needs not 10 knobs in his face to get it into drive 
1 Like
Yeah my mod list is pretty simple and all serves a purpose to me but definitely adds weight. Roof rack (to setup tents and awnings and shit for camping), uhf (to bully my mates inferior hilux), bull bar (dirt road full of fucking kangaroos), winch (once again for my mates stupid hilux), draws (camping shit), some sort of light rig (to see my mates shit hilux in better light), snorkel probably some sort of steel/aluminium (water is a bitch) and last but not least speakers and stereo and shit (I’m a P plater).
Sounds like a good combination for you
Plenty of money to be saved by finding 2nd hand stuff online too.
A lot of my gear was basically brand new/used once because the sellers were upgrading to whatever is the latest bolt on must have “trend” brand at the time, even though they never used the old one!
That’s the bonus with a bit older rig, you can get accessorys second hand as they part them out.
Like mine had no bull bar and a new one was around the 2 grand mark. I was light in the wallet thought fkn hell need one or the next roo I hit, but looked around the wreckers my state and snatched a good one for $400 as mine get parted out dime a dozen as nobody can be fkd servicing them LOL. The Rangers are just not as rugged as older Patrols and Landcruisers, as long as you go in to it knowing it they are fine.
Good call on the snorkel. Don’t just think for river crossings. Most 4wd have the air intake low around the front wheel guard area. Dirt roads they pick up dust from the tire and get dirty fast. With a snorkel you are breathing in at roof height where there is no dust. I never thought of it until I did it, why need a snorkel no rivers here unless I cross the Murray. Makes a real difference on dirt roads. Clogged filters and then you start sucking fuel. Even worse on tractors, jeezus learnt my lesson there haha
Definitely agree on the snorkel, always had them for that exact same reason of sucking up our beautiful fine red gravel dust from under the wheel well without one!
The added bonus is that they can sometimes have a secondary filter box depending on the model of the snorkel and vehicle.
This provides that extra engine protection, combined with the snorkel intake filter socks that are now available, you can have three types of air filtration for those extremely dusty conditions.
Something to be aware of though is the connections between all of the different parts of the snorkel system are actually SEALED!
Some aftermarket snorkels have up to 7 different areas where dust/water can get into the system through the joints and connections making them pretty much useless.
I went full retard on the Kettle’s snorkel system with a tube of marine Sikaflex to ensure that EVERYTHING was 100% air tight all the way from the top scoop right through to the inlet manifold itself.
I started by removing and resealing the throttle body, air cleaner base, air cleaner base/lid perimeter, rubber sealed washers and wing nuts on top, sealed from the air cleaner box intake flexihose to the secondary filter base, secondary filter lid surfaces, rubber wing nut washer on the lid, flexi hose seals to snorkel intake pipe and body plate and all the way up to sealing the intake top itself.
At idle I can almost stall the engine by putting my hand over the snorkel intake
Which shows is 100% dust/water sealed right through the entire system from top intake to the throttle body itself, but I didn’t hold my hand over the intake too long as it was sucking in/collapsing the Flexi hose between the filter boxes
Best thing about why this old girls engine is in such good condition…twin diesel filters and water traps, twin air cleaners and twin oil filters.
Engines stay healthy and run forever as long as you keep everything inside of them as clean as possible
I’m doing the same mate.
Removed all of the heavy steel bar work, sidesteps, scrub rails, rear bumper and steel bullbar.
Got a good second hand Ally bar for a carton of beer and am getting another mate to add a couple of extra posts on the ends to make it a proper 4 poster.
Would be strong enough if I added ally side steps and scrub rails to support the end hoops on the original ally bullbar, but not running the scrub bars to the outer hoops on the bar will be a weak point… so converting to a 4 poster will be much stronger but still nice and light
Ran an ally 4 poster on an old MQ Shorty years ago and never came off second best in any of the fights with the local wildlife
Yes, had an alloy 4 post on the other car and it never lost a fight on the back tracks for over 10 years. Lot’s of unintentional testing was done 