What Prado 120 series mods

[roodog]

G'day, well, after 13 years & 476000ks from my old V6 MK Triton, the old girl's almost ready for retirement (but not quite yet, really want to reach 500k with her) Anyway, just picked up a 2008 basic Prado D4D 6sp manual & am wondering what mods & accessories are available for her. It's my first diesel too & I believe they're a reliable engine with this one having done 175k. It's history lies with Avis Pilbara so I'd say the services have been done properly (hopefully). In the near future I'll be looking at a bit more ground clearance, winch, roof rack & drawers in the back & whatever else turns her in to a reliable tourer (she already has an ARB 'bullbar', HID spots & uhf antenna), but for now any help/advice/ideas will be appreciated :)

[CROCO]

Hi roo ,welcome to the forum mate ,The first thing I did with my 120 prado was upgrade the suspension,old man emu shocks and springs,with a 2 inch lift ,with those many kms the original shocks and springs will probadly need replacing anyway,I found the standard original suspension sagged and faded over corrugations,with a load and if your going to put draws in the back and carry a lot of gear with a load of people it will be one of the best mods you will do on the prado.

Another esential mod or upgrade is good tyres,depending where you are going in the prado ,a good set of off road tyres will take the prado a lot further in mud or sand,puting a set of aftermarket protection guards ,like sump guard or bash plates is a good idea,I didnt have them on mine ,but if your doing a lot of climbing over bush tracks ,there heaps better than the standard toyota ones.

The best thing with the prado is its a toyota and you can lots of accesories for the prado at any 4wd accerories place.

I not sure if this helps mate ,but also have a look on the prado point web site the heaps of of information on prados there ,they should be able to help you with ideas and problems that you might have.

[roodog]

G'day Croco, thanks for the welcome mate & sorry for my late reply. Just got back from a few days testing the Prado in the Little Sandy Desert in the Pilbara with a couple of workmates in their 100 series!

Yep, some bloody great ideas there thanks & the suspension & tyres will be the first to fitted after this trip! The originals did ok, but being bogged in a very soft, sandy riverbed & having to get winched out, well, that never happened in my old Triton, even in standard form! A roof rack is definitely needed too, though admittedly I always take more than necessary (but can never be too prepared when remote travelling!)

The location if the 12V outlet in the back isn't ideal either, so will locate it to a more protected area so the fridge will stay plugged in when the back's loaded. & drawers are a bloody great idea too!

I reckon a twin wheel carrier is a must too, as the rear door dropped a bit on this trip, not happy about that.

Don't know what under body protection's available, but it took a good hour on one of the tracks taking spinifex out from the exhaust area (which accumulated while taking a 'short cut', 20hrs to drive 24kms!) Will have to take the radiator out next days off too, get the spinifex seeds blown out. Hope to find something to stop this happening next time.

Some other areas I'd like improving is performance: turbo lag especially, I think part of the reason I got bogged was due to this lag. Front & rear diff locks are on the cards too.

Apart from these issues, I still think I got a good replacement for my Triton, & my new foster rottie certainly made himself at home on the passenger seat on the trip :)

Am also thinking of a triple battery system too, as when I go exploring I take 2 fridges minimum, maybe a 3rd 11ltr waeco if there's room, plus with all the electrical accessories, an extra battery is handy.