Steven

A little on the key before inserting it?

Another Hilux owner! Welcome to the club, if you're close to Brisbane do consider coming to our weekly meets

There was a similar product being used here a short while ago to clean out the intake manifolds of turbo diesels... up until a few engines started blowing up, and the supplier withdrew all of it from the market. ... at least they paid for the repairs

SOLD

Tentative yes

Finished air con panel controls, repainted dash using 3M stuff instead of the VHT, and wired up a rocker switch for turning on the stereo without needing to use the key. Regarding the steering wheel, it turned up over a week ago however I ordered the wrong part by mistake which meant my current airbag wouldn't suit. Found the proper wheel and it's on the way but the woodgrain might need to be altered to more closely match the dash pieces. Interesting note about the VHT spray, even though it was fairly patchy when it came time to try get it off in order to prep for the 3M stuff it was extremely durable - tried using wax n grease remover, thinners, turps, Ajax... in the end I was only able to get so much off. I found the same "problem" with the 3M stuff, that once it's on it stays on! Good news is that the 3M stuff goes on far neater and uniform though.

+1 I wonder how many Hilux members we have anyway?

Having gone from my Aurion to a diesel Hilux, I can say that although having as much power as the Aurion does is almost irrelevant on today's roads, there is still a need to have a certain amount. I get people in small 3 cylinder buzz boxes trying to get in front of me at every instance, and due to the low gearing and diesel engine of the Lux they nearly always win, only to slow me down by driving 10-15km below the limit. Plus next time you're stuck behind a caravan on a far western road, it will be very comforting to know you can overtake them very quickly.

something which can seem to make a ticking noise is a slight leak in the exhaust system. Otherwise the injection system in the Aurion's is a very loud ticking noise, as well as the VVTi controller as stated above.

Early yes for tomorrow

Some people like to socialise, tell jokes and chat - some people just like to follow taillights from one place to another. Each to their own.

The Lux has been thoroughly cleaned, polished and just overall detailed by the talent local TOCAU member "Gordon Ramsay" (cheers Andrew) Pictures show where the side badges were removed, and had to be wet sanded to remove all the old residue. A bit of work and the panels came up brilliantly! Also removed the running boards as frankly they were weak as cat's ***** and were badly beaten up. Will probably replace them with custom built rock sliders down the track.

The mic for the Nav unit is part of the sunglasses holder/interior light assembly, and also uses an OEM connector.

I had the OEM sat nav in my ZR6, and the wiring is the same. In fact the Satnav also has a built in 4 cd stacker if I recall. However it uses a special connector on the GPS antennae so if that isn't included you'll have to source one from Toyota which unfortunately is not cheap.

Why the new account?

The steering wheel hasn't arrived yet, other bits and pieces are in the planning stage whilst I see what's available and figure out where I want to head with it.

Received the new dash panels the other day and finally got around to installing them. I still need the sticker for the air con dials which is currently on back order from Japan, ETA within the month. Also new OEM CD player as the old one pretty much karked it, and painted the door trims in black to match the dash. I used the VHT vinyl dye to do the dash, but have found it to scratch very easily and looks fairly patchy. The door trims were done with 3M vinyl paint, which goes on very uniform and actually seems to be extremely durable. Initial thoughts was that I could rub it off easily, however that was just the top layer of my skin - a wet cloth had it back to good as new. Having a week off work around easter so I'll be removing the dash top and giving it a coat in the 3M stuff. As for the wood highlights, personally I like them but feel as though it should only be subtle feature and thus not everywhere, so depending how the steering wheel looks when it arrives I don't think I'll be getting the gear knobs, handbrake cover or power window switch covers. Steering wheel may also get the wooden sections painted in a gloss black or something unobtrusive. Slowly getting the interior up to a semi-comfortable state.

Early yes

Be aware that should you fail, those grills cost a small fortune to replace

The steering wheel, airbag and radio controls bolt straight on with no modification. The paddle shifters also plug into our stock clockspring. From the steering column end of the clockspring connector, you need to use a multimeter to find where the paddle shifters connect up to through the clockspring. Then it's just a matter of running 2 wires in parrallel to the ones at the gearshifter wiring harness located under the center console. It's fairly straight forward IF you're handy with a multimeter.

I've been finding a little issue when driving the Hilux anywhere. Being a diesel, she isn't exactly fast off the mark but if I put the foot down is still isn't a slouch. Ie you can easily beat it even in a small hatchback, but you will actually have to put some effort in. So what I'm finding, when I'm rushing to get ANYWHERE, people will move around from behind me at a set of lights into the next lane, absolutely floor it to get in front of me, and then sit 10-15km UNDER the speed limit!!! This results in me, about 0.5 seconds later, overtaking them, getting a fair bit of distance in front of them, and then at the next set of lights they try it again! I'm starting to remember why I preferred to work nights and sleep during the days

Bump Price dropped and 6 months rego now included

Hoppys for sure For anyone who hasn't been to a meet before, tonight we'll be at the Hoppy's Carwash located in Bowen Hills.

Roadworks, on a single lane road, that is also a main rd through 2 school zones, a rail crossing, and the ONLY WAY HOME. What normally takes 2 minutes to drive through took 35 minutes this afternoon due to these geniuses who decided it would be BRILLIANT to perform works on this road in the middle of peak hour traffic. Also Toyota "service", and the fact you need to light a fire under their collective ****s to get them to do the work properly.

I've ordered a few parts to try and fix up the interior a bit. On my last car (Aurion) I tried to go the sporty look with carbon fibre (real and fake vinyl) but don't really feel the Hilux will pull it off. So instead I'm going to class it up a little bit, not heaps but just enough that it feels nice enough inside for long trips. As some of you know I've already changed the steering wheel to a Gen5 Camry sportivo leather wheel, which is nice but to take things a step further without blowing out the cost I've ordered a Lexus ES330 steering wheel with the dark grained wood finish - previous experience with wood steering wheels is that they're not as affected by grubby hands and dirt as much as leather is. As luck would have it I'm very confident my current sportivo airbag will fit the new wheel (see comparison shots below), which makes the upgrade a dirt cheap one as these wheels are common place in the states. Also ordered a wood style console panel + vents. This is a proper OEM style replacement part, not the tacky stick on ones found on ebay. Wood gear knobs will finish it off, but they'll come later, maybe. Depends as I only want the wood as a subtle highlight, not an overbearing feature. Also picked up some tailormade sandgrabba floor mats today, bloody great fit.