Hado

Ham Pleased that someone has taken the plunge. :) I spoke to George recently and he told me you had done so. Hope you are more sucessful at finding out the switch part number. Wilsact - who is also in Canberra - found it from one of the local dealers there so i am sure you can as well. Let us know the number if you do and I will try to find a cheaper source? We will all be waiting for pics of the install and an update of how it performs. Good Luck Hado

Holmesie When I first set the lights up - I definately had this problem because they were both set to pencil beam and the left one was running down the side of the road and any road sign blinded you. I now have the left side set to fairly wide beam and this is much less of a problem - but big new signs still reflect back. The right had pencil beam points down the to the centre of the road and doesn't hit close signs. The big signs are still bright, but the overall much clearer vision they provide I suspect would be less tiring on your eyes - but I have yet to go on a long trip at night. Kind regards Hado

When you first turn them on it takes about 30 seconds for the lights to get to full brightness. They are still OK in this period and still light the road up - about the same as normal driving lights - but they don't penetrate as far as when warm. Once they have done this you can dip them and they stay bright. The lightforce lights have a ballast (as shown in the pics) and an igniter which is closer to the lights (now right behind the bumper bar). My wires enter the car in the holes where the number plate screwed on before the nudge bar was installed. I went for another drive last night and tried to get into more rural/dark area. I found a long bit of straight road on my own and the reflectors light up a ridiculously long way down the road - until they all meet together in a red/white blur. You can see the powerful pencil beam running down the road in front of you.

I spoke to the local dealer parts department today and the guy sounded very knowledgeable about the Kluger stereo situation. He said the Australian delivered KX-S/KX-R are ordered without the stereo and they install the Fujitsu 10 double din stereos in Australia. Toyota Australia didn't think the lower variant Japanese delivered stereos had the functions required for our market - i.e. no Bluetooth or mp3. He can source the switch we need, but because it is not on their parts database we need to provide the part number. He looked up the Grande hazard light switch and it would cost $240. This is an option - but it has extra buttons we don't need. Can someone who is registered on Toyota Nation ask about the part number for the Sport hazard light switch? I am also going to try New Zealand tomorrow.

Agree - I rather have the spring loaded tabs too. The rubber inserts get stuck on cans and on the USA forums some members report their better halves (its never them) throwing them in the trash with cans. :o They cost US$32 each to replace. :(

Noticed this for sale on eBay the other day: eBay sale item Nigel the Kluger Gecko very funny!

Ham Sorry for the slow response - I have been focussed on getting my HID driving lights installed. Hopefully we will be able to get the switch for much less than $300 and I will start chasing this now. George was going to raise this issue with the manufacturer to see if they could supply the switch. I hadn't heard about the issue about the reverse camera - this doesn't seem right to me - these units are designed for the USA model without the OEM gps and they should have the same camera input as our model. Did George tell you this? Agree we may have to go back to the first option if this is looking too expensive all up. Kind regards Hado

I took the kluger to an industrial area nearby to adjust them and then went for a short drive. Once warmed up the HIDs are brilliant - literally! I have the left light set to wide beam and the right as a pencil down the centre of the road. They light up road signs up way down the road you can't even see with the normal high beam. The light is very white and the normal lights look yellow and old fashioned when you go back to low beam - makes me want HIDs for the headlights as well now. Definitely worth the extra cost of the upgrade to HID.

Mr Moderator - Can you please pin this poll so we keep getting the votes from new members?

Eventually I found a spare afternoon to install my driving lights. I ended up buying HID Lightforce 170 striker lights. ($620) Note the blue centre bulb holder on the HID lights. :D This post by PaulG was invaluable: UPDATED: Wiring in my spotties The post shows the best spot to enter the firewall which was very helpful. It is a large rubber grommet marked with a white V behind the air filter box which comes out under the glove box. I used a Narva wiring harness which is designed to just plug together. Part No. 74400 I aslo used the optional panel mount switch which goes with the harness. Part No. 74410 The switch fits into the blank next to the instrument light switch - I had to cut some of the plastic out from behind the switch to make it clip in. The relay and fuse, that come with the harness, also both fit nicely above the fuse box using the existing bolt holes in the engine bay. I also had to fit the HID ballast which fitted in on the plastic panel running along the each side of the engine bay. I still have to adjust the lights at night - but they worked first time and the clip and play harness made it almost fool proof. Kind regards Hado

I upgraded my horns on the weekend. It's very easy to do - especially if you use an upgrade horn with a single electrical connection like the OEM horns. I bought a pair of Fisa horns from eBay: They cost $42 delivered - 12V twin electromagnetic horns with two tones of 405 cps & 495 cps - 112 db sound pressure. I had to remove the small clip on the side of the OEM harness connectors which is designed to make sure the horn wire doesn't fall off. I just taped the new horn connections to each horn to make sure they don't fall off. There is plenty of room behind the grill and as long as you position the trumpet horn on the right angle they fit in OK. They are much louder and appear to suit the size of the vehicle much better. I don't use my horn that often but last time when I had to use it I thought the OEM horn was insipid and ineffective - and this is a cheap and simple upgrade.

I'm considering upgrading headlight bulbs as well. I was researching the Philips Xtreme Power bulbs and found this comparison of after market bulbs from 'Autosalon': What it shows is the the less yellow (more white/blue or higher colour temperature) light you want to have is often sacrificed for brightness. The Philips CrystalVision seem like the best compromise, but for value for money have a look at the results for the $25 Calibre Super Cheap Auto bulbs. :o

Dave Great news and welcome the Graphite Club Hado

Dealers have them - but they also come up on eBay - but make sure you get an auto version - that has the aluminium bezel on the end like the OEM shift knob. You see plenty of the manual ones on eBay for about $60.

Looks as if Toyota has dropped the Tidal Blue (Blue Streak Metallic) colour in the new 2010 Highlander model. :o

What about a flashy TRD gear knob in matching Kluger colours? Or a racey TRD leather gear knob?

I'd like to see a pic of the rectangler lights - I'm sure they would match the headlights well.

Put your seatbelt on :P Seriously - I work on a road safety issue and when you look at the road fatality data over the last 50 years the most significant change which reduced fatalities was the introduction of seatbelt laws in 1972. I was at a recent road safety meeting in SA and they said seatbelt laws are starting to get ignored especially in rural areas. They claimed 50% of rural road fatalities are now due in part to failure to wear a seatbelt. They annoy me as well - but at least they don't chime when you are reversing at low speeds like my wife's Volvo.

One of the small things I miss from my Discovery 2a is the shopping bag hook in the left of the centre console. One or two plastic shopping bags or takeaway Chinese food in a plastic bag hung in the passenger floor well nicely without sliding around the floor. The hooks in the very back of the Kluger are not high enough to hang normal shopping bags - the bag handles are taller than the hooks and they just slide around the rear area spilling their contents out when you go around corners. The hooks are really designed for the OEM envelope cargo net they sell in the USA. See pic below: With this system opening just the rear window to put shopping bags in makes sense. Does anyone have one of these? The part number for Gen 1 Klugers is PT347-48041 (I think they need the top hooks to install) The part number for Gen 2 Klugers is PT347-48080 Also can we get these in Australia? You can get them on USA eBay - but the shipping is as much as the cargo net. eBay Cargo Net

Kesawi Found the 170 Striker HIDs on special for $620/pair (inc post to capital cities) at an on-line store - now two left. PM me if you want their email address? Hado

Today I installed a genuine Toyota nudge bar. I bought it from eBay for half the price of one from a Toyota dealer. It was reasonably easy to do. It took about an hour - although the instructions said it would take twenty minutes. (I suppose it would only take that long after you have done it the first time.) The instructions are well written and straight forward - so I will only include some tips in addition to the instructions. The long bolts which go into the two tow points to hold the nudge bar on uses a large nut. You need a 32mm socket to tighten it - this is not a common size - and I bought one from SuperCheap for $10. When you insert this bolt into the tow point you need to use locktight and it is tightened with a 24mm open ended spanner. However, the 24mm slot in the middle of the bolt is not very wide and a good quality Sidchrome 24mm spanner wouldn't fit in the slot. I had to go and buy a cheap 24mm spanner - which was thinner and would go into the slot. It only tightened half a turn so I wouldn't do this again - just use something like multi-grips. BTW you don't lose your tow point it just moves to the end of this bolt and you can still insert the tow ring through similar access covers in the front of the nudge bar. Here is a pic:

I checked today when I washed my car and there is some slight OP if you look on an angle up close - but it is not apparent unless you look real hard for it.

A US highlander owner has put on a dual tip which looks good see:Toyota Nation - Dual Stainless Exhaust Tip Doesn't look to hard to do - and I'm sure we would have similar exhaust tips available here. I don't know the size required either?

Still continuing the search for headrest monitors. I wasn't entirely happy with the previous version I found - there was too much plastic surrounding the monitor. I like this version more: They are priced at USD$336/pair including shipping costs - and $ conversion rate is good at the moment. Are they going to look close enough to the factory headrests or out of place?

All I spoke with George from EasyPark today. Earlier I sent him a detailed email explaining the issue with the long hazard switch assembly. He checked with FlyAudio and unfortunately the switch does not come with the head unit and, as suspected, it was designed for US models and they assume we have the switch already. :( I told him the Australian version of the switch exists, but we can only source it so far from Toyota for around $300 and this would make the upgrade to head unit he is selling too expensive. He is now going to find out if FlyAudio can source the switch in China. George mentioned that he spoke to someone from this forum who had found a supplier of the switch in Hong Kong - if so please reply and let us know? Someone else also mentioned that they had the part number for the switch - this would help us research a better price. Sorry this is taking so long. Kind regards Hado