Snooozy's Build

[Buzzy]

Never mind, just found the thread

[Snooozy]

Do the knobs fit well?

pretty good, the centre one could do with a couple of mm off the stalk but the two outer ones seem pretty close & click on like the original ones.

gives it a bit more 'classy' look & they light up around the rim.

[Buzzy]

Yeah they look good. Ordered

[Snooozy]

Yeah they look good. Ordered

and...another one succumbs to the latest trend

[widgee]

Can you direct me to the link where you would purchase this latest trend?
p.s killer build mate

[Snooozy]

Can you direct me to the link where you would purchase this latest trend?

here ya go
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221280618394 ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281165193031 ... 1423.l2649

[Buzzy]

Yeah I'm hopeless Snooozy

[Snooozy]

Well, it finally happened.

I now have joined the Ultimate Suspension club

When people I know heard that I was driving to Sydney to get my suspension upgraded they thought I was crazy.
'Cant you get it fitted somewhere closer'
'Isn't there someone else that does suspension'
'why'
that was some of the comments.

The simple answer was that I wanted it fitted by the folks who make the kits, to ensure it was done right.

Last time I got the sussy upgrade?? I did it as cheap as I could. I was not going to make the same mistake again. Although I think the price was pretty good anyway.

I left home at 6:30pm Sunday evening & drove 5 1/2 hrs straight thru to Yass before having a break. It was a good night for a drive & I had the car to myself to play whatever I wanted to, as loud as I wanted Gotta love a bit of Creedence up loud at 1am
I pulled up a couple of minutes from Ultimate's workshop at 3:00am for some sleep. I was on their doorstep at 7:30 Monday morning.
The staff made me comfortable in the upstairs office for the day where I set up my laptop & tablet and caught up on a few things.
I was back on the road by 3:30pm that day in a completely different handling vehicle. Again I had a break at Yass & then drove strait through to Euroa (Dont know what McCafe put in the hot chocolate, but it keeps you awake well ) where I pulled up & rolled out the swag.
I was home by 10:30 am Tuesday after completing just under 1500km for the round trip, which I must say I totally enjoyed.

I also had the upgraded extended bake lines fitted while I was there.

Back to the sussy-
The measurements before the fit (this is with non-genuine flares, so may be different to others. also had a full tank of fuel in the LR tank, so was heavy on the left side)

Before------------After-----Difference
FL 509--------------570--------61
FR 525--------------580--------55
RL 540--------------606--------66
RR 566--------------617--------51

average increase on the front 58mm & rear 58.5mm

This may seem a lot but the old sussy was sagged & sitting very low.

After the 750km drive home it was still sitting at the same measurements.

I have now done over 1200km since the fitting & am very pleased with the ride. No more skipping when I hit a rough road & very stable on the bends.

As far as the 'dreaded shudder' is concerned, I have a small shudder in 1st gear which disappears almost straight away. I may look at the centre bearing flip but am not that concerned. As soon as I put some weight in the tub it goes away.

For anybody considering an upgrade, I highly recommend The Ultimate Suspension
It took a long time to get around to it but it was well worth the wait.

Dealing with Brendan & Ken was easy & they made me welcome for the day while I waited.

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I didn't get any before pics

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[shaggy]

Looking good mate
Need bigger tyres now.

[Snooozy]

yeah, new rubber is coming in the next few months.

The current tyres are getting toward the end of their life.

Just have to decide what to go for

[Snooozy]

Went away for the Labour Day long weekend & tried out the new swags.

Only problem was loading them on the car.

Solution

Rhino Tradie Style Platform Rack

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It did the job nicley

[Snooozy]

Few weeks back we were looking around for an SUV as a replacement for the wife's 2002 Berlina. Poor old thing was showing its age with 380,000k on the clock.

She needed something that better suited carrying the dogs around.

We welcome a sister to the Triton
a 2013 Outlander LS

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[ratstriton]

Nice snooozy looks good.

[lachiem]

Out of interest mate, hows the outlander performing? My sister was looking at one and is tossing up between the ZH (previous shape) and ZJ (Current shape).
I haven't ever heard anything bad about the outlanders, had lancers and an asx for work since, and both of them seemed pretty solid, being on the same platform as the ZH as far as I know.
Jesus the fog lights are low, but I suppose thats the point of them hey

[4wd26]

trade rack looks good
do you have the ARB roof rack mounts in the canopy

[Snooozy]

Out of interest mate, hows the outlander performing?

I have not even driven it yet It's the wifes car so I am not given the chance much.
She is happy with it. It is very zippy from what I have seen from driving behind. Left me for dead of a pretty steep hill.

The only issue she has is a CEL light came on the week she picked it up. Mitsubishi dealer checked it & said its the catalytic converter & have ordered one. Six weeks wait as there is not one in the country (never sold one apparently) I'm happy for them to replace it at their cost.
It still has factory warranty until 2018 which is one of the reasons we chose this model. Plus the dealer warranty where we purchased it. (local Ford dealer)
We looked at a RAV as well but this had the extra airbags & safety features.

trade rack looks good
do you have the ARB roof rack mounts in the canopy

yep, mounts onto the ARB canopy bar mounts.

The only problem I have en-counted is fitting the hilift jack & shovel holder. The side rails prevent the brackets from fitting.

[Snooozy]

With a trip planned for July to Camerons Corner & Innamincka I decided it was best to have some new rubber.
The Wranglers had about 4k left in them & the trip will be about 3.5k, so there would be a fair chance of a puncture.

I have stated in other threads that the Wranglers did not live up to expectations in that I only go 60k from them, they were also a bit slippery on wet roads.

Off road they never really let me down. I did get stuck a couple of times but they were only AT's after all. I never had a puncture & they were pretty quiet on the highway.

After much consideration & other peoples reviews I went with Bridgestone Dueler D697's
I kept with the same size 265/75-16 which keeps it legal. I also don't get great economy (average 13) so didn't want that to suffer even more.

I did keep the 2 best Wranglers to take one as a spare (without rim) on our next trip.

I purchased 5 of the D687's so the spare has one too.
all up with 5 tyres fitted & alignment done it was $1305 (discount for CFA membership) & I took advantage of the $100 fuel card promotion as well.
So 5 new tyres fitted cost me $1200 ($241ea) pretty happy with that

old & new

remaining tread

new tread



It's a bit early to comment on the new rubber but one thing I can say is that they are a bit noisier than the Wranglers.
I will check the pressure tomorrow as I'm not sure what the fitter put in them.

[schem81]

Looks good mate. Come along way.

[Snooozy]

...After much consideration & other peoples reviews I went with Bridgestone Dueler D697's
I kept with the same size 265/75-16 which keeps it legal. I also don't get great economy (average 13) so didn't want that to suffer even more...

correction to the size 265/70-16

[Snooozy]

added some LED strip lights in the canopy a while back, forgot to add the pics.

[salt36]

Nice lights mate

Same size tyres as I run 265/70/16, 770mm diameter, legal

My Wranglers went the same, they are scary on a wet road, ZERO grip

[Snooozy]

I have been meaning to do something about the tonneau cover tie down points for some time.

I purchased some of the Ford plugs a while back & finally got around to doing the job.

The Ford part number is W710696SSW

Our local AutoPro store is now mixing paint colours in pressure pack cans, so I had some mixed to my paint code.
Gave the plugs a hit of plastic etch primer & a couple of coats of the mixed paint.



Drilled out the old tie down points & found that when fitted the dealer did not bother to paint the holes they drilled, 6+ years ago.



Cleaned & ready for paint



Painted & plugs inserted




Pretty happy with the end result. Looks heaps better than the tie downs.

[Snooozy]

While I was doing the tonneau pins I removed the rear tailgate liner. The damage these things do is a bit scary.
down to bare metal




I would not go down the path of a plastic tub liner ever again.

Luckily I had an under lip style main liner. If I had the over lip version I would have needed to spray the tub when the canopy was fitted.

[Joel]

Nice one snoozy i will be looking at doing the same if i can ever get rid of my old tonneau. Thanks for the part numbers

[coughy]

as per usual snoozy looks great
if i had a triton i would be stealing this of you as well
but i will just stick to some of your other build stuff for my chally lol hehehehe
keep up the mods i need more things to do