Merts' MQ GLS Auto

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Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:25 pm

After looking at several options for my latest vehicle, I eventually decided on an MQ Triton. It ticked most of the boxes, and I have to say I am very happy with it. I worked out a list of mods I wanted and sorted it out with my local 4WD mechanics before I bought the car.

Stock as a rock, a couple of hours after I picked it up from the dealer.
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First stage.
Performance RV5 17x8 Rims, with 265/65r17 LT Cooper AT3s
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and Supertrim neoprene seat covers, front and back. These things fit and look great.
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Also added a Garmin nüvi 2589LMT GPS which has voice control.
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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:31 pm

Stage Two

Carryboy canopy & tradie rack
Safari snorkel
ARB Summit winch bar - coloured
VRS 9500lb winch
Lightforce DL230 HID/LED driving lights
ARB Summit rear step towbar
Uniden UH8080S and RFI heavy duty aerial
Dobinson heavy duty suspension with approx 45mm lift

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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Jacobie on Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:02 pm

Looks awesome mate. Diggin the rear bar, looks mint.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:18 pm

Jacobie wrote:Looks awesome mate. Diggin the rear bar, looks mint.


Yeah, I reckon it looks great. ARB have done a top job with the design. It's a big improvement on the departure angle compared to what you get with the factory step and a normal tow bar.

The only negative I've found is that the hitch receiver is so high that I'm going to need a hitch with a drop of over 200mm to suit my 6x4 trailer!

I'm yet to find one which goes over 200. Most of the adjustable ones seem to have a max of about 195mm which is plenty enough for the treg hitch on my camper trailer (need about 170mm I reckon), but not really quite enough for the 6x4 to sit level. :(
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Jacobie on Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:22 pm

Aww that does suck. Looks awesome, nice and level. Its quite subtle too, doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like a lot of the other steps.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Joel on Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:32 pm

That rear step looks great but is it just a step and tow package or does it offer some sort of protection?
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:29 pm

Joel wrote:That rear step looks great but is it just a step and tow package or does it offer some sort of protection?

It offers a fair bit of protection. There are high lift jacking points built in, so you can lift the whole rear of the vehicle by jacking the bar. It's made out of the same 60mm tubing they use for the summit front bar and scrub bars.

http://www.arb.com.au/triton-mq/rear-protection/
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Dunga71 on Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:56 pm

Looking good mate
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Adinfinitum on Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:22 pm

Looking great Merts

I'm loving that rear bar too,

Just rang ARB and that bar is sadly not available for the MN :cry:
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Jacobie on Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:34 pm

Adinfinitum wrote:Looking great Merts

I'm loving that rear bar too,

Just rang ARB and that bar is sadly not available for the MN :cry:


Yeah unfortunately... Same as the new Ironman bar. :x
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby jerrah on Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:28 pm

It's a very nice looking ute. I've wanted to see what that new rear bar looks like.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Mon Jun 27, 2016 8:17 am

Drifta drawers and MSA drop slide.

backweb.jpg


There is a 120AH Fullriver battery, Projecta DC-DC charger and an ARB compressor mounted under the wing on the drivers side.

I also covered some 7mm marine ply with carpet and attached that to the tailgate.

As the fridge blocks the light from the canopy LED unit, I finished up mounting a couple of the camp light bars from a Supacentre camp light kit. One is mounted to the rear window just above the bottom frame. The other on the side of the canopy. Just used heavy duty double sided tape to attach some sheet metal to the glass as the light bars have magnets in them. Seems to be strong enough. Time will tell I suppose.

They are plugged into one of the outlets on the panel on the back of the drawers. These outlets are switched so it's easy to turn them on and off.
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Last edited by Merts on Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Mon Jun 27, 2016 8:19 am

The rear distribution panel has switches for the two cig outlets and the USB. We used the spare one to switch the compressor, which is plumbed to an outlet in the rear panel. It's neat and works really well.

panelweb.jpg
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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Mon Jun 27, 2016 8:20 am

Finished with the ARB Summit side steps/scrub bars.

finishedweb.jpg
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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Dunga71 on Mon Jun 27, 2016 2:31 pm

Looking good mate like the drawer setup nice and neat
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:36 pm

Dunga71 wrote:Looking good mate like the drawer setup nice and neat


Yeah. I looked at a few different options, but the Drifta stuff won me over in the end. It's made to take advantage of every mm of space in the tub, and you don't lose any space due to the bearing runners the steel drawers have. It's amazing how well they slide on the PE runners. Having the table in its own little space is real handy too.

Luke and Beechy have a heap of photos and videos on the web site. It's worth having a look if you haven't already seen their gear.
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:34 am

Fitted an awning to the rack yesterday. Managed to do it using the provided brackets and a couple of aluminium spacers I made without having to drill holes in the rack, which made me pretty happy.
awning.jpg
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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby 4wd26 on Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:38 am

Its a good looking triton that one.

nice finishing touches
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby tacticaltriton on Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:52 pm

Nice looking rig.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Jason91 on Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:33 pm

Out of shear curiosity with all the work you've done to it mate and the extra weight and such how much has your fuel consumption gone up over stock.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Mon Jul 11, 2016 9:29 am

Jason91 wrote:Out of shear curiosity with all the work you've done to it mate and the extra weight and such how much has your fuel consumption gone up over stock.


A good question Jason. I hardly drove it with the standard tyres, as those were changed over within a few days of getting it, so I don't really have a baseline to compare to. I've started to record fuel fills vs kms travelled, and calculated some litre/100km figures allowing for the 3.6% under read of km traveled due to the larger tyre diameter.

I towed our camper over to Adelaide and back last week, and can report the vehicle did the job beautifully. Hardly noticed the thing on the back, even going up the Adelaide Hills.

Towing at 100kph, Bendigo to Bordertown, 14.3 l/100km
Towing at 110kph, Bordertown to Adelaide, 13.7
Around town (not towing) and down to McLaren Vale (so mixed town and country) 11.4
Towing from Adelaide to Nhill into a fairly stiff wind, 15.5
Yet to fill after getting home, but based on the dash readout, expecting just under 15 for the rest of the trip.

Going on the dash readout (which agrees pretty closely with the fill vs kms figures I've calculated) and allowing for the tyre size difference, I reckon I'm generally getting about 12 around town, and between 10 and 11 on the open road depending on how fast I'm going. The dash readout has gone under 10 a couple of times, but not often.
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Thanatos on Mon Aug 29, 2016 8:07 pm

Hey Merts,

How did the Dobinsons Lift kit address the rebound stop on the front suspension control arm? Was it left in with reduced travel? Did they cut it or fit a replacement?

I fitted an Ultimate Suspension lift over the weekend, and could not get the rebound stop back in until after I had reassembled everything and drove the thing around for a bit so that everything could settle in. There's not a great deal of downward travel left in the suspension though and I was wondering if you had noticed a problem? From my measurements it seems to be about 42mm ish lifted from standard after the kit went in.

Since we seem to be driving almost a copy of eachother's car I thought you'd be the one to ask :D

Cheers.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby TIS on Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:17 pm

Did the rear summit bar come color coded to the color of your ute or how much extra was it?
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Mar 29, 2017 6:11 am

The rear bar was $1,600 plus fitting. The colour coding was an option from ARB, and added $80.
GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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Re: Merts' MQ GLS Auto

Postby Merts on Wed Mar 29, 2017 6:42 am

Made a fridge divider from an old aluminium screen door, some aluminium angle, and a bunch of blind rivets. The original one was made from ply, and as it was only connected at the bottom and one common side, it had warped a little. The new one covers all sides and the top, so it's much better at keeping stuff from falling into the space, and gives a handy area on the top for my oilskin and hat.
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GLS MQ Triton, ARB Summit front, rear and side bars, Carryboy canopy and rack, Dobinson heavy duty suspension, Harrop rear E-locker, Drifta drawers and a few other bits and pieces.
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