I have been admiring everyones rigs for some time now and thought it was about time to show everyone what I have done to mine.
My first car was an 80 series cruiser, which I had for 5 years. It was starting to cost me way too much to maintain and every service was uncovering something else. So it was either spend up big, or upgrade.
I decided to upgrade, but hadn’t yet decided what to get: new or second hand?, wagon or dual cab? etc. I decided on a dual cab and then did a lot of research. I settled on the Triton and was looking for one second hand until the end of year sales came along. With the discounts available, I decided to go for the new GL-R with diff lock and was told it would be about 2 weeks. When I went to pay the deposit, I was told “sorry, it looks like all the others have been sold already, there are none left in the country, you will have to wait a couple of months.” 3 ½ months later, I drove away with my brand new vehicle built and delivered within the same month. This was the day I got it.
It didn’t take long for the mods to start taking shape with the Razorback Canopy placed on order pretty quickly to protect my gear in the tub. I chose the Razorback over the other brands because I liked the look of them as they look like they are a part of the vehicle. The central locking is amazing, I love it and i can imagine how much of a hassle it would be without it. The only negative I have about the canopy so far is the dust sealing in it. It needs a lot of work around the bottom corners. This is the only place I got dust in, but I got a lot in.
Whilst waiting for the canopy I couldn’t leave the car alone and I needed to add something, so I went to my local dealer and purchased headlight protectors, weathershields, bonnet protector and floor mats.
I got some neoprene seat covers from ‘The Wetseat’ made up front and back and I also got some new bash plates through Baysie (thanks mate) which were an easy swap.
Not long after that I added an ORS drawer system in the tub. This includes a 65Lt water tank, which sits at the same level as the drawers right up against the headboard, accessed by a gravity fed line out the back. The drawers gave me a great spot to mount my Engel fridge. The fridge fit perfectly on top of the drawers and I purchased a platinum drop slide to give me easy access. Touring with this set-up made it so easy to access all the gear, water and fridge and without a trailer I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I also got the liner to protect the tailgate when it is used as a bench.
I had a big trip to Central Aus coming up fast, so the next mods happened real quick. I had the colour coded ARB bullbar, Icom IC-400pro UHF, Hella Rally FF4000 driving lights and the Safari Snorkel fitted.
I extended my cruising range with a Brown and Davis 135Ltr Long Range Fuel Tank to replace the factory tank. This tank is about 10L bigger than all the other brands, however it does come with a drawback - it sits proud a couple of mm's below the chasis rails. Hopefully this won't be a problem.
I then took the vehicle down to the boys at Ultimate Suspension to get the vehicle ready for the big trip. I wasn't sure if I was going to get the full setup or just an upgrade to the factory setup. The feedback on this site alone was enough to make me get the full setup, which I did and have no complaints.
I then got the wheels and tyres done. As a number of you would be aware from posts at the time, I had quite a bit of trouble convinvcing some people that 265/75/16 tyres would fit. So after I got my head around the offsets of different wheels, I decided on the Cooper Discover ST Maxx's in the 265/75/16 size. I had cooper ST's on my cruiser the whole time I had it, and loved them. So I decided to get the new ST Maxx's to give them a go. I got what I think was a good deal on 6 tyres fitted and balanced on to black steel 'King Wheel' rims. My neighbour who is a metal worker, fixed me up a spacer/adaptor so I could hang the steel wheel under the vehicle on the original hanger. He did an awesome job, I just gave him the photos that fridgie put up and he said 'oh yer, is that all you want, too easy'.
these are the tyres after my 11000km trip
Next to go in was a dual battery system, which being the GL-R, had a perfect space bahind the rear seat for the setup. I decided to go for two batteries, as I sometimes like to stay in the same place for a while, and these two 105AH batteries will allow me to keep the fridge and some lights running for about a week without needing to go for a drive. I got a redarc 40Amp dc-dc charger installed under the bonnet for fast charging and battery maintenance, 2 x 12 volt outlets went into the tub and a piranha digital voltmeter is in the cab to keep an eye on both the dual batteries as well as the main.
this setup leaves the jack and jack handle in place, with only the wheel brace needing to be relocated
this is where the redarc unit is mounted
The last addition before I left on my trip was the rhino roof rack mounted on the canopy. This was where I placed the second spare, alongside some additional camping gear.
n.b. edited to fix photo links