Just Joined, Hope we can be friends

[phil1ooo]

Hello. New to the Landcruiser Club and hope I/we can be friends.

I bought a standard 2006 IFS GLX V8 which I've owned now for 2 years and just starting to make changes, upgrades and modifications to it.

I like the truck look on my Landcruisers which I've been driving and modifying now for 30years and travelled thousands of klms with over the years. I have to say this by far the best Landcruiser I've owned so far (having owned both petrol and diesel), this thing gives me 100klms per fill up which is better than any 6 cylinder I've owned so far and drives like a dream.

This is my first Club ever whether online or off and I am looking into joining a Landcruiser club in the Sydney area as well so if now of a good one please feel free to let me know.


I'll throw some images of my exterior work thus far and my new project which is a new center console to fit light switches, CB and other gadgets for easy accessibility which will then be remoulded in carbon fibre when I am stratified with the finished product.
I will be making suspension and other mods as well in this coming year including a lift, rear stack exhaust (which I hade do to my last 80 series and worked just great), 160lt sub tank replacement, dual wheel carrier, 17000 pound winch, In built Compressor and under body protection to name a few.

I run 2 cams front and rear and will be upgrading this to 4 soon using a 2tb HDD drive (which also includes signs saying I have cams, keeps the fools away). The wheel guards are ABS which I had made. Rear one ATM is fibre glass as the ABS one is not yet ready but on it's way. Twin snorkel also to visit the plastic remoulding workshop soon for a couple of changes and will be hooked up soon once I finish the pipe and filter work to fit in the engine compartment.

I do all the work myself including modifying the roof rack and all attachments, brackets etc.

Happy for tips and pointers as this is my first IFS which so far has been great on not to hard off road driving, I'm hoping for a 4 inch lift in total on this which will require an engineer.

So here are images of my work so far.



The new console has all my switches for lights etc, UHF and HAM radio, New Cig Lighter (yes I smoke, LOL), gauges for Dual Battery and other accessories. It has a bend in it so I have all the room I need to move around (took me 2 weeks of trying out different shapes to get this right) but I now have access to everything as if it wasn't there at all with the added bonus of having else (all the accessories) all in one location and at hand.

The roof rack has 4x 100w HIDs spot lights (which I will be soon changing to none HID as I'm finding HIDs to be that great), 300w 50inch light bar which I am also adding a second one underneath it soon (they provide truly extreme lighting unmatched by any other light source), Blinkers/stop/brake etc lights on the rear roof rack bar. The bonnet has a moulded fog lights with 2 outer at 55w and the 2 center at 75w each (they turn on in pairs) and the front bull bar has 2x 100w spot lights (not HID) and a set of proper truck air horns (thought of putting on the roof but I like them there better, lol).



Let me know what you think.

 

[uHu]

Welcome - Great with more members.
Overwhelmed by all the equipment on your cruiser!!! Can't understand what it's all for. What's that camera bit? What's the cameras for?
What's the point of two snorkles?

 

[phil1ooo]

Welcome - Great with more members.
Overwhelmed by all the equipment on your cruiser!!! Can't understand what it's all for.

The lighting on the roof is for the extra brightness which believe me it provides as if it where daylight in pitch dark bush. Spotties are for long distance up to 200 meters and the light bar is for daylight around you up to around 50 meters. All in all you could find a needle in a hay stack with this lighting.

What's that camera bit? What's the cameras for?

The cameras serve 2 purposes, 1- Road safety from idiots on the road and in case of accidents as proof of what happened. 2 - Takes videos of your off road travels and in fact your whole trip. What better way to see what you have experience.

What's the point of two snorkels?

The dual snorkels means more air intake which means you save on a bit of fuel which means more fuel economy, about 5% if I remember rightly but if you have a turbo and ram that extra air in it does save you more and increases your torque as well.

On top of that it looks great, lol.

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum!

You did ask us to voice what we thought, so don't be too disappointed if the responses are not all "likes"...

IMO, there's too much clutter, inside and out.

Each to their own, I say, and if you're pleased with the result, then it's all been a success!

However, I always try to balance what I need against what I would like. Again, IMO many of the extras you've bolted on are not necessary. I manage without a snorkel, for example, let alone 2. I'm not an engineer, but I don't agree that 2 snorkels will give any better performance than one.

The light bar is nice, I'm looking to fit one soon, so I like that. Clearly, if you do a lot of night driving in the bush then I'm sure you'll appreciate all the light you can get, but so many is not my preference.

As for the interior, my initial thoughts are that in an emergency, all that clutter would be a safety hazard. It will either break loose and injure you or a passenger, or it will severely restrict your escape route options if you were unfortunate to get washed away whilst testing out the snorkels doing some deep wading. Seriously, 1kg of sharp cornered metal at eye level is not my idea of safety, even a smartphone coming lose from its mountings in a crash is lethal enough to kill or maim.


I may be being unfair here because the interior photo doesn't really show clearly what you've got in that "Houston" console, but it looks like 2 CB units? Why 2 and why mount them in your left ear? A CB as a box of tricks is too big IMO anyway, and I could never understand why they cant be made more slimline and compact.

The ability of a smartphone compared with a CB unit is immense, and yet it takes up less room than a pack of slim cigarettes. I'm sure some enterprising young fella could dismantle a CB and mount most of the gubbins behind the dash with only the on/off/channel change buttons fitted in the dash. The rest is dangly button-push mic/speakers ready to hang you without a moment's notice, all could be done with voice actuated fixed mics and body mounted speakers.

All the lights you have need one switch, on/off, so what are all the empty switch mounts going to be filled with?

Sorry Phil, it's a great truck, but I would have concentrated on underbody protection, some good sliders, suspension/body lift, some decent tyres, a winch and some good quality recovery gear, before mounting an air horn on the bonnet (like I had on my push-bike when I was 12).

You like it, and that's what counts.

Get out into the bush and enjoy it my friend, and please don't be put off by my comments, they are my opinion and you did ask for it.

For sure, I'm genuinely looking forward to you posting some of that camera footage.

 

[Chas]

You took the words right out of my mouth Clive. I'm your man for a gadget but that is OTT.

 

[Doodle]

First impressions are that it's a mess, a project being run with the analogy that more is better...it isn't.

2 snorkels will make no difference, this is not the restrictive part of the intake system. More air = more fuel, not less - the ECU will always be aiming to meet a predetermined AFR based on the programmed mapping.

The bonnet lights are pointless, nasty and will contribute nothing given their placement, the roof/bar spots, the light bar and the OEM lighting. Have you done anything to the alternator to power this massive load? To be honest, even 6x100w is pointlessly excessive - on my 100 the OEM lights, a pair of good Hella spots and a pair of spot/flood LED bars on the roof will light things up well over half a mile away and give a good wide spread. Once your visible target area is brightly illuminated, any extra lights aren't making any useful contribution, and just suck juice from the battery and alternator.

Getting a 4" lift on IFS will need a fair bit of work and expense, the diff will certainly need to be dropped otherwise the CV joints will take a serious pasting.

I'm left with the impression of something poorly planned, poorly executed and not particularly impressive, I'm afraid. With a little more thought, research and finesse, it could be *so* much more polished and well integrated - but it's your project, not mine.

 

[phil1ooo]

Hi guys, NO I'm not offended at all as each to their own. Yes I do agree it does look over the top to some and others like it so much they want the same type of thing, This wasn't built to be an extreme off road vehicle but instead a long distance travelling touring 4x4 towing a large trailer/camper. Like I get told by others on highways (when they see me coming they move out of the way) just the way I like it when I'm spending hours upon hours on the road, lol.

I appreciate your thoughts, cheers

PS, You'll hate it even more then when I add the second 50inch 480w light bar on there then, lol

 

[Paddler Ed]

I'd be inclined to ensure that all lighting is in accordance with ADR's, otherwise (certainly in regional) the NSW Police can be quite happy with giving you a defect for them, as well as the bonnet protrusions (ie the air horns)

Interior wise; I get why you've got the UHF and HF units, my FiL is a radio ham, and in some areas of regional the HF is still a powerful tool (and a lot cheaper than a sat phone!) However, does your Land Cruiser have a passenger airbag? If it does I'd make sure that the work station is clear of where that will be deployed from.

On the other hand I do like the flares...

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi Phil, coming back to snorkels (whether singular or plural) the idea is to prevent water entering the air intake. I wonder how many that fit them ever check that the pipe work is air/water tight, after fitment?

In theory, and in practice, I would suggest the true test is to run the engine, then blank off the snorkel air intake. The engine should rapidly choke up and die, demonstrating that there is no way that air is being pulled in through any of the pipework joints.

Under-water conditions will undoubtedly find pipe work leaks, unless the joints are airtight under vacuum conditions. On a similar theme, have you extended all the breathers to the same depth as the snorkel will be operating? Water entering the diffs, the gearbox, the transfer box and other "water-sensitive" components will do untold damage.

That's not to mention the other adverse legacies of wading, water and sludge entering the alternator, the starter motor, electric fan motors and the lockers, all of which will suffer premature failure that wading causes. Unless you're prepared to do a major strip-down after a tour that includes wading, you will certainly be faced with premature component failures of one sort or another.

Again my opinion, and the reason why I avoid wading, unless it's a necessity.

 

[phil1ooo]

I'd be inclined to ensure that all lighting is in accordance with ADR's, otherwise (certainly in regional) the NSW Police can be quite happy with giving you a defect for them, as well as the bonnet protrusions (ie the air horns)

Interior wise; I get why you've got the UHF and HF units, my FiL is a radio ham, and in some areas of regional the HF is still a powerful tool (and a lot cheaper than a sat phone!) However, does your Land Cruiser have a passenger airbag? If it does I'd make sure that the work station is clear of where that will be deployed from.

On the other hand I do like the flares...

I have no problems with police as I know a couple and they are with it all. I also have all my work checked our by my mechanic/pink slip provider and yes the air bag positions have been taken into account.


You are right about the Ham Radio as it's far cheaper and just as reliable as a stat phone in not more so.


Believe me I have been out and about around Oz all my life, I know the potential problems and what to expect and have never been caught out yet or lost a vehicle. As for the ADR laws I am also aware on how they work. You can actually have gear on your bonnet as long as it doesn't interfere with your vision of the outer edges of your vehicles bonnet (meaning) no matter what you place on the bonnet it's height must not block the driver from being able to see the complete surround edge of that bonnet or in this case the top of the bulbar being the vehicles furthest outer edge. The horns like all truck horns must be visible whether on the roof or else where. Air horns cannot be used as your main horn and can only be used in an extreme circumstance (I had a choice of putting them on the roof put I much prefer them there, it looks different to others who have got them and looks cool to).

 

[wobbly]

My first reaction is it looks neat

On studying it a bit closer, I spotted the bonnet, I reckon the horns/pods lights look less 'professional' than the rest of the truck, I'dve roof mounted the horns.

The whole dash mount thing, I'm assuming you do all your travelling alone? I have a tablet ram mount on my dash, and even that intrudes on the passenger space.

Twin air intakes do look neat, even if ultimately the science isnt there.

Glad to have you onboard.

Regards

Pete

 

[phil1ooo]

First impressions are that it's a mess, a project being run with the analogy that more is better...it isn't.

2 snorkels will make no difference, this is not the restrictive part of the intake system. More air = more fuel, not less - the ECU will always be aiming to meet a predetermined AFR based on the programmed map.

For those NOT in the know or understanding of these things air intakes play a much bigger part in our/all vehicles than even Doodle here obviously realises (no problem m8, learning something new only means you'll got to bed wiser tonight). Although the margins are quite small and are best noticed when doing high speeds or long trips (That's when your engines really gets a work out) not driving it and from work everyday, being able to increase the air intake into a turbo or using a supercharger or other cold air intake methods, they will help and improve on fuel economy.

In older cars yes you can save more due the computer chips not being there and I used to estimate a 7 to 8% increase in distance travelled in where these days with the computer chips it's now more like 3 to 5% but hey even 5% of 140lts or 3000 to 5000klms of travelling plus is not going to be a bad saving. I've been doing this for quite a number of years and taught many disbelievers in my time. Read up on air ramming, superchargers etc and how they work etc etc, how do you thing high performance cars, racing cars etc do it, works much the same way for us 4x4 drivers who keep revving up and heating our engines to get the max out of them.

Getting a 4" lift on IFS will need a fair bit of work and expense, the diff will certainly need to be dropped otherwise the CV joints will take a serious pasting.

Well aware and prepared for the extra expenses.

I'm left with the impression of something poorly planned, poorly executed and not particularly impressive, I'm afraid. With a little more thought, research and finesse, it could be *so* much more polished and well integrated - but it's your project, not mine.

Only poorly planned in the eyes of those who don't understand. The research was well in place for over a year before doing all of this not to mention the 30yrs plus experience of driving 4x4s.

The clutter as some may call it is my choice, I like it as do many others, this isn't an extreme off road vehicle to climb mountains with but a heavy towing long distance travelling machine both on and off road hence all the lighting as Australia's outback is quite dangerous at night and when towing with a family on board safety comes first in my books no matter how extreme or messy that may look to others. Plus as I have stated before I like the truck look.

 

[Chris]

The thread questioned if 'we could be friends'

Hell yes. Of course and welcome along with your very unique vehicle. More pics and details as you go along would be very welcome.

 

[phil1ooo]

My first reaction is it looks neat

On studying it a bit closer, I spotted the bonnet, I reckon the horns/pods lights look less 'professional' than the rest of the truck, I'dve roof mounted the horns.

The whole dash mount thing, I'm assuming you do all your travelling alone? I have a tablet ram mount on my dash, and even that intrudes on the passenger space.

Twin air intakes do look neat, even if ultimately the science isnt there.

Glad to have you onboard.

Regards

Pete

Thank You. It took me a few weeks to get this dash thing right so as to not interfere with vision, being able to access all of the vehicles components as a driver like radio, air con switches etc as well as for my wife/passenger. She was involved with every aspect of the design right down to being able to hold hands as I'm driving, lol. None of the dash and it's accessories interferes with driving the vehicle both on and off road. Having said that it is (as I stated in my first post) still under testing phases and things do get moved around to find there appropriate space. I did design this to be somewhat like a cockpit style look and feel over my usual other methods in the past where hiding and using every scrap of space to fit things all over the place was the norm. So yea again over the top to some but I do well understand what I am doing and why. Think outside the box which is how I'm doing this one. I still get many WOWs everywhere I go and even the police like it, I have no problems with them what so ever.


My biggest task will be the stack exhaust as I will need an engineers certificate for that because I want to cut away into the body of the car and remould the driver side rear end to make this work. But I've done stacks on all my 4bies before so it's also nothing new to me there either.


You really have to drive this thing on the freeways and at night on the scrub to appreciate how it feels and looks.

 

[phil1ooo]

The thread questioned if 'we could be friends'

Hell yes. Of course and welcome along with your very unique vehicle. More pics and details as you go along would be very welcome.

Thank You, and yes Pics will be updated as I go alone.

 

[Trevor]

I've seen Range Rover V8 petrols using twin snorkels over here as offroad mods. I chatted to one bloke about them as I was quite intrigued, essentially it's 1 snorkel per intake side on the V8 block. In his case he had a modified air box with the snorkel intake coming in from two sides.

He was saying that the volume of air actually taken in by the V8 engine is huge, when he was running only one snorkel the engine was rather asthmatic in performance as it wasn't getting enough air.

 

[phil1ooo]

I've seen Range Rover V8 petrols using twin snorkels over here as offroad mods. I chatted to one bloke about them as I was quite intrigued, essentially it's 1 snorkel per intake side on the V8 block. In his case he had a modified air box with the snorkel intake coming in from two sides.

He was saying that the volume of air actually taken in by the V8 engine is huge, when he was running only one snorkel the engine was rather asthmatic in performance as it wasn't getting enough air.

He is so right. Although I haven't finished my setup yet as I'm in the process of making more room in the engine bay for the newly added second filter box on the opposite side, They don't give us much room to play with in there anymore these days, lol. I'm actually putting in a second air filter box as I found (the first time on done this on my last 4by) the original filter did some what restrict the airflow a bit more than I would have like it to be. The extra air intake also does actually give out a bit more torque power as well.

The bottom line of all of this is (and not only for V8s) is the cooler/colder you can run your engine, the more power you can give it. I'm a PC tech and for those not in the know, PCs run very hot and use up a lot of power to run at the speeds they do which where added cooling systems come in to keep it cooler and make it run faster, now run a water cooled system as well as an air flow system on a PC and you'll be very much surprised as to your PC can do and how fast it runs. Well a car engine work in very much the same way, it needs air and water to keep it cool and the cooler you can keep it the faster and longer it will run as well as running far better and strong (thus) saving fuel and providing more torque/power.

Here's a little story going back in time for ya's. You all heard of running a car on either Gas or fuel. I had a diesel around 15yrs ago and I was one of the very first here in Australia to adopt an American concept of running diesel with gas and everyone thought I was firkin crazy mad and stupid all at once. Well running diesel and gas together now have become very popular today and you can travel near over 50% the distance on a tank. A mechanic ended up paying me well over what I paid for my vehicle and introduced the system into the Australian market and has never looked back.

The same goes for stacks on petrol 4bies (diesels where allowed but not petrol driven 4bies), I was the first in introduce this here and after months of proving and arguing with the ADR standards laws, I managed to prove them all wrong, which then led to them changing their laws to allow stacks on petrol 4bies here.

The moral of the story is, it doesn't matter if others think your crazy or mad or stupid, what matters is that YOU understand and believe in what your doing.

 

[chadr]

I must admit I was sceptical about the twin snorkels .....but on further consideration, if it's "good" to have separate exhausts per bank, why not have separate air intakes as well?

Looks cool anyway!

 

[clivehorridge]

I must admit that I did a to myself when I put down the effect that a twin snorkel may have, after re-reading that it was a V8, so here's another .

It certainly makes more sense to have 2 (one for each air intake) than expecting one to suffice.

Maybe we're all too used to straight 6's and other engines to be immediately familiar with the wonderful petrol V8

(I still can't bring myself to call petrol "Gas", to me that's something you buy from an LPG station or get after eating too many green veggies!).

Keep it commin' Phil...

 

[clivehorridge]

PS, You'll hate it even more then when I add the second 50inch 480w light bar on there then, lol

Erm.... where will you mount the second 50" light bar then, Phil...?