DIY – 4WD New Zealand

Rear Drawers, a must for every mans love

January 18, 2017January 7, 2017 by 4wdnewzealand, posted in Landcruiser upgrades

Figuring out how to accessorize your truck is challenging, not only do you have to decide what is the most important it also has to fit into your budget. A must have for all utility vehicles is a good set of drawers in the back. These allow you to keep your gear organized, accessible and safe, if you opt for locking latches as we did.

After researching the custom made drawers by several companies we decided this route was too expensive for our budget. Steel drawers by Ironman and ARB are ideal being tough and long lasting but for $1200-1500 this was not the route we could take. Instead we decided to build our own plywood drawers, which are just as sturdy if built right. So find a mate or utilize the tools in your garage and get going. With our Dewalt drill, Hitachi saw, and an unnamed table saw it was almost as easy as 123 to create our project.

We opted for using sturdy plywood, 17mm for the frame and 12mm for the drawers. The projected started with building the frame. We measured the back of the truck and decided drawer size before starting. Originally the two drawers were going to be the same size but because the 70 series has different size rear doors we decide to make one drawer smaller. This allows us to access the drawer without having to open both doors and the tire carrier. We keep all our recovery gear in this smaller drawer making it accessible in even the tightest of places.

We built the frame between the wheel wells but made the top plate the width of the truck. This gave us small cubbies on each side allowing for storage of our axe, saw, wheel brace and the bottle jack.

Once the drawers and frame were completed we gave them a light spray with black spray paint and then carpeted the top plate and front of the drawers with marine carpet. You can also spray them with the truck bed armor if you prefer. We’ve used this in other areas of the tuck.

You can use any type of utility handles but we chose locking T-latches, which are practical, and they give the drawers a nice finish.

So far this is one of favorite modifications and not just because we built it ourselves, it gives the back of the truck a professional look and keeps us organized on even the most complex adventures.

Message us for the template we used for $10 and follow our lead in building your own drawers for as little as $500.

Installing a 3rd Battery

January 11, 2017January 7, 2017 by 4wdnewzealand, posted in Landcruiser upgrades

For any serious touring, power consumption is always in the back of your mind, this is why we decided to add a 3rd battery for our South Island expedition.

The 74 Series runs a full 24V starting and electrical system, so for us to be able to charge a AA Champion 12V 71 A/h deep cycle gel battery we had to add a few additions to the conventional dual battery set up.

The first thing you will notice is the giant red box bolted to the top of the battery box. This red box is a 24-12V DC-DC smart battery charger made by PowerTech. It steps down the 24V input to a 12V charge from the start battery’s whilst regulating the charging cycle to prolong the lifespan of the 3rd battery.

Mounted to the side of the battery box is a Aopec 24V smart battery isolator that automatically cuts in at 26.6V to allow the battery to charge and cuts out at 25.6V isolating the start batteries. This prevents us from draining the start batteries and not being able to make it home from the campsite after using our Waeco fridge, air compressor and 300W inverter.

Winch it

December 21, 2016 by 4wdnewzealand, posted in Equipment for 4WD, Landcruiser upgrades

On the front of any good 4WD you’ll find a good winch, so there was no doubt that our 74Series needed one too.

There are plenty of winches out there, but there are several factors to consider before purchasing one. These include the weight of your vehicle, the cable material, its operating voltage, pulling power and wether or not you need a PTO, hydrolic or electric winch.

Our landcruiser is 24V so we needed to find a winch that was compatible. We opted for a Runva 11xp (11000Lb) electric winch as it bolted directly onto the IronMan winchbar and comes in either 12v or 24v.

On a side note, before in stalling, always double check that the wiring harness is the correct voltage for your system. We received the correct one with our winch but have heard that other people have not. If you hook a 12v wiring harness to a 24v system you will start a fire.

The Runva comes standard with a steel cable but we had that swapped out with dyneema. Steel if not wound back in perfectly is quick to fray, it also needs to be cleaned more often to keep from breaking down. With the dyneema you have a little more flexibility and ease. It is a fraction of the weight, doesn’t throw kinks, you don’t have to wear gloves and it has the same breaking strength as steel. However, if you aren’t keeping it covered it needs to be inspected on occasion as it will eventually break down due to high UV especially in places like New Zealand. Also if it happens to break while in use it will cause less damage to the vehicle or vehicles than a steel cable.

If switching to dyneema then you also need to swap the fair lead. Dyneema requires the use of a solid fair lead (the one without the rollers). The rollers can catch on the dyneema and cause the rope to fray. Dyneema doesn’t like friction so it needs to be kept off the ground and away from tight spaces. The rollers are only needed if your utilizing the steel cable which is much better if you know your 4wd expeditions will occur in tight spaces.

Wiring up the winch was a breeze thanks to the coloured coded cables and connectors. It took less than 1/2 hour to bolt it on and connect it. A little longer if your finicky about how you run your wiring.

We bought our winch from Spy Performance, and they sent us the steel cable instead of the dyneema which we ordered. Although they did fix the problem and sent us the dyneema they were slow in doing so and we had to follow up several times to make sure that it got shipped. We would give them 5 stars for friendliness but 1 star for efficiency.

Although we may not use the winch on every trip we go on it has definitely lended a hand to the 74Series and is a must for any serious four wheel driving.

Tires; A must have for 4WD

December 3, 2016January 7, 2017 by 4wdnewzealand, posted in Landcruiser upgrades

Tires, probably one of the biggest discussion topics in the off-road world.

There are so many factors to consider when it comes to selecting the perfect bit of rubber for 4 wheel driving. These include what kind of rims they are on, the tread, side wall strength, the internal design, road noise and how they will wear.

The boys from ATJ Auto Parts in Waipapa recommend we try out the new Maxxis Bighorn M/T’s over the BF Goodrich KM2 for a competitive cost effective alternative.

Don’t get me wrong, BF Goodrich makes an excellent tire standing true to the name and providing strong, reliable tires with good tire wear, but the problem is they are upwards of $400’s.

The Maxxis Bighorn seems to be the next up and coming off road tire and has been building a good reputation within the NZ 4WD market. They have been delivering a long lasting and tough product, and at $390ea they are very attractive.

Maxxis M/T offers a radial construction tire, with a wide foot print which allows for good traction and shock absorption. They have extra wide shoulder luges which are supposed to be great for mud and add protection for the sidewalls and rims. Maxxis’s touts that these tires are good in the desert, dirt, rock , snow and mud giving it the all terrain label. Which is why we decided to give them a try.

We have had them for 6 months now, about 20,0000kms, and we still have 15mm of tread left so we honestly can’t complain. They’ve held their own in mud, gravel, dirt and tar seal. The road noise is minimal and the sidewalls have held up in the tightest of situations.

Double thumbs up for Maxxis being a more affordable durable tire for 4 WD.

Keep an eye out for a future post on the importance of having good rims for your new tires.

Her First Addition: Ironman Winch Bull Bar

November 20, 2016 by 4wdnewzealand, posted in Landcruiser upgrades

The first addition to the 74 Series project was some serious frontal protection!
After considering durability, practicality and Styling we found that the IronMan Commercial winch bar ticked all the boxes. Ironman 4×4 NZ webpage was very user friendly in selecting the correct bar for the 74series. The bar is sold as (Toyota LC75/78/79 1984-2007 BBC018).

It was super easy to fit as IronMan makes their bars specifically for your vehicle. Slide right into place and attached at 4 spots. Please note that this truck does not have airbags, for vehicles with airbags the bar has to be compliant.

All up it took about 2hours to remove the standard bumper bolt on the winch bar and to wire up the indicator, running lights and light bar. I’ll talk about those in future posts. Lucky for us the 74Series had already had a suspension upgrade and can therefore support the extra weight of the bar and winch, otherwise you should seriously consider a suspension upgrade before installing a bar.