Lone Ranger

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DSC_4166lThe battle for best-selling 4WD ute is currently a neck and neck battle between the Ranger and the Hilux at the moment, and this week the TJM Hunter Valley workshop has had the pleasure of putting together a big build on both. We’d have to say the amount of Rangers coming through our doors at the moment topples the scales on the debate and this black beauty is one of the nicer examples we’ve put together.

Owner Richard was after a functional all-rounder that was comfortable to drive but also eye catching as it was having to display his company logo. The result was spot on the money and this is one Ranger that can do the hard yards in the rough stuff and look great doing it.

We started with fitting a Fox suspension kit using the 2.5 Factory Series coil-overs with dual speed compression. This is one of Fox’s best performing shocks running a 63.5mm alloy shock body, remote oil canisters and the ability to be able to fine tune the shock settings (both high and low speed compression) simply by turning the adjuster dial with no tools needed. Shock fade will be absolutely non-existent on this ranger, even in the toughest of conditions.

DSC_4186lFor those times when Richard needs to tow the work gear around, we’ve fitted a set of Polyair air bags with an Airbag Man onboard dual air control unit and in-vehicle monitoring. This will allow him to adjust the pressure to each bag individually to cater for any uneven or obscure loads from the comfort of the cabin, whilst still retaining a comfort ride when being used for the daily shopping trolley duties.

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The Redarc Tow Pro Elite brake controller was also installed to handle the towing duties as well as a dual battery set-up using the TJM 25A BC-DC battery charger and a Century 100A/hr deep cycle battery for those weekend trips away for power supplies.

DSC_4184lWe fitted up the Rhino bull bar and under body protection that Richard supplied with some cool looking camo vinyl wrap which really set the look of the Ranger and we supplied a set of Mickey Thompson MM-245 in a 17x 9 with Mickey Thompson ATZP3s in a 295/70R17 giving the Ranger the ultimate all-round traction and a look that certainly turns some heads.

DSC_4169lDSC_4177lDSC_4181lDSC_4201lOwner Richard couldn’t be happier with the results and even all the boys in the workshop were impressed with the end result with the guys putting in 110% to get the job done. Stay tunned to eyeball the Hilux build that this Ranger shared the workshop with.

 

Tow & Touring 200

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DSC_4161lWhile the dispute rages over what’s the best 4WD on the market, there are few people that can argue that the 200 series LandCruiser is one of the best tow vehicles on the market. Space, comfort, and an undisputedly powerful twin turbo diesel V8 motor that is capable of pulling the back side out of the sun. Like all standard 4WDs however, there is always room for improvement and you don’t necessarily have to go over the top to get your 4WD well set up for touring and towing.
When towing or touring, the first step we always recommend to our customers is to upgrade the standard suspension. Although like most standard 4WDs they are designed with off-road driving and towing in mind, they are first and foremost a passenger car and built for optimum handling with a few passengers and no load. Once you load them up and stick a big van or camper trailer on the back, you are now pushing the suspension to its limits, and that’s not where you really want to be!
We went with premium quality Fox suspension using the 2.0 Performance Series front struts and rear shock absorbers. This 200 series will eventually be getting a set of rear storage draws, so we also opted for heavy duty spring rates in the rear. For those trips where owner Brian will be loading up the camper trailer, we’ve also fitted a set of Polyair airbags to the rear to give it that extra bit of support when the back is under load whilst still retaining a comfortable ride when there’s nothing in tow.
For a good power supply on those extended trips we’ve installed the ultra-reliable Redarc DC-DC 25A charger and replaced the twin cranking batteries that come out standard on the 200 with a bigger single Century crank battery and 100A/h deep cycle battery to handle all the accessories.
While under the bonnet, we installed a Diesel Care pre- filter kit running 30 micron filter cartridges. This traps most particles before the factory fuel filter keeping the expensive genuine Toyota gear clean and potentially saving the life of the engine from damaged caused by dirty fuel or water.
The front sports the TJM T13 Outback bar, colour coded for that factory finished look. The first question we get asked a lot by our customers when it comes bull bars for the 200 Series is “do we do a bull bar that doesn’t involve a bumper cut?” The answer is… yes we do. For the earlier model 200 Series, our Outback bar is a full bumper replacement and for the newer facelift 200 Series, we have the option of either a bumper replacement or a bumper cut bull bar.
Brian’s 200 series is now well equipped to handle the towing duties that he has install for it and for us, well we are just happy to see yet another satisfied 200 Series owner drive out the door.

Off-road Equipped

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DSC_3890lWe’ve just completed work on yet another 200 Series and we are pleased to say that it’s come up as well as we’ve learned to expect. Here at TJM Hunter Valley we are turning over 200 Series LandCruisers like they are going out of fashion, and we mean turning over in a good way of course!

This one received the works as well including complete barwork using a combination of the TJM front and side protection and the Kaymar rear bar. The bull bar is the T13 Outback back which is a winch compatible premium bar that features 63mm tubing, LED indicators, park lights and fog lights. We’ve also mounted a set of TJM brush rails and side steps which also run 63mm tubing and offer plenty in the way of protection when it comes to pushing the 200 Series to it’s limits in the scrub. Handling the rear protection duties is the Kaymar rear bar with spare wheel and jerry can holder.

Suspension is bought to you courtesy of Fox and this particular 200 is running the 2.0 Performance Series, with a diff drop kit and upper control arms by Roadsafe. With this particular combination we’ve been able to raise the rear by 2 inches and level the front up to get rid of that nose-down stance. The Performance Series runs a 2″shock body with plenty of height adjustment and those Roadsafe products keep the CV joints at the right angle to allow for full articulation and travel without damage or premature wear.

There’s a TJM Airtec snorkel which has the streamlined wedge-tailed style head keeping it tucked down out of harm’s way and looking neat and tidy, while still retaining the same amount of air-flow, functionality and quality as all the other big-name snorkels on the market.DSC_3896-2l

The standard traction aids in the 200 Series are Ok but for the ultimate traction control Harrop E-lockers have been installed, front and rear on this 200. Alleviating the need for on-board air and fewer parts make the Harrop units an easer option than the air-activated diff locks and the Harrop brand is well known for its durability.  Of course there’s no point running traction aids if youre tyres can’t get the power to the ground in the soft stuff, so a set of Mickey Thompson ATZ P3s have been fitted to the standard rims.

Owner Peter will be well equipped for some serious touring and will be hitting the tracks with full confidence and for us it’s another happy 200 Series owner rolling out of the TJM Hunter Valley workshop.DSC_3893-2l

Breathe Easy

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DSC_3747lLet’s face it… the factory Toyota snorkel on the 79 series LandCrusier is not the prettiest bit of kit on the shelf, nor is it the most functional. When you pay big coin for a truck you definitely want it looking and performing its best. The first part of our latest 79 Series build up involves replacing the standard Toyota snorkel, airbox and intake piping with some sexy looking stainless items.

There’s always been mixed reviews around performance with stainless steel vs plastic air-intake components but there’s no disputing the fact that stainless is more durable than plastic and it looks a hell of a lot better than plastic too.

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Anyone that’s been doing some research on stainless air intake gear would have come across the name Thorburns at some stage. These guys are absolute pros at what they do and they specialise in fabricating gear for the 70 Series. When the owner of our latest 79 Series build up specified that he wanted only the best gear on his truck when we were planning the build, there was no dispute we’d be making a call to the guys at Thorburns to fab us some gear for this job.

For this job we went with the 4” black powder coated stainless steel snorkel opening up airflow by half an inch over the standard unit. It’s plumbed in through the guard into the stainless steel air box and carries right through the intake piping at 3.5” before dropping to 3” just before the turbo. The whole system is designed to give better airflow, be bucket loads stronger and of course look far better than the OE items. This is where we get the performance gains.

This 79 Series will be spending a lot of time touring and towing heavy loads on the heavily corrugated, dusty and often flooded tracks of the Pilbara and Northern Territory so questionable durability and functionality is not an option. The gear has got to be fit for the job and here is where premium quality materials, workmanship and fitting is paramount – so this is where the Thorburn’s products really shine, so to speak. The 316 grade stainless is used from the snorkel right through the intake tract to the turbo and that sexy finish on the Thorburns products is just a testament to the workmanship that goes into their stuff.

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200 Reasons Why

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DSC_3570lOne of our most popular builds here at TJM Hunter Valley at the moment would have to be the 200 series LandCruiser and of course there’s a pretty good reason for its popularity. The large 4WD station wagon has always been the touring and towing vehicle of choice for legions of 4WDers offering the sort of size, space and capability that is perfect to suit most people’s needs. But the 200 series has that something extra that makes it even more appealing than most. Yep, I’m talking about that thumping twin-turbo V8 diesel that’s capable of churning out over 200kW and an astonishing 650Nm of torque from as low as 1600rpm.

In fact we like the 200 series so much that we’ve just recently taken delivery of the second one of our own, so we are becoming specialists at building these big wagons into the ultimate touring machine. There’s not much we can’t do the 200 and we are quite commonly decking these things out with Fox suspension, GVM and towing capacity upgrades, Torqit chip and exhausts, auxiliary battery set-ups, touring racks, towing accessories and we have wheel and tyre packages to suit all tastes and budgets.

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If you haven’t already spied our own 200 running around with one of our new T13 Outback bull bars, take a look at one of our latest customer’s builds with the colour coded Outback bar fitted. Now there are plenty of bars on the market available for the 200 series at the moment but we haven’t yet come across one that makes the new facelift model LandCruiser look this good.

This one got a good working over while we had it too, receiving the Fox 2.5 Factory Series Coil-overs to handle all the off-road work and we were able to get rid of that nose-down stance that the 200 suffers from by utilising the vast amount of height adjustment that the Fox coil-overs offer. It’s not all show and no go either! We’ve also fitted twin ARB air-lockers, auxiliary battery system, Safari Snorkel, Lightforce LED Genesis driving lights, TJM sump guard, Pirahna diff breathers and communications are handled by the Oricom UHF380 unit and GME AE4750 aerial.

 

The whole package is rounded off nicely with a set of ION 18×9 alloys wrapped in AMP 305/60/18 Terrain Grippers to get that 650Nm of torque straight to the ground. Owner Simon couldn’t be happier with the results and will be hitting the tracks with full confidence knowing that his 200 will handle anything he can throw at it. We can only look on proudly as we watch another 200 series roll out of the TJM Hunter Valley workshop receiving the onceover from us.

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LandCruiser 79 Build

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Before we take to the 79

Before we take to the 79

DSC_3515lNeed some inspiration to build your work truck into something that stands out from the rest? Over the next few weeks we’ll be bringing you updates as we transform this sedate looking 79 series LandCruiser into a twin air-locked, fire breathing work-truck from hell.

Craig and the boys in the TJM Hunter Valley workshop will be all over this thing like a rash for the next few weeks and with owner Alex sparing no expense, the boys will be giving it their all to make sure that every little detail is covered. Not to mention the guys from Jmacx will be waving their magic wand over this truck. Yep, that’s right…I said the J word. This thing will be rolling out of our workshop with a full coil sprung rear end and GVM upgrade.

Looking for something to fulfil his work needs as well as a truck to do some serious touring and bush work, owner Alex took some inspiration from our own 79 series LandCruiser and decided to go the whole hog with the build, including the Jmacx rear coil conversion. This will be the first time a Jmacx coil conversion has been done on the new single cab 79 with the upgraded ANCAP safety rating so the boys up there at Jmacx are excited to see how the new fit goes. There’s been a few changes made to the interior of the new single cab too, so the guys at the Department of the Interior are also keen to get their gear into the new model.DSC_3507l

With a list of mods and accessories including chip, exhaust, custom snorkel and air box, dual battery, suspension, wheels and tyres, lights that will turn night into day, that awesome rear coil conversion and enough bar work to make Mad Max envious just to list a few things, this 79 series will be transformed from a basic work horse to a touring weapon.

We love nothing more than when get a bare bones project like this and take great satisfaction in handing the keys back to the owner with all the hard work paying off for the end result to put a smile on their face. So stay tuned to this page for regular updates on Alex’s 79 build, the details on the work we’re doing, the products we’re fitting and the benefits of those products.