Graham replied:

Gary,

Have a look at motorcare.com.au (Brisbane based),it has loads of gear with prices. I recently undertook a similar "bulk purchase" from here, Richard and his staff were more than helpful, and thier prices are very competitive.
Hopes this helps

Tony replied:

Hi Gary, Have a look in Australian 4WD Monthly magazine for an add from 4WD Systems from Gilles Plains SA (Adelaide I think). They have a special - spend $5000 or more and choose a free product from fuel tanks, batteries systems, bull bars etc etc. There web site is WWW.4wdsystems.com.au but is not often updated. There prices are *very* good. Only problem I had with them was when I ordered a compressor they charged my credit card and then waited 3 weeks to send it even though the compressor was in stock. Wasnt happy about that but there prices are very good so you could do what I do - go to some one else and see if theyll match the prices. Maybe not very ethical but its a dog eat dog world and when I get bad service I go elsewhere.

Cairns Offroad Training and Tours replied:

If I were a private person intending to do as you are suggesting, I would make a detailed list of my requirements and post or fax it as a tender to TJM, ARB, etc. You could also include the tyres in the deal as their buying power for them would be much greater than yours. It would be interesting to see the response from the various companies and compare their comparitive prices on similar items.
Regards Rob.

Brian replied:

Reference your question about removing the rear seat - if there's only two of you travelling why carry the extra weight. I always remove the rear seat of my Pajero and never use a roof rack, but still manage to carry two spare wheels, fridge, recovery gear, tent , stretchers, 40 litres of water and at times up to 100 litres of fuel, plus all the usual food and camping gear, all in the back of the vehicle. Think twice about storage draws/shelves as they are additional weight and take up space. We use 4 light weight plastic containers and strap everything down. If you go with a roof rack just make sure it's one that is very solidly built and has very substantial mountings - I've seen two guys with racks that kept vibrating loose. What ever you decide to take, make it easy on yourself.