From your experience

Submitted: Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 19:40

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hopscotch

Hi all,

New GXL LC 100 in the shed and looking at some of the necessary bits so that we can hook up to a new van next Friday.

Tow bar with WD hitch goes on on Monday. Prodigy brake controller and Anderson plug on Tuesday. Bull bar Tuesday week.

Should I be looking at Polyairs for the rear coil springs? I had them on the Pajero for the CT and they were excellent. Will the WD hitch be sufficient?

UHF - radio GME 3400- will sit under the passenger seat but where in blazes do I mount the remote head? Lots of space but not a lot of room.

I took the commercial Rhino bars x3 off the Pajero. The bars are the right length but of course they must have new legs to fit the LC. Another $252. Have heard a couple of stories about the mounting of the Toyota legs caused severe problems with water leaks. Anyone had experience? Am inclined to just sell the bars as is and forget about putting anything up top.

Thanks

Kevin J

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Reply By: Laura B - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:25

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:25

Im not very knowledgable so you are more than welcome to dimiss anyting I say,

I would worry about polyairs - if ts a newy then they should be good enough for towing as is unless its a semi trailer you pulling!!

Brake controllers are good i have heard but can be fussy getting them right - well they were in friends ford ute...

Remote head - no idea!!no room under the dash in front of gears??is there a little space under cd/radio??

Unless your gonna use roof racks i wouldnt worry about forking out the cash! - just another wind drag too...we have arb roof rack but use it cos we have a tent not a c/t with swags etc so use it most weeks....

Good luck...like i said.....im not very knowledgable when it comes to tecnical kinda stuff so poly airs could be a great idea.......some else might be able to help ya!!LOL

Laura B

AnswerID: 164151

Reply By: 100TD - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:39

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:39

at least upgrade rear spring as they are way too soft!cheers Paul

AnswerID: 164156

Reply By: Member - Ivan (ACT) - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:47

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:47

Have a squizz on www.lcool.org - they have amongst other things, a Tech Page for the 100 Series - on there you'll find a very neat way to mount your remote head

Yell out if you don't find it

Cheers,

Ivan
2008 D4D Prado

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AnswerID: 164160

Reply By: Member - Paul P (Bris) - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:56

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 20:56

Kevin

Polyairs to the rear would be a good idea. They will allow the maintenance of ride height when loaded. The WD hitch will level things when towing but not when unhooked.

The Prodigy will perform well providing it is wired correctly and is a late model one.

Roof racks cause a fuel consumption penalty. I am also not a fan of them. I would suggest giving it a miss unless needed.

Early replacement of the OEM shock absorbers after a little towing of the van may be warranted. I found the rears on my Nissan faded quickly when towing even with Polyairs.

UHF CB I would suggest a browse of this site and download the UHF CB channel usage guide ACBRO. The road info is on the highway channel (40/29 on the Pacific highway between Brisbane and Sydney)
You should at least monitor the highway channels when travelling.

Placement of the control head......have fun:-) I did.

My thoughts

Regards

Paul

AnswerID: 164162

Reply By: Member - Toolman (VIC) - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 22:24

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 22:24

Kevin,
Ditto to everything Paul wrote. I'll just add that in my opinion, the WDH and the Polyairs perform different roles so I don't necessarily think the choice is between one or the other. If I was towing my van with barely anything weight in the back of my crusier then I would just use the WDH. As I'm carrying some tools and other paraphinalia in the back of my cruiser so as to weight it down before I hook up the van, then the Polyairs should be used to level the vehicle before I hook up the van. If the van then sags the back end of the cruiser I use the WDH to to level up the van and the cruiser.

I would never tow my caravan without a WDH.

Tom

AnswerID: 164170

Reply By: Trekkie (Member - WA) - Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 23:17

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 23:17

I am not sure how much room there is in the new model - mine is 2001 GXV - there was heaps of room under the panel next to the gear lever, so that where I put the main 3400 unit. For the remote head, I VERY carefully cut out a hole - fairly tight fit and recessed the remote head. It has never moved. The only disadvantage is I need to take my eyes off the road to fiddle with it. But I usually have it on scan, so I dont often need to look too closely.

As far as suspension goes, next time around I would leave the original shocks and springs in and just fit Polyairs. At least until the originals needed replacing. From asking around, the original shocks are actually quite good although the springs are a bit soft.

!MPG:9!

AnswerID: 164180

Reply By: Bilbo - Saturday, Apr 01, 2006 at 00:25

Saturday, Apr 01, 2006 at 00:25

Definitely put Polyairs in if yer towing a van. The GXL 'Cruiser can sag ( and wallow) a bit if these aren't fitted. The WDH transfers weight from the vehicles rear wheels to the front wheels. The Polyairs simply level everything up.

I used to pump my Polyairs to about 20 tp 25 psi when towing my van and reduce that 5 psi when not towing. Otherwise it's hard ride.

After having my GXL 'Cruiser stolen 2 weeks ago I sincerely hope that you've got the best alarm system on it that money can buy. Put THAT on before anything else. And don't believe all that BS about "ya can't steal a Landcruiser". Becasue I just proved that ya can! I've still got all the keys - but no car!

PS - in the USA a car gets stolen every 30 seconds. Every 6 mins and 30 seconds - it's Beema, a Porsche, an Audi or a Lexus. THEY are suppose to be "unstealable" as well.

Bilbo

AnswerID: 164187