Are mods really necessary?

What type of mods are you talking about there andy? Engine? Body? Interior? I have changed my car to suit myself and fiancee. Engine mods that I have done are minimal but you try towing a van with a NA 1hz. Not much fun. So I am making my car fit for purpose, as I didnt have the coin to go out and buy a brand new one. So I found the newest fourby I could afford, with the least amount of kays and am now making it suit me. So for me modifications were needed.
Matt

congrats for your choice, but life would be quite boring if we all drove stock white toyotas.

Cheers Stefan

Not sure if you are fishing mate??? Anyway obviously your needs are what you have. And someone else who tows a heavy load may need h/d suspension. Someone else who does lots of rock hoping needs a big lift. We all modify to our needs. I guarantee your stock Prado would struggle to get places a heavily modified Prado would take you.

Good point Andy

All I did to My Poootrol was add decent shockies and Poly air bags for the load weight. Chucked in a dual battery to run the fridge but I wouldn't really call those things 'mods' as such.

Took me all over Australia without a drama. Even places I was scared to tread...no worries.

All depends on the pocket I guess.

where do you start, for an every day black top and light 4x4 work you are 100% right, but for me i travel interstate alot. mostly at night with about 2 tonne on trailer and about 500kg in the wagon. so firstly i fill the need for a steel bull bar. ( had ali one and folded up the first roo i hit). i like fishing also, so a winch is good for the beach, {just in case), so with those to items i need heavier front springs for safety. this brings front up to standard height. i have spotlight on the front for when im driving from state to state. then because i go on sand i need a compressor for tyres. need heavy springs on back for the extra weight as standard sag to much. have turbo timer so i dont sit in wagon waiting for turbo to cool down. have uhf radio for where my phone does not work.
my point is, most mods are necessary for life style or work.
this is my excuse and im sticking to it.

Ah but you read the 4WD mags and get tempted!

Really, it is like a house - we all have a kitchen, living room, bedroom etc, but we decorate it and put furniture in to suit out tastes and our needs.

Tis a choice thing. You choose not to, others choose to. Tis the beauty of having the ability to choose

Exactly.
When/If the need arises, you'll know.
Jeff H.

no

Aandy
I guess if you only run around on the sealed roads at 140kph then yeh maybe Mods are not your scene, maybe you should own a Tarago or a Kia people mover ,It depends on what you use it for, Can you imagine what would happen to the driver of a Rally car and the car if that car were standard,not to mention the 4x4 enthusiast who does Rock crawling and or competes his everyday 4x4 in events at sport meetings, As for me the mod that I did to mine was in the suspension area for all road and desert use, it changed the handling and safety of my 4x4 so much you would have to experience before and after yourself to appreciate the benefit, makes me wonder why OME is not used as standard fitting from the factory in the first place

You coild leave your vehicle stock but then again you limit what you can do.

We bought a stock new Prado 95 series TD several years ago, essentially to do some off road work and as a tow vehicle for our caravan.

Everything was good in the early days.

Front protection bar.

The UHF CB, pretty handy when on the road especially in WA.

Needed more storage space and didn't want to carry a back full of plastic boxes, swags and snot, so I built some draws and a roof rack went on for those weeks away in remote WA.

Then we got tired of not being able to power our Waeco when stopped, as well as the starting battery trying to power the as an issue so the dual battery system went in.

Then I moved to the NT, Umm water crossings and the improved air intake won't hurt, so on goes the snorkel.

Wanted more power, etc when towing, so in goes the Dtronic. Very handy when you need to pass road trains at 120 pkh with a boat attached.

Found the standard Tojo rear suspension was going south, so new springs and a set of Polyairs.

Fit an Anderson plug off the second battery for improved 12V power to the van.

Tojo shocks give up, set of TJM go in.

Mandrel exhaust for even more towing power and torque.

As you see there is always a reason. The vehicle becomes more capable and a better touring truck. I suppose we could have left it standard, but stuff still would have broken and needed changing.

I suppose doing a 170 KPH is the big test is it? I'ld prefer a vehicle setup for better touring and off road adventures thanks.

Hi Andy

Prado's are simply a much less stable vehicle than many others.

I.E. They tip over easily. Most don't even look at these things when buying a car.

I would not have one, without modifications .

I'd much prefer to take my chances with an engine blow up
in a 3lt Patrol than a rollover on the highway.

Choice is with the purchaser.

Robin Miller

Modification necessary ?? bet that even though you claim to have run stock standard playdoes for the last 10 years , that they have NOT been bog stock standard , what about your replacement tires ,the floor mats , the seat covers , that extra little convex mirror stuck on so you could see behind , or that time you used a different brand of oil , each and every one a modification.

Love to see a std playdo go to some places we wheel.. :)

Enough fish yet?????

Fishing

haha ... it's a bit like using a 6MP point & shoot camera
and then using a real one ... or using an Intel P4 and then
twin duocore Opterons for image editing ...

there is no car/truck on the market which would fit my need without modification ... as there is no branded computer which would fit my needs ... so I put them together myself ...

load 2.4T on a truck with a 28' boat and make it go from 0 to 100 in 12 seconds or so :)) ...

Have fun with your Prado
gmd

18mnths ago camping, fourwheel driving etc did not interest me in the slightest and I always wondered why people had to do this and that and have this and that.

Well now I have an off road camping trailer and a TD5 Disco and I love them both.

I now find myself trawling this forum, listening, reading and learning about things and doing mods and adding this and that to my rig and trailer.

And I love it.....

I agree ,
Mine is absolutely stock standard .
Willie .

Aandy, in 2005 we did central Australia and were concerned that our standard Jackaroo wouldn't cope. We met lots of people with rigs with all the mods and then met a Victorian vintage car club who did the same trip. Their youngest car was still pre 1920 and not a 2x4 amongst them, all single wheel drive. I told them they have made a mockery of the entire 4x4 industry and should be ashamed of themselves. When they bogged one of the cars, a Renault I think, they all gathered around, picked it up and lifted it out of the bog. Ya gotta laugh.

Because we can - life's all about choices my friend!!!

It would be pretty damned boring if we all did the same thing all the time