Prado 120 series extra's

Submitted: Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 13:28
ThreadID: 54465 Views:3571 Replies:8 FollowUps:0
This Thread has been Archived
Hi all

I am putting my wish list together and are after some advice if it isn't too much trouble.

I have a 120 series (2003) petrol Prado GXL, no mods under the bonnet, except sidewinder dual battery system feeding battery in the boot and not under the hood.

Wish list is in order of importance to me:

1. UHF communications, what radio and antennae to purchase?
2. Navigation, looking for Urban and off-road. Mind you most off road I do is fire trails, etc. Not into putting the car through bush and coming out with a different shaped vehicle but like to be semi-adventurous?

3. Hot water under the bonnet, looking at Helton but am confused on how to regulate temp and not run internal heater. I know that if run in parallel I can do without running heater but what can I do to regulate temperature? Helton suggest parallel.

Any information and assistance is much appreciated. If you would like to contact me I am on 0419 404 698

Kind Regards

Anthony

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Member - Vince B (NSW) - Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 14:21

Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 14:21
Hi Anthony.
For what it is worth I had a hot water system on my previous pajero.I had a t piece installed which split the water into two pipes.One to heat exchanger & the other to cold water tap on shower unit(just like in the bathroom).
Could always control the temp quite well & never any complaints from anyone who used the shower.
Regards.
Vince
AnswerID: 286876

Reply By: RobAck - Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 18:13

Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 18:13
Grinch you could spend $20k on a wish list. So the first question is what is your current or intended use for the car.

UHF comms are great and the choice is good. Go to a specialist for this stuff, particularly fitting of the antenna. We have a special mount for a stubby attached to the roof bar and when we put the roof basked on we have a coax cable that connects the around town outlet to the top of the basket. On there we normally only need a 6dB gain whip which is around 300mm high. The key to mounting antenna is maximising what is called the ground-plane effect which in simple terms is bouncing the radio waves off the roof of the car which gets you the most efficient signal all around the car. Putting a 3m antenna on the bull bar is not as efficient I can assure you.

Apart from that a decent suspension kit and AT tyres are good and expensive investments.

Once that is done you then need to consider recovery gear and if you are heading down that path then get some decent training from an accredited provider and/or join a 4WD club and benefit from all the experience you can find there. Along with a lot of conflicting advice but always well intentioned advice.

Bull bar, lights, storage unit, you already have a cargo barrier don't you? One of the national 4WD magazines has a Gear Guide. If you have a look in the No.5 edition you will see my Prado featured and that will give you an idea of what can be done

Regards

RobA
AnswerID: 286916

Reply By: DaveNQ1 - Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 20:26

Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 20:26
Gday Anthony,

May also be worth a visit to www.pradopoint.com

Cheers
Dave
AnswerID: 286954

Reply By: Member - Kevin R (QLD) - Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008 at 13:59

Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008 at 13:59
Hi Anthony,

Re radios, I have a new 120 on order. GME have a new UHF out that has all the controls on the mike so you dont need to access the head unit at all. It can therefore be hidden away somewhere out of sight.

Cheers

Kevin
AnswerID: 287051

Reply By: Tony from Helton Heat Exchangers - Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 19:44

Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 19:44
Hi Anthony
We do recommend parallel so you don't have to have your heater running and there is a gain in output with all available water going thru the heat exchanger. we also supply a temperature valve with all our hws kits to control the output temperature or it can be purchased separately

Cheers
Tony
[url=http://www.helton.com.au]
AnswerID: 288670

Reply By: lc_120man - Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 22:01

Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 22:01
UHF Antenna depends on where you mainly going to use it
hilly country like vic High country something like 3db would be the best, for plains etc 6db would be better...

Stan
AnswerID: 288727

Reply By: Skippy In The GU - Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 22:53

Thursday, Feb 21, 2008 at 22:53
Hi Grinch, Buy yourself a Real GPSr like the Garmin 276C or Streetpilot 7200 which you can also add a couple of reversing cameras , buying from US will be heaps cheaper but warranty can be a problem.
AnswerID: 288743

Reply By: Grinch - Saturday, Feb 23, 2008 at 21:03

Saturday, Feb 23, 2008 at 21:03
Thanks to everyone for your valuable input.

I will buy a Helton and "T" it off and add a tap to control the flow, I do own a cargo barrier and have built a shelf in the rear of the car which has tidied the boot up.

I am looking at getting the GME TX3440 UHF radio. I like the idea of only having the mike showing, I will be able to disconnect this so it is out of prying eyes.

Navigation and reversing cameras will be next to sort out. I was thinking Polaris but I keep reading about issues with the mapping software. Time will see.

You are right about having money to spend as I want so much more but this will just be a progression by elimination. I will do some things each year until my wish list reduces.

thanks again

Anthony
AnswerID: 289030

Sponsored Links