dual cab durability

G'day Patrol22,

I had a good look at a D40 and they are a good option but the rear seat is the problem if you have teenagers coming out of a Patrol. In order to get the most out of these conversions you also need to do a chassis stretch, mine was 600MM and I have a 2Mx2M tray. I can assure you, the footprint of this rig will put the D40 in the shade no worries!

I'm not sure I would have invested the money in a 10 year old vehicle either, mine was 4 years old owned by me since new, I plan to keep it until it is 10 and reckon I will get at least 1/2 my conversion cost back after that time. I have seen them done from new but I'm not sure who covers the warranty on that one!

Capability/ruggedness of what you end up with is a different story too but that depends of course on what your needs are.

Agree with you on the fuel issue too.

OBT

Yeah another 600mm would've improved the old GU footprint all right but probably wouldn't fitted in my garage either :-) I can see what you mean with teenagers....I don't have that to worry about any more. I've also invested in a fair amount of aftermarket stuff so the D40 is a comfortable tourer for me and herself. If you have a few spare minutes you can see what I've done at this link: Patrol 22's D40

Nice rig and great action shots. Whos' is that remote head CB you have there (I assume that is what it is), looking for something like that for my new Disco?

OBT

OBT - the CB is an iCom 440 - works good for me without additional speakers and I wear hearing aids.

nice rig patrol 22. what would your average consumption be on a trip loaded. do you find it more comfortable but less capable than the patrol. cheers

Molzy - the D40 is potentially less capable than my old GU but I don't tend to do too much extreme stuff and as yet I haven't noticed too much difference in that regard. Fuel consumption varies but a good indicator is an almost 20,000km trip I did this time last year - Canberra-Perth (and the SW of WA) via the Nullarbor then up to Steep Point and across into the Pilbara before heading to Exmouth and then tracking east via Mable Bar, Carawine Gorge, Punmu, Well 33, down the Gary, Gunbarrel and Heather Highways, then the Great Central Road to Alice. A weeks rest and then across the Simpson and a visit to the Corner Country before heading to Cape Byron and then up to Hervey Bay and back to Canberra. On this trip fully laden with all the gear for a 10 week trip it returned 14.4 ltrs/100km. The vehicle is auto and carries a lot of extra weight with full underbody plates, steel bar, winch, 160ltr fuel tank, etc etc etc.
I was pretty happy with that return and I certainly didn't drive like Miss Daisy. I travelled in the company of a 105 cruiser and a Holden Frontera for all of the trip and a 120 Prado joined us for the Simpson. I didn't notice that I was less capable on this journey than any of the others. The surprise package was the Frontera.....I will never rubbish one of these little beast again - an excellent performer in my view.