Clarky...

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joshman

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Location
Happy-Rock, QLD
So i've been on these forums near on 10 months now, and I've yet to do a built thread. I've done a few mods myself, but when I bought my truck at the end of October 2010, she was already pretty well kitted out (pic#5) with:
2" OME lift, 265/75/R16 Maxxis Bighorns on Avanti +25 alloy Rims, Alloy bar, Safari Snorkel, Hayman-Reese towbar, Boggard Turbo timer, Uniden UHF, Pioneer headdeck and 4x Pioneer speakers in the doors, IPF 900XS spotlights. 3" taipan exhaust

The name Clarky comes from the fact the truck is Superman Blue in colour.

The first thing I added to the truck were some Rhino roof racks, just some silly clamp on ones, not really worth a photo.

In late November, i went on my first 4wd outing. we ended up in the glasshouse mountains being stupid as you do. me being all full of myself with my new truck was bashing my way through teh bush when BAM! the front passenger side dropped and the whole car started to shake and shudder. turn the car off get out and have a look. couldn't see anything. get back in, start it up again. the truck is shaking harder than Muhammed Ali on a bad day (too soon?). turn the truck off again and get out for a proper inspection. digging around under the front passenger wheel, i found that my wheel had dropped off over a small tree stump into a hollow on the other side. then then led to the truck resting on its front suspension member, and the stump ended up sitting up inbetween the two transfer/gearbox cross members. I couldn't go forwards. I couldn't go backwards; the truck was pretty well pinned. the blokes i was travelling with ended up helping me chock up the front wheels to get me off the stump and winching me backwards to get me out.

The moral of the story is now I have a set of TJM sump and transfer case bash plates.

After hitting up the mid-December Comdamine River rd with the forum blokes, i found the ...need... to extend my rear diff breather (stalling mid way through your first (ever!) creek crossing with make you wish you'd wore brown undies) pic#1 is just after the stall.

pic2+3 is the extended rear diff breather.

I laid off the mods for a while because of Christmas and some travel over seas during January, but in late February, disaster struck while out and about at Scenic Rim 4wd park with the forum. (pic#4)


i punched a hole in my rear diff by bouncing it on a rock.
 

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looks really nice man, how many k's has it done? do you use those tyres on road?
 
We were in the farthest corner of the park, so naturally the diff was actually leaking oil. The quick fix in the bush was to slap on some Quiksteel; which did it's job wonderfully. and i drove around on it for a good few thousand km. (pic#3+4)

So after getting a whole lot of opinion on the matter i decided to change over my entire rear axle assembly. a few phone calls and $800 later, i had a new rear axle sitting on my driveway. I got a mate to call in a favour and we got use of a hoist for a saturday morning.(pic#3)

Again, a mate and i purchased an entire set of new rims and tires for our driving tour through Australia. the reason was so that we could swap wheels and tires between vehicles without hassle. CSA 16x7 +30 rims with Maxxis Bravo 771 shoes.

So soon after the purchase, i had to give them a bit of a run. (pic#4) they did alright, but i preferred the muddies.

another trip to Scenic rim saw me do a bit more damage to the truck. (pic#5) i pushed the rear bar into the tray panels, but the real damage will be in the next post.
 

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so the real damage was done to the beautiful alloy bar, which once was shiny, but is no more...

and now she's a bit bent too! (pic#1)

you'll also see that i've added an ARB awning to the side of the roof-racks, such a handy thing to have.

the obvious course of action was to find something suitably stronger than the alloy bar, which ended up being a factory Nissan steel bar, which i picked up for an absolute steal from a forum member. (pic#2)

considering that my driving holiday was coming up really soon, i need to move things along and get into the modding.

Next up was an ARB canopy, smooth, standard height, colour-coded with lift-up windows all round. (pic#3)

being a driving holiday, a deep-cycle battery (pic#4) and a fridge (pic#5) was in order. the battery box and fridge were installed prior to the canopy, but i revised the battery box after the canopy went on. but the fridge location remained the same. it's on a slide!

my battery box is a homemade job. out of a cheap galvanised tool box from Bunnings, containing a 100Ah Gel deep cycle battery, being charged with a REDARC BCDC1220. and the fridge is an ARB 60L.
 

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Ok, going to go on a little bit of a sidetrack, and do a walk through of a few thigns specific to the driving holiday, still mods to teh car, but more about the set-up.

Pic#1.
Behind the rear passenger seat.
towel, blanket, tent, 10L engine oil, very comprehensive first aid kit, spare oil and fuel filters, lamps, fuses, relays.

Pic#2
The tray.
60L fridge, 80L of diesel, 50L of water, spare wheel, spare battery, full set of recovery gear, tool box, air compressor. The wheel is sitting in a custom carrier that a forum member helped me build up. the carrier also has some tie-down points to secure the 4 diesel jerry-cans. Pic#3 might provide a better view of this.

Pic#4
The sneaky place where I kept the recovery gear. nice easy access through the side window of the canopy.

Pic#5
fire extinguisher under the front passenger seat.
 

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Pic#1
I installed a light socket in the top glove box for the charging of camera batteries and phones, etc while on the move. I also put some under the steering column to plug the HEMA navigator into. i also put some in the footwell of the front passenger seat. for their enjoyment.

Pic#2
Changed the stupid IPF switch over to a rocker switch with a LED. much better.

Pic#3
Put an Anderson Plug onto the bullbar. I changed the air compressor over to an Anderson plug for this purpose. now i don't have to fiddle with silly cigarette lighter sockets or clipping directly onto the battery, my power is right there.

Pic#4
Roof basket, awning and Hi-Lift

there's a few other little things i did like stick some small metal washers to the bottom of the inside of the rear window on the canopy. so when you open the window you can magnet a small 12V fluro light to the window, for cooking, working, etc on the tailgate.
 

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thanks guys!, got a lot more pics and info to put up, so stay tuned, but most of that stuff is on the laptop i think.



looks really nice man, how many k's has it done? do you use those tyres on road?
thanks mate, yeah, i've put the muddies back on and just run them all the time now. they're noisy as heck, but a great tyre. a bit wild in the wet though :rock:
the truck had 87k on the clock when i got it, and it's almost due for it's 125k service soon.
 
Hey mate!

Im looking to tour around Australia soon, not any major 4wd. Just the main dirt outback roads.
I would like to get some new tyres on before i leave.

Should i stick with tyres built for mostly highway driving, or should I go with using a set of All-Terrains.
Cheers!
 
Hey mate!

Im looking to tour around Australia soon, not any major 4wd. Just the main dirt outback roads.
I would like to get some new tyres on before i leave.

Should i stick with tyres built for mostly highway driving, or should I go with using a set of All-Terrains.
Cheers!

definitely go a set of AT tyres. the outback is incredibly unpredictable weather wise. we encountered some big mud puddles, and a bit of rain, and those roads turn very slippery with the slightest bit of rain. the maxxis bravo 771's are a brilliant tyre. they're pretty aggressive and have some grip on the sidewall. they were pretty brilliant for the trip. i'm thinking of selling off my 6 rims with tyres (all still in great condition - two of them have never been used)
 
Sweet! Thanks for that info.

If you ever do end up selling them and one day drive down to the south coast of NSW, i would most likely be happy to take them off your hands!


By the way, your Navara is pretty much everything i want mine to be!
 
alright, i've done a run around the nav this arvo with a camera, and now i've got a pic of all the major mods. firstly, just a bit of backlog...

Pic#1
TJM bash plates and Outback Ideas recovery points.

Pic#2
How i ran the power and diff breather into the tray.

Pic#3
The lighter point in the passenger footwell

Pic#4
Rhino Lining. best stuff ever. go and get yourself some.

Pic#5
Overview of the tray. that orange toolbox is the perfect size to fit behind the rear wheel arch. it's just as high as the wheel arch, and fits perfectly behind it. quite perfect. Calibre brand from SuperCheap Auto.
 

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Pic#1
Velcro'd the UHF handset down here. makes using it on the run really simple.

Pic#2
Manual Locking Hubs. Painted them up so that its a simple glance to tell if they're locked or not.

Pic#3
Some grill/mesh over the head lights. not overly strong, but it should be enough to protect the lights from a roo or small animal strike. plus it looks pretty tough.

Pic#4
sliders. need i say more? solid 3mm plates underneath for, you know...sliding over things.

Pic#5
80 Series airbox and catch-can.
 

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Pic#1+2
Turbotech manual boost controller and sender 'T'-join for the electronic boost sensor sender unit.

Pic#3
Boost Gauge. it's pretty swish.

Pic#4
after the trip through aus, i changed the stupid clamp down roof racks over to something more robust, and also got the racks put in the canopy.

Pic#5
Window of evidence.
 

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and this pic is the nav as she stands now. taken at double island point, doing a snatch recovery on my mates Hilux.
 

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