Pimp Our Ride (OJG)

Pimp our ride? Well almost!

Nothing quite as extreme as the image to the left, although I am sure some would love it that way.

Nope, our pristine Toyota Landcruiser Prado had been well looked after over the last 4 years, doing pretty much just easy going motorway driving. Well, we have other plans! Sure, most of our driving will still be on the motorway, but we also plan to take it off-road a bit, and who knows, maybe another quick jaunt through middle again!

To make sure we can cope with these demands, and also better deal with all our worldly possessions, we needed to get some mods!

First off, we needed a cargo barrier in the rear. This would allow us to stack up the boot to the roof without the worry of bags flying forward whenever we brake. An absolute necessity.

Next up we would need a decent bull bar on the front. The Prado came with a "Nudge" bar which looks very nice, but would probably give very little protection if anything bigger than a mouse hit it. Nope, to deal with the ever present risk of hitting a roo in the outback, a strong steel bull / roo bar was again a necessity. Of course no bull bar is complete without a decent pair of sun blinding spot lights.

After the bull bar came the snorkel. At first Emelie and I both dismissed the idea of getting one of these, after all, we have no plans of trawling through rivers with the waterline beating against the windows. But, we were wrong! Allegedly, the snorkel's primary purpose is to act as a much more efficient air filter, an absolute must if going deep into the outback with all that bull dust. We also got a easy to clean filter attached to the filter.

We also got a Rhino roof rack, with cage and all-weather fitted bag. As with most things 4x4, they were not cheap. But they did at least look and feel the expensive price tag.

And then Emelie wanted a roof tent. Now that we no longer had a bed in the back of the car, Emelie was getting anxious about setting up the big tent in some of the more dubious locations. Roof tents start at about $1500 for a basic model, and can easily go up to $3000 for a top of the range one. Luckily for us one of the 4x4 places we visited had a 2nd hand Hannibal Roof Tent they wanted to sell. Although their history of the tent seemed to change quite a bit, it was clear to see that it had hardly been used, and Hannibal are supposedly one of the Top of the Range manufacturers. A good cash price was agreed and the deal was done.

Although Emelie got her mod, my mod didn't make our pre-set budget. I thought a set of drawers for the back area would make our lives a million times easier. However starting at $1500 it was very hard to justify the expense. So the drawers got cut out.

Or did they?.... wait for the next thrilling episode!!!