TJM bullbar self installation

[Shovtel Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Shovtel]

I used a few coats of cold galv when I did my snorkel... I followed it up with a coat of tectyl rust preventative..

[Shovtel Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Shovtel]

I bought a spare set of those dam wheel guard clip/pin things... managed to get nearly all out but broke a few so it was good to have the spare set ready to go.

[evltoy Member Find all posts View Profile Close evltoy]

I just installed a Narva 8 way fuse box and buss Bar in the engine bay that required me to drill a few 2mm holes in the sidewall.

I applied some Duralac in the holes and on my SS screws. Its a messy product to use and is only good where the part your doing will be hidden. Been using this on my Alloy boat for over 5years and no corrosion anywhere. Oh.. and its expensive


Some insight on the product
If you have used a metal fastener through a hole which you have drilled, or used a fastener which drilled itself. Without realising it you have started a process of corrosion. When two dissimilar metals are brought together, an electrolytic process occurs. The US aerospace industry recognised this and did something about it. They developed an anticorrosive jointing compound called DURALAC. This product is used religiously, in the marine and aircraft and other fabrication industries.

Well done on the snorkel install and good luck with the bar install.... keep us posted.

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

It is on!

After the bullbar installation was postponed by a week due to some severe weather and also because a Runva 11XP (Wolf black edition) was supposedly on it's way but never arrived, I started fitting the TJM T15 (p/n 070SB15F88M) fleet bar yesterday. The bar came in from a overstocked wholesaler at a good discount. Huge original box. Thorough packing. No damage. Good welds.
Invested an hour in unwrapping and laying out of all the parts. All there and ready to go. TJM had kindly emailed me a the more readable full color fitting instructions which came in really handy on the Ipad.
First I battled those pesky plastic clips gain. Managed to derange one of the grill clips. If these are meant as a kind of IQ test I failed it. 20 minutes and a lookup in the Prado service manual was necessary to unravel the bumper bar unclip mystery. After that progress improved.
Cutting the plastic bumper with a jigsaw (and fitted plastics blade) was a breeze. After some test cuts into the discarded part I was confident enough to cut straight at the marked line. No sweat.
One more issue arose with the roadsafe recovery points. They would only marry nicely with the bar after some fancy fiddling of bolts inside the chassis rail but now they are on with the provided M12 bolts. An upgrade over TJM's M10. No spacers or extra drilling required.
Electrical wiring was plug and play via the provided wiring looms. Nice detail. The light fittings itself needed some new bolts as the supplied ones would not work. Easily fixed.
Bolting on and torqueing up of the half a million bolts for the bracket, bar and and underguards took time but was straight forward. A new flexible gear wrench set came in real handy. Cutting diagonally through the wheel arch liners with an aviation snip did not even raise blood pressure any more. One gets used to butcher it's own shiny new car fairly quickly.

Now it is all on, the new cow catcher does not look that bad and the car is still undamaged after an eight hours assault!
Amateur's delight.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Come on pics!

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Well done my friend, feels great to hack up the new set of wheels. I agree with mjrandom, pics or it didn't happen!!

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

Ok, ok, here are some pics taken on this wet morning.







The weight of the bar has lowered the front suspension by about five millimeters but the ride feels extremely solid now. No rattle or other issues. Will attach a winch and maybe an aerial and lights next. Thanks for all the tips.

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Nice, looks good. It's a disease though, it really does "need" a winch, spot lights and uhf aerial to complete the package

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Nice work but I think you have damaged your number plate during the install!

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

It's a disease though, it really does "need" a winch, spot lights and uhf aerial to complete the package

Winch -will go on if it ever gets delivered.

Aerial - I have one of those skinny type external aerials (6db) that came with the handheld UHF I use. Will that be any good on top of a bullbar or do I need to mount one of those log sized antennae poles? I do not like to have them in the field of vision all the time.

Lights - I might test a set of cheap Chinese LEDs eg. www.ebay.com.au/itm/251758842666 . If they survive the Tanami Road it'd be great. If not, they'll find a quiet grave along the road side. Named brands are way too expensive for my budget.

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

I think you have damaged your number plate during the install!

No, no officer, I'm innocent! These missing digits must have come off during the last car wash. Don't fine me.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Aerial - I have one of those skinny type external aerials (6db) that came with the handheld UHF I use. Will that be any good on top of a bullbar or do I need to mount one of those log sized antennae poles?

The aerial from your handheld will not fit on your bullbar, the base will have a different thread than the one used on a vehicle aerial mount. If you don't want a big stick you can get a raised feed base that allows you to use a long or short whip. I just leave the short whip on around town. Or you could get one of AMTS fold down brackets that mounts on the awning rail and just use a stumpy antenna up there (the type you see on courier vans).

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

The aerial from your handheld will not fit on your bullbar, the base will have a different thread than the one used on a vehicle aerial mount. If you don't want a big stick you can get a raised feed base that allows you to use a long or short whip. I just leave the short whip on around town. Or you could get one of AMTS fold down brackets that mounts on the awning rail and just use a stumpy antenna up there (the type you see on courier vans).

Had a closer look at the antennae I have got. It is a Uniden AT870 http://www.prestigecom.net.au/uniden...-5-dbi-antenna . The guy in the shop where I bought it said it is only good for roof tops. But the linked page claims it is 'ideal' for bullbar mount? Confused.

[evltoy Member Find all posts View Profile Close evltoy]

Top job foxpro and thanks for the pics..... cool location

you have just re confirmed that the TJM bar is the best suited bar for the 150 facelift.

[foxpro Member Find all posts View Profile Close foxpro]

you have just re confirmed that the TJM bar is the best suited bar for the 150 facelift.

I don't have experience with other bars and only bought this model as it was the cheapest I could lay my hand on but as you say the TJM unit does contour the facelift shape very well. All distances between bar and body are equal and symmetrical on both sides. The welds are top and paint coat appears to be solid. The 'high ears' are the only visible bits while driving and offer good position assistance when parking. Also during night driving there is no noticeable light reflecting of the bar. Happy with the outcome.