Glen's 95 series Prado getting broken in

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

What I missed! Not have much time for anything!

Bad news on light racing UCA´s. Makes me wonder if it's worth installing them or sell them and stay with the OEM ones.

Cheers

Well it turns out many people have had failed bushes in the USA. I've been assured by SPC that the new bushings will last "a very long time" because they "allow a much larger amount of travel and cannot fail due to binding due to their design". Looking at the change of material type and design, I'm confident it will last longer, but time will tell!

As for your UCA's - If you don't have an urgent need to install them, maybe wait and see how the new bushings survive in my rig. If they go well, you might want to install them first.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hey mate,
If these bearings fail again I will definitely be changing brands. I didn't change them yet because for various reasons I suspect it has been an installer's fault (the people who pressed the bearings in, who are now closed down). My driver side bearings were also changed last year, and have been running fine.

Point taken about the bearing design. I was running the 33's on original bearings for a while without issues, but I guess they are unlikely to last beyond 5 years with this setup.

[Armando Guzmán Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Armando Guzmán]

Hello Prado Mate,

Hello Glen,
I own Toyota Prado 1KZ-TE 4 cylinder, turbo diesel in early 2002. It was completely original and had never been used offroad. I'm new in off roading, I like very much the modifications you have made to your Prado, (here in my country Dominican Republic there is not much rock crawling, like in Australia, but i like the off road 2013) I will like your advise since you are an experience person and have a Prado, jeje.
The things that I done are:
A) 2" suspension lift, ARB OME
B) Bomper: front and rear, Viper http://www.accviper.com/serie90.html

Questions for you and my thinking:

1.- I like the Pacemaker extractor, cand you recomend me one for my Prado? and where to buy it
2.- I will put the air lockers from ARB
3.-I will Like to fit the 33's tires any advises?.
4.-I will put the aircitec Snorkel.TJM
5.- I will like to Put the GME TX3345 UHF and antenna but i see its little bit expensive $468
6.- What do you thing putting the SPC Light Racing UCA's (Upper Control Arms), do i need it?, where to buy, and wich ones?
and other consideration you may think. it will be very welcome.

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

Saludos desde Venezuela Armando!

I see youve already started modifying your car with venezuelan made bumpers! Viper's product are excellent.

That list will get you places. As far as 33's, i'd recommend 255/85R16 tires in whichever brand you might like/find. I DONT recommend 285/75 tires as theyre too heavy and will cause damage to your drive train in the long run.

Everything else looks like a solid build. Do you need a UHF? I mean, do you really need the range and do any of the people you travel with have them??

Cheers,

Luis

[Armando Guzmán Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Armando Guzmán]

Greatings Trimardito,

Yes every one has a UHF, and some points here in the forrest and in the mountains deep you need it, glen where are you?

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hello Glen,
I own Toyota Prado 1KZ-TE 4 cylinder, turbo diesel in early 2002. It was completely original and had never been used offroad. I'm new in off roading, I like very much the modifications you have made to your Prado, (here in my country Dominican Republic there is not much rock crawling, like in Australia, but i like the off road 2013) I will like your advise since you are an experience person and have a Prado, jeje.
The things that I done are:
A) 2" suspension lift, ARB OME
B) Bomper: front and rear, Viper http://www.accviper.com/serie90.html

Questions for you and my thinking:

1.- I like the Pacemaker extractor, cand you recomend me one for my Prado? and where to buy it
2.- I will put the air lockers from ARB
3.-I will Like to fit the 33's tires any advises?.
4.-I will put the aircitec Snorkel.TJM
5.- I will like to Put the GME TX3345 UHF and antenna but i see its little bit expensive $468
6.- What do you thing putting the SPC Light Racing UCA's (Upper Control Arms), do i need it?, where to buy, and wich ones?
and other consideration you may think. it will be very welcome.

Hi Armando,

OME is a good start for the upgrades

1. Yes the extracter makes a nice difference to the 3.4L v6. Given you have a turbo diesel, it may be best if you find a performance shop in your country and have them install a complete system which is tuned correctly with the turbo.

2. Lockers are fantastic, I highly recommend them! ARB are not the only choice however. ARB lockers rely on compressed air, they can have leaking issues (the installer must be highly processional). You could also consider Eaton's E-Locker, which is an alternative choice relying on electronics instead. Additionally, there's several auto lockers you could consider for the rear diff only, such as Detriot, Lokka (Australian), Richmond Lock-Right, TJM Pro Locker. I dont recommend an auto locker for the front, only manually controlled ones such as the ARB and Eaton E-Locker.

3. 33's make a huge difference to a 4x4's off road abilities when compared to 32's. My advise is, decide if you are really prepared to custom modify your wheel arches and mud flaps, otherwise the tyres are very likely to rub. Also, if you do not play on rocks like me, if your vehicle will predominately be on dirt and mud tracks, then you can consider larger tyres if you are willing to perform extensive body work I don't recommend larger than 33's for rocks on this vehicle because the drivetrain will defiitely fail (I've broken 5 CV's so far - typically when the front tyres are below 22 PSI, which creates too much traction).

4. Snorkels are a great investment. I dont care which brand, as long as it is sealed well, and you like the appearance.

5. There are lots of choices with UHF, I wont offer any advice for the brand or model. I will mention however that whilst I always thought I like the traditional unit (all controls on unit, and a simple microphone), I was VERY happy with my decision to install the newer style of unit (all controls on the microphone). The reason being, the unit is completely hidden, and the mic is packed away until I need it.

6. I only recommend replacing your upper arm with aftermarket ones if one of the following points applies to you:
- You want to modify the suspension lift higher than 2"
- One of your existing arms have failed and must be replaced.
- You have installed 33" tyres or larger, and want to move the front hub/wheel/tyres forward to avoid rubbing on the body work.
- You regularly work on your vehicle and disasemble the front suspension (mine is pulled apart regularly and this ball joint design makes it much easier).

Hope that helps you out mate

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Saludos desde Venezuela Armando!

I see youve already started modifying your car with venezuelan made bumpers! Viper's product are excellent.

That list will get you places. As far as 33's, i'd recommend 255/85R16 tires in whichever brand you might like/find. I DONT recommend 285/75 tires as theyre too heavy and will cause damage to your drive train in the long run.

Everything else looks like a solid build. Do you need a UHF? I mean, do you really need the range and do any of the people you travel with have them??

Cheers,

Luis

It'd be no surprise that I love the 255/85R16 tyre size! Compared to the 285, they are lighter, easier to turn, cause less clearance/rubbing issues, and are actually a tiny bit taller

However... after a couple offroad trips my 255's started vibrating like crazy. No matter how many times they are professionally balanced, they are never completely smooth, and cause vibrations throughout my car and steering. I have spent lots of money on bushes, tyre balancing and alignments, which can improve the situation for a short time, but after a couple more trips the nasty vibrations will return. These vibrations are much, much worse than what I experienced with the previous Mickey Thompson MTZ's in size 265/75R16. I attribute this vibration to uneven wear AND the fact that they are a very skinny profile. A 285 will have a wider contact area with the road, so I suspect that a 285 will have less vibrations. I also suspect that these BFG tyres are poorly manufactured and more prone to vibrations.

So my point is, whilst a wide and heavy tyre can damage your drivetrain, so can a lighter one which is vibrating excessively

I wish I could afford more sets of tyres so I can prove some of these theries!! Donations anyone?

[Beast2h Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beast2h]

I think it may be the cheaper tyres. I went from 285 mt mtz to 285 federal mt's and the federals seem to have a slight shimmy compared to the mtz's.

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

Hi Glen. An absolutely fantastic thread here mate. Plenty of good info. Have you considered a TRD supercharger yet ? I've just installed one on my 97 90 series 3.4L (along with a host of other mods), and will look to creating a thread about that in a couple of weeks when I get back home from work.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hi Glen. An absolutely fantastic thread here mate. Plenty of good info. Have you considered a TRD supercharger yet ? I've just installed one on my 97 90 series 3.4L (along with a host of other mods), and will look to creating a thread about that in a couple of weeks when I get back home from work.

Thanks mate!
Yes, I'd love to have a supercharger, espeically with the 7th injector! It's actually been part of my plan since before I purchased the Prado, however, the cost is high, so I'll be leaving that until my engine requires a rebuild, at which time the engine/exhaust/intake will have a full work over.

Look forward to seeing your thread

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

[Torrie 72 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Torrie 72]

Crikey Glen what sort of driving are you doing to kill four sets of bearings? You'd have to say there must be a quality issue with Repco's bearings. I'm still on the originals at 240k with no sign of wear. Hope you have more luck with the Japanese ones!
Cheers, Ben.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Crikey Glen what sort of driving are you doing to kill four sets of bearings? You'd have to say there must be a quality issue with Repco's bearings. I'm still on the originals at 240k with no sign of wear. Hope you have more luck with the Japanese ones!
Cheers, Ben.

My originals lasted fine for 11 years, including 2 years with mods and hard offroading. I had them changed at about 170-180k simply out of convenience - the hubs were off for UCA installation. Since then I've had 4 individual bearing failures... so I'm certain it's the bearing quality or installation... nothing to do with mods or driving.