Rockets Wagon

Thought I'd start off a bit of a build thread on my wagon. It's a 2010 CRD auto with 58,000km on it. It came with a few bits, but is pretty stock. Currently its got 33"AT's, Dual batteries, extra power outlets in the cab and wagon, LED driving lights window tint and that's about it.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd403575.jpg

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This weekend I started my mods and I fear it's going to be all down hill from here :tongue:

Started off with an earth strap, nothing to difficult and just easing my way into the Patrol pool starting at the shallow end.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pssxa67h6c.jpg

All went well with this, made the engine note change, sounds meatier now and changes gear a bit sharper, go figure.

Well with my new found confidence I installed (partially anyway) my DVD headrests into the Patrol. Getting into these seats is a bit more difficult than getting into the Hilux seats, and had me stumped for a bit, but in the end I won out. Once in the seat it's an easy install. Pull the cable through, tidy them up, poke them out the bottom, put the seat back together and your set.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ca2c8f9.jpg

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Job for next weekend (or maybe during the week) is to pull the centre console out and wire them up. Basic procedure, there a magic box with the headrests, simply yellow to yellow, black to black and add power and they work. While I'm there I'll run a set of RCA leads up the front to link my head unit into the system when I eventually get around to replacing it.

Threw a set of Supercheap heavy duty black canvas seat covers on while I was going. They look good now, but lets see if I still think that in 6 months time ;)

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Hi Everyone,

I caught up with Rod yesterday for a beer at the pub. We had a good gander at his car and it is sooooo clean. Really neat inside and out. He's a top bloke too, we chatted over a couple of beers and he told me he has big plans for his rig. im not sure if it has been mentioned but hes come over from the Dark side having recently owned a Hilux, i told him he made the right decision =P

Cheers again for the catchup Rod looking forward to planning a local trip. Anyone else around the area should jump on in and come along!

Looking good. The problem with this Forum is the number of good ideas and mods that will be deemed "essential", a warning from someone who has done all lot of mods, it never ends :)

Like Rod, I too once owned a Hilux, unbreakable ? BULLDUST, it cost me a fortune fixing all the things that broke on it. I only realised how bad the Hilux really was to drive once I bought the Patrol. If only someone had told me BEFORE I bought the 'lux :(

Welcome along rod and good luck with the bank loan :)

It was great catching up with you Nic, contrary to popular belief, top blokes can and do drive Patrols :smiley_thumbs_up: I was thinking the whole time you look very familiar and I'm sure we've meet before, but I can't for the life of me work out where. Happy to go for a spin when possible.

Yes I have come from the Dark side, although they're not that bad. TimE and Stropp as a moderator on the Hilux forum I know only too well about all the essential mods the forum can provide and my old Hilux was a walking, talking demonstration of this.

It started out like this
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...223-0943_1.jpg

And about $28,000 later ended up twin locked like this ( shocked the crap out of me when I added it up :jawdrop::jawdrop:
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...45115_0006.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...51810_0001.jpg

Hoping the Patrol turns out Ok as it's got a fair bit to live up to, but I'm quietly confident that with a 3-4" lift, front locker, shimmed LSD, 35's, etc. it should hold it's own. :D

Given that ATM I'm broke, I'm just working on some of the nice things to have like power outlets, LEDs, tidy wiring, (DVD headrests came out of the Hilux), etc. building the platform as they say.

BTW, Ben-e-boy and others, take note, Rod claims he had either 10" or 14" of wheel travel in the above IFS lux. so i cant wait to see what hell try to get out of his new troll.

also, you been involved in any sports in the local area? i think you looked vaguely farmiliar but just like you i cant figure out why but i guesss the truth will come out eventually lol.

14" I wish :biggrin: sway bars and progressive bump stops limited the travel a bit, but made it really nice on the bigger bumps, it's all a trade off. I played soccer and squash in the area for 20+ years. Could have just been up the pub also.

Well, today my new ride had a little upgrade. After running OziExplorer in my Hilux on the little 7" double DIN screen for my mapping, I was determined to do something different this time and make something a bit easier to see and user friendly. The OziExplorer on the Windows CE platform just seemed "hard" to use, well at least for me anyway.

With a bit of inspiration from fellow interwebers I set upon installing my iPad into my truck in a way that worked. This is what I did.

First I bought this stuff $78

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and then put it together for a bit of a dry run. Looks good :D

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8c207e6c.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psa278eb0a.jpg

Now where to mount it? I was keen for a stealth mounting solution, the last thing I wanted to do was cannibalise the dash, so I picked on the little cubby house storage pocket at the top of the dash with the flip up lid.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pse9416906.jpg

Time now to rip the dash apart. Comes apart pretty easy actually.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps704b021a.jpg

Now to mount the base to the back of the pocket. The RAM units are made out of high quality aluminium and feature a rubber coated ball which grips the arm very well. Luckily for me RAM decided to make the diameter of the base unit about half a millimetre smaller than the height of the back of the pocket, couldn't have designed it any better if you tried. Placed it in there and drilled some holes, then bolted it up with some 6x16 button head bolts and nyloc nuts.

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Then reassembled the dash

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Looks like it was meant to be there. Test fitted the arm and iPad holder

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7d252203.jpg

Perfect fit :D :D :first:

Now to test it out, bring in the iPad

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Perfect fit. The base of the iPad is about 10mm in front of the silver pen tray on the dash and the arm rests on the base of the pockect to help hold the weight. It doesn't block the use/view of the radio and absolutely has zero impact on your forward vision, perfect location. It's as solid as a rock and doesn't move at all. Very pleased with the end result. :bigthumbup:

While I was there I put a couple of COB LED map lights in, mega bright.

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Looks good mate, i think Megatexture has his iPad mounted exactly the same way. Good spot for the ram mount and on my list for sure. On my recent Simpson trip though i found that the iPad stood up in the pen trough at the front of that flip up perfectly an i just use a little gaffa tape to each side to hold t in the position. sat there for 5,000kms including a Desert Crossing and some serious corrugations.

While it was all apart fitting a 12v or USB charging point in the back next to the Ram mount would have been a winner for sure! I was just going to use some self tappers but i like your big washers, if i do that though and pull it fully apart then a charging point will go in too.

I can also tell you for sure you WILL NOT need to shim your rear LSD! Welcome to Nissans mate. The Nissan LSD is the Ducks Guts! Leave the shims for the Toys. You wont get it much tighter than the factory did! In 4WD Low Range i am unable to do a U Turn or Tight turn at all on Bitumen for diff wind up! Crazy tight.

Enjoy you Nissan. I like White ones ;)

I saw Megatextures install and plagiarised it, it's a winning idea. I have a USB socket coming to go next to the RAM mount, that's why it's off to one side, but ebay let me down and it didn't turn up in time. There's a problem anyway as there's only about 7mm clearance behind the pocket to the aircon ducting, so I'm thinking the USB socket is going to have to be mounted against a false back and will consume a bit of real estate inside the pocket?? When it turn up, I'll pull it apart and see what I come up with.

I like white ones too, can't see the pin striping. I'm hoping the Patrol LSD lives up to its reputation.

Ive got a dual usb plug in mine and it fit fine ill see if I can rember to post a pic for you but it was a baintech dual usb

That would be great, I remembered reading your build and you made mention of it, but I didn't see the finished product and after I pulled mine apart I thought I worked out why. If you've made it fit I'd be keen to see that. There is probably room to mount it in the sides of the pocket or even in the roof of the pocket??

The USB I used is a surface mount one and it gave no issue to fit.
The cord hanging out is a audio input plug for IPods etc

You could mount it without the panel and screws but mounting like that would require the dash to come off to change the fuse on it.

http://www.baintech.com.au/baintech/...et-flush-mount

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rusty_nail

BTW, Ben-e-boy and others, take note, Rod claims he had either 10" or 14" of wheel travel in the above IFS lux. so i cant wait to see what hell try to get out of his new troll.

also, you been involved in any sports in the local area? i think you looked vaguely farmiliar but just like you i cant figure out why but i guesss the truth will come out eventually lol.

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Thats wheel travel. Not shock travel, that is very different

Wow, I'm intrigued as to how you got that in there. I only have about 7mm behind the pocket before I hit the air on ducting covered by the foam in the pic below

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps704b021a.jpg

I have a Narva dual USB socket which is about 25-30mm deep plus the terminals. Hmm??

The one I have has wires attached so quite slim, there is a side profile pic in the link you can click it to enlarge i fitted the ram mount and USB with only removing the dash cover, I left the compartment attached.

That's a much thinner design than the Narva one :-)

Welcome to the world of Patrol's
Like the mods you've done mate, no doubt it'll be just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't worry about playing with the LSD, they're nothing like the Toyota offering (which is limited and it slips)
Nissan LSD are built as a cone, so even with a worn clutch pack, the design is suck that it will still provide positive lockup, one of the reasons a lot of the guys in toy it's put them under comp trucks.


Sent from my iPhone using Motorculture mobile app

I'm keen to find out and see what it's like, but need to get some sliders under it first (there're on order currently) and get a bit of lift under it to stop it dragging it's arse on the ground, can't believe how low they are as stockers. If I took it out with my mates where we usually go, there'd be nothing left of the sills :-(

What brand sliders you getting ?

I've got a set of Bolsy's on order, hopefully be here next week or there abouts.

Next on the list is suspension and a rear bar.

What's to go with bash plates under these things? Back in my IFS Hilux world, front bash plates were one of the first things you did as the stock ones weren't any better than a piece of alfoil. But all my Patrol has is a plastic wind deflector ;-) yet there doesn't seem to be much talk about it or market for it, or have I just been living under a rock..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rocket55

What's to go with bash plates under these things? Back in my IFS Hilux world, front bash plates were one of the first things you did as the stock ones weren't any better than a piece of alfoil. But all my Patrol has is a plastic wind deflector ;-) yet there doesn't seem to be much talk about it or market for it, or have I just been living under a rock..

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Hey Rod,

the Bloke who makes the "Harris Hardcase" did a limited run of steering damper protectors to replace that plastic piece of rubbish tucked under the front, but i dont think he is doing any more. apart from that i dont know of anyone who is doing/has done them?

cheers, Nic

its made by mal H his thread is Here

the Hardnose looks like this:

Attachment 49135

Thanks Nic, looks like something else to add to the list. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about this type of armour, as the Patrols definitely lead with their diff..

Generally its because the diffs are tough as but I guess everything has a breaking point

Well bit of an update today, I've been slowly accumulating bits and pieces and decided to tackle a few jobs. First up was to remove the stupid sunglass holder that my sunnies don't fit in anyway and replace it with a functional almost factory looking switch panel..

First up prime and paint the panel

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psdsupb5lh.jpg

Then remove the overhead console and the sunglass holder

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9fw5ay6m.jpg

Make up some little aluminium retaining clips and secure the new switch panel

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psefxnrfyp.jpg

Now the fun part. Remove all the bits that hold the headlining up and the A pillar cover. I was going to use trailer wire but the stuff I had was to thin, so I just ran 6 x 3mm twin core up there.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psjoxh1ju0.jpg

Cable tied them all together and to a roof support so they don't rattle in the roof and run them down the A pillar to a Baintech 6 way fuse block

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pszbtmh5xn.jpg

Install the switches, wire them up and put it all back together.

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While the roof was apart I installed my dash cam and also finished off the electrical installation of my DVD headrests.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rocket55

Well bit of an update today, I've been slowly accumulating bits and pieces and decided to tackle a few jobs. First up was to remove the stupid sunglass holder that my sunnies don't fit in anyway and replace it with a functional almost factory looking switch panel..

First up prime and paint the panel

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psdsupb5lh.jpg

Then remove the overhead console and the sunglass holder

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9fw5ay6m.jpg

Make up some little aluminium retaining clips and secure the new switch panel

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psefxnrfyp.jpg

Now the fun part. Remove all the bits that hold the headlining up and the A pillar cover. I was going to use trailer wire but the stuff I had was to thin, so I just ran 6 x 3mm twin core up there.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psjoxh1ju0.jpg

Cable tied them all together and to a roof support so they don't rattle in the roof and run them down the A pillar to a Baintech 6 way fuse block

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pszbtmh5xn.jpg

Install the switches, wire them up and put it all back together.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psyboyrz5r.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psebkjgsfe.jpg

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http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pstw9qz91z.jpg

While the roof was apart I installed my dash cam and also finished off the electrical installation of my DVD headrests.

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thats really neat mate. and yeah the glasses holder has always baffled me abit... totally useless for anything but blind people specs...

Another update:

While I was installing my overhead switches I ran all the wiring for the dash cam, it just fits behind the mirror. I'm contemplating painting the back of the mirror a dark grey to hide the camera a bit.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps658f6aa1.jpg

The following weekend I installed my winch. A few weeks ago I picked up a Runva 11XP. The winch slips in from underneath really easily and bolts up through the front of the bull bar. This means the rope has to spool off the top of the drum, no big deal, just means it gets mounted with the gearbox on the drivers side. Because of this I had to remove the gearbox and rotate it 90 degrees to bring the level back up to the top, this took less than 10 minutes.

Because the top mounting bolts also hold on the fairlead, I had to get 10mm longer bolts.

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I popped the grill out (undoing those two bottom clips was a PITA, next time I'll just replace them with little bolts) which gave me tonnes of access to wire up the winch. There's cavernous amounts of room behind the grill, but nothing to mount the solenoid box to. So I made a bracket that spans the chassis rails and mounted it to that just drivers side of centre. While I was there I wired up a couple of Hella LED numberplate lights I had lying around from a previous project to light up the drum behind the grill, pretty straight forward and worked a treat.

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In this pic which is looking straight down from above the car you can see my bracket, solenoid box and LED lights

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To finish it off I installed a strip of LED just above the fairlead to light up the front of the car. The internal switch which activates the winch also turns on the lights, should make winching of a night time a bit easier, well that was my rational, but really its just a bit of LED bling and wank factor :harhar:

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...pst79yt86y.jpg

While I was at it I also threw in a set of LED parker/Blinkers (LED Autolamps 175AW). I had these on my previous ute and they were fantastic. No more filling up with mud and rusting.

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nice rig mate

Thanks Skip, it's starting to come along. I'm starting to look at suspension packages atm. Current thinking is 3" lift (not too high, not too low), Superior springs and Profender adjustable remote res shocks. Then to bolt a set of 35's onto it.

An Opposite Lock Slim Line (Windcheater) roof rack and 40" Aurora light bar might slip in there along the way too. I'm thinking maybe a 2m rack as opposed to a 2.2m rack is better as it keeps the light bar back a bit from the top of the screen....

Started building my barn door table on the long weekend

The replacement door card (6mm Marine ply)

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psdc3294c7.jpg

and the table (12mm Marine ply), a few screws and some glue then ready for a coat of paint.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps34b7f5d5.jpg

Well slowly getting the new bus ready, today I installed some front recovery points (not that I'll need them :cool:)

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Also installed a little extension bracket so the small rear barn door opens up to 90 degrees

Before

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During

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and after

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55deccb6.jpg

It's not much, but you can see the extra opening amount where the door lines up against the tail light in the rear bumper, makes all the difference for the mounting position of the fridge.

Now just to finish installing the other bits that are here or will be here by the weekend

- Barn door table (just finishing off painting it)
- Driving lights
- Sliders
- Snorkel
- Volt meters
- USB plugs

That's probably enough for now. :D

Been a big weekend for Rockets bus. First up I put a new set of lights on the front, these things seem to work pretty well :D

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They kinda draw heaps more amps than the other set so a whole new wiring install was required.

While the front was all apart I ran winch controls up into the cab.

In testing the lights I made a rookie mistake :oops: I left the grill out to make adjustments easier and drove off with the grill clips still sitting on the bull bar, so now I need to get some new ones...

I love the switches in the sunglass holder on the roof console

Then it was time to put some sliders on, these are from Bolsy up in QLD and look like a high quality product. A bit of fiddling around to get them on, but all in all pretty straight forward.

Before

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The naked look

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And finished

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Cut out of the front flare to fit

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Now for the scary bit, time to mount up the snorkel. I opted for a TJM snorkel, well, because I like the look of them, nice and neat.

Laid out on the installation table, you can see my barn door table on the end of the table. This is just needing another coat of paint and then it goes on too.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7cf06ff.jpg

The clean up and guard preparation, I gave it a quick polish, easier to do it without a snorkel on. Jacked it up, put it on a stand and removed the wheel for access.

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The strip out begins, airbox out, battery and tray out, inner guard out, arial out.

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Stick on the template.

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Centre punch, take some brave pills and drill some holes. Always feels better after the first one and nothing happened. I don't know what I was expecting to happen after all it's just sheet metal, but I had visions of the drill wandering around across the guard, the car falling off the stand, something blowing up... anyway it all went pretty smoothly :D

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Now time for the big sucker, 111mm diameter. More brave pills, get a grip and just do it. Nice steady pressure, a good speed, not to fast and not too slow, although I did find that it worked better when spun faster that what I thought was a good speed. I found on my 3 speed drill, I was in 2nd gear at about 3/4 rpms. Remember to stop regularly as you can generate enough heat to burn the existing paint and cause it to bubble away from the guard, well at least that was the tip I was given by TJM when I picked up the snorkel.

TIP: mask over the rubber strip between the flare and the guard, as hot filings will burn into the rubber (again I was told this by my friendly TJM store).

Phew All done 8-)

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A bit of stuffing around, stacks of Sensor Safe Sikaflex 227, a few swear words, late for dinner and whollar its on :D

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I did find there was a substantial gap between the airbox and the duct that goes through the guard. I removed and threw away that stupid foam seal on the flange of the airbox, how is anyone suppose to seal anything with that there. Anyway with his missing, one side was touching and the other side had about a 5-6mm gap :o I'm thinking WTF! Nothing a generous helping of Sikaflex won't fix, a good bead around both surfaces, airbox in and I could see it squeegee out all the way around, put everything else back in and job done.

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