READERS’ RIGS – ISSUE 21

By Unsealed 4X4 6 Min Read

 

Jane & Malcolm’s Prado

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Jane and Malcolm take touring seriously! 27,500km worth of serious, to be precise. All this in their trusty Toyota Prado, which they say has never let them down (excluding a few inevitable punctures).

They’ve travelled from NSW to the Cape, across the Savannah Way and through the NT before jumping on to the Gibb River Road and experiencing everything on offer along the way.

Their vehicle is kitted out with Bilstein gas shocks combined with King Springs and rear air bags, which kept the ride level no matter what the load. The 2in lift certainly came in handy through the Pilbara, down the West Coast from Cape Range to Red Bluff and on through Barn Hill Station.

A set of twin rear drawers, a 65L Waeco fridge, recovery gear and their camper trailer kept them comfortable on the road as they tackled everything the Nullarbor had to offer on their drive home, via the Yorke Peninsula and Victoria.

A breezy five months and 4,300L of diesel later and they’re back home planning their next trip.

We’re certainly excited to see how they’ll top this last one, though!

 

View all the images on our Unsealed 4X4 platform HERE.

 

Peter’s FJ45 LandCruiser

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Peter’s classic FJ45 ’Cruiser has seen some things over the 30 years that he’s owned it. Not so much a tourer as a work vehicle, this rig has had 4,500 acres of prime Hunter Valley farmland to traverse.

While it could do with a lick of paint (among other things), Peter says it runs better now than when he bought it. He fixed up the brakes and the dent in the front bumper, repaired the rusty thermostat housing and fitted a new carburettor. He then bolted up Old Man Emu rear shocks, realigned the brakes and replaced the clutch.

The odometer gave up counting years ago, but the rest of the gauges work – he’s even got the original tool roll, jack and tyre from when he purchased it.

These days, Peter tends to zip around his property on his Polaris quad bike, but when there’s fences to fix, firewood to collect or cows to chase, he brings out the ’Cruiser – not bad for a bloke pushing 80!

 

Shaun’s HiLux

Shaun sure has got himself one hell of a story to tell. He broke his back in a motorbike accident four years ago, but rather than give up on his outdoor hobbies, Shaun bought himself a 2012 Toyota Hilux as a solution to make sure he could get himself back out and into the bush.

Shaun has completed most of the work himself too, which he says has kept him sane while he’s been recovering from his accident. If ever you needed proof that you’re only limited by your imagination, Shaun’s impressive list of mods should do the trick.

He’s given his rig some extra grunt too, with a Munro Racing Hi-flow turbocharger, a Pedal Torq chip as well as a 3in Redback exhaust. The long range 145L tank, 12,000lb winch, snorkel, Monster Rides bash plates and Lightforce LED spotlights also help to make this a formidable rig out in the bush.

Stay tuned for a full custom write up on Shaun’s rig in an upcoming issue though, because there is plenty more to mention, that we simply couldn’t fit in here.

 

Jason’s Cherokee

Jason has been reading our humble mag right from issue one, and all the way over in Wisconsin in the USA. Quite frankly Jason, we’re flattered, so thanks mate! Jason has been lusting over the amazing terrain in our country, and we can’t really blame him – we’ve got it pretty good.

In Wisconsin, four-wheel drivers don’t have access to public lands and are often restricted to bitumen and gravel roads. Despite this, Jason’s got an impressive bit of kit on his custom-ordered 2014 3.0L turbo diesel Grand Cherokee WK2.

He’s added Mopar rock sliders, TrailHawk 18in wheels, BFG A/Ts, an ARB 37L fridge/freezer. There’s also a Brunton 12V oven, fire extinguisher and ARB compressor, just to name a few of his mods!

The future certainly looks bright too, with a roof top tent, winch mount and Uneek 4X4 limited slip diff to be added.

In future, Jason is hoping to head to Utah and Arizona and maybe even Colorado and Montana too. You know this jealousy thing goes both ways, right?


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