Cheers Ash. I already have the bushes as they were in stock locally, and greasable fixed pins will arrive tomorrow.

I'll need to have a better look at the hoses before making a decision, as I'll be deleting the backing plates.
No worries. :)

With any custom stuff or variations, I can have most things made up in 4 business days. Sometimes I need a sample but not always.
Cheers Ash. The caliper hoses aren't retained by the backing plate. It looks like replacements of these, along with extended chassis to diff hoses are available in as a braided type off the shelf.

I fitted the Raybrig headlights with Narva +60 long life bulbs, brake proportioning valve spacer, and changed the oil and filter.

I've decided to sell the Allied Thunder wheels, so I'll be ordering steel wheels in the same size next week (16x10 -44)
Looks like Dynamic do a 16x10 -30, which should reduce rubbing on the guards and make it a bit easier to keep the tyres under the flares.
Brake booster arrived, and tyres are mounted on the new wheels.

Current plan is to fit the rear springs and shackles, then measure and order front springs to level out the ride height. I'll then decide if new radius arms are required, and measure up for new shocks.
35s are on. I think they suit it well, without being too big.



As I suspected, extra lift and possibly aftermarket radius arms will be required for clearance.

I've discovered the current springs are Dobinson C59-252, which are meant to be 2" lift at 150kg constant load, however they're only around 40mm over stock height. Not sure whether to go with 3" lift coils and add spacers if necessary, or 4" and expect them to sag a bit.
That won't help your braking distances. But looks ok.
They won't, but I knew that.

Snorkel is fitted.

With a snorkel. Do you really need a massive lift on it? Does it actively limit your ability to use the Ute once in a blue moon? Can the hilux do that job of being the stupid lifted vehicle?
I don't want this thread to devolve into an argument. That said, no mods I'm doing will make it less practical, less useful, or stupid.
See plenty of similar setup locally with dirt lines showing snorkel was useful.
I'm not intending to argue, genuine questions.
Yes, snorkels are pretty much a necessity for 4WDing. I wouldn't do a water crossing in a diesel without one. They also do a good job of minimising dust drawn into the intake and filter.

I'm not doing a massive lift, looking for the minimum required to clear the tyres.
I am aware of the snorkel bit, just that it already has a lift over stock, plus two or three inch taller than stock tyres, so I am wondering the need to go higher if the snorkel does most of the work to save the car, the trails you go down aren't that ruined by massive lifted vehicles are they?

Obviously wheel clearance is important.
Lift isn't really done just for water crossings. Ground clearance under a LandCruiser on 35s doesn't even match a Hilux on 33s. I knew this going in, but it's one of the trade-offs for the power, comfort, towing capacity and larger tray. High clearance U bolt plates will help too.

The more popular tracks around here (especially the pipeline and powerline tracks) are absolutely thrashed. I'd need at least one diff lock to even think about it. I saw a GU Patrol on 37s squeezed onto a car trailer at the servo last night, being towed by what I think was a BJ74 (MWB, leaf sprung, factory turbo badges and what looked like JDM stickers).

Wheels and tyres are at the shop getting swapped around at the moment so I'll have a safe set of 33s to run around on, and finally a spare tyre again. It should also make it easier to polish the Allied Thunder wheels, which I've decided to sell.

Hoping to order a Roadsafe adjustable panhard rod and high clearance U bolt plates today.

I've decided on Kut Snake flares. They're 3" wide, and will replace the current 2" rubber flex flares. They should go pretty close to covering the 35s.




I know around here, the height isn't so much for depth of water crossing (they're only about the bottom of the front bar on the 4Runner), more the dust cloud travelling on the dirt roads - we were on some over the weekend where you could travel at 60-70kmh quite easily, but the dust if there was a vehicle in front meant your spacing was about 1km...
Vision from inside the vehicle could also be a factor regarding snorkel head placement. In this regard the Safari Armax is a great design. I can barely see any of it through the windscreen, which I think is remarkable for a 4" diameter.

I suspect the snorkel has helped with performance, as the airbox inlet is huge. Fitting involves removing the old 2.25" inlet and doing this:


It looks like I've only lost 6-7km/h up hills with the 35s, which is better than expected. I'll know tomorrow when the 33s are back on.

Added to my wish list:
Thorburns 3mm radiator guard
Roadsafe recovery points
Recovery points and adjustable panhard rod are on their way.
Panhard rod arrived, it's massive. 35mm solid, really long thread engagement and two nuts, it weighs 18kg.

Now to buy a 54mm spanner or more likely an 18" shifter so I can fit it.
Brake booster and catch can are in.
The brakes are much better.
I can now easily lock the fronts on dry tarmac, and all four on gravel.


Removed the cab from the wreck. This should make it much easier to remove the engine and gearbox.


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