I cannot answer that one @Dobbie as I think I am Gods Gift to Mankind as well.........................
I have met both of you and for the love of my life I AM NOT saying a word
eep: 
New Landcrusier GX 200
- Thread starter yabbietol
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- gx landcrusier 200
I have met both of you and for the love of my life I AM NOT saying a word
eep: Ugly or not we used to have them on work vehicles (Colorado's) at a previous place of employment and the fleet manager did a shed load of research and they were selected due to the safety factor.. Have seen some results of incidents where if a steel or ali one was fitted the vehicles would have been towed away... Not the ones with a smartbar (Fair enough the bars did come of worse for wear and needed replacing but that was all needed).
Not that ugly in my view but not my cup of tea if concerned about looks.
If you are happy with it @yabbietol that's your decision and all that counts... But the main thing is that they are functional for what they are fitted for!
And most of all.... Here's hoping that it is like all safety equipment and you DON'T have the need to actually test it out!
After re-reading before submitting I just remembered that they didn't look as big on the Colorado's and didn't look too bad!
@yabbietol my appolagies mate, it was a tounge in cheek comment following the line you used about the mirrors and air intake, in all honesty I much preferred the previous front end on the 200's and think every thing they put up front will struggle to ease that view for me, for what it's worth the Smart bart at least looks better than either the steel or ally factory offerings.
Only thing that struck me was the thickness of the side hoops and if the impacted the light spread from the headlights.
I'll go back under my rock now.......................
Only thing that struck me was the thickness of the side hoops and if the impacted the light spread from the headlights.
I'll go back under my rock now.......................
sorry @Dobbie
I think I got confused as Harry Potter was on TV - and I was half watching it
sorry mate
Suspension now upgraded fitted Carrolls Springs (Kings) and Aussie Ryder Shocks (Ultimate Suspension). Tried very hard to keep all Australian made and succeeded. Got them fitted by a local suspension Workshop in Queanbeyan (Align Right) all up ~$1500 with wheel alignment. Have not towed yet but have driven a few km on some local roads and its seems a lot more solid and stable.
Upgrade budget is now spent a bit over ~ $10K, in a few weeks.
Tyres $1K + Air Bags $0.6K + Draws, Fridge slide, ½ cargo barrier $2.7K + Smart Bar $2.5K + Suspension $1.5K + Water Watch $0.9K and Catch Can (Pro Vent) $0.5K
Now all we have to do is fit recycled LED lights and recycled CB.
In the future splitting the two batteries may happen (~1.8K), but enough $ spent for now.
Now we have to get out do some travel.
Upgrade budget is now spent a bit over ~ $10K, in a few weeks.
Tyres $1K + Air Bags $0.6K + Draws, Fridge slide, ½ cargo barrier $2.7K + Smart Bar $2.5K + Suspension $1.5K + Water Watch $0.9K and Catch Can (Pro Vent) $0.5K
Now all we have to do is fit recycled LED lights and recycled CB.
In the future splitting the two batteries may happen (~1.8K), but enough $ spent for now.
Now we have to get out do some travel.
I used to have the Ultimate Suspension on my old old FJ55 (they stopped selling over here in the late 90's - they had a shop on Osb Pk)
fan-freaking-tastic I though
made the 55 stick to the road like the proverbial to a blanket
fan-freaking-tastic I though
made the 55 stick to the road like the proverbial to a blanket
I actually like the smart bars cannot get them on the Disco otherwise we would off. Where I do not mind the ARB bar on the D4 Sarah still hates having the bullbar on.
You have my sympathy,we had a NP Pajero for 8 years to which had a Smartbar fitted and were very happy with it. We replaced it with a NW Pajero and there was no Smartbar available for that model. I can understand they need to make moulds of each shape and that must cost a lot of $ so they cannot cover all the models on the market, but a bit frustrating for a customer.
One altrnative, though not as good was on the NW we put a light weight alloy powered coated East Coast Bullbar (ECB) it was functional ,but not as good as the Smartbar. The weight on the front end was always an issue with the Pajero's both bars solved the weight problem. We are pleased that a Samrtbar for the LC200 became avaialbe at the right time for us. The ECB looks less like a bull bar, it looks like a nudge bar on steroids, especially if colour matched. I agree the ARB steel bar looks good when colour matched, but they are heavy.
This is the ECB alloy bullbar on my BT50. Looks pretty much like any bullbar but half the weight,
Good stuff @yabbietol ultimate have always had a great name in suspensions. The owner Ken would be one of GE most knowledgable around. Although I am not sure his Aussie Ryder are actually Aussie made but stand to be corrected? Iam pretty sure Monroe are the last AU manufacturer so if it has Australia stamped on the body they are.
Re splitting the batteries why so much? Quality isolator <$300 and if you mount it behind the headlight you can use the existing battery cable. Or is yours the newer one without a second battery?
When I asked Ultimate they told me Aussie made so took their word for it. They are the same grey as Monroe?
Splitting batteries not critical, already got Anderson plug 12v and Waeco battery cut off. Will eventually split batteries, but may wait till OEM batteries have given us a couple of years and go for something fancier and more heavy duty, battery technology keeps changing. Redarc even have Lithium chargers in their range in 2 years car Lithium may be affordable.
LC 200 is great touring tow done about 2500k in the last couple of weeks.
Most likely are then. Pedders and few other used to get batches of shocks made by Monroe but to there valving requests.
A nice spot next to a Billabong at Van park just east of Wilcannia about a week ago.
Photo from our archives of East Coast Alloy Bull bar that was on our NW Pajero. It was very light and seemed very solid, but luckily did not hit any thing with it. So cannot tell how strong. However, it did not have any significant effect on the Pajero handling, with standard shocks and springs at in front (Bilsteins shocks, Lovell's Springs and Polyair bags in rear).
Just finished a 3,500K in 3½ weeks, mostly bitumen road trip from home to Dubbo, Wilcannia, Broken Hill, Burra (SA), Lake Alexandra, Millicent, Mt Gambier, Hamilton (Vic), Maryborough, Great Alpine Road (Mt Hotham), Lakes Entrance, Dalgety (NSW) and back home.
All the modifications worked well, very pleased with the suspension (especially the Ultimate Aussie- Ryder shocks) when towing, set the airbags between 12psi and 15psi, think all air pressure the bags need is 12psi. The weight of the SmartBar on the front was not really noticeable, it seemed to have little effect on front end handling (Caroll's springs on front may have helped).
A couple of very hot days temp gauge was ok and found generally the best economy at 100km/hr was towing in S5 at about 21-22l / 100k. Tried S4 for a couple of fuel tanks, but economy was 23.5l+ / 100k. Everything seemed very nice at 100km with revs 1800 on flat ground and typically up to 2500 on steeper hills. The LC200 with the 2.5t single axel Kedron just cruised up the very twisty Bright to Mt Hotham road.
Overall very happy with the LC200 and Kedron combo and pleased with our modifications. The LC200 seems more stable towing (especially with the modified suspension) than the Pajero, though I thought the Pajero towed the Kedron OK.
All the modifications worked well, very pleased with the suspension (especially the Ultimate Aussie- Ryder shocks) when towing, set the airbags between 12psi and 15psi, think all air pressure the bags need is 12psi. The weight of the SmartBar on the front was not really noticeable, it seemed to have little effect on front end handling (Caroll's springs on front may have helped).
A couple of very hot days temp gauge was ok and found generally the best economy at 100km/hr was towing in S5 at about 21-22l / 100k. Tried S4 for a couple of fuel tanks, but economy was 23.5l+ / 100k. Everything seemed very nice at 100km with revs 1800 on flat ground and typically up to 2500 on steeper hills. The LC200 with the 2.5t single axel Kedron just cruised up the very twisty Bright to Mt Hotham road.
Overall very happy with the LC200 and Kedron combo and pleased with our modifications. The LC200 seems more stable towing (especially with the modified suspension) than the Pajero, though I thought the Pajero towed the Kedron OK.
Finally got around to fitting 2x LED driving lights transplanted from my Pajero (in picture above). Got a plug and play wiring loom kit from STEDI, it worked well. The 12V from high beam for the relay comes from a very neat piggy back plug that sits behind the high beam globe on one side, a nice simple way get the high beam on 12V with out cutting wires.
A bit of bother with the Deutsch two pins connectors for reasons only known to an auto electrician, I will no longer use the polarity was reversed. So had to replace one plug (broke it taking it apart) and reverse the polarity of the other. I bought two new Deutsch plug/socket sets from Jaycar for about $6 each. It will be nice to have some extra light when driving around our local dark country roads.
https://www.stedi.com.au/2-output-quick-fit-high-beam-driving-light-wiring-kit-plug-play.html
A bit of bother with the Deutsch two pins connectors for reasons only known to an auto electrician, I will no longer use the polarity was reversed. So had to replace one plug (broke it taking it apart) and reverse the polarity of the other. I bought two new Deutsch plug/socket sets from Jaycar for about $6 each. It will be nice to have some extra light when driving around our local dark country roads.
https://www.stedi.com.au/2-output-quick-fit-high-beam-driving-light-wiring-kit-plug-play.html
Something you may/may not find of interest for your cruiser yab.
http://richardsauto.com.au/wp/?page_id=1619
Installed a similar kit to my paj for our trip over crissy and very happy with the difference and the fuel saving. Will pay for itself very quickly and the other trade off is the auto trans fluid temps are greatly reduced.
http://richardsauto.com.au/wp/?page_id=1619
Installed a similar kit to my paj for our trip over crissy and very happy with the difference and the fuel saving. Will pay for itself very quickly and the other trade off is the auto trans fluid temps are greatly reduced.
Thanks @spiderpig It does look very interesting, but for moment I have spent all my budget on the LC200. It may be a consideration a bit down the track when I get some more cash.
So far I have done 8600 km and will soon be going to the 10K service and will have a chat with the dealer about fuel consumption, I have a detailed spreadsheet. I am not too unhappy with towing fuel consumption, considering I usually drive at 100kph (often in winds and hilly country) with a 2.5t and not very aerodynamic 3.2m high off road caravan, but I think it should be a bit better than average 22l per 100k. However, my main concern is I am getting about 13l to 14l per 100k not towing. We have only done 3 tank fills of fuel with no towing, so will be keeping a close eye on towing and non towing fuel consumption.
So far I have done 8600 km and will soon be going to the 10K service and will have a chat with the dealer about fuel consumption, I have a detailed spreadsheet. I am not too unhappy with towing fuel consumption, considering I usually drive at 100kph (often in winds and hilly country) with a 2.5t and not very aerodynamic 3.2m high off road caravan, but I think it should be a bit better than average 22l per 100k. However, my main concern is I am getting about 13l to 14l per 100k not towing. We have only done 3 tank fills of fuel with no towing, so will be keeping a close eye on towing and non towing fuel consumption.
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Those figures are close to what I get out of my 100 series turbo diesel, except I'm towing a 3.2t 8.4m van