Archive for category: News

When you think of hardcore 4WDing the Prado 150 isn’t always the first vehicle that springs to mind. To date, the subtle appearance and comfort features that the Prado offers has won the hearts of many a family guy and grey nomad – but don’t be mistaken, this is one Prado that is built to do the hard yards off road and it’s combined styling and off-road capability (while a little left field) are certainly going to turn some heads out on the tracks.

Our customer Aaron fitted all the components himself and with a pre-order in on the newly released TJM T13 Outback bull bar to suit the latest facelifted Prado, he couldn’t wait to get the bar fitted up and ready to play. A set of TJM brush bars and side steps was also added for the ultimate in frontal protection. TJM has upgraded the tubing on all the bar work for the newest 150 Prado form 50mm up to 63mm tubing giving the front end even more protection than ever before. Matching TJM under-body protection was also fitted offering three millimetres of heavy duty steel construction to protect the Prado’s underbody vitals.

The bar also houses the TJM Torq 9,500lbs winch with synthetic rope and wireless remote features to take care of recovery duties and is also a mounting platform for the TJM Narva 215 LED driving lights. These lights are acing all the light shootouts at the moment and the TJM/ Narva  partnership branding now gives you that TJM signature look with proven Narva reliability and performance.

The rear end of the Prado is well protected by a Kaymar steel rear bar which also incorporates a tow bar. Aaron has also fitted a TJM recovery hitch as a rear recovery option and the bumper replacement bar saves costly rear OEM replacement parts when you’re skull dragging the rear end of your 4WD through creek beds and over rock shelves. A Darche Eclipse 2×2.5m roll-out awning provides some much needed shelter from the elements whilst out on the tracks and it’s mounted to an alloy flat rack.

Clean, dry air is fed to the intake is through a TJM Airtec snorkel and the Airtec is designed for the Prado to keep a low profile and to hug the body lines of the car, keeping it out of harm’s way whilst improving airflow by catching the wind draft off the front windscreen.

Aaron went about fitting a dual battery system for those long touring stints using the TJM 25A 3 stage BCDC battery charger. This powers a 105A/hr deep cycle battery and is capable of solar charge input as well, so there’s plenty of juice available for those extended camping trips. Communications are taken care of by a Uniden 9060 UHF radio and a Uniden AT890W 6.6dbI antenna.

Suspension is courtesy of Kings and Aaron has gone for the 2.5 Racing Shocks with remote reservoir, Cal Offroad upper control arms and Cal Offroad rear springs. Ride height is now sitting at 3″ with increased ride control from compression and rebound adjustability, and increased axle articulation.  The Prado is rolling on 17x 8″ Kings D-Locker rims with a zero offset, wrapped in a set of BF Goodrich KM2 mud terrain tyres which measure in at 305/65 x 17 inches, for the ultimate in traction when the going gets tough.

This Prado is rocking a whole host of other great off-road features including a torque converter lock-up kit installed by Richards Auto Electrics for lower transmission temps and better fuel economy which compliments the A-trac intelligent off-road traction control system and factory rear diff lock for extra traction when needed.

Aaron tells us there’s plenty more touring mods yet to come for the Prado including some rear draws, performance mods and camp lighting. Keep your eye out for this unique looking Prado on the tracks. Aaron’s built it do the hard yards and don’t be surprised if you see it pop up on some of the most iconic tracks an the country.

Here at TJM Hunter Valley we can have a brand new vehicle built ready to roll, decked out with all the accessories you need before you even take delivery. In fact we can even source the vehicle without you having to run around between dealerships.

We sourced this latest 79 Series Landcruiser and partially kitted it out when a customer inquired about getting into a new 79 Landcruiser with the works. We had already installed a heavy duty alloy tray built by Norweld Australia which caught the customer’s eye. The 3.5 Deluxe Tray Package comes with colour coded running boards and under tray tool lockers,  and heavy duty 76mm tubing on the headboard.  These features combined with a good departure angle from the slimline rear toolboxes makes the Norweld the ultimate tray to suit these vehicles for off-road and touring.

The full compliment of TJM bar work was fitted including the T13 Outback bull bar, brush bars and side steps. The Toyota snorkel was replaced with the one piece TJM Airtec unit giving a better seal than the original two piece OE snorkel and a more efficient, better looking snorkel head.

A Jmacx kit was a must-have for our customer and with conventional leaf springs still in the vehicle when it was advertised, we set about pulling the rear end of the truck apart and fitting the new rear axle and coil spring conversion kit. The added axle articulation, longer wheel travel and a more refined ride quality more than outweigh the cost of the conversion and with a GVM upgrade a standard feature of the kit, the 79 is now more capable than ever before.

The kit is complimented with the best quality shocks that money can buy – the King shocks with remote canisters, internal bypass and adjustable compression. The Kings are specifically designed and valved to suit the unique application of the Jmacx kits and these shocks give a great combination of load carrying ability, ride comfort and pure off-road performance. They are simply built to perform and on a big, heavy truck like the 79 Series – you definitely need to go big or go home on the shock absorbers.

Torqit has specifically designed a custom exhaust to suit the Jmacx coil cradle in 3.5″ stainless steel that runs from the DPF back to give the 79 a better note and better performance by freeing up exhaust gas flow. Torqit have worked closely with us to come up with a performance exhaust to suit the rest of their performance package which we commonly fit to these Jmacx builds. However on this particular occasion the customer had opted to do an ECU remap, so we enlisted the guys at Streamline Automotive to tune the big V8 up and torque gains of almost 50% where achieved. A Provent catch can was also fitted for extra engine protection from harmful exhaust gas recirculation.

A dual battery system was fitted using the TJM 3 Stage BCDC battery charger, Piranha off-road battery tray and Ultimate 110A/hr Red Top AGM battery. This set up will handle most touring applications and is capable of solar input for topping up on those extended stays. A Haymen Reese heavy duty tow bar and a set of Clearview towing mirrors where fitted to take care of towing duties.

Moving inside the cab which received a once over with the centre piece being the fridge console from Cruiser Consoles. This is a tailor made centre console and gearstick surround that fits the Waeco CDF11 fridge/freezer. Keeping your lunch and drinks cold and on-hand now doesn’t even involve getting out of driver’s seat to open the fridge. An overhead console was also fitted, supplied by the Department of the Interior which houses the Uniden UH9050 UHF radio as well as some power outlets and a volt gauge to monitor what the dual battery system is doing.

The whole package is rolling out on 17×9 Allied Goanna alloy wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson MTZ tyres which measure 315/70 17 inches and are not only a hardcore off-road wheel , but also set the styling of this 79 apart from the rest.

After spending a bit of time travelling in the outback its quite easy to make a unanimous decision that the 79 series is pretty much the people’s choice when it comes to touring this great country of ours. So with the popularity stakes being so high on a particular vehicle it’s hard to make one stand out from the crowd. However this is one 79 Series that is not only a capable off-roader but also looks a million dollars.

After taking some inspiration from our own previous 79 Series build and seeing what we can do to these trucks, owner Glenn contacted us and basically asked us to replicate what we had done to ours,  with some additional unique features and touches added along the way. Glenn didn’t have time to run around sourcing the vehicle from dealerships or to run all over town looking for the various bits and pieces required for the build, so we set about organising everything for the build including the purchase of the car itself.

We started with the full complement of TJM bar work including the T13 Outback bull bar, brush bars and side steps which feature 63mm tubing throughout as well as the TJM Front Under Body Guard. The bull bar houses the TJM 12,000lbs Torq winch with synthetic rope and Factor 55 Prolink hook to winch all those Nissans out that are encountered out on the track.  Also bolted to the bar is a set of Lightforce HTX driving lights which use a combination of HID and LED technology to bring you the best of both worlds of a night time by providing up to almost 2km of light with a good range of spread also coming form the LED outer lights.

For added storage a Rhino Pioneer Tradie rack was fitted and additional campsite lighting was fitted compliments of 2 Lightforce Rok 20 work lights fitted to the platform, underslung so as not to impede on the storage area of the platform.

The tray and dog-box canopy was supplied by Thorburns & Sons Fabrications and the colour coded combination really sets this 79 apart as well as being highly functional as a touring vehicle. The slim-line angled under body tool boxes give the tray a better departure angle and dual spare wheel carrying capacity makes this 79 even more versatility for remote area touring. It also has a built in trundle tray and 65L water tank for extra storage, utilising the underside of the tray which leaves more room for beer and swags on the top side.

Another stand-out feature of this truck is the Jmacx coil spring conversion kit which (just in case you’ve been living under a rock recently) does away with the factory rear leaf springs in place of coil springs, includes an upgraded rear axle housing which evens the wheel track front to rear and also comes with upgraded axles which are 200 times stronger than the Toyota OME gear. The end result is improved ride quality, improved axle articulation and travel, and a bulletproof rear end. The kit is also certified with a GVM upgrade, taking the 79s maximum gross vehicle mass to 3900kgs at 3 inches of fully legal lift.

The 70 series single turbo V8 diesel is known for being more of a big lazy engine than an outright powerhouse, so power mods were always on the cards for this truck once a bit of weight and bigger tyres were added. An upgraded stainless steel airbox, intake piping and snorkel by Thorburns Fabrication was added for increased airflow before sending the truck up to Ashley at Streamline Automotive in Beresfield for an ECU remap where they massaged around about 50% more torque out of the 4.5L oiler. A ceramic coated 3″ mandrel bent stainless steel exhaust was knocked up by Jmacx to improve gas flow, whilst catering to the unique route the system needs to take to make its way around the rear coil spring cradle. A Torqit Pedal Torq module was also added for improved throttle response and reduced turbo lag to get the big heavy beast off the mark a bit quicker.

Engine protection comes courtesy of a Diesel Care pre-diesel filter and a HPD billet alloy catch can. An Exceedy heavy duty clutch was fitted to handle the power, weight and tyre size upgrades and power is delivered to the ground through a set of Pro Comp Series 69 alloy rims that measure 16×10 inches and a set of Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 all-terrain tyres that measure 315/75 16 or 35 inches in the old scale.

A Long Range Automotive 180L replacement tank gives this 79 a better touring range A TJM 25A DC solar charger  and a 110A/hr Ultimate Extreme AGM battery takes care of power needs and a Redarc Tow Prow Elite and breakaway monitor take care of towing duties along side the Hayman Reese heavy duty tow bar. Rearward vision whilst towing is also made easier with a set of Clearview towing mirrors.

The interior of this 79 series has been left far from untouched as well with Department of the Interior supplying both overhead and centre floor consoles for some added interior storage and cup  holders. The basic Toyota sound system was replaced with a Kenwood full infotainment unit including 8 inch subwoofer, Kenwood Navigation, reverse camera and a dual headrest DVD system for back seat passengers – supplied and fitted by Stefan at House of Soundz in Kotara. The seats are well protected by a set of Wetseat seat covers by Inland Australia and the floors are well covered with a set of Sandgrabber mats by No Bull.

There’s no doubt this is one of the best looking 79s getting around and the amount of time and attention to detail that’s gone into the build is reflective of the end result. Every aspect of the build was orchestrated by us to save the customer hours of painstaking groundwork. It’s certainly a head turner and a more than capable tourer – and one I’m sure we will see around the tracks getting dirty.

TJM Products have secured a Platinum Sponsorship of the Tatts Finke Desert Race this year in Alice Springs. The two-day desert endurance race is an absolute Mecca for all things off -road including bikes, cars, buggies and quads and is said to be one of the most challenging off-road courses in one of the most remote locations in the world.

We’ll also be competing in the event with our sister company Sherco Motorcycles Newcastle. We are looking forward to the event which is hosted over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June and will be flying both the Sherco and TJM Flags over the course of the event.

Keep an eye on our website, social media pages and Sherco Motorcycles Newcastle’s pages as well for more updates and coverage of the event. Check out TJM’s video on Finke below:

This would have to be one of the coolest looking 200 series LandCruisers we’ve come across and with stage one of the build just being completed with plenty more goodies to go on this very unique looking wagon, this is one beast that’s bound to turn heads were-ever it goes!

Our good mates at Valley Air Conditioning were after something different, to stand out and set their vehicle apart. They opted for a combination of a flat grey wrap with all the chrome blacked out, black bar work and wheels. The TJM Patriot bar was the perfect option for this unique looking truck as the limited-edition bar has only 100 units to its name and is one of the stand-out features of the vehicle. It features the T13 Outback design with all the hoops removed, laser cut logo and the limited edition build numbered badge on the front of the bar with inspiration taken from the Patriot Campers’ Mega Tourer.

This 200 is running Fox 2.0 Performance suspension all round including heavy duty upper control arms by Black Hawk and a Roadsafe diff drop kit. This gives the car the ride quality you would expect from a 200 Series but will also perform off-road better than most.

It’s off road ability is now backed up by Harrop E-lockers both front and rear, along-side Harrop diff breathers at both ends. The engine bay houses a HPD billet alloy catch can and secondary fuel filter kit by Diesel Care for extra engine protection.  Outback touring capability is improved by a dual battery system using a TJM 25A 3 stage BCDC charging unit and 100A/hr deep cycle battery with solar input for keeping the beers cooler for longer on those extended camping trips.

A TJM Airtec snorkel has been fitted to the 200 for cleaner air flow and water crossings. The Airtec design for the 200 Series has a low-profile head which is designed to catch wind drafts from the front of the car and windscreen and has a neat, tidy look that is tucked down well out of harms way for when you’re tackling the tight nasty tracks.

A Rhino Pioneer platform gives the big wagon valuable added storage room and the backbone mounting system not only adds integrity to the unit, but also looks the part as well. A GME XRS370C UHF radio and AE4705B antenna have been fitted to handle communications and a neat finish is achieved by using the Lightforce face plate to wire the handpiece into the dash through one of the factory auxiliary switch panels.

There is more to come with this awesome looking rig and the next instalment will include some more trick bar work and we’ll be sure to bring you some more good shots of the beast completed.