While 4x4Explorer’s Richard Soult was plotting trips in Europe over the winter he had Scott from Opposite Lock in Christchurch prepping his Prado for the coming Kiwi summer.

Prior to starting 4X4Explorer and moving to the South Island, all of my trips were solo affairs in the previously purple Prado. At this point, the only modifications that I had made to the truck were a drawer system, which converted to a sleeping platform and fitted it with  a set of All Terrain tyres.

Thinking back with hindsight about all the trips that I did, I probably got away with more than I should have.

That said, prior to selling up in Auckland and heading to the Mainland, quite a bit of work was done to create a vehicle capable of sustained Overlanding. I have written about this previously but the main mods included a dual battery system, removing the back seats to create more storage, a complete Rhino-Rack roof system, snorkel and raised and strengthened suspension to cope with all the extra weight.

Friendly locals

I’m pretty active on Facebook promoting 4X4Explorer, but was surprised by the friendliness of the 4WD community in the South Island. Before I knew it, I was being invited on trips by people proud to show a JAFA their favourite local spots.

Now the difference between travelling alone and in company is that you are tempted to tackle more and more challenging tracks and river crossings, safe in the knowledge that a recovery team is there on hand.

With this new tougher terrain, I knew that if I wanted the truck to survive, some extra mods were going to be needed. 

The first things that I sourced were a set of Rock Sliders, which had been custom built for a Prado and no longer needed. These are crucial if your sills are going survive. It turned out that Scott at Opposite Lock in Christchurch had fabricated these and that’s where I returned to have them fitted.

Fab news

The next thing that I wanted was some underbody protection. I spoke with Scott and he told me that he had a template and could fabricate something for me. I now had 3mm steel running back to the front axle. This was painted orange to match the 4X4Explorer logo.

The modifications quickly escalated and before not too long, I had Maxxis RAZR 772 mud tyres, an Ironman4X4 bar and winch and full recovery kit. The truck was now very capable but some further mods were needed...

Before heading off to Europe for six months, I was a bit cheeky and asked Scott if I could store the truck in his workshop in exchange for an extensive list of works to be carried out over the winter.

Extra protection

Whilst the under armour that Scott had fabricated was good, it had seen some action and had suffered some damage. We decided that some extra reinforcement was needed. Scott also extended it back to the transfer case.

The other thing that needed doing was finding a way to protect the fuel tank, which had taken quite a beating! So much so that on a recent trip, we ran out of petrol before the fuel warning light came on!! The fuel tank on a petrol Prado is very vulnerable and the factory protection is simply not fit for purpose.

Scott again came to the rescue and while we were away, fabricated a three mm steel armour casing, again finished in 4X4Explorer orange. I haven’t tested it yet but it looks great and should keep the petrol tank alive for a few more years!

Hard wiring

Other items on the list included hard wiring the work light and LED strips around the rear door and fitting a dedicated switch. Scott also changed the battery, changed all the bushes, etc, that needed changing and gave it a full service. 

Not only that but when we arrived back, Scott also refitted the Redarc components for the dual battery system, which we had taken to Europe, and I was able to drive the old Prado-saurus out of the workshop safe in the knowledge that everything had been done.

Sure, I’ve departed from my original plan to drive a reasonably standard vehicle but am extremely pleased with the extra capability that I now have and the truck is quite a head turner, which can’t be bad for business!

Speaking of which, if you haven’t’ already done so and you’re looking at getting out and about in your 4WD I have logged nearly 800 tracks you can explore. To find out more about 4x4explorer.co.nz you can subscribe here at https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff=2818