PART FOUR OF OUR SERIES FOR HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR 4WD IN A DAY

100 easy and essential DIY mods for under $100!

25 – AUTO-OFF HEADLIGHTS

COST: $10
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 2/5
Use a multimeter to figure out which pin on your headlight relay powers up when you turn your headlights on, then use another relay triggered by accessories power to turn your headlight relay on. Run a switch to your dash to be able to cancel the auto-on headlights if you need to, and make sure to only add to any factory wiring, never replace so your lights can still operate like normal.

24 – PORTABLE CAMPING TOILET

COST: $70
TIME: None!
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Don’t wanna answer natures call out bush the traditional way? Get yourself an Adventure Kings Portable Camping Toilet and it will change the way you do your business out bush!

23 – TOWBAR VICE

COST: $50-100
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 2/5
If you’ve got an old vice laying around, get some 50×50 thick wall square tubing and bolt the vice to it, and drill a hole for your hitch pin for a vice out on the tracks.

22 – BUDGET TINTING

COST: $80-100
TIME: 3 hours
DIFFICULTY 2/5
It’s not gonna look as nice as the professional window tint, but for an easy tint job, get some cheap rolls of tint online and install it yourself at home for a bit more shade on the long drives.

21 – TRAILING ARM GUSSETS

COST: $50
TIME: 3 hours
DIFFICULTY 3/5
Get a bit of flat bar or steel rod, and weld it to your trailing arm as a DIY gusset. It may just save your arms the next time you hit them on a rock.

20 – NEVER SPILL A DROP

COST 10 bucks
DIFFICULTY 1/5 spanners
TIME 10 minutes
TOOLS drill, holesaw
MATERIAL Oil filler cap for your model 4WD, funnel

METHOD

1. Get yourself a second oil cap that fits your motor and drill a hole in the top the size of your chosen funnel.
2. Fit the funnel into the oil cap. You can secure the funnel to the cap, or it may fit snug enough that you don’t have to.
3. Screw the cap onto your motor and top up your oil with no mess.

WHAT NOT TO DO

• Don’t rush when you drill into the plastic oil cap as you can damage it.
• Make sure you clean off any plastic burs so you don’t get them in your motor.

19 RELOCATE YOUR SOLENOID

Keep your important winch control box nice and dry with this super easy mod.
COST $20
DIFFICULTY 1/5 spanners
TIME 1 hour
TOOLS spanners, sockets, crimping tool, multigrips, soldering iron and solder
MATERIAL exhaust clamps, 4 gauge wiring, terminal lugs, heat shrink

METHOD

1. Figure out a good mounting point for your Domin8r Winch control box in the engine bay.
2. Disconnect your control box from your winch and move it up to where you want to mount it.
3. Mount your control box in its new location and then connect your new wiring to the existing. points in the control box. Be sure to use heat shrink and solder where necessary.
4. Run the wiring down to your winch, wrap them in conduit and connect it up.
5. Cable tie the wires so they don’t rub on anything and test out your control box.
6. This is the perfect mod if you already have an in-cab winch switch.

WHAT NOT TO DO
Don’t do this mod unless you have run a cable for your winch switch or you have in cab winch controls, otherwise you will have to pop your bonnet to winch.

18 – UHF SPEAKER

COST: $30
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 1/5
You can get your hands on an external UHF speaker that fits your UHF for next to nothing. Think outside the box on where you want to run it. You could sit it in the back with your kitchen setup so you can listen out for mates if they’re out on a night run.

17 – REVERSE CAMERA

COST: $40
TIME: 20 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
If you can’t see out of the back of your 4WD when it’s loaded up, you can get those cheap reverse cameras that clip onto your rear vision mirror. They’re awesome for a budget way to see behind you.

16 – CORK BUNGEE CHORDS

COST: $5
TIME: 10 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
If you don’t want to spare a precious cable tie to keep cords and wire neat, drill two holes in an old wine bottle cork and tie some old rope or bungee cord to it. Then just loop the cord around your coiled wiring and secure it over the cork and tighten.

15 – EASILY GREASABLE WHEEL BEARINGS

COST: $10
TIME: 20 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Fit a couple of grease nipples to your trailer bearing dust caps by tapping a small threaded hole into the centre of the caps. A bit of thread locker later and you’ve got your own DIY greaseable wheel bearings. Heaps better than a wheel falling off when a bearing blows and net cost is free if you’ve got some old parts you can pinch grease nipples off.

14 – BUDGET REVERSE LIGHTS

COST: $25
TIME: 30 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
For a waterproof reverse light, mount the light to the inside top of your rear door and cut out a square in your tinting. Then use a bit of plastic from an A4 folder folded around the bottom to stop glare in the cab.

13 – MULTIPLE COMPRESSOR LINES

COST: $20
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 2/5
If you’ve got your Thumper Compressor hard mounted in your 4WD, run a T-piece fitting in the line, and two lines off that to either side of your truck for easier air access. Just make sure each hose is finished with regular clip on tyre valves.

12 – INTERIOR CANOPY CLOTHESLINE

COST: $10
TIME: 5 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
On longer trips if you’ve got a ute, some rope between the headboard and the rear ladder rack for hanging your clothes up on the road is perfect for drying them but keeping the dust out too.

11 – ROOF POWER THE RIGHT WAY

COST: $10
TIME: 30 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
For a neat way to run your wiring, run it down behind the snorkel and into the bonnet through the bailey channel below the wipers. To be real neat, drill a small hole and install a rubber grommet to keep the wires safe.

10 – BETTER TRAILER WIRING

Make charging your camper trailer batteries easy as pie with some simple wiring mods.
COST about $80 depending on cost P/M of wiring
DIFFICULTY 1/5 spanners
TIME 30 minutes
TOOLS Soldering iron

METHOD

1. If you tow a camper trailer when you head bush, get about a 10m length of 6 B&S cabling and wire in a mini Anderson connector on each end.
2. When you pull up to your trailer, you can reconnect the vehicle to the trailer quickly without having to back exactly back into position. It’s useful particularly if you want to crank some 240v power into the batteries when the trailer is at home.
3. If you have solar power, you can also connect the cables straight to your solar panel on your roofrack back to the solar controller that charges the trailer’s batteries, rather than have it go into the vehicle’s aux batteries and then all the way back to the trailer, which avoids the issue of voltage drop.

9 – TENT FANS

COST: $20
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 1/5
On a sticky night when there’s no breeze there’s nothing like having the fans cranking. If you have a trailer, cable tie the fans to the trailer’s centre tent pole, which means they stay perfectly in position when the tent is folded away which works just as well with an Adventure Kings Rooftop Tent, then all you need to do is wire it up.

8 – FREE BEER OPENERS

COST: Free!
TIME: 30 seconds
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Chances are your 4WD already has this mod and you don’t even know about it. Did you know that you can open a non-twist top beer using the door latch inside your B-pillar? Well it works on most Toyotas – there you go, you just saved $5.

7 – ORGANISE YOUR GRUB

COST: $20-100 (depending on cases)
TIME: 20 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Cheap plastic tubs break up on the first 100m of dirt road and you will find yourself unpacking your entire vehicle to look for the onions that have rolled everywhere. Keep all of your spices together in a plastic lunchbox and your bigger food in a Spacecase for the ultimate storage. If you’re planning on making a roast at camp, pack all the ingredients you need inside your Bedourie Camp Oven before you go – so its simply a case of pulling the Camp Oven out of the 4WD and you’re ready to go!

6 – MILK CRATE TRACTION BOARDS

COST: Free!
TIME: 15 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Cut up an old milk crate into sections and cable tie them together so it folds out flat. It won’t be as effective as proper boards but it costs next to nothing and is better than digging for hours.

5 – GRAVITY FED WATER TANK

COST: $75
TIME: 1 hour
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Mount your jerry cans on your roof standing up, and run a line down off your roof to a tap. If you have more than one Jerry, join the lines with a T-piece.

4 – MOMENTARY CANOPY LIGHTING

COST: $15
TIME: 30 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Mount a momentary switch at your canopy door so that the interior lighting comes on when you open the door.

3 – EXTERNAL COMPRESSOR FITTINGS

COST: $20
TIME: 30 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
If you have a hard mounted compressor, run your airlines to points outside the 4WD for quick access. It costs bugger all and means you won’t burn your hand again disconnecting the hose.

2 – DRY PAPER

COST: Free!
TIME: 20 minutes
DIFFICULTY 1/5
Get an old coffee container or CD spindle the size of your toilet rolls and cut a slit in the side. It keeps your valuable paper dry, and gives you a slot for it to come out when nature calls.

1 – THIEF-PROOFING ON A BUDGET

Keep the grubs away from your pride and joy with a few simple mods
COST $50 bucks (depending on how much you want to do)
DIFFICULTY 2/5
TIME 4 hours
TOOLS Mig welder, sockets, drill, screwdriver
MATERIAL Knead it, lock nuts

METHOD

1. Grab a few drill bits and round out any Philips heads / flat heads. Just make sure you don’t need to get them off in a hurry.
2. Use a MIG welder to spot weld the end of screws, or weld nuts and bolts on. If you want to go extreme you can just weld the bracket to your mounting point – make sure you’re happy with its position though.
3. Get creative and use some Knead it or similar on the end of screws or you can make a dome over nuts. Chuck a bit of paint once it is dry and it’s enough for anyone to think twice.
   The problem with grubs stealing stuff is if they really want it – they are gonna get it eventually. All you can do really is slow them down…Hopefully long enough to catch them.

TOP 10 MUST HAVE DIY TOOLS!

This is our list of 10 must have DIY tools to make your job easier

1. Adventure Kings Socket Set.
2. Adventure Kings Ring Spanner Set.
3. Soldering iron and solder.
4. Adventure Kings Heavy Duty Screwdriver and Plier Set.
5. Power drill.
6. Various clamps.
7. Vice grips.
8. Circular saw.
9. Grinder.
10. Vice.

GET MODDING!

You know what you need to do – now go and do it!

Tell ya what, there are some absolutely cracking DIY projects in there and wanna know the best part? Some of the best ones came from you! Just goes to show that us 4WDers are pretty bloody good at thinking outside the box. It doesn’t matter if you drive a big dollar Cruiser or a budget built Zook, DIY is in our DNA. So this weekend, call your mates round, order a couple of pizzas and a few cold ones and get cracking on some DIY projects of your very own. The best part is if you do it together, you’re guaranteed to learn something new and exciting about your truck – after all, isn’t that why we work on our trucks anyway? (And to fix the stuff we broke out bush…)