My 2003 Hilux from Australia

After buying my truck almost a year ago, I thought I might finally post up a few photos for you guys.

It’s a 2003 Extra Cab 4x4 Hilux with the 5VZ-FE 3.4 V6 and 5 speed manual. They’re very similar to your Taco’s, just different sheetmetal,RHD (obviously, lol), and torsion bar front IFS instead of coil overs.

I bought it from the original owner, who had made the following changes to it:

- Alpine head deck, 4 speakers, a sub and 2 amplifiers

- ARB front bumper and ARB rear step/tow hitch bumper

- Custom tube side steps/sliders

- 15x8 heavy duty steel wheels

- Dual battery system mounted in bed

- 2 inch lift (wound up front torsion bars and AAL in the rear I think)

- Colour coded ARB canopy, or bed cap as you guys call them.

Here it is as I bought it:



Since buying the truck, I have done the following to it:

- Sold the ARB front bumper and added a tube bumper

- Fitted 31x10.5R15 Maxxis Bighorn mud tyres

- Fitted a newer Alpine head deck, Rockford Fosgate P2 10” sub behind driver’s seat, and Rockford P300-1 amplifier for the sub

- Made a roll bar with double front tubes from 2 OEM Hilux roll bars (they just sit on the sides of the bed so they’re just for looks rather than protection)

- Added 4x 6” spot lights on the roll bar

- And hit the bonnet protector, chrome badges and grille with black Plastidip

This is basically what it looks like now, except I’ve flipped the tyres on the rims so the white writing is on the inside (looks cleaner I think):






So it’s now looking close to the way I wanted it, but a few more tweaks are needed:

- Skyjacker 4” IFS lift kit (purchased, waiting to be fitted)

- 33x12.5R15 mud tyres (maybe MT MTZ’s)

- 15x10 Mickey Thompson or American Racing rims

- LED work lights for the bed

- Considering changing to LED light bars on the roll bar and front bumper.

Then I’ll be happy with it. I’d love to add more lift and bigger tyres than planned above, but legally we can only have 2” of lift and tyres with 2” bigger diameter than stock before having to have engineers sign off on the mods, and most engineers won’t pass anything with more than 4” lift and 33’s so that’s as far as I can go. L

Hope you guys like it

 

Nice rig.

Interesting about the differences with Aussie toyotas. For me, it would be weird to get in one, with the steering on the opposite side. I wonder why Toyota kept the torsion bars for down-under? The grill and headlights are also 'retro'.

 

Yeah, I've never driven a LHD car so the same goes for me.
I don't know why they kept the torsion bar setup - maybe the engineering dept. thought it was stronger? or cheaper (more likely lol).
Only the SR5 models (only available in double cab) had the more slick looking headlights. They can be put in but the brackets for the stock ones need to be taken out by drilling the spot welds, I don't mind them as they are and I don't really want to do too many mods that aren't reversible if I changed my mind later.

 

The thing I'd like is one of those rear windscreens that open up in the middle, but I think they're only available in the US and I couldn't really justify the shipping costs for something like that.... That's what A/C is for anyway I guess.
Same goes for the TRD supercharger - we always get the lame versions of cars over here, so that would have to come from the US as well - for the cost I think I'd rather just put an LS1 or 1UZ in and have some real fun

 

Ha funny thing is we think we get all the lame stuff... we dont get the turbo diesels here. And i think we all wish we could. If you want one well it will cost a load of cash.

 

Yeah that's true. Even at 10 years old the factory turbo diesel models (which are rare in this gen) are worth 5-10k more than their petrol counterparts. But in the current gen almost everyone buys the turbo diesels so they're common as anything.
I didn't go with a diesel because the initial purchase price was outside my budget, I couldn't find a good clean one with low mileage anyway (they all get thrashed through the bush here), the service and repair costs are higher, and I know petrol engines inside out, whereas I'm still a bit inexperienced with diesels.
Just for interest's sake, I bought mine for $13,800 AUD. I get jealous when I see you guys buying essentially the same trucks for half that, lol.

 

I dig it. It looks like a mesh of 1st gen Tacoma & T-100 body lines. Much better than the newer hi-lux's IMO. Agree with the white letters in and LED bar at least on the roll bar. Love the green color too. How bout some pics of the inside? No need to be jealous about prices here, you'd have to go with something trashed or something with 300k or more miles on it and 15 yrs old to get one for $7000.

 

good looking truck, agree with flipping the tires as you mentioned. not sure i could get used to driving on the right side

 

you have to have engineers sign off on mods? for what? its your truck.

or do you call your mechanics engineers? in which case it would make sense the mechanic wouldn't feel comfortable installing a lift that's too unstable.

 

more like inspectors.........

 

also interesting that the fuel tank is on the other side.

 

so driver can get to it easier.

 

To me, it's the last gen of Hilux that actually looks like a truck. I love the current gen, and would still have one if I had the money, but they look more like they belong in the city I guess.
I used to have an '84 single cab (I'll put up some photos of that too), loved the look of it, but it was slow, couldn't haul much, had no A/C, and the SFA was an absolute hazard driving in traffic in wet weather. So I decided to get a more comfortable and powerful truck for a daily driver.

If I ever find a nice stock one in the future I'd probably buy it just because I think they look cool, and I love the simplicity and bare bones feel of old cars and trucks.

Our interiors are similar, but only ever came out in grey with cloth seats, but I'll definitely get some more photos up soon anyway.

For things like engine conversions, chassis mods, convertible conversions, other changes to major mechanical components and structural modifications we have to have a certified mechanical engineer check over the work and sign off on it.
We can't lower or lift a car more than 2" without having an engineer's approval/report done on the work to say it is safe/roadworthy and done to the relevant standards.

You can get away with not doing it, but it just means that:
- Police can defect your car, requiring a registration inspection (known as a Pink Slip here) by a mechanic to 'clear' the defect and reinstate your registration.
- If you are involved in an accident your insurance can be void on the grounds of driving an unroadworthy vehicle (no matter how good your workmanship is, if it's not certified, it's considered unroadworthy).
- When you have your annual roadworthiness registration inspection (Pink Slip), unless you're friends with the mechanic or he is lenient, your car won't pass (on the grounds of being unroadworthy) and therefore registration can't be renewed until you return the part in question back to stock.

So for example, if you have 4" of lift in your truck and have to have a Pink Slip inspection without the accompanying paperwork for the engineer's approval, the inspecting mechanic will fail the truck. Then you must either return it to stock or reduce the amount of lift to 2" to remain within the legal limit.

It's a right royal pain in the a#$, and engineer's reports generally cost from $400 up (the sky is the limit depending on the extent of the mods being covered).

Unfortunately, rules like this are in place because of numerous shonks over the years who have done dodgy or dangerous mods resulting in injury or death. Although many car enthusiasts here also see it as a way of stopping us modifying our cars.
So long story short, it's all in the name of safety, but f$#k me dead it's excessive and over the top!

Oh well

 

um what? you know on my 84 toyota it was on the passenger side. was that because its easier for the passenger to get? lol

 

No, it balances out the weight of the gas with the weight of the driver on opposite side. Always need gas and always in it to drive it so it puts similar amount of weight on both sides.


IMO Tacolean is from having driver and gas tank on same side all the time. Stuff really started making less sense around mid eighties so that is why newer ones moved to same side.

 

never seen a ARB rear bumper before. guess they're not that popular.

 

and theres probably a reason they switched sides since 1984; easier for driver to get to.

 

Haha, that's what I was thinking when he wrote that.

Sweet truck James, and thanks for sharing.

 

They're very popular in Australia - they're like a$%holes (everyone has got one) lol.
I never planned on buying one when I was looking for a new truck but this one had it already and they're pretty practical (protection, step, tow hitch receiver and recovery points all in one)

 

Interesting. I had no idea they made first gen tacoma looking Hilux. Though it's almost a combination of a Tacoma and T-100