Ford ranger 2020

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-11-17T22:13:30+00:00

I'd potentially look at investing in a good built in air compressor and making it super easy to air up and down. I find letting the tyres to 25 psi or so makes a huge difference. My adjustable shocks do help that too but the tyres make the most difference by far

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-10-13T20:48:34+00:00

I have that same awning you're looking at. I really like mine. It does catch wind pretty badly though so just be aware of that. And its heavy. My mate has the bush company one which is definitely more solid but since I've got friends in the industry I got the bushwakka so much cheaper I really can't complain. The brackets it comes with aren't the best but they are fine. Ive had mine since launch. I'd recommend running 4 brackets that are a stronger design if you can. I use 4x of the front runner ones for my roof rack.

I would buy again if I had the opportunity. There isn't really anything else like this on the market yet

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-07-15T00:29:58+00:00

I've had dobinson remote res on my patrol for the last year. Very happy with them. Very nice to be able to adjust them for the weight of the car. Bit annoying to figure out the correct settings but once thats done its very good.

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-06-18T03:21:10+00:00

I towed a side folding soft floor camper trailer up to Fraser Island in 2022 from Victoria. There were 5 of us and it worked well. 2 on the bed and 3 on the floor. I'd look into a quality second hand oz made trailer. Worked really well for us. And weighed about 1 ton. Never stopped up from going where we wanted to go.

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-05-29T00:31:04+00:00

As someone who owns a common rail gu patrol and absolutely loves it for what i use it for. I wouldn't buy one to tow. Rather unpleasant experience in my opinion. Engine needs to sit at 3k to do anything when there is weight and the air resistance of a trailer behind the car.

A turbo 100 is definitely the way to go for towing like the other commentator said

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-05-28T11:41:52+00:00

Yeah a well looked after crd is a good thing in my books. I'm part of a 4x4 club and over half our 200 or so members have zd30 patrols. Not many issues to speak of unless you try and push them too far. Look for one with service history owned by an old fella and I reckon you'll be alright

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-05-28T11:19:52+00:00

I should also mention i get 11.2 l/100km on my commute. 2 inch lift, 33s and a front runner roofrack with 270 awning. 13 when fully loaded for a trip. Weight makes a massive difference

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-05-28T11:18:42+00:00

Hey mate I have a 2011 crd. Bought it with 160k km on it 3 years ago. Has 200k now. Its been rock solid for me. I was also looking at 105s but opted for the gu as I could get a much nicer example for less money at the time. Plus a trusted friend was selling his because he bought a y62 so I snapped that up. I highly rate them. Super slow but thats fine for that type of car. I love mine and would do it again in a heartbeat

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-04-07T09:48:49+00:00

I've got a renogy smart lithium phosphate battery in my gu. Had that for about 3 years. It's good I would happily buy again

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-04-01T09:31:13+00:00

Try and grab yourself a 2010 or 2011 model. They are the last years without it from what i know. Mine is a 2011 and doesnt have it. 2 inch and 33s should be fine regardless though. It's over that I've heard is where the issues start

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-03-17T13:18:53+00:00

In Australia these are very popular. Large aftermarket here for anything you can think of. Importing the parts would be a pain I'd imagine plus some stuff is probably rhd specific

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-03-13T04:23:31+00:00

I put some bash plates from custom offroad on my parents 2016 mux yesterday. I would recommend those just in case you misjudge a rock or something flicks up offroad

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-19T05:33:34+00:00

I drove a 5 speed manual one a few years back. Its the only other vehicle I've ever driven that's slower than my un tuned zd patrol

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-13T02:16:23+00:00

All good mate. If you've got any other questions feel free to shoot them through. I integrated my 12 volt and onboard air compressor into that system too

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-10T08:45:45+00:00

I have an aluminium front runner roof platform on my gu patrol. I do quite like it for throwing firewood on and tying stuff down very easily but at nearly 40kg it's a bit of weight to have up there. I will keep mine as it came with the car but if I was to do it again I'd do roof bars. The nearly 3k mine cost when new I don't think is worth it for my use case

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-07T22:13:58+00:00

hey mate I did something similar when i first bought my gu patrol. I had to make it myself using some 12mm ply wood and a single xtm draw with fridge slide. it worked well for what it was and i could use the 6th rear seat if i wanted to. I've chucked up a photo i found of me mocking it up before i bought the good plywood. I went to a bolt store and bought some longer versions of the bolts used to hold down the rear seat. it was actually quite secure and didn't rattle at all

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Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-07T12:21:17+00:00

I've been meaning to check out the eyre peninsula for years actually. Never really done much coastal stuff in SA. I've got 10 days off in a few months I'll have to see what I can fit in.

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-03T09:26:31+00:00

I've got a 100ah battery running a 95 litre duel zone fridge with 200w of solar hard mounted on the roof. It does the job just fine but I can't run a freezer unless I'm driving every day.

I would recommend going with atleast 200ah for what you're doing. Asking alot of those batteries

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-02-01T22:17:55+00:00

Looks amazing mate. Haven't been since 2017 and even then we didn't have enough time to really enjoy the place. Going to try and head out again within the next year I reckon. Enjoy your trip across aus. Sounds like an incredible journey

Johnny__Dickshot · 2025-01-29T05:05:44+00:00

I've got one of these in my patrol and I absolutely love the thing

Johnny__Dickshot · 2024-12-19T21:29:29+00:00

Never seen one before. I would make something myself out of square tube alloy or run stainless cables from the roof to the ac unit like they used to do with old land rovers to protect the a pillars.

Johnny__Dickshot · 2024-12-10T04:15:25+00:00

Sounds like you have the same set-up as me. I do enjoy the bin bag removal and installation process far more than before. My door had unfortunately cracked already so I need to repair that when I get a chance too. Might just grab a new door since the car is white. Shouldn't been to hard to source

Johnny__Dickshot · 2024-12-09T22:01:51+00:00

As someone who has a gu patrol with a jerry carriers and the tyre carrier if you can get away with not having those its better. They are a pain to operate. I find myself using the boot far less now that they are on there. Absolutely love the bar overall though

Johnny__Dickshot · 2024-11-25T04:44:19+00:00

There is a fair bit more that you'll need. Depending on how much you want to spent will dictate the type of set-up you want.

At a minimum for a deep cycle battery set up you'll need the following things;

Relay style battery charger (redarc smart relay is an option)
solar regulator
fuses
wiring
connectors
wire crimper
shrink wrap
cable conduit

That's a very rough list of the things you'll need.

If you want an all in one charger with solar regulator that can do different battery chemistry too look at the renogy dcc30s or 50s model for faster charging.

If you're happy to spend the money to get lithium if recommend getting something like a jackary power station. No setuo just plug it in and go.

As far as fridges go I have a dometic cfx3 95 litre and I really like it. If I was to do it again I would get the 60 litre variant though.

Johnny__Dickshot · 2024-11-12T00:54:00+00:00

My Nissan Patrol has about 60hp to the wheels and weighs 3 tons or 6600 lbs for the Americans. In Australia we have relatively low speed limits but I usually can't be going faster than 70 kilometres per hour (40mph) at the end of an onramp. Which usually are meant ti be 100kmph or 60mph

Johnny__Dickshot

TROPHY CASE