Thread: Advice wanted - D3 mods for trip around Aus

Thanks. How are finding the fit of the car mats? I was keen to get a set where the rear one goes all the way across to save the carpet on the middle hump but haven't seen any of those.
Cheers,
Chris

Thanks Discoweb, i llike the idea of gaining space and weight with the rear seats out, did you remove them yourself and can I re fit them later? Was leaning towards the BFGs, but you are the second member on the forum to recommend the 697s, will have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks for the tip on mud flaps, will search for the thread on how to cut and fit. Going to a GOE seminar in Feb, will ask about the off road height rods.
Cheers, Chris

Originally Posted by Leecewah

Thanks Discoweb, i llike the idea of gaining space and weight with the rear seats out, did you remove them yourself and can I re fit them later? Was leaning towards the BFGs, but you are the second member on the forum to recommend the 697s, will have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks for the tip on mud flaps, will search for the thread on how to cut and fit. Going to a GOE seminar in Feb, will ask about the off road height rods.
Cheers, Chris

Chris,

Not actually done this myself but from what I recall it is relatively simple, carefully remove the plastic covers that hide the various anchor bolts and undo them. I believe the whole lots comes out as a single unit and, again I think they can be simply replaced by refitting the anchor bolts.

Regards tyres. For me 697 LT's so far (about 10,000 km) have been good. Mine spend 99% of their time on road and as they have a reasonably "non aggressive" tread pattern are pretty quite and have perform well. Off road I have also been impressed and to date I like the fact that with the off road use they have had show little signs of cutting, chipping or wear. Throw in the fact they are an LT construction and I think for the trip you are planning they would be a solid choice.

Not sure how they would go in mud as they would probably clog up quickly but pretty much anything other than a mud tyre would do that anyway. There are many many threads on tyre choice with lots of opinions offered.

Good luck in your deliberations.

George.

Yes I've removed my rear seats.
Simply undo the tie down points and the side panels to get access to the Torx bolts on the sides, also remove the plastic covers around the centre of the seats to reveal the centre bolts.
You can see the six centre bolts in the photo below.
Yes it comes out as one unit.
It is heavy, flexible and floppy in the middle so best to have someone give you a hand out with them.

Originally Posted by Leecewah

Thanks. How are finding the fit of the car mats? I was keen to get a set where the rear one goes all the way across to save the carpet on the middle hump but haven't seen any of those.
Cheers,
Chris

They fit very well and stay in place no problem. I wanted a full width one in the back as well but had no luck finding any. Lukcily my son sits at the side, rather than the middle, so all spillages etc are nicely contained.

It might not be clear in Rich's post but the carpeted side floor panels have to come off to access the bolts. As he said, this is done by removing the tie down points. Once the seat is removed the panels are put back in as shown in the photo.

I weighed the seats and I think they are around 75kg, but they may be a bit lighter than that. Certainly not 150kg but they are heavy to remove and tricky to get through the tail gate due to their width, the floppiness and weight.

The bolts all attach the seat frames to the floor. You do not undo any bolts that bolt the seats to the frames. The front bolts are combined with the bolts that hold the centre row seats in place. When I did my Cape York trip with a roof top tent, I also removed one side and the middle seat in the middle row and just left one seat for my daughter. They are simple to remove and saved some more weight and provided a lot more room, so that I could fit my daughter's swag in the car.

Bob

Bob