fixed.

A set of good mudders by the looks of the pic you have posted !! haha

Sorry thats all the help i can offer on the colorado...

Maybe lockers one day? something else to add to the list anyways haha :)

The new Colorado 7 looks ok for the price, quite a big price drop from the Prado...

I have an 09 colorado I put a chip it chip in and my new 3" exhaust will be here monday, I was due to do the suspension lift with bigger tyres but having to travel to the uk 3 times in 10 months i have to control my spending

for another month or 2, never mind good things come to he who waits!

What changes  did the chip make?Fishy And what type of exhaust?

I have 2009 LTR and looking at doing the same. Be interested to see how it goes with the exhaust

 I got a 2010 holden colorado just did a 2" suspension lift and getting my muddies on in the comin weeks 

Good stuff fishy fingers, cheers for the info. a mate at work told me to put a 3inch on but get rid of the cat converter and muffler to get a beefy sound, not sure about laws on this but.
Fisha93 let us know what size you manage to fit with that lift

Hi Rob - fellow Colorado owner.

I too own a LTR, had its since Jan 2011. I think i can help you out here, there are 100's of hours research and gas bagging with fellow owners i can pass on.

Firstly, I have 15 years background in the car industry mainly with Toyota, Holden and Nissan. So i can tell you i have seen plenty of great stuff and plenty of rubbish. (I'm not here to say i know it all, i definately dont, but as far as the LTR goes, i've put my hard dollars in !)

The LTR would have to be the lowest of the dual cabs, the suspension at standard is very floaty and to be honest, dissapointing. I travel alot for work, so this beast has to do 2 things, be a work car and a beach and track car.

I started with the ARB Deluxe Steel Bullbar (winch compatable) and within about 3000km i could feel the front shocks compressing hard on bad roads. (thats road not 4WD tracks. After trolling all the forums and talking to many of the aftermarket retailers, i fitted the Old Man Emu Nitro sport kit and beffed up the rear leaf springs and stayed road legal with a 2" lift kit. This changed everything. Firstly, i thought the ride was a tad harsh as i had been used to the "Floaty" std suspension. One thing that impressed me on the road was just how good it now was handling. Simply taking corners could be achieved at at least 30kmh faster. It just feels more glued to the road.

Off the road, first run was at Fraser Island Qld, and it was awsome. I didnt really appreciate it untill i got to put the beast through it's paces. I have had plenty of time previously in a Prado and 100 series cruiser so my expectations were not that high to start with. However, it goes where the big boy's go. No problems.

Tyres - Again, i see lots of people talking about tyres for many different functions. This is by far a pretty important decission. If you get it wrong, you wont enjoy your car all the time. For me the road part is where i spend 90% of the time on a day to day basis. This left me with a delema, i really wanted a mud terrain tyre but didn't want the noise, or the ride it gives on the road. Trust me i really wanted the muddies! After driving many 4WD's over the years with big chunky tyres, i was really struggeling with what to do. To cut a long story short, you have to work out what % of time you will spent "Playing" and what % for everyday life. I wanted the 265/75/16 to stay on the stock alloys. I know 2 blokes who had them, and they have had a couple of issues. IE there really is not enough gap between the tyre and the guard closest to the door. If you get mud or sand between them, its going to stay there and cause issues, apart from that, they were rubbing on the inside rubber plates next to the engine. The other major issue is that 1 st gear now required more clutch to get her going. I'll leave it at that you get the drift

I would suggest you go with the 265/70/16 if staying on the stock rims, they fit perfect. I went with the STZ Mickey Thompson for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the side wall protection, and secondly they are really quiet. The most impressive part for me is the 17mm tread depth. We all know how shite a ute is in the rain. Not anymore, These things make the stock tyres feel like slicks. I cant piss in your pocket hard enough! Ask anyone who has them. Get 5 though, your spare wheel is no chop if you have a 245 on one corner. I also got an extra 23mm lift. Handy when your running on bech and tracks at 18PSI.

I also went with a Safari Snorkel as the air box is at the very right front corner of the car. (Not Good) i must say i was a tad excited when i herd the odd turbo flutter. The temp guage which never moves now sits just behind halfway. I reckon i've picked up some more grunt too. Just gets off the mark better.

Exhuast wise, i have not done anything yet, but i conceed it definatley the way to go. You will get more grunt and torque. I looked at chips as well, but after reading a couple of horror stories after 30k of putting it in the 3.0ltr diesel, i'm just not going there. I have been looking at the performance modules which connect directly to the injectors. BE CAREFULL with cheap chips. If you still have new car warranty, WAIT ! The Snorkel and Exhaust will be just fine. The Diesel although only 120kw stock is a very good engine. Dont tempt fate with cheap chips.

You need to consider one big problem with the Colorado - "RECOVERY POINTS" They dont have any !!!!!!

I have poked my nose around every Forum, ARB, Opposite Lock and the like around this topic. A lot of people try and use the tow points. They are not recovery points, merely a point to lock the car down while it's on the ship to Australia. On my first trip to Fraser i tossed and turned about what happens if i bury the beast in soft sand. In the end i put on  a Hayman Reece Tow Hitch and bought a snatch strap. Blow and behold, the first trip i went there, i hit the mother of soft sand uphill into a cutting off the beach. ( i felt pretty good when the bloke who was camping nearby said i was the 16th person today to get stuck there. All Cruisers, Patrols etc. The $540 i spent on the Tow Bar helped recover the $40,000 car. Phew...

That got me thinking about what happens if i need to be pulled out front ways, and here is the biggest issue with the LTR. You cant ! Welding a recovery point to the chassis is not an option (many reasons but you Cant !) I know a bloke who told me he did and it was fine, i saw him last month, he now drives his wifes Hyundai Ascent to work as the colorado is waiting for funds to fix the car with twisted and broken front end.

So.... what to do???? Winch - this is the only option. If your mates dont own a Colorado dont get sucked in to " She'll be right mate, ive done this a thousand times" Get a winch ! Think of it this way, if you can get snatched out backwards every time great, the tow bar has you covered, but what happens if you are going uphill on a track and its boggy and thenslide to the side backwards into trees or a bank. You F------. It might be expensive, it might be slow, but you'll be going home.

I bought the VRS9500 winch wich comes out of the ATECO factory better known for making WARN winch's. They share the motor and other moving parts. Yes they are made in china, but theres no doubt WARN make the best winch's. They are also bloody expensive. Mine cost $800 with the synthetic rope. Mainly i went with the rope to save on the extra 10kgs of weight by going with the wire. There are squillions of forums on winch's, bottom line is, if you can afford the WARN, get one if not do your research on the rest. The cheap chinese one's just dont cut it. You may also need to re-grease them up at new. look for a winch with a 5 to 6 hp motor, there quicker. Just remember winch's get hot, take your time and follow the instruction manual. I know it seems crazy that this is the only way to recover from the front, but that how it rolls. Dont get caught out.

Get yourself a good recovery kit. Doesnt matter who makes them, just make sure they are the highest ratings, not just for your car but for the cars you may need to help. ARB wanted crazy money, i found most of my gear on discount 4 WD websites and even Ray's outdoors. The price difference is enough to buy something else as well. Shackels and Recovery dampners are a must. Again, dont skimp on this stuff, its your hard earned money in that car, get it home.

UHF - ifitted a GME3340 with all the dials on the reciver and mounted head behind the steering wheel and put the talking reciever right next to the indicator lever on the dash. ( 2 small holes) The colorado has pretty limited space so this unit worked well. Pretty dam handy when you and your buddies can all talk when 4WDing, and pretty handy on the road for traffic info etc. It's a must have. I got my gear through Prestige communications in Perth. took 2 days to get to QLD and much cheaper than the retailers. A good antenna is also a must. I have the detachable HD spring base type with a removable whip. I have recentley also put another antenna to suit my iphone. Travelling out west, it really comes in handy for that extra bar of signal on your phone.

The last thing i have done is the ARB under vehicle protection plates which are a high tensile stell laser cut. To be honest, i  probably didnt need them, but when you let air out of your tyres you are losing ground clearence. I kept my car at a 2" lift because i wont it to be legal, insurable, and sellable. Points to think about when it's time to trade up.

I'll put a link on so you can see some pictures of my build up over the last 2 years and about $8500 worth. I must say, i feel pretty safe going anywhere now with what i have, but i still want a Toyota some day. There is a difference for sure, but i'm giving the Colorado the thumbs up. It's never let me down, and its about $20k cheaper with all the gear on it.

Any questions, i'm happy to try and help. Not sure how to pics here????

Cheers Reddogs

Reddogs LTR Colorado Beach and track build up - Google it ! (as written here)

Absolute legend reddog!!

PM me your address and preferred drink, i think i owe you that.

I know what youre on about with the tie down points at the front.. they are piss weak, i have a few mates with rodeos and have used the points at the front to pull them out of bogs and soft sand before. I always wait for the smash of a shackle coming through the back window, which i always remind them if it does happen they're paying for it!

I know a guy here in perth who does 4wd courses and also installs 4wd parts like bash plates, sliders and tow points. He said the only way to get a secure point to snatch from at the front is but replacing the plates that connect the bullbar to the chassis for heavy duty ones with proper holes for a shackle. He had them on his Prado and they look solid as f**k. Im digging around looking for his details as i type this.

This is the module i have settled on

http://www.reapercustoms.com.au/ the dyno sheet on this one makes me giggle like a little school girl

http://www.supercarperformance.com.au/

Agree 100% on mickey t tyres, although im leaning a bit more towards the atz 4 ribs, havent got a quote yet, but i can tell its gonna hurt. Size wize i want to fit the biggest i can with no rubbing, probably same size as yours

If these front tow points work out i will leave the winch for later as i never travel tough tracks alone <im gonna eat those words.

Slowly figuring out exactley what i want, although driving lights have me stumped, choosing from led spotties, led light bar, HIDs, HID driving light conversion.

Do you mind if i ask what you paid for the snorkel, and fitting or did you do it yourself?

Been talking to a few mates who all have Colorado utes and all had major problems with the front right tyre wearing out between 16-22.000km, all have had many wheel alignments before they got it right. One has about 1/4 of shims on the upper right wishbone .

They think its because they were originally set up to be left hand drive with the most weight due to road camber on the right side not the left as it is here in OZ.

hi i just ended up going with 245/75/16 cooper stt's the guy at tyre shop said i may have a chance of rubbing if i went with the 265/75/16 so i listend to his advice, i look at it now and think that i could have went with 265's but better safe then sorry i guess

anyway heres a pic

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