WORDS BY JOCK MCDONALDRE-FITTING OLD
ACCESSORIES
It’s
funny ya know, in this
age of access to
premium 4WD content
in the palm of our
hands, it’s way too easy
to become starry eyed at all the builds out
there with the latest and greatest gear. You only
need to scroll down your Instagram feed to see
some fella who has put portal axles and coils in
his 79, then fitted out his mega canopy with a
12v setup that would make Elon Musk weak at
the knees.
I’m sure it’s the case with a lot of 4WDers out
there (myself included) that when you see these
builds, you want to get the gear they’re running,
because it’s the latest and the best – fair enough
too. I reckon if you can afford the best gear on
the market, more power to you! But for me, I
know that is definitely not the case. To afford
some of the things I have put on my HiLux, I have
had to make some pretty big sacrifices, as I’m
sure is the case with a lot of 4WDers out there.
More recently though, I have come to the
conclusion that I just need things to do the job
and do it well. I don’t need the latest and
greatest batteries, because I would rather
spend that money on my winch or driveline
setup, as that will enable me to continue driving
difficult tracks. I guess what I’m trying to say, is
that it’s a case of thinking about where you
spend your money on your vehicle. If doing that
lets you have some bits on your 4WD that are
better than others then there is nothing wrong
with that.With my canopy build in particular, I made a
couple of decisions that have helped me to get
back out in the bush faster. One of which is
re-using my old 12v setup that I built a few years
ago. I bought the charging setup second hand
off a mate, and then spent a few weekends
wiring it up in the shed. It’s not the flashiest,
most cutting edge or even the neatest setup, but
it works. When we removed the tub off the
vehicle to change to a tray, I thought about
upgrading my 12v system for the new canopy I
was planning. What I decided to do instead was
rip the whole setup out and store it in the shed
until I had enough money to build the canopy.
Now that my new canopy is almost ready to go
on the tray, I have decided to tidy up the setup I
made using lessons I learnt from building it the
first time, then re-install it in my new canopy.
Doing it this way means I have saved money on a
particular area of the build. It also served as a
lesson to remind me that I don’t need the very
best charging system in my vehicle. I just need
one that keeps the post track choccy milk cold!
What do you reckon? Do you try and re-use
old gear to save a bit of money, or do you prefer
to update your setup as time goes on. Let me
know via email [email protected], or
checkout my Instagram @jocko4wd.Catchya next issue!Do you hang on to old gear? Or move it on
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EDITORIAL
EDITOR JOCK MCDONALD
EDITORS AT LARGE GRAHAM CAHILL,
SHAUN WHALE
TECHNICAL EDITOR STEVE COLLINS
JOURNALISTS TIM FERRIER,
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BRENDAN SEYMOUR, JOCK MCDONALD
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES
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Joc k o