Mitsubishi L200

[ColinTheCop]

Thought I'd combine the 'Hello I'm new' and the 'Here's my Truck' in one thread.

After many years of owning various Land Rovers I decided it was time for something that broke down less.

My Last LR, a 300Tdi Dicovery,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/orp/Mudrun.JPG

And I bought a Mitsubishi L200. I think the closest you guys get stateside is the Triton (I think). The L200 runs a 2.5 diesel engine and I think is the best selling Pick up in the UK, unless the Nissan Navara is beating it.

The model I have went out of production in 2005, the year mine was produced, and Mitsubishi now do a more rounded version.

http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/59e0-AHhpn3Sf0CqV3sa33AzXgmfRvz-DKHS_l.jpg

http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/59e0-AHhpn3Sf0CqV3sa33AzXrALhjjpTx7q_l.jpg

http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/59e0-AHhpn3Sf0CqV3sa33AzXk-RfCaLuVV7_l.jpg

http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/59e0-AHhpn3Sf0CqV3sa33AzXh7XWTvb-Ihk_l.jpg

My first thing was a load cover. There is a Danish company called Mountain Top (www.mountaintop.dk/) that do a load bearing one. It comes with rails which cross bars can be mounted to and unlike a lot of others can hold a fair amount of weight.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/Iceland/Drive+008.jpg

It open with gas rams,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/Iceland/Drive+011.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/Iceland/Drive+013.jpg

Primed the cover and painted it black, for no reason that I thought it looked better.

And fitted a rear bar, so I could mount stuff to it.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+052.jpg

Firstly, some rear lights,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+058.jpg

[ColinTheCop]

And my CB ariel and the Satnav ariel,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+063.jpg

And hardwired the GPS, top save on clutter in the cab.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+064.jpg

The CB I plumped for was the Cobra 75, unfortunately it's not a model you can buy here anymore, but I managed to get a used one off Ebay.

I won't be using it much, so i've left the lead coming out from behind the dash,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+069.jpg

So when I need it, I can plug in the mic,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+071.jpg

I've got a roof top tent on order which I plan to mount over the rear bed, and I've also got some underbody protection on order, which is being shipped from Germany.

And I'm trying to sort some sort of awning type thing, like this,

http://i16.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/f1/e6/67b8_1.JPG

In 2 weeks, I'm off to Iceland for a tour of the interior, so they'd better be here before that or i'm in trouble. There's 5 of us going, 3 Land Rovers, a S2, a 110 and a homemade 100", some sort of Ex-military German truck and me.

Should be good, with hopefully plenty of pics to follow.

[Spikepretorius]

Nice one Colin. I drive the 2.8 clubcab version. :)
Photos of my one here. post #15
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9002

[haven]

Sadly, the Mitsubishi L200 and Triton are not imported to North America. Mitsubishi sold a re-badged version of the Dodge Dakota for a while, but it's not the same as the truck Mitsubishi builds in other parts of the world.

North America also misses out on the Navara diesel, the Toyota HiLux, the Isuzu Dmax, the Chevrolet LUV (a Chevy Colorado crew cab built in Thailand with Isuzu diesel engine), the Thai version of the Ford Ranger, the Mahindra PikUp, and the Tata Xenon.

There are two reasons. Until the big rise in fuel prices, the North American manufacturers thought there was no market for a compact pickup. Prices to build compacts were close to full size trucks, and the dealers make more money selling the bigger models.

The second reason is that there is a 25% import duty on trucks assembled outside NAFTA. Manufacturers would have to ship the truck sub-assemblies to North America, and build them here to avoid the import duty. That's how Chrysler imports Sprinter vans today, and how Mahindra is planning to import their small truck starting next year.

The rise in fuel prices changes everything.

Chip Haven

[jl8088]

awesome truck, i think they used the same truck (setup expedition style) in the movie "long way around" where the two guys rode motorcycles around the world. They used your truck and another truck to carry supplies that the riders couldn't carry.

[mauricio_28]

When I first started looking for a 4WD vehicle about six months ago, the first dealership that I visited here in Indonesia was Mitsubishi. My first 4WD love had been, after all, a light and nimble TDI Pajero that after 100,000km on the odometer still ran like gangbusters. Both the L200 and the newer rounded Triton Strada are sold here, and in fact, the former is one of the most commom pick-ups here. I recall the solid feel of the L200. Slamming the doors closed revealed a solid, substantial sound. On the other hand, I did not care for the sitting position where your legs are stretched out. All of these considerations become moot, however, once I saw the Navara and compared the specs...

[jeelan]

nice looking rig colin - i like it!!

any plans to for the tray?

your trip to iceland is self supporting or are you going with a company?

give us more details!! lol..

and dont forget the pics :)

cheers
Jeelan

[Incusus]

ya, thats a nice truck you have there! I like the Triton, but you have the much better model :)

Nice mods! That looks more like a Lowrance marine antenna than a gps antenna. I see it's a Garmin, what exactly is it? I'm used to seeing the tiny antennas...

[ColinTheCop]

]any plans to for the tray?

your trip to iceland is self supporting or are you going with a company?


I'm probably going to mount the Roof Tent on the rear tray. Just seems a better option than roof mounting.

We're self supporting. Touring the interior where there are no paved roads. There will be plenty of Pics, I'll do a write up in the appropriate section when I get back.

One of the lads who has been before knocked up this plan,

http://www.craigsstuff.co.uk/iceland/Iceland%202008.pdf

This is the sort of terrain we'll be driving on.

http://www.101fc.net/iceland-2004/pics/rhc-2004-08-04-112420677.jpg


That looks more like a Lowrance marine antenna than a gps antenna. I see it's a Garmin, what exactly is it? I'm used to seeing the tiny antennas...

Yip, it's the Marine version. It was recommended to me by some friends out in the Middle East who do a lot of Desert driving, much stronger and less likely to drop a signal than the little vehicle ones apparently. It does lock on to the Satelites very quickly.

[calamaridog]

What an awesome truck and welcome to Expo. Looking forward to seeing your trip report!

[Incusus]

Yip, it's the Marine version. It was recommended to me by some friends out in the Middle East who do a lot of Desert driving, much stronger and less likely to drop a signal than the little vehicle ones apparently. It does lock on to the Satelites very quickly.


I did some googling around expecting to see a premium price on the antenna (I never thought of using a marine antenna!) and it looks like that may be a garmin GA29?? If so, I found them for about $40 USD online, which is comparable in price to a standard external antenna.

I'm using a Garmin MAP60 CSx and I'd assume its compatable. What receiver are you using?

[tdesanto]

Colin,

Nice looking truck. I especially like the shorter wheelbase, short bed, and the cap you have for the bed. Looks like it would be very useful, especially with the railing on top for lashing down additional gear.

Also, welcome to ExPo!

Tony

[tdesanto]

awesome truck, i think they used the same truck (setup expedition style) in the movie "long way around" where the two guys rode motorcycles around the world. They used your truck and another truck to carry supplies that the riders couldn't carry.

Yep. L200 and a diesel Pajero/Montero/Shogun. :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Round

[ColinTheCop]

I'm using a Garmin MAP60 CSx and I'd assume its compatable. What receiver are you using?


Yip, it's the GA29. I'm running the Garmin 76cs.

I needed an adaptor as the GA29 comes with a BNC connection.

[ColinTheCop]

This morning the front of my Truck looked like this,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+072.jpg

I took of the flimsy bash plate thing and fitted one of these,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+076.jpg

And now it looks like this from the front,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+074.jpg

If I wanted a bash plate for a LR product, i'd have a choice of 20 million or so. If you own an L200 you have the choice of one, which comes from This Company (http://www.offroad24.com/) in Germany.

It's quite good though, and all the holes lined up which always a bonus on a job like this. Should hopefully stop me punching a hole in my sump.

Then fitted this,

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+078.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ColinTheCop/L200/Drive+077.jpg

It's a 1.4m tent by these people (http://www.safari-equip.co.uk/index.php?page=199)

Got a couple of issues with the tent, firstly there was no instructions sent with it, but being a bloke i rarely read instructions, and they've sent the wrong bit for the ladder. Hopefully the company should sort that quite quickly.

[Spikepretorius]

Nice bash plate. It's the first mod needed on an L200 IMHO. The standard one is like tinfoil.
You can maybe go one step further and fit plates right back past the transfer box. I did that and the peace of mind is worth every cent.