My (old) New Rodeo...3 nights (and 2 days) of insanity...Final Pics :)

Hey Guys,

My name's Adrian, I just bought a 2000 TF Rodeo Sport & thought I'd introduce myself and share my adventure so far...

The only 4wd I have had previously, not counting my 4WD TX3 Laser (Although it does have a Diff Locker )  is a 1998 Petrol LR Freelander, which has been off the road for 3 years undergoing a Mazda engine conversion following the all too familiar K series meltdown it is almost at the point of completion, but on returning from a camping trip over January (In a borrowed vehicle) we realised that we have outgrown it in terms of gear, which is not hard to do with a Freelander.

So after considering the options, we started looking around for a dual-cab ute to give us the extra space and flexibility we needed.

I had a list of things I wanted, and a list of things my wife wanted (As our family car, she drive's it daily, I only get to drive it weekends and trips)

For my part, it had to be Turbo Diesel (preferably with LPG), have a bull bar (or at least a nudge bar) already installed, have good potential to be set up as a tourer and be in good nick physically and mechanically.
On my wife's side, it could be any colour other than white or burgundy, had to be comfortable, could not have a canopy (For reasons she can't explain, she dislikes the look of utes with canopies) preferably with a roll bar and not looking like a "Tradies" workhorse.

I saw the Rodeo on CarSales.com at a local dealer and instantly liked it. It was priced at $11000 only slightly over average for the model & year,and listed as having LPG, a bull bar, tow bar, driving lights (albeit grossly undersized), Flexiglass Challanger tray liner and hard tonneau, as well as the factory side & rear steps, power windows and all the other "Sport" bits.

When I went to look at it, I immediately noticed it also had aftermarket cruise control, as well as a dual battery setup with a fridge plug already neatly installed in the tray and an Anderson plug on a 30A fuse next to the towball.
The only issues were a blown indicator and what we thought was a blown low-beam.

After a few days of sorting finance etc, we went in to pick it up and before we left the dealer gave us a set of Rolla roof racks and Thule roof bike mounts that he had taken off to display it and had forgotten to mention when we first went in.

The surprises kept coming, the fuel gauge was at full when we drove out, and I set the trip meter to get a feel for consumption. After a week and 400ks the gauge was at 1/3, but it took 86L of diesel and the gauge moved to almost 10mm past the full point. A quick look underneath revealed a double-skinned long range tank. I have since done another 500ks and the gauge is still sitting slightly above where it was when we picked it up, making me think I'll be able to get just over 1100ks from the tank.

Also, while looking under at the tank, I noticed that the rear shocks have a set of Polyair "Red" Airbags fitted. I didn't even think to look under there before buying it

Anyway, if you've stayed with me to this point, well done you deserve some pictures...here it is as we brought it...


I have since sold the Thule bike carriers for enough to buy a set of 2nd hand HID's from a mate and rewired the driver's side headlight because the "blown globe" was actually a cheap melted H4 connector.

Here she is with the new spotties...



I think I've bored you enough for now, and I've gotta get back to work...I'll post a list of planned mods in the next couple of days, although it'll be quite a bit shorter than I thought at first

Cheers for reading

Adrian