ThuMentaliss

Had some thoughts regarding this subject about how many of Alphard owners that have lowered vehicles endure their vehicles bottoming out from making contact with 'pot hole' roads and probable damage to the front strut bump stop and in some cases the drop link as well.............

just add another section to make it longer (once you have made up its fittings to the roof) this one is already following the downwards section of the roof

Simple, lightweight, adjustable lenght fitting

steering shaft coupling may be loose or worn

before I got old I fitted two such units in friends owned Mazda bongos, I bonded the support brackets to the underside of the roof using bonding agents with Polumer sealing agents (common now) tricky job as you need to support the roof lining and run the connections cables to your source

IF you purchase your vehicle from a republe dealer who imports these vehicles as a profession and not a 'fast buck' individual you will be given the orginal japanese export paper work that has all the details on it you require be its mostly in the japanese dialoge its fairly straight forward to sort out

your internet browser will show several drop down monitors if you can purchase a known name as there's a lot asian models that fail quite quickly

Click to enlarge Awning Rail SMALL 1m, 2m & 3m Lengths Ref EXTAWNALU £6.90 £5.75 ex VAT

Sorry Rich, Im confused as to what you want do you intend to use this fixing for a drive away Awning tent....As I said previously those channel's are for the alphard fitting of their roof rack bracket's not wind-out awnings or keder fixing rails but of course you can fit Keder type rail's into these channels providing the rail base width are under 16.7 mm (channel width of the bottom of the rail) or you can just use the drive away awning tunnel straps, or KAMPA'S magnetic fixing strip all these systems have been around for several years you dont need to go to a specialist to fit these different types of fixing, I have made up two such fittings to work within these channels mainly for the use of drive away awnings tent's tunnel system to join the tent to the alphard

Believe it or not there's very litte difference between the 2.4 engine and the 3.0ltr, the 2.4 should produce between 25-32 mpg that is if you keep you engine's rev range under 3000rpm the 3.0 ltr engine can and does produce 24 mpg but stories are emerging of mpg up to 28 mpg ...dont forget the 3.0ltr engine is far more efficent when pulling more weight than the smaller capacity engine

In my opinion all pretty good but are they really campsites ? surely the very meaning is not associated with static caravans, log cabins etc, etc these sites that claim they are campsites are have more in common to the original Butlins sites...yes I know Im old! I would call them Holiday parks there is a very real difference between a camping site and a holiday park🤭

I believe your talking about the alphard roof rack channels, unfortunately there is no (current) production of awning brackets available from Fiamma and Thule that fit into these channels I would be very suprised if they were to come into production when one consider's that Alphard is an old vehicle and does not have the following of the likes of VW. I have made up several patterns of roof fixing brackets but without the main awning Manufacture's assistance as to which model awning would fit onto the roof is a no, no , the only recommendation I can make is to contact Northstar conversions (Isle of Wight) who can make up side mounting brackets that allows wind-out awnings to fit with their pop-top roofs.

Sorry Rojie did I imply that there were alphard diesels out there? I dont recall making a mistake when i originally set up details of my vehicle with alphardclub as it stands my alphard is a Sept' 2005 3.0ltr V6 (now remapped)

Very simple really your choices are limited if you want a alphard for camping etc and you may end up installing a campervan conversion you might also want to use your Alphard as a tow vehicle for a caravan dont forget the Alphard is already a heavy vehicle so in this example the 2.4 version is just not powerfull enough, as this engine works harder at a given rev range than the 3.0ltr, yes still better fuel consumption but dont forget diesel fuel is dearer than petrol, do your research in the browser alphard topics you will find testimonies of this (never heard of a 3.5ltr alphard)?

were in lancing you can have mine (3.0ltr) 2005 £20,000.

north star convertors...very few custom specialist do DIY kits for alphards ( isle of wight)

Have the above, excellent condition. Free to collector. From a toyota alphard 2005 3.0 7 seater.

3 spray cans of halfords underseal gel allowed me to do it myself with the help of a jack and two axle stands and yes the sea is 120 yards away from our back garden😁

Great stuff but electronic adjustable system's are very expensive to put right when they go wrong but Hea! enjoy what you have Not sure why you think you need a kit to lower the ride height of your vehicle I have personally lowered seven cars in my youth you dont need a lowering kit cheapest way is just buy lowered suspension springs+ changing the strut top bearing and spring saddles.

Interesting info, when i contacted Tein (not a independant dealer) they advised me due to my alphard being lowered by 50mm that they would not recommend their kit, they pointed out that their coilovers (as most are) designed to lower the vehicle ride height, even with the 'flex' system at max height adjustment my measurement's indicated the vehicles ride height would still be too low, indication of this is the vehicle bottoms out when hitting a pot hole of more than 3" deep .....hence i need to change the struts bump stops but this will not long term cure the problem only a complete change of springs possible struts etc that is if you can find a parts supplier whos not trying to sell you rip off Chinese look -a- likes

I didnt, vehicle came from jAPAN AS A REMAP (without any official paper work to confirm the remap power change) the 3.0ltr engine in these models originated from the old sports car toyota marketed sorry cant remember which model that was however I would have though 260+ would be possible but from my experience I dont believe the vehicle in standard form is up to increasing the BHP dont forget this vehicle was designed as a luxury people carrier which would require higher torgue with a small increase in BHP

Great van/mpv, etc,etc but due to the lack of professional customisimg its not practical for serious conversion, from my experience, cost wise, poor after sales professionalisam too many 'fast buck wise boys' selling them I could go on, if you just want a very smart MPV that drives very nicely and a very reasonable purchase cost then this is for you

Pretty good if you prefer a stand-up type fitting, this type of fitting has exsisted for quite a while now take a look at 'Northstars' conversion my issue is we dont all want pop-up roofs but would like a flat roof fitting awning which Fiamma and Thule have been manufacturing for several years........