Congratulations on being selected for Auszookers Zook Owner of the Month!
How does it feel being honoured with the nomination for Z.O.O.M. 2016?Chuffed actually, was out of the blue and unexpected. I honestly put stuff in my build thread so I can keep a log away from the wife as to how much I'm spending on my car and its progress! So it's a bonus that people actually read my build.
So tell us about yourself. Who are you, What's the meaning to your username, Where do you live, and what do you do for a living?If it wasn't obvious already, my names Korey. I live in the outskirts of Brisbane (read: Ipswich) haha, I work for Cash Converters as a Buys and Loans Manager, so I basically manage the department that buys everything for our store and use people's items as collateral for loans. The meaning behind my username is purely what Xbox live came up with as a username for me many moons ago, so I've just always used it as it's easy and no-one else seems to have it on any forums.
How did you get started in Suzuki's & how many have you owned?After owning a few mazda's it was inevitable I bought a MPS and dropped a fair amount of coin into it and got it to the stage where the only next upward stage was a forged motor (it had bigger turbo, meth injection 3.5" intake, E85 etc).
After realising that the only place to go is the track to have fun and speeding tickets were becoming too frequent, I had to sell it and become a more responsible adult (according to the wife). I bought a trail bike as I have always ridden dirt bikes and wanted a chance to go off road again..
Somewhat more legally, but once again, the boss said it was too dangerous,
So it's every boys dream to own a 4x4, so after looking at jeeps and deciding they were wayyy too expensive and not being keen on owning a pootrol, I bought a 1984 NT Sierra with 250k KM on it.
I owned that for close to 9 months before deciding that I need a car with backseats and things like a roof for my baby that was on the way. It didn't help that there was some issues with it forming aswell.
Many moons before that I owned a RM125, so in total this is my 3rd Zook. And I foresee many more in the future. We have actually been offered a GV in exchange for our Honda CRV, so who knows..
How long did it take you to build your zook to what it is today?I've owned the Jimny since roughly April, which is roughly 7 months. I bought it fairly stock except for some 215 Hankook AT's, a snorkel and a giant roof basket. Oh, how could I forget, it was also rockin' a killer nudge bar with some halogen bunny burners! Everything else appeared to be stock.
When I first got it;
Since then I have thrown this stuff at it; 2" JB procomp lift, 215 MT's, steel slimline roof basket with a 42" light bar on the front, and a 22" on the rear as a work light, 12,000lb domin8r winch mounted on a JB hidden winch plate in the stock bumper, working aircon!, slimline Fusion subwoofer under the rear false floor with fridge tie down points, Aux fuse box in cabin and last but not least, angry eyes!
New boots!
New rack with bar and aux fuse box.
JB hidden winch plate with recovery hooks!
Tight squeeze with a 12,000lb winch!
Lift!
Angry eyes!
False floor;
Subwoofer and the false floor!
Rear work light!
Diff breathers! (Yet to be completed)
Any changes in store for your Suzuki?There's a few things in the pipeline for the Jimny, but it is a slow process, especially this time of year. I find the hardest part is that I don't have a lot of time to devote to the car.
My next port of call will be radius arm guards and a UHF though. From there it will probably be some more internal wiring for easy access in the rear to USB/Inverter/12V socket etc.
Have also been a prowl for some gears. We shall see!
Day 1;
Now;
What has been your best modification?My best modification to smurf Berry.. honestly it was getting the AC compressor fixed so I can sit in relative comfort on a hot day!
But if we're talking about things that weren't there stock... the winch hands down. It has given me so much more confidence in knowing that when I go out by myself (which happens often) I can pull myself out of any sticky situation that may arise. It is definitely something I recommend to those who don't always have the opportunity to wheel with other people.
Oh, and removing that ugly as Fudge nudge bar!
A winch is super helpful when this happens!
What has been your worst modification?This is a tough one, as I had tried to plan out my mods instead of throwing them on whenever like I did with the Sierra.
I guess I wouldn't say it's the "worst" but it probably irks me the most, and that is how stiff the rear shock absorbers are and they annoying front right hand Jimny suspension lean.
I need to track down some softer rear shockies. Whenever I go over something with only one rear wheel it's fine, but when going over with both (such as a speed bump) its spine jarring.
If you could have anybody else's zook, who's would it be and why?I would say it would be have to be JuniorJoel's Jimny; Cecillia. It seems to have a great mix between reliability and capability. Plus it shows that you don't have to have a sierra to capable.
What has been your best 4wding trip?My most eventful and exciting trip was to Moreton Island, it started off as a day trip, caught the barge at 8.30am and arrived on the beach at 10am, we spent half the day trying to find somewhere to have a swim and be secluded. Our return trip was due to leave at 3pm, by 2pm we hadn't really done anything and we thought; fckit, so we called up and booked 2 nights at castaways in a unit. Problem was all we had with us was enough food for the day trip, one change of clothes and a set of towels. We ended up spending a fortune at the shop and buying enough food for the rest of the days and had to buy soap and everything else haha! But all in all, it was definitely a lovely trip. We ended up exploring the top half of the island the second day, spent half the day at the champagne rock pools and near the light house as well as driving up and down the beach.
The next day we ventured down the bottom half of the island, went for a swim in the two lagoons, had lunch at the pub and just had an overall great time. Having a snorkel in the crystal clear water around the wrecks and seeing everything was just awe inspiring. It was a great way to spend 3.5 days away from everything. Next time we go back, we will definitely be prepared.
I don't have very many pictures of this unfortunately as my go pro and phone died and of course we didn't have any chargers, but here is a couple I did get.
If we are talking about best trip in the Jimny though.. it would have to for a long weekend camping in Gordon Country with my older brother, which is bordering on the Goomburra national forest. The ability to load the fridge and everything in the rear and have aircon and relative comfort, and still able to beat it up and down the tracks was an amazing feeling. It's just such a peaceful serenity that you seem to forget about while your busy focusing on your day to day lives.
It made me appreciate the little things in life and set in stone that I will be instilling that in my daughter and taking her out every chance I get.
If you could go to any place in the world to wheel, where would that be?
I would love to go to some remote part of the world and spent a few months just escaping from life and being able to drive anywhere I felt like going. It would have to have snow, somewhere in Russia probably.
W
ho are you closest to in the auszooker's community?Greenzook89 (Josh) was my main wheeling man, however he has since moved which sucks ass. We met through our love of MPS's and first went out to Ripley. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do much socialising between work and a (now) 7 month old baby.
Tell us what the wheeling is like in your area?There's a few local spots, I used to live literally opposite Ripley, so I was there every couple of days, big bog holes large enough to swallow your car (as I found out actually)
deep ruts, rocky step ups and a variety of other tracks, clay, black dirt and lots and lots of dust.
While my very local area is turning into another housing estate, I am blessed to live within a hour or two of some great terrain in SEQ.
I do want to visit glasshouse more often and see what the fuss is all about.
What other toys/hobbies do you put a lot of time into?Naturally, having a baby takes up 90% of my down time however I have attempted to find a few different hobbies and toys in the last 6 months. I tried my hand at 3D printing, which was a great learning experience and amazing to watch, however I was running out of room in the house and had nowhere to put it to stop it getting ruined.
I had a short lived dream of owning a JetSki (apparently not child friendly, although I will own one in the next 5 years!)
I bought an Axial SCX10 honcho with a few bits and pieces done to it, unfortunately it had a short lived life.
I am currently looking at downhill/mountain biking, being able to get 30% off stock at work means when a nice Trek or something else of the sort comes in, I end up getting it for a really good price. We shall see on that front though.
What is it about the auszookers that brings you back?The good tech and reading through build threads working out what route I want to take. As well as being able to plan out trips based on what others have done.
What about the auszookers forum would you like to see changed?There is a certain thread that doesn't get nearly enough updates anymore... I think we all know which one that is...
Now for the million dollar question, who do you select to be the next Z.O.O.M. & why?T.B.A
