Paul Richards’ 2013 Mazda BT-50 build
Back in 2013 I had a small window of opportunity to upgrade my Mitsubishi Pajero which I used for towing the rally car and for camping. I looked at several double cab utes and it came down to a choice between a Ford Ranger and a Mazda BT-50. The Ranger felt more agricultural to drive while the BT-50 felt more like my Mazda 6.
The BT-50 came with an LSD as standard (the Ranger didn’t). The BT-50 was really a Ranger in town clothes (same 3.2 litre five-cylinder engine, chassis, suspension, and drive line) so I stumped up the cash and traded in the Pajero for a new BT-50.
I opted for a Utemaster hard lid rather than a canopy as I felt that this gave me better rear visibility and I could carry stuff on the lid. I found the lid handy also to stand on whilst watching sport and for taking photos. On the tailgate I have fitted a plywood base which I use as a work top, a seat and a cooking platform when making bacon sarnies for lunch on my camp cooker. It is also great for having cake and coffee off when stopping for smoko when touring.
Six weeks after purchasing the BT-50, on a tag along tour through Barossa Station and Lake Heron Station, I damaged the front skirt coming up out of a dry creek bed so I investigated bull bar alternatives to give a better approach angle. I also lost the end caps off both side steps and got bush stripes from the Matagouri. When it came out of warranty (having sold the rally car which freed up some funds) the BT-50 went into the local Ironman workshop and was fitted with an Ironman bull bar, under body protection plates, side steps, brush bars, snorkel and upgraded suspension. I opted for a two-inch lift which gave an increased ground clearance of 42mm over standard – any lift over 50mm needs to be certified as well as needing different top arms. I also opted not to fit a winch at this point, purchasing four Maxtrax recovery boards instead. I have Ironman rated recovery points fitted at the front and use an Ironman tow bar with removable towing tongue, fitting a recovery hitch to it when required.
Initially I fitted Kings seven-inch LED spotlights to assist the BT-50 headlights which are pathetic. The bright white light from the Kings LEDs is great but when the LEDs turn off with the headlights dipped, it is like going from daylight to park lights only. I found though that the Kings do not have a lot of spread especially when driving back country roads at night so I have recently bought a set of Ironman Eclipse rectangular LEDs which have 45-degree spreader LEDs out the sides to give 120 degrees of light spread. I have yet to try them out so cannot comment on how effective they are.
The BT-50 does not have a reverse camera as standard so I fitted a seven-inch monitor on the dash which can take input from two cameras. One is on the back as a reverse camera and is wired up to come on when reverse gear is selected. The other camera is fitted to the bull bar and gives a view of the ground directly in front of the bumper and is used when negotiating tracks (especially useful when going over blind brows).
On the roof I fitted a Rhino Rack platform with no sides as I needed to be able to drive into my carshed which has limited height at the door. This has lockable mounting clips allowing me to quickly remove the rack when not required (spoils my aerodynamics). It takes about five minutes to unlock it and hoist it up to the rafters directly above the BT-50 for storage and about the same to refit it. On the rack I have brackets for a shovel, two side/forward facing 15w LED work lights, mounting brackets for the Maxtrax, tie down eyelets for the camping tent and anything else I want to carry on the roof rack (like 5m lengths of timber, corrugated iron, ladders). I have a trailer plug on the roof rack and on the centre console so I can run a cable from inside the BT-50 up to the roof rack when I want to use the work lights to light up the sides of the track/road or the camp-site. Bit of a hassle but allows me to remove the rack easily and to not worry at WOF time if I have the rack on (they are work lights and not connected sir).
The seats have Black Duck covers front and back, on the floor are Mudgrabba rubber mats. On the top of the dash beside the camera monitor and GPS is a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System. I have fitted an auxiliary switch panel below the console panel which has switches for tray lights, roof lights left and right, front spotlights, power sockets for USB and 12v, and front camera. A voltage gauge is connected to the socket switch so I can keep an eye on the draw from the sockets when I have the fridge plugged in there, and to remind me that the sockets are powered so I can turn them off when the truck is not running.
I have made up a removable platform which I put in the back seat area (with back seat folded up) to take the Waeco Fridge when camping, suitably tied down to the seat belt and seat mounts. The fridge runs directly off a Dometic 34AH battery pack. A second Dometic 34AH battery pack is used to run the camp LED light strips and to act as backup to the fridge battery pack should I need it. I recharge the battery packs from the switchable 12v socket on the dash whilst we are travelling. This way I do not need to have a hard-wired secondary battery fitted to the BT-50.
I have recently replaced the Utemaster Hard Lid with a Bushtech Aluminium Canopy supplied by XpeditioNZ. This has wide opening rear and side doors which are great for loading camping gear or work tools through. I have LED light strips over each door and these give enough light to illuminate the ground outside the sides and over the tailgate at night. In the driver’s side opening, I have built a cabinet to store the recovery gear, first aid kits and fire extinguishers. With the canopy I can bring back eight bales of pea straw from our daughter’s farm and camping is no longer like playing Tetris to get all the gear in.
The Kings awning is currently mounted to the rails on top of the canopy. This is used for cooking under when camping or eating lunch under when touring. I have a side panel which I can clip on to the awning as a wind break. I can also mount the awning on the Rhino Rack if required.
The BT-50 comes standard with Dunlop Grandtrek A/T tyres. When I bought my BT-50, I picked up a second new set of mags and tyres cheap ($500 the set!) from a guy who had put 20-inch bling rims on his BT-50, giving me two sets to rotate and spares when touring. I also picked up a set of BT-50 rims second hand on which I put Bridgestone Dueler M/T tyres for when I go off road. And then I won a set of Kumho tyres in the Your4s competition in NZ4WD so I picked up a set of Ranger rims (same stud pattern and offset) and put the Kumho M/T tyres on them. The Grandtrek A/Ts are good highway and touring tyres (about half worn at 50k), the Duelers are hard out off-road tyres and not so nice on road (big chunky treads which get slippery on wet tarseal), and so I prefer the Kumhos which are great at everything as my winter/spring tyres.
My BT-50 is a real workhorse and now I am retired it gets used most days. It has been set up primarily as a touring truck but is still capable of 4WD high country trips.
