Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Enjoy her boet!

Nice man.... flippin' nice !!!!!

That is a BEAST , congrats

Let’s organize a Ct get together!!

Mizio wrote: ↑20 May 2019 16:26 That is a BEAST , congrats

Let’s organize a Ct get together!!

Count me in

So a quick update on the Patrols progress.

My front shocks are almost dead and the rears have a little life in them so I will be aiming at replacing them soon with a new set of coils too so need to save a little. In the meantime I replaced the following items with new. I also need to get my roadworthy sorted and there were a few small things to sort out too.

OEM Coil caps x 4
OEM shock bushes front - top and bottom
OEM Shock bushes rear - top only as bottoms dont fit.
OEM Rear Panhard rod bushes
OEM Rear Sway bar bushes
Aftermarket Rear Sway bar links
Removed front sway bar and links
OEM Hand brake shoes as the previous ones were completely rusted and baked with mud
3 x auxiliary belts (still need to fit)
Front h16 spot light bulb
2 x Rear brake bulbs
1 x number plate bulb

The ride improved quite a bit after these additions and a lot less squeeks. I have done alignment twice but nobody can seem to get rid of the common patrol left pull. My steering wheel does seem to be off a bit so not too sure, will have to work on this . Any advice to sort this out would be appreciated . I aslo dont have any caster correction with my lift so I will probably look to sort that out with the new suspension as this could be a culprit? I will be removing the shims from the king pin bearings to try stiffen up the steering as I have read this helps.

The following items are next on my to do list

New Lambda sensors
New front disks
New rear disks and pads
New shocks and springs (3inch lift)
Caster correction bushes/brackets(not sure which option yet)
Adjustable front panhard rod
New front steering damper
Quick release rear sway bar link.

On the camping side of things I managed to get a roof rack sorted. Mizio was very super generous and gave me his old Front Runner rack feet, Thank you sir . I then found an older model Front Runner Cheetah rack from a Disco 2, it is a little wider then the standard patrol one but still works I think, got it for a decent price. I will be painting it black as I dont like the grey trim.



Load testing


The best help you can get!

Awesome to teach them young !!!!!

Re the car pulling left:
Being a live-axle setup, the steering angles cannot be adjusted differently between the left and the right side. Which is why, on our roads, which are cambered to the left, the car pulls left. Drive it on the right, and it should pull to the right.

No wheel alignment shop will ever be able to fix this.

If you really feel it's a problem, you really only have one option, and that is to fit a set of tension springs to the drag link. These are fiendishly difficult to set up correctly but can fix the problem.

Everything else is only "masking" the problem. Tightening the steering knuckles will mask it, but needs to be done with caution or you could end up cracking the hub casings.
Caster correction bushes will mask the problem slightly, but at the expensive of longevity and suspension travel.
Drop-boxes will have the same effect on this as caster correction bushes (probably a bit more as they give more caster than bushes can), but with fewer negative side-effects. The only real disadvantage is that they hang down a bit and might catch on rocks, but they should be strong enough to deal with that.

I see they now make Patrol Mechanics smaller, so they can fit under the vehicle easier that us guys with the boeps....

Peter Connan wrote: ↑08 Jul 2019 16:43 Re the car pulling left:
Being a live-axle setup, the steering angles cannot be adjusted differently between the left and the right side. Which is why, on our roads, which are cambered to the left, the car pulls left. Drive it on the right, and it should pull to the right.

No wheel alignment shop will ever be able to fix this.

If you really feel it's a problem, you really only have one option, and that is to fit a set of tension springs to the drag link. These are fiendishly difficult to set up correctly but can fix the problem.

Everything else is only "masking" the problem. Tightening the steering knuckles will mask it, but needs to be done with caution or you could end up cracking the hub casings.
Caster correction bushes will mask the problem slightly, but at the expensive of longevity and suspension travel.
Drop-boxes will have the same effect on this as caster correction bushes (probably a bit more as they give more caster than bushes can), but with fewer negative side-effects. The only real disadvantage is that they hang down a bit and might catch on rocks, but they should be strong enough to deal with that.

Thanks Peter

Iv since been testing and yes the car stays straight yet follows the road camber as you explained, this I can deal with as its not that bad. What I realized is that my actual steering wheel is probably one click off center, if I centre the wheel the car pulls hard to the left so I am going to remove and re position to check.

JTEC wrote: ↑10 Jul 2019 08:14 Iv since been testing and yes the car stays straight yet follows the road camber as you explained, this I can deal with as its not that bad. What I realized is that my actual steering wheel is probably one click off center, if I centre the wheel the car pulls hard to the left so I am going to remove and re position to check.

Take care not to damage the cable from the clock spring otherwise the hooter, cruise control and airbag might not work. Also, be mindful of the plastic ring for the indicators. When I repaired the clock spring the green pastic ring, it has three dimples that must align with the three bumps on the wheel, had moved and I didn't notice or realise its significance. So the indicator terminated at what seemed like 30 degrees on the one side and 60 degrees on the other.