Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Kirbster wrote: ↑14 Jan 2021 18:07
I'm an overland tourer and not a grade 5 4x4 kind of guy

In that case, I would go back down to 33 inch tyres, and a 2 inch lift, I really think this combo is perfect for a touring patrol.

The 35s look flippen awesome, but, theyre a hell of a compromise I feel, unless youre doing alot of trail driving.
That said, I still want a Patrol with 35s again though

graham1 wrote: ↑15 Jan 2021 09:39

Kirbster wrote: ↑14 Jan 2021 18:07
I'm an overland tourer and not a grade 5 4x4 kind of guy

In that case, I would go back down to 33 inch tyres, and a 2 inch lift, I really think this combo is perfect for a touring patrol.

The 35s look flippen awesome, but, theyre a hell of a compromise I feel, unless youre doing alot of trail driving.
That said, I still want a Patrol with 35s again though

Hey G. Yes I do trails at times, but not the crazy stuff like I used to. I've already done the diff conversion to keep the power at the wheels and now the car drives like it did on the 265s I had. The costs are sunk now so it's a case of how do I make my current setup better.

Kirbster wrote: ↑15 Jan 2021 09:55
Hey G. Yes I do trails at times, but not the crazy stuff like I used to. I've already done the diff conversion to keep the power at the wheels and now the car drives like it did on the 265s I had. The costs are sunk now so it's a case of how do I make my current setup better.

Aaah, I see! Well then, 35s it is then
One day hopefully I'll be in a position to ask for advice on the diff conversion for 35s on a 4.8

Y61 on 35 just looks reg everything smaller is for the birds ..
Lets measure the weight on the wheels and then make plans

I put the Patrol on the weigh bridge today and these are the results:

Total Weight: 3,440 KG
Front Axle: 1,440 KG
Rear Axle: 2,000 KG

The long range tanks were full at 220lt and the vehicle was unpacked i.e. not packed for touring. I have subtracted my weight from the above.

If the vehicle was loaded for touring, then the following would need to be added to the total weight:
- Family of 4: 320KG
- Food, Water & Camping Equipment for Overlanding: 250 - 300KG

If I then tow my fully loaded Conqueror trailer, then add 100 KG to the tow ball.

And yes.... I know I am over GVM.

So now that I know the weight statistics are, what type of shock and spring setup would be best suited for the job?

Wow! 4.2 tons!

Have you beefed up the spring towers?

Yip, my 4.8 came in at 3.2tons un-laden.

Peter Connan wrote: ↑18 Jan 2021 19:11 Wow! 4.2 tons!

Have you beefed up the spring towers?

Hi Peter.

When I last chatted to the guys at R&D about needing to beef up the coil towers we came to the conclusion that it wasnt necessary, but that was over a year ago before I did the drawer system and a series of other mods. Having now put the vehicle on the weigh bridge and having the numbers in front of me, it is something that I will have to think about again.

I'll take a look at big GVM upgrade kits that are on offer and see if they include it as an option.

Cheers
Hugh

That is heavy ...me thinks you need to seriously look at the upgrade kit. Any theads on aus forum about that?

Tinus lotz wrote: ↑19 Jan 2021 01:57 That is heavy ...me thinks you need to seriously look at the upgrade kit. Any theads on aus forum about that?

I did some investigating last night and in summary this what I found based on what I read on the Aussie forums:

- The GU Wagon is known to have problems with coil towers that bend/break/tear off under severe operating conditions e.g. overloaded, heavy corrugation, extreme flex. It would seem that this is caused in part when using very strong coil springs. In addition to coil towers that are damaged, there is damage that can occur to the ladder frame chassis and other associated components. This noted damage does not occur on all vehicles driven under equally bad conditions.
- It would seem that the GQ is not prone to similar damage as its construction is better than the GU when it comes to coil towers.
- Seems like most GVM upgrades on the GU take it to a GVM of 3500KG i.e. 420KG more than stock, which is 3080 on the series 4 GU wagon that I have. Different suppliers of the GVM upgrade kits quote different values and it seems to differ per aussie state, but the majority are close enough to the 3500KG mark.
- I read somewhere that the max rear axle weight is 1,500KG, which I need to spend more time investigating to validate this value.
- Some aussie states require that the rear diff is "laminated" to increase its strength as part of the GVM upgrade approval process. I only read this once.
- Bracing of the coil tower can be done by a either a bolt-in option or weld-in option. Depending on the manufacturer of the brace, the fitting of the brace may require that the body is lifted from the chassis by 10mm to create clearance between the brace and the brake hose lines as well as the rear passenger floor boards. There are also some restrictions when it comes to fitting some brands of long range tanks, which I have, and aftermarket exhaust systems, which I have too. In my opinion, it looks like a weld in option is better in my situation, but I need to investigate this more.
- Some coil tower reinforcing options include bracing the tower to other existing cross-members of the chassis, whilst others just weld in stronger steel towers without bracing. Some guys had concerns about bracing to the chassis because it could impact on the designed flex of the chassis and thereby create stresses elsewhere that are not designed to take the additional stress. Again these were just the concerns the guys had and there was no thread that I found where it had actually happened to them.

I'll do some more investigating and update this thread.