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.
- Previous 4x4: 2014 Nissan Pathfinder 2.5 dCI AT. ARB Suspension and ARB Rear Locker.
- Currently Towing: 2017 Conqueror Comfort Trailer with factory mounted bush awning.
- YouTube: "Simple Life Overlanding"