Newbie Sierra

[Kazzie]

hi there, i just bought my 1st lil 4wd today.....big change for an import skyline lol. just needed a few opinions..
working with a 91 sierra 1.3, i've searched this site a little and think i've found a good set up for me? car is stock now with reco motor, thinking about a 2" suspension lift, extractors and exhaust, and 235 tyres. this car will be used for to and from work and weekend beach work at frazer morton and briby. any ideas about that set up? have the money to mod just need the right direction to put it. also any ideas or place for bull bar in brisbane and how much?

thanks for your time

[GRPABT1]

Mate your plan will work fine for beach work. Zooks don't need alot if anything to eat up the sand, it's as they were made for it.

[want33s]

I wouldn't bother with extractors but a 2" exhaust will help. Put the cash towards a set of 31's and transfer gears.
Bullbars are quite common on Ebay for under $300.
Jas.

[Kazzie]

cool thanks. i didnt want to go as big as 31's becaue i'll be driving it between bris and toowoomba alot. and i can get a new set of extractors from work for $170 so i thought why not. i am better off for sus of body lift to make sure the 235's dont scrub.

[badger]

body lift, suspension lift wont gain clearance for tyres unless you modify mounts, leafs or go a spring over.

[St Jimmy]

Just use a 2" spring lift as im running 235/75 15s and no scrubbing.And buy a a/t type tyre for beach work as you don't need a agressive tyre for the beach.
regards
boner

[Highway-Star]

if your going bigger tyre definitly add gearing to your list. 235's are too much bigger to wing it without gears. look into transfer gears probably the 4.9s (rev a little more) or 4.1s. Diff gearing for this size tyre would be a pain to get ahold of.

I have extractors and 2" exhaust. Sounds alright, the extractors were a must for me because the cast iron manifold was cracked quite seriously. They did help with fuel efficiency when it was stock by about 0.5km/L extra (average), but now I'm on 31s that been blown to hell anyway.

Sus or Body? Search. Both have benefits, question is what would suit you better?

Bullbar? Do you have the motivation and skill to make your own? I did as a lean to weld exersice with my father teaching, was a heap of fun and I'm very happy with the results (cost nearly $200 total, including LED indicators). Personally wouldn't bother with an aluminium one, all show no substance.

X2 GRPABT1: when mine was stock, beach driving was as easy as pie. 4 blokes, and a 6x4 trailer with camping gear at double island; easy as. With 235s one would walk all over everything.

[david123]

Personally wouldn't bother with an aluminium one, all show no substance.

Bull bars are supposed to bend as a sacrifice to the car, a tiny car like a suzi with a strong bar is a death trap. Even trucks have ally bars so they bend and get destroyed rather than breaking the vehicle.

Not all beaches are equal, the beach next to my place, you can roller baled along, down at Gunya, 90% of vehicles get bogged.

[VR Rodeo]

body lift, suspension lift wont gain clearance for tyres unless you modify mounts, leafs or go a spring over.

235's will fit on stock suspension and a bit of persuasion, or if you can find some 215r15's they are the same overall diametre as 235's just skinnier and wont rub at all. Personally I would fit the tyres and see if you can live with the gearing before you worry too much about gears, you will loose 5th gear in hilly country on the road and will need lowrange more often on the beach, it's a matter of preference but the gears aren't essential with 235's.

[Ridge]

i have 5 goodyear wrangler at/r with rims 235x75 r15s i am trying to sell at the moment for $600 ono all good condition. i have one person who is interested but will let you know if they dont buy them.

i used to run these with just a 2" sus lift with no gears for awhile, did not even need to go in low range to get on the beach just keep momentum through the soft stuff.

if you want to go and do some bush driving get gears, you will need them and will make everything much easier.

andrew

[Moph]

From what I've picked up reading OL over the last coupla years (and please correct me people if I'm wrong).......

2" OME suspension lift - better ride and flex, more expensive (around $1k with shocks) , doesn't gain you much in terms of tyre clearance without bumpstop adjustment (takes away some of the flex you gain). Raises CG of chassis and body.

2" body lift - easy, cheap ($200 - contact just cruizin' on this forum - great kit), gives you 2" true vertical tyre clearance gain which clears 235/75R15 Goodyear Wrangler MTR's on mine no probs, and should be fine up to 31" tyres. Raises CG of body but leaves the chassis in stock position above diffs.

Tyres - for sand look for cheese cutter tyres (tall and skinny) rather than fat. The tall skinny tyres tend to bag out better on the sand giving you greater floatation. The best bit about having a Zook is pulling up alongside bogged Patrols, Landies etc, offering to lend a hand, then driving off from a dead start in the same sand they're bogged to the hubs in

---

In my experience with 235/75R15's, the little 1.3L struggles to push them in soft sand or dunes (low range stuff). You'll likely find a big torque hole between first and second low ... first low has heaps of grunt but lots of revs and not enough speed, and you probably won't have the torque to make a successful shift into second. Packed sand in high range or even 2WD is all good though.

I also found that with no lift the side lugs on my Goodyear Wrangler MTR 235/75R15 were getting cut up no matter how much seam bashing I did. 2" body lift has fixed all that.

[fudly]

so oem have the best flexin springs???

[Gwagensteve]

I think you mean OME (Old man emu) rather than OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture - ie stock suzuki)

Yes, OME provide the best ride and flex.

Steve.

[Highway-Star]

2" OME suspension lift - better ride and flex, more expensive (around $1k with shocks) , doesn't gain you much in terms of tyre clearance without bumpstop adjustment (takes away some of the flex you gain). Raises CG of chassis and body.

The springs themselves are quite well priced; the shocks bit exy, the spring bushes are very exy and the U-bolts are above normal cost.
They're not as expensive as people make them out to be; for example, when I priced springs late last year dobinsons were about $10 more per spring, and EFS were about $30 more per spring. But I was only buying springs, bushes and bolts, not complete setups.

Bull bars are supposed to bend as a sacrifice to the car, a tiny car like a suzi with a strong bar is a death trap. Even trucks have ally bars so they bend and get destroyed rather than breaking the vehicle.

I see where you are coming from and don't totally disagree. But a Sierra is a death trap anyway if you have a severe accident. My steel bar has saved my hide once, and for me thats all the justification I need.

Also steel presents some advatages out wheeling. A steel bar weighs more, and helps keep the nose down on steep climbs (damn the SWB) (I know this works against you descending, but you can go extra slow descending, whilst ascending often requires momentum). Also steel bars are easier to repair and touch up after small incidents with: trees, banks, and rocks. Also a well built steel bar can have built in recovery points, and is easier to safely fit a winch. Aluminium bars are IMO not satisfactory for recovery of any type.

I understand there is no right and wrong answer, just varying opinions and requirements as to the bars function.

[joeblow]

steel bar won't be a deathtrap on a zook, the car will fold and crumble before the bar will.

[Highway-Star]

steel bar won't be a deathtrap on a zook, the car will fold and crumble before the bar will.

aggree

[david123]

steel bar won't be a deathtrap on a zook, the car will fold and crumble before the bar will.

Yep, ded car, sell the bullbar.

[GRPABT1]

Personally wouldn't bother with an aluminium one, all show no substance.

Bull bars are supposed to bend as a sacrifice to the car, a tiny car like a suzi with a strong bar is a death trap. Even trucks have ally bars so they bend and get destroyed rather than breaking the vehicle.

Not all beaches are equal, the beach next to my place, you can roller baled along, down at Gunya, 90% of vehicles get bogged.

The benifits of steal (besides winch mounting) are more than in emergency applications. Resting on trees is handy with a steel bar.