Wifes Pajero

[albey]

I just bought a pajero for the wife, a 1997 LWB 2.8ltr intercooled turbo deisel. ( I wanted a toyota and they were a little pricey but for the money it was a good buy and i wasn't buying a nissan ) But to be honest i am quite surprised at the power of the little 2.8, it's a real goer! I was just wondering 2 things, 1stly what model is it? an N? and 2ndly i know all pajeros are lower in the front than the rear, Why is this so? and do i have to raise both ends or can i just level it out? ( cause i only really wanna go up maybe another 2 inches)

Your help would be appreciated! And stay tuned for more stupid questions from a fellow pajero owner. ( it's the wifes really)

[-Scott-]

'97 is a hard one to pick - that year saw the last of the NJs, all of the NKs and the first of the NLs.

Your best bet is to look at the VIN number - the model is somewhere near the front of it.

You can wind your torsion bars to lift the front end; crank them up until the clearance to the top rubber stops (two of) is about half the clearance to the large bottom top. Once this is done, take the Paj for a decent wheel alignment - find an alignment specialist who can alter your camber, not a tyre seller who will only adjust toe.

[albey]

Thanks Scott, i had a look and it is an NK, ta. With the torsion bars will that effect the driveability off road by not allowing the front wheels to drop ( i know being IFS the wheel drop is very limited anyway) but i still want it for a little bit of offroad fun nothing too serious, or would i be better off spending the money on a raised set of torsion bars if there is such a thing!

[-Scott-]

Thanks Scott, i had a look and it is an NK, ta. With the torsion bars will that effect the driveability off road by not allowing the front wheels to drop ( i know being IFS the wheel drop is very limited anyway) but i still want it for a little bit of offroad fun nothing too serious, or would i be better off spending the money on a raised set of torsion bars if there is such a thing!

There is no such thing as a "raised" torsion bar. To adjust the height of the front end the bar is rotated - adjust the angle of the lever at one end, and the lever at the other end (the lower control arm) changes too.

People sell stiffer torsion bars ("Heavy Duty") which I believe are only required if you fit a steel bull bar with a winch. Otherwise, the stiffer bars mean that the suspension flexes less; less bump (up) flex means the whole front end lifts further over the same rock, which means the other wheel has more weight removed from it, and is (arguably) more likely to spin. I haven't replaced mine, and don't intend to - I'm still on the factory originals.

Your Pajero's IFS has limited travel between rubber stops. Two small stops limit droop travel, and one large stop limits bump travel. Adjusting ride height sets where the control arms ride between these stops.

Most off-roaders bias the height up, to offer more clearance over obstacles, at the expense of droop travel. The bonus is increased bump travel, which helps when you hit dips in the road, or get a little airborn at the top of a sand dune.

[albey]

All i'm really after is a bit more clearance without effecting the ride, I'll leave the getting airborne to my comp truck. Anyway i don't think the misses would be too happy with me lauching it over sand dunes!

[DUDELUX]

if you get stock gq rear springs and put them in the rear of the paj, it will give you an instant 2 inch lift, then adjust the torsion bars to suit, i probably wouldnt go much higher than 2inch up with torsion bar as they dont like it.
with a 2 inch lift, 31s or maybe even 33s will be good to go,
i know how you feel about using nissan bits, but its cheap as lift, and not a bad ride either.
take it easy bud
if you have any questions, scotts the mitsubishi man, hes answered more than a few dumb questions from me

[Bitsamissin]

Gen 2 Pajero's have a 20-25mm rake from the factory (rear to front).
In the factory position you have about a 25mm gap between the upper & lower bumpstops that's the amount of total wheel travel available.
You see a lot of Pajero's of that era with a sagged front end.
The torsion bars are quite thick at 26mm so cranking them up is fine or re-indexing if they have run out of adjustment.
You can crank them about 50mm and cut the upper bumpstops (x4) and still have the same amount of droop travel for onroad comfort (no bottoming out).
A cheap ugrade is the GQ standard rear coils - we discovered that they will sit in the Paj spring perches when we did my SAS. These will give a 2" lift then adjust the torsion bars to suit. Also make sure to get a wheel alignment after the crank.
All up it could only cost you the wheel alignment if you can scrounge some stock GQ coils from your nearest ARB store scrap bin.
50mm extra front clearance makes a huge difference offroad in these vehicles.

[albey]

Yeah thanks bitsa, i only really want to level it out for now, and i'm only gonna upgrade to 31" tyres. Like i said it's for the misses so it has to be good on road more than off and maybe the occasional tour here and there!