Bighorn/Jackaroo capabilities

[KIWI]

I'm in the middle of a Court battle at the moment regarding the mods on my Bighorn. I am having big probs with the front end (4"lift) which will not
allow correct wheel alignment to be done, cv's pop the retaining clips off in the hub etc.
I have just been informed that my case was thrown out on the grounds that these vehicles are not designed for "extreme off road use" (which to them is driving over rocks, through rivers etc).
They base this on the fact that they have been told it has no CENTRE diff lock in it (????) and they are only suitable for road trips and the occasional trip on a gravel road.
Seems my factory disco is for getting up my driveway!
Any comments?
Also any ideas where I might get some official ads for these vehicles which say what they are capable of (Holden Magazine ads?)
Any help is much appreciated, as I refuse to pay the $4500 out of my own pocket to put this right.


Cheers,
Dave

[Westoztroopa]

Dave,
Jackaroos/Bighorns are quite capable vehicles for their type. I cant see a lot of extreme rockhopping taking place with our vehicles, but I know mine usually matches (or exceeds) some other "more capable" fourbies in some fairly rough stuff.

I'm not sure exactly how they did your 4" front lift, but if it is just by the standard torsion bar crank then 4" is way too much. Who-ever did the lift is in the wrong in my opinion. The wheels just cannot be alligned properly without replacing the upper control arm with a shorter one (like the calmini one). But in turn the hugely increased angles that the cv and other components are forced to work on creates great stresses. Realistically I think that a 2" torsion crank is about as far as you would want to go to get that compomise between lift, wheel travel and reliability.

I dont know what they mean about the centre diff lock as I thought that they were only for isolating the front and rear driveshafts in a full time 4x4 like a RangeRover an similar vehicles.

I will look around a bit for any ads with some more extreme stuff in them, but dont remember seeing much like that. I think they're pretty careful when it comes to that sort of thing.

So who is your court battle against, the people who did the lift or the importer?

Noel

[KIWI]

The case is against the dealer I puchased it from, the lift was done by putting shorter top out bumpers in, and cranking the torsion bars up.
I have compared to a standard set up and the cv's are at a greater angle when sitting stationary than a standard one is when jacked up with wheels off the ground.

The dealer is accusing me of using this for extreme 4wding, and says this is what is causing all the problems with the cv's etc.
All the places the truck has been could have made it in 2wd (apart from down the beach).
Im told the truck is not designed for any off road use other than a trip to the beach, or a gravel road. Any mud, ruts etc are beyond the capabilities for which they were designed.
All Im hoping for is an ad for one showing it being used "off road" to prove they are designed for this.

Have been told if I use mine off road at all, to expect to walk home.
Although I will mod it in the future, it would not be until its warranty expired, and would not see competition use.
These guys have it in their head that because the truck was modified, it proves that it was never designed for off road use.
Always thought centre diff lock were only for perm. 4wd, they think not.
Get scanner back on Tues. so will send pics of truck and disco set-up.

Dave

[Westoztroopa]

Have you asked them to just un-crank the torsion bars abit? Surely they can drop it down to a 2" - 3" or whatever will allow a proper wheel allignment. I suppose you also have the bigger tyres to fit in the guards to worry about...

If you need some evidence that they can and are being used offroad and are coming back unscathed you can show them my pics at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/westoztroopa
Our vehicles may be a bit different with yours having bigger lift and one tyre size bigger, but mine has a front locker and I haven't had probs with CVs as yet (touch wood).
But again the issue for me is not wether they a designed for a particular purpose, but that your vehicles ifs is not designed to be cranked that high.
They sold it to you like that and they should have to fix it! :mad:

Noel

[KIWI]

Will also need new springs, rims (off set too much), tyres, cv's are dodgy, and its running longer travel shocks so they also need replacing. Have been told that these shocks are a no-no because they will reach the end of thier travel before hitting the bump-stops.