Rodeo R7 time to spend up$$$, advice Req.

[saigo]

Hi all, New to this forum!!!
I have a t/diesel rodeo R7.
I am planning on a few mod's in the next month.
I have a 4x4 with 100 litre tank that I'm afraid of putting a hole inn (already plenty of scrap marks) and am considering a suspension upgrade to minimise damage.
I was thinking of installing EFS (Carrolls torsion/shocks/leaf springs) and doing a ball joint flip along with torison tighten. I understand I can gain 2inch lift from this. Correct??? or would the rear need longer shackles?.
add a Snorkel.
Add tjm t15 steel bar to fit my winch(not installed).
And later fit the biggest tyres I can. I believe this would be 31" on 16" rims or 275/75/16.
Any advise/changes to this would be great, I am planning a trip around Aus in about 18 months so relieablity is a BIG factor.
Main goalsI want to raise the ground clearence and also achieve a higher gear ratio as I find sitting on 110km+ it rev over 3 grand and starts to chew the diesel.
Great site better then reading a book anyday

[Utemad]

The two best things you could do IMHO is to raise the suspension and fit 31in tyres.

To do the suspension you'll need to replace the rear leafs but you can just wind up the front torsion bars. I have an ARB bullbar and a winch up front with no troubles using the standard torsion bars.

The 31in tyres on 15x7 Navara offset rims will fit no worries.

If you search or look in the tech thread at the top of the thread list you'll find heaps on info on suspension mods. All the Isuzus are very similar in the front end and the rears are very similar on the leaf sprung models. I have Jackaroo leafs on my Rodeo for a smoother ride.

[nico]

Another Thought on tyres is fitting 235/85r16 (32's)these fit onto the standard rims with a lift like utemad was talking about

[Guzzi]

Saigo,
Best mod to spend money on?
2.5inch exhaust system and then get the injector pump aneriod adjusted to suit. Lots more low down power for not much more fuel consumption. MTQ in Toowoomba did mine.
Fitting larger tyres will drop your revs slightly and will make your speedo inaccurate by roughly 6%.
Larger tyres raise your gearing as you will notice by reading above, this will effect your off road performance and make it slower to accelerate, the aneriod adjustment will negate some of this, but the taller gearing means you cant creep along as slowly as youd sometimes like.
Its not such an issue on road.
Tyres.....much bigger than 245/75/16 will be a tight fit and will rub until the suspension is lifted, dont forget the MU's and fronteras have larger flairs on their front and rear guards than the R7.
900mm from road to fender on the front is easy with the ball joint flip and bar crank.
For the rears talk to carrols regarding what they have available and work on something like 250 to 280kg constant load for the rates. Try and get the ground to fender height to 940 to 920mm AFTER the springs have settled.
Front diff lock would also be a good idea if your doing a lot of rough steep dirt tracks, (my next mod)
Make sure your shackles are greaseable.
Avoid Coopers tyres like the plague, if your doing rocky tracks
good luck

[saigo]

Guzzi,

Thanks for the replys Utemad, Nico, and Guzzi.
How much did the 2.5inch exhaust system and the injector pump aneriod adjustment set you back approximately. If you don't mind me asking.

[Guzzi]

Saigo,
Exhaust system $350 or there abouts.
There is an exhaust shop in beaudesert that sells mandrel bent systems for around $350 to $400, I found that out after I had mine done. mumble,mumble.........
Aneriod adjustment $125 at MTQ Toowoomba, it took them just on an hour, including before and after dyno runs.
The difference in driveability and low down torque is very nice, not a great deal of difference at higher RPM, increase fuel consumption is neg on the road, increase about 2lt per 100km with a lot of low range work.

[Motion]

Hi, I am driving a TD Isuzu 4x4 pickup.

How much lift will a ball joint flip job yield?

Will it put any strain on the drive shafts?

Sorry to ask so much, because I am planning to do it.

I have a friend who had fixed 2" ball joint spacers, but he had broke his drive shafts twice on separate off road trips.

[saigo]

Hi Motion,

I believe the ball joint flip with rubber stop cut to half its size just increases your downward travel, you then wind up the Torison bar to increase height, I think the Ball joint flip will also help with increased adjustment to your wheel alignment after the lift as with fitting a spacer in the ball joint though this is not required for a 2" lift. Anymore then 2" lift will start to place to much angle on your CV's.
I'm still new to this and there maybe someone that can add/correct my answer.
All the best!

[Guzzi]

Motion,
The ball joint flip will allow you to crank your bars a bit further and still keep your wheel alignment within limits. Adding a spacer will increase this adjustment.
However there is a limit to how far you can go without doing damage to CV joints.
Around 29deg is the maximum angle your CV joint will operate.
Also if youve ever pulled a CV apart to change a boot or grease it, youll notice the whole kit and caboodle is held together by a 1.5mm thick wire circlip, which IMO wont take excessive loads caused by excessive lifting /cranking of the front suspension.
As a fudge factor 40mm seems to be the limit of reliability.
Try these

http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipmen ... nsion.html

http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipmen ... ation.html

Have a read of these 2 links, they are a pt1 and 2 on a guy who did this to his Trooper/jackaroo. Explains what he did and what he got.

[Motion]

The Links are really helpful, thanks a lot!

[Vulcanised]

if you need preformance, put an intercooler on it...... have it retuned and you will have a little oil burner that will kick ass. bigger tyres won't bother it then i can crawl hills in low 1st at idle.

[saigo]

Have had most of the mods completed on my Rodeo R7, still to get wheels and tyres 31"on 15" rims. Was wondering what height I should have from Centre of hub to top of flare guard roughly, I'm sitting around 530mm.