Outer Limits 4x4 Board

More again.

And a few more again.

And again.

i would mind picking one up cheap and mod it into a pretty capable vehicle

cheers
elliot

a mate of mine had a niva with 31x10.5 tyres on it but he just used it mainly as a beach rig

like if you picked one up for like $1000 it wouldnt bee so painfull to pull the grinder out and cut the gaurds and alike

In the late 80's a guy in melbourne built a Niva with 33's on it. Limited lift and heaps of guard work. It was all done properly - very 80's style flared guards and two tone brown and gold paint.

It had a feature in (I think) 4X4 australia. Was mostly just for.... no apparent reason. (i.e never really designed to go off road as far as I could tell)

Saw it about 7 years ago in footscray. was running 31's and looking pretty sad, (but so does most stuff in footscray )

taziiy wrote:

Has this guy gloss painted his tyres?

there is one that gets around here (caboolture) that looks quite capable

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/gallery/all- ... 867_Medium

I had a look at one about a year ago, had aircon, front and rear bull bars, bfg all terrains all round (std size) slightly lifted, roof racks and duel fuel.
With 12 mths rego it was $1400 it was a very tidy car, apparenlty an elderly couple used it to tour around oz.

I have only this!

Why are the rear windscreens heated in a Lada?
















A: So your hands don't get cold pushing it to the mechanic!

runnin4life wrote:like if you picked one up for like $1000 it wouldnt bee so painfull to pull the grinder out and cut the gaurds and alike

$1000 - fark if I was going to spend $1000 I would buy a duel fuel 2 door rangie !! It would want to be $300 - $500

Tom

The beauty of a Lada is the coil suspension, large wheels right in each corner and very capable off road. They don't need modifying to go where the modified boys go! (Most of the time anyway!)

After having a Sierra and a Niva I give the Niva thumbs up off road and on. More comfort and more capable! (Although in sand the Sierra is more nimble being lighter)

"You must enter a message when posting"

WHY?

The best thing about the niva is that they are not all that common in Australia; so you can modify one and have a one of a kind 4WD. There are stories of modified Niva's getting around in Australia but I have yet to see one with anything bigger than 30's and a 2 inch lift. Will anybody bother to mod one in Australia past this point or is it just a waste of time?

bushy555 wrote:"You must enter a message when posting"

WHY?

Because a photo like that is worth a comment.

Nice approach angle.....

I can recall reading a Bushdriver article yonks ago (could be 15 year ago now) about legalities in the differing states. They showed a photo of a 36" swamper and comments were "massive U.S. made tyres like these will never be seen in this country". Offtopic....

Anyway, in that article they had a photo of a Niva with either a four or six inch (I cant recall) spring lift wearing 31x10's. If I recall correctly it had WA plates on it. The comment underneath the piccy was something like "not legal in any state".

Useless facts:
These vehicles come with an engine crank handle!. (when the starter packs it in)

Come standard with front and rear lockers.
Have remote transfer cases from memory.
Spare tyre is ala early subaru - underneath bonnet.
No design change from mid 1970 thru to mid-ish 1990.
"handle like a $20.00 skateboard" - Bushdriver mag.

Mate gave his Niva ute away a few months ago without even offering it to me. I was spewin!

bushy555 wrote:Useless facts:
These vehicles come with an engine crank handle!. (when the starter packs it in)

Correct, aswell as a rather comprehansive as far as standard vehicle kit goes, including a leadlight which has it's own plug under the bonnet.

bushy555 wrote:Come standard with front and rear lockers.

Incorrect, they only have a centre diff lock as they are constant 4wd. Aftermarket Diff Locks are exceptionally rare.

bushy555 wrote:Have remote transfer cases from memory.

Correct, connected via a rubber coupling which if not set up correctly or maintained leads to bad vibration problems and the gearbox mounts tearing away from the body.

bushy555 wrote:Spare tyre is ala early subaru - underneath bonnet.

Correct, except on Australian Toro models which got a rear wheel carrier

bushy555 wrote:No design change from mid 1970 thru to mid-ish 1990.

Apart from the rear hatch door being extended right to the floor in the back, had a few mechanical changes though.

bushy555 wrote:"handle like a $20.00 skateboard" - Bushdriver mag.

True, but no worse then anything else that came out of the 70's.

Having owned both, The Niva handles much better than a leaf sprung Sierra and my current leaf sprung Rocky!

They are actually quite comfortable for a swb 4x4

cookiesa wrote:They are actually quite comfortable for a swb 4x4

The front seats aren't the best, the worst bit i found would have to be the position of the throttle pedal standard, really hurts the ankle, nothing a kick bend doesn't fix though.

there is one being built up in VIC at the moment to run 33/34's. MQ axles and 3 or 5 link coil suspension. will post some photos when it gets finished in a few months. nissan engine etc. should go well with a decent mix of flex, power and stability.

Here's some more pics cause i'm drunk



Not a Niva, but there is one near it, have a go at this van






Lastly a pic of a current model Chevrolet Niva.

Surprising that Holden have brought the new "Niva" out here to compete with the compacts.

cookiesa wrote:Surprising that Holden have brought the new "Niva" out here to compete with the compacts.

Useless Fact #47

It is actually a Lada Niva. The current shape was based around the older ones driveline with a new body. Chevrolet took financial interest in Lada not overly to long ago and started selling them badged as Chevs and replaced the engine with an Opel 1.8L.

Am aware of that. My point was more that with the loss of the Jackaroo and the only "Holden" compact being the Cruze (Which is a Suzuki Ignis with Holden AWD system) You'd think with the sales and no doubt competative price edge Holden would be busting its balls to get them here to compete with Sportage, Rav, Xtrail etc

The lada does have a central diff lock but it does work on both axles and to make it even more capable LSD's out of a FIAT 124 fit straight in front and back, almost as good as lockers.