Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I've always been a patrol man (and still am). But since we bought a 3.5 Pajero i've begun to sway. Coming from a point of view with a patrol with twin arb's 4 inch lift & 35 inch claws - how capable can a 96 pajero be? SERIOUSLY I DO NOT KNOW. I know there now is a locker for them (mine oops sorry HERS is a manual) and larger lifts available, but with IFS i have no idea on reliability-strength and capability. Saw a surf on the weekend and looks very scary - picked up wheels all over the place - is that what the pajero is like? Just curious that all

Thanks

Well any IFS will pick up front wheels even with the swaybars removed/disconnected.
A 3.5 V6 lwb has a very good power to weight ratio and the rear end (diff and axles) are as strong as a Patrol (35.5mm diameter axles/10" crownwheel). The factory lsd is quite good so with the new ARB front locker, factory lsd, some 35" Simex's etc, 2" lift, 2" b/l, swaybars disconnected/removed it will go quite well.
The 3.5 V6 has a factory 30mm body lift over the earlier 3.0 V6 and will run 33"s standard, 35"s will require an additional 2" b/l or 2" s/l.
They run a 4.636 ratio but you can upgrade to 4.90 from the 2.8 TDI.
The front IFS has a 8" high pinion diff and reasonably beefy components it seems to be one of the more reliable set ups in terms of breakages.
Your Patrol will be more capable offroad generally speaking but not in all situations. Especially in mud/ruts and tight tracks the smaller/lighter Paj with better power to weight and superior front ground clearance can have the advantage. In seriously chopped up rocky terrain (craters, ledges etc) the Patrol is much better but the Paj is not disgraced. I'm comparing apples to apples here (same mods for both trucks).
As an example Peter Goods Gen 1 lwb Paj (twin locks, 32" centipedes) drove Porters Rd (the hard part) without too much drama (didn't need to winch).
There are Paj's that regularly drive the Rubicon Trail in the US and trails like Pritchet's Canyon, I wreckon thats a fair effort.
This 3.5 V6 has a factory rear locker, auto, 35"s, 4.90 diffs, 2" s/l, 2" b/l and drove the Rubicon Trail ok (except the Little Sluice).
IFS trucks cop a lot of unfair criticism I reckon but a seriously modified one will certainly go places offroad no doubt about that, it just depends on how much you want to spend.

NNNNNNOOOOOO - not what i want to hear, it's so nice to drive and flogs the tb42 in power. Mine, sorry hers, has 16x8 & 265's, soon to go to the 285's with spring lift. Thanks for that, more to come....

Thanks Red Rover

How stable r they going down hills. The Patrol is stable, but this surf I saw SCARY STUFF

Their not too bad but I guess it depends on the terrain.
Mine now with twin lockers and the JT2's feels very stable going down slippery hills. Off camber stuff is going to be hard for any vehicle though. Rutted downhill descents are straightforward, just stay in the tram tracks.
The front locker really helps downhill though, invariably you are going to pick up a wheel but it won't run away with a front locker engaged.
The rear locker helped a bit going down steep descents but the front locker made a very big improvement in this area.

Frank.