Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Menai & Yalwal fun!

More!

TWISTER wrote:More!

Yei!!!! Another SWB GV!!!!!!! (except mine's on 15" rims... and on a 1.6 EFI but mine's still a drop-top ) Looking very nice and new...

What size tyres are you running, and have you done anything to the suspension yet?

WaveCult wrote:

TWISTER wrote:More!

Yei!!!! Another SWB GV!!!!!!! (except mine's on 15" rims... and on a 1.6 EFI but mine's still a drop-top ) Looking very nice and new...

What size tyres are you running, and have you done anything to the suspension yet?

It's 2001 model, I've had it since new, it's been to the Lost City a couple of times and I have'nt got stuck anywhere yet, due to the 2" bigger than standard BFG MUD tyres. It's got a 2.5" suspension lift aswell. How old is your green machine? And what mods has it got?

TWISTER wrote:It's 2001 model, I've had it since new, it's been to the Lost City a couple of times and I have'nt got stuck anywhere yet, due to the 2" bigger than standard BFG MUD tyres. It's got a 2.5" suspension lift aswell. How old is your green machine? And what mods has it got?

Mine's a 2001 model as well but I've only had it since mid this year.

It's a soft-top which only came in a 1.6 (15" wheels too), and is coupled to an auto.

Haven't been out much with it yet but been stuck on a few occasions already (then I bought a hand-winch and haven't needed to use it since! baaaah!).

As far as mods go, got Pedders Sports Ryder shockers for the rear (originals too soft and bouncy), slightly longer (2-3cm only to keep original springs... bit it's not too bad I find), K&N pod filter, straight-through muffler and standard-sized Cooper Discoverer A/T tyres (most of my driving is on-road) so it's pretty standard so far. (that's excluding the tints, "unusual" yellow tail-lights to match the green an dyellow colour-scheme throughout, green dome-light and under-seat green neons... but that's probably something I shouldn't say on this forum!)

At one stage went looking for sunraysia rims to get a set off-road tyres on them, only to find that the spokes don't clear the brake caliper

WaveCult wrote:(that's excluding the tints, "unusual" yellow tail-lights to match the green an dyellow colour-scheme throughout, green dome-light and under-seat green neons... but that's probably something I shouldn't say on this forum!)

hehehehe... should be interesting to see the reactions from some of the oldskool drivers round here!!

go the neons!

I do a 1000kms a week on the muddies, 63,000kms so far!!! The spare has never been used. The still have heaps of tread, due to the light weightness. I took the front sway bar off for extra front articulation.

stumped wrote:

WaveCult wrote:(that's excluding the tints, "unusual" yellow tail-lights to match the green an dyellow colour-scheme throughout, green dome-light and under-seat green neons... but that's probably something I shouldn't say on this forum!)

hehehehe... should be interesting to see the reactions from some of the oldskool drivers round here!!

go the neons!

Thanks mate, people usually find it more amusing that the car is actually running legal sized tyres and seldom notice the neons (which are only visible from within the vehicle and only come on when the parking lights are on anyway)

TWISTER wrote:I do a 1000kms a week on the muddies, 63,000kms so far!!! The spare has never been used. The still have heaps of tread, due to the light weightness. I took the front sway bar off for extra front articulation.

Do you notice a significant difference? I disconnected it last week and didn't find a huge improvement so it's back on. As for the muddies, how do you find them in the wet on-road? Thought they'd wear a bit quicker than that... sounds good!

Luis,

Where did you get the green neons from? I've been thinking about getting some red ones for the inside of mine (red doesn't affect night vision), as it has no interior lights - and it's a bit hard to see anything inside the cab at night time.

Thanks mate.

greg wrote:Luis,

Where did you get the green neons from? I've been thinking about getting some red ones for the inside of mine (red doesn't affect night vision), as it has no interior lights - and it's a bit hard to see anything inside the cab at night time.

Thanks mate.

Got them at Autobarn... go for the red if you like the "red-light" look, but I had a red dome light on the Terios at one stage and illumination is very very poor (and got sick of the "red-light" look very quickly! It's definitely not conservative old me!).

The best I would say is blue in terms of visibility in the cabin (have 2 blue neons under the dash on the Terios).

I attached the green ones on the GV to the seat-rails and hooked them up to the dashboard lights so they turn on with the parking and dashboard lights. I don't notice any inconvenience in night driving at all. Can't say the same for the blue neons on the Terios though... (specially in "strobe" mode )

Where are you going to fit them? Might work as under-dash, but it depends on what you want to illuminate.

Being a 'puter person, could try going to the swap meet on Sunday and get some PC Case neon lights (they'll also be 12v)... in effect they're the same thing.

From memory the Autobarn ones were $15-$20 each (not sure of size) which was a couple of bucks cheaper than the ones at the PC swap meet.

Hope this helps

WaveCult wrote:Got them at Autobarn...

Where are you going to fit them? Might work as under-dash, but it depends on what you want to illuminate.

Thanks Luis...

I think they are going to go either on the B pillar hoop (as per normal interior light position), or attach one to the dash area where the heater / aircon / fan controls are (ala Critter style)...

I'm not too fussed about being able to see super clearly - i think any light will be an improvement on no light

cheers

Good to see the Grand Vitaras out there. Got myself a 1998 4 door GV, with a 1" body lift, 1" OME lift, 29" BFG's, sway bar off etc etc.

Heaps of photos @ http://www.4lux.net

Most people are surprised at where I take it. Love the reaction from people when they say "Your not taking that thing up there are you?"

greg just get a trailer stop light and use that for an interior light. mine works a treat (unlike the rest of the car at the moment) and is very bright. the neons might not throw enough light to be truly useful for map reading etc. You can get them at Super Cheap auto

Repco or the like make a cool little 12 V neon worklight .. is about $40 or so and comes with clips etc throws pretty useable light as well (enough to reinstall a gearbox at 8.30pm in june ..)

Keep a bit of cord on it to use as a worklight if nessecary .. (simply unclip and move around the vehicle)

Seem to be reasonalbly water resistant as well ... I accidently left mine out in my brothers backyard for about a week once ..

Guy

love_mud wrote:Repco or the like make a cool little 12 V neon worklight .. is about $40 or so and comes with clips etc throws pretty useable light as well (enough to reinstall a gearbox at 8.30pm in june ..)

Keep a bit of cord on it to use as a worklight if nessecary .. (simply unclip and move around the vehicle)

Seem to be reasonalbly water resistant as well ... I accidently left mine out in my brothers backyard for about a week once ..

Guy

Yeah, most of them should be pretty resistant to due and light water-work, but very few actually go to the point of saying that for "warranty purposes"... unless you go for the "underbody neons"... (wonder if they're actually waterproof? hmmmm... i'm sure that if they aren't they could be made out to be...)

Hey, is this a thread highjack? Which reminds me... I've been meaning to post some pics of the GV here and every day when I get home I forget... Maybe I'm getting old...

PRZOOK wrote:Good to see the Grand Vitaras out there. Got myself a 1998 4 door GV, with a 1" body lift, 1" OME lift, 29" BFG's, sway bar off etc etc.

Heaps of photos @ http://www.4lux.net

Most people are surprised at where I take it. Love the reaction from people when they say "Your not taking that thing up there are you?"

This may sound like a silly question, but to remove the front bumper, how'd you get the grill out... I tried getting to it once and although I could "begin to" remove the top of the grill-piece, the part that goes under the headlights refused to budge at all... do you have any pics of where the mounting points are for the grill piece?

For the bodylift no other mods were required? everything just worked nicely?

Getting the grill off is the part I hate. They are held in with those little chrismas tree clips. Basically it is a "force" thing. Grab it best you can and yank it. Or, try and get a screw driver in behind it and pry the little clips out.

As for the body lift, it was a bit of a pain, but all done in a day. The rear inner bumper will need slight hammering to allow the lights in the plastic bumper to fit 1" higher. The front drivers side brake lines (on the engine side of the chassis rail) restrict the lift, so it is a pain to get the puck in. The front bumper needs a little work to get back on without moving the brackets, mine just stretches the 1". And most importantly, loosen the steering first.

PRZOOK wrote:Getting the grill off is the part I hate. They are held in with those little chrismas tree clips. Basically it is a "force" thing. Grab it best you can and yank it. Or, try and get a screw driver in behind it and pry the little clips out.

As for the body lift, it was a bit of a pain, but all done in a day. The rear inner bumper will need slight hammering to allow the lights in the plastic bumper to fit 1" higher. The front drivers side brake lines (on the engine side of the chassis rail) restrict the lift, so it is a pain to get the puck in. The front bumper needs a little work to get back on without moving the brackets, mine just stretches the 1". And most importantly, loosen the steering first.

I see

The clips were in fact a hassle... broke all except one (but they still serve their purpose)... have become a lot more "experienced" now... yesterday unclipped and removed plastic lining inside the front guards for a look-see and to remove a couple of light dents and didn't break one single "xmas tree clips" yei!

Why can't body-lifts and all other mods just be plug and play? (I know, could be worse)

Thanks mate.

Cheers,
Luis

PS - by the way, nice looking ride... looks legal and works well best of both worlds or thereabouts

WaveCult wrote:Why can't body-lifts and all other mods just be plug and play? (I know, could be worse)

A body lift is plug and play luis - they don't get much easier than that i think

greg wrote:

WaveCult wrote:Why can't body-lifts and all other mods just be plug and play? (I know, could be worse)

A body lift is plug and play luis - they don't get much easier than that i think

Changing tyres is easier Hey, fitting neon lights is easier!

WaveCult wrote:Changing tyres is easier

Perhaps another hint that your tyres are too small...

WaveCult wrote:

TWISTER wrote:I do a 1000kms a week on the muddies, 63,000kms so far!!! The spare has never been used. The still have heaps of tread, due to the light weightness. I took the front sway bar off for extra front articulation.

Do you notice a significant difference? I disconnected it last week and didn't find a huge improvement so it's back on. As for the muddies, how do you find them in the wet on-road? Thought they'd wear a bit quicker than that... sounds good!

Sorry, I did'nt reply, I've been snowed under at work!

I did, due to the bigger tyres being heavier, they pulled the suspension downwards when the wheel was lifted. They are great in the wet until you have to do a quick stop, they can slide sometimes. High speed cornering not a problem.

Finally... a new shot... as for the tyres, I know Greg... it's on the cards, just not a priority yet.