Outer Limits 4x4 Board

G'day all, new to the site, was put on to it by a mate of mine who as it turns out is only a lurker. When I asked him who he was he told me that the only access to internet at the moment was through his work and so he cant send any personal stuff on that connection, hence the lurker only status.

Anyway I own a 95 Cruizer 4.2 diesel stock as they come.
Couple weeks ago I was invited to a fishing trip to a point between the Donnelly and the Warren River West of Pemberton. So down I went and met up with my mate who drives a GQ Patrol Wagon with a 4" lift and 36" tyres with a turbo on his 4.2 diesel.
Well my car as far as I'm concened handled itself very well. There was only one part of one track that my beast just wouldn't get over. Needless to say though I was amazed at how his car took that dune.

This is where my problem begins, I now have the bug and have decided that firstly there had to be a suspension upgrade. The but starts now as I am a tradesman and so first and foremost my vehicle pulls a trailer that weighs well over a ton every day of its life and is only unhooked if I go out over the weekend in my car as we also have a family falcon sedan that the wife drives.
So unless someone tells me different at the moment i am thinking 2" lift new lovell coils, foam cell shockies and airbags in the back inside the coils. What do you think and what brands do you use?
I also have a birthday coming up and so I wanted peoples "Toy Priority", know what I mean, do you go for a uhf radio over spotties? or is a duel battery system a better investment? what about inverters?
What do people think is the best order to do it in and what are the best toys to have?

Anyway like I said I have caught the bug and can see me converting my stocky into a nice comfortable machine but thats long enough for a first post, see you online,
Silatman.

just gotta reply to the virgin

For suspension tips, try the Toyota section matey! But you probably already have...Sounds good to me, i would probably do the same for a daily...

As for the other Q's, I would prefer spotties and a radio(uhf) at the same time, Spotties are always cheaper of course. But if you only do day 4wding, no night offroad or long nite cruises, get the radio for talking with mates etc.

Does yours have 1 huge battery standard or have a dual bat. setup standard? some do i think(no experience)

And what were u thinking of running with the inverters? 240V? Camping etc.

Damn i didnt get first crack - ill get me a virgin poster one day! welcome though.

Bets bet is to work out where you expect to drive and how often.

set up priorities would change depending on your expectations, mods depend on your driving choices be they tough rocky stuff, or beach, or mud or a general mix of everything - but then work out if its the destination or the challenge of the drive. this stuff is hard to work out, but try to set up the car for your most common senario.

If its the challenge of the drive then the mods will keep getting more serious as your expectations of what you want to drive change.

Camping set ups take planning and will evolve over time.

Also look at why you didnt make the dune, was it clearance, traction, power, driver technique? if so how closer were you to making it, would 2 inches be enough etc.

Chances are your current springs have also sagged with all the towing, make sure you get springs designed to be used on a tow vehicle rather than a normal 2 inch lift set, otherwise they will sag pretty quick.

I personally would go a radio over spotties as ive been on numerous group trips with people without radios and communication is so much more complicated without them.

Suspension sounds OK but as stated, make sure it is spec'd for a 95% of the time, tow vehicle. Contact forum user "4WD Stuff" for you sus gear and he will steer you right. ( http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/privmsg.p ... ost&u=5548 )

Go the UHF over the spotties unless you plan on doing more driving at night than talking/communicating with you mate.

Dual batts only needed if you are running a car fridge/camp lights, etc. Probably best to research it a bit more and chalk that one down for the future.

would stick with a gas shock....not foam cells.

Maybe run 3" coils in the rear, to help keep the car level with the trailer on. Also keep an eye out for things on ebay, I got a Redarc battery controller brand new delivered for $97 with warranty, the old man paid $130 from the local Battery world. Just know what things are worth before you bid.

I agree with thehanko, get a uhf over spotties, evenif it's a handheld first.

Greg.

I feel special now that everyone was fighting over my virgin status!!

Cheers for the feedback guys.
I have decided to go with just a 2' lift as I was sooo close to getting over that dune with my absolutly flogged out stock suspension that a 2' lift will pick it up close to 3 - 4 inches anyway. My car was a caravan puller all its previous life ( I contacted the previous owner) and with me now also dragging around a trailer its done 190000k's all with dead weight behind it.
I was hoping that the rear airbags would stop the need for any more lift in the back.
It's also been recommended ( by WA Suspensions)that I drop the foam cell shockies in preference for just heavy duty shocks as my 90% driving doesn't need the foam cells so I have agreed to this.

Thanks for the advice people I can see me being a member of this site for a looooong time

Silatman.

yeah this site is adictive...

im pretty sure that if everyone found out about it we could reduce national productivity to the point that the ecconomy would slow down and interest rates would drop again.

Hell Outers is a national service!

Are you sure your inability to climb the dune was a clearance issue and not a traction (tyre) issue? If your 'Cruiser really is "stock", what tyres are you running? Poor tyres will dig, and you'll need massive amounts of suspension lift to keep your chassis off the sand. Alternatively, if you've got half-way decent tyres, what pressure did you run on the sand?

On other points, I agree with UHF over spotties. I don't have spotties, and don't miss them. But I use my UHF every time I go 4wding. For convoy work on short trips a handheld will be fine - my cheapy was about $100, but you can buy twin packs for less than that these days. On longer trips, where the convoy can string out further, a handheld doesn't have the range to cover the entire convoy. I've been on trips where in-car UHFs didn't cover the entire convoy.

Anyway, welcome to OL. Enjoy your stay.

My tires were definately part of the problem.
They were brand new when I bought the car and obviously the previous owner or the car yard put on the cheapest rubber they could find, Roadstone A/T's 235/85R16.
Up until now they have done the job, as stated above my vehicle has been a work ute towing a trailer all week on the black stuff only.
I was running them at 12psi for the trip though.
I am thinking of chucking on a set of bridgestone desert duellers ( yes/ No?) but I have to get it past she who must be obeyed before I keep spending money, and with 70% tread still on these its hard to argue for a new set of treads.
Especially as she has just given the ok for the suspension up grade.

silatman wrote:Especially as she has just given the ok for the suspension up grade.

Then I reckon a suspension upgrade would be the go.

silatman wrote:I am thinking of chucking on a set of bridgestone desert duellers ( yes/ No?)

I think Dueller's are a good all-terrain tyre, and they'd almost certainly be an improvement over "Roadstone A/Ts" (I'd be more certain if I'd actually ever heard of them. )

Any chance you could buy some "play" tyres for the weekend, and keep your existing tyres for workday use? Best of both worlds - don't wear out "good" tyres around town, and get some nice aggressive tyres for play.

First things first,
Go down to the local car yard and ask them how much extra you will have to pay them after the trade in to get your hands on a real car like, Oh I dunno, a Patrol or something !!
Coz trading the cruizer might get you the rear bumper, so you'll have to pay cash for the rest !!
Have to pay good money for good quality after all.
Sounds like this mate of yours has got the right idea. GQ with everything. He must be a top bloke eh?
Sounds like he's gonna be pulling you out of the sh#t alot in the comming trips,

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