Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hello everyone after much thought i have decided i will buy a Suzuki as a fun offroad toy and my daily driver.

I believe the Sierra to be the pick of the lot...

I am after reliability, capability, availability of parts and modifications.

As i said it will be my daily driver so would you guys who are using Sierras everyday with lifts and bigger tyres i.e. 31" Be able to let me know how they feel on the road how they handle the tyres? Ride comfort and economy

I have tryed to use the search function but it must have a trick to it sorry being new i was unaware of how to navigate the site

I am planning on building a cheap and Capable truck to learn in till i can get a little more serious...What mods would you recomend alone with the cost of such mods?

Thank you very much sorry if this has been done before if so i would gladly accept a link

The Search function does not need a trick. But you do need to play around with words for a while to get what you want. Keep trying, when you get it right, the results are good. Its a very good internet skill to have to learn how to use search engines (all are very similar, including google).
Also have a browse through the sticky at the top of the suzuki forum called "Sierra Bible", some of its good.


Anyway;

I daily a SWB WT Sierra on 31s. Its a modified 2" OME lift (no sway bar either), I have trail tough 4.9 transfer case gears, and 31" radial muds on alloy wheels. I have a second set of bias muds for weekend mucking around on steel rims.

It handles alright, for what it is, not a road car. It goes alright, not a race car (absolute slug with the bias tyres); without the 4.9 gears and the 31s on its a gutless pile of rubbish though. fuel economy with the radial 31s is about 9.5km/L, the bias 31s give about 7km/L, when i ran it standard I got about 10.5km/L. Comfort is 100x better than a standard Sierra; however my parents Jeep is still easily better.

What mods:
Well whats a standard vehicle not going to do for you?
Do you care about breaking the Law?

I have to say the search funtion is so overated. i typed in 1.5l and 1.4l to look for the overbore 1.3l threads and both times i get NADA. (found some by trying words like big bore, overbore over bore -note the space)'

Having run a stock 1.3l widetrack sierra for over 4 years now i can say it always does what i needed it to do, the biggest thing that was night and day to ride comfort was ditching the warn factory suspension and getting heavy duty Old man Emu springs AND shocks, i got 40mm lifts cause `they dont make stock height`,i will never be a rock crawler but parking in the city is abreeze, highway is just uneventful and the sand, snow, rocky/dirt tracks that i drive havent needed more
Me being single means most of my trips are only ever with ` one other` so for me its cosy


If it is just a toy and you aren`t going into the extreme sector of MUCHO booyt fab with diffs and armour that most of the boys do here than i say go for a vitara (prefably with efi) They aren`t terribly more difficult to work on than a sierra and you already start with the 1.6 (which a lot of people end up converting there sieras to run) and comfort is just that little more. You can still do the 31 rimas, and if you have kids (or want to sleep in the car on trips) you can go for the long wheel base (which may be a better daily driver)

then theres the jimny... f it aint out of your price range

YOU should DEFINATELY read through both the sierra and vitara bibles.

My sierra is my daily, it can be seen in my sig line. But my other car is a very modified V8 that just as un practicle.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic150 ... ily++leafy

the link above should give you a heap of info.
also look in pics of the zook forum rigs.



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Cheers so from what i am reading i would be best to wait around for a sierra with a 1.6L motor Tin Top

And money wise i am guessing it would be cheaper to buy a built rather then stocker and do it myself.

I am not going to be a rockcrawler but i do want a 4x4 which will keep up with my mates Cruisers and Land Rovers which have you normal 2 inch lifts muddies and the odd locker. And sometimes beat them and come home with limited body damage and terminal damage.

Just from looking on here these are what i have got in my head:

SUSPENSION:
2" Spring lift
2" Body lift
Longer Shocks
Extended shackles (maybe some people seem to disagree)
Remove sway bars (if not already done)

TYRES:
31" Muddies (Maxis Bighorns for on road and offroad)

BAR WORK:
Bullbar
Sliders
Rear bar (maybe doesn't seem to be common nor do they have a lot of over hang in the rear)
(maybe an exo?)

GEARING:
Trail Gear 6.5
Higher Diff gearing for cruising

GOODIES:
Spot lights
UHF
Remove carpets for water and mud (nice set of rubber mats)
Make up a little center console
Speakers
Bucket seats
Snorkel (home made)
(home made water proofing for dizzy)
Diff breathers
Fire extinguisher under front of drivers seat
Tinted windows
Sports steering wheel

Diff locker front and raer.


Now to me that sounds like all a zook would need to go pretty much anywhere. How much should i be looking to pay for a zook with that set up?

know it is a vage question but i have done my research on what seems to be best for it now to know what a good price is. Also would the steering need to be modified and tailshafts?

One last thing i do enjoy some comfort so what was the first year to come out with Air conditioning?


Cheers guys! you have been VERY helpful

buy my lwb tray back and finish it and you will have a weapon most of the work is done
here is my build up
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic391 ... highlight=

air conditioning? ah you crack me up...








waait your serious? aircon is rare on a sierra in oz. It also would be even harder to find one on a 1.6l conversion, so if its important its going to be most likely an aftermarket kit (all 85 and up 1.3l sierra have provisions for a/c in the dash)
I really think a 94 and up swb hardtop vitara JLX is going to leave you happier with your decision, lift, tyres, lockers, power steering and.. aircon

Hi Combo!

Welcome to Outers! It sounds like your on the right track. My Zook is very similar to your mod 'wish list'. Here are a couple of thoughts I have for you:

*2" Spring lift - Be careful here, generally lifted springs on a Sierra will ride and flex like crap. My Zook has 2" King springs and I have had to remove leaves and stuff around with the packs to make them work. They are OK now, but I probably wouldn't recommend them (My Zook had them when I purchased it). Because many lifted springs don't seem to be any longer than stock springs, you can end up with poor shackle angles too. (This is the case with King Springs anyway). A bit of a search will reveal that OME are generally the way to go with new springs.

*Longer Shackles - if you run standard flat springs then you might want longer shackles to help fit the 31's or to give you a bit more lift... HOWEVER a 2" BL, 2"springs and longer shackles is TOO MUCH for 31's- it is unnecessary lift and your Zook will fall over!!!

*Maxxis Bighorns - a great do-it-all tyre - Go for it!

*Gearing - I run TG6.5's with the standard 3.7 ratio diffs. I wouldn't have it any other way! Mine sits on 100Kmh at about 3850rpm and it loves it... (mine is a 1.3L though, if you end up with a 1.6L you could consider the diff gears (or less reduction) I suppose..)

I cant really help you with the price because I have stopped counting! I have done EVERYTHING myself and I estimate that including the initial cost of the car, I would be up to about 5K (or maybe 6K max...) You could buy a LOT of Zook for that money if it is already built, but that's just not as much fun!

Mine is a soft-top. Air-con happens naturally ;-) . No idea what models/years have AC. Sorry.

Have a look in my Members thread (in my signature line below). It might give you some ideas on what to do (or not do).


EDIT: Also, as Santos said, don't overlook a Vitara if you want to be comfortable. I could drive my Sierra every day, but they are fairly 'agricultural' in every sense of the word!


Cheers,

Pez

I thought my desire for air con would create a fuss ah well some of us can not handle the summer heat...

Wow Pez after looking at that zook if it were Tin Top it would be SPOT on what i am after you even have a center console (water proof very handy!)

I am guessing if your build was around 5K that i should be able to pick one like that up for say 3.5K maybe 4K? or would i be dreaming sorry i am not up on Sierra prices when modified i had a look at their standard value...also the later the model the better.

Here's mine - with A/C

Bought it stock and have since rebuilt the 1.3, fitted 235/75R15 MTRs, bullbar, towbar, UHF, exhaust, 2" body lift, removed swaybar.

Also have a F&R lockers, 2" OME springs (RUF) and powersteering to go on at some stage.

Paid $3k for car
Spent $2k on rebuild + exhaust (extractors --> 1.75")
Spent $800 on tyres
Spent $2k on remaining bits and pieces

Adelaide is expensive for Zook bits - not many private wrecks around and only one wrecking yard has them ($$$).

Oh and stereo is getting there - that was another $1k all up. I just have to fibreglass the sub enclosure

I drive mine daily and do some serious kays in it. Last trip was Adelaide to Mt Gambier and back in a day (900ks). Stock gearing is good with the 235/75R15s on the highway - think 110km/h is about 3500RPM in 5th and the 1.3 is very happy there. Needs lower gearing for offroad though - to come soon when it'll become a toy rather than a DD ... getting a work car

The Zook handles much better at speed on the MTRs than on stock tyres. Death wobbles on stockies are atrocious - never had them on the MTRs.

Posted some pics to give you ideas how I've worked mine up to be a better daily driver - really should have them linked to a build thread but I haven't done enough building to validate having one

ha ha get a vitara, 2 inch lift 31's rear locker and u will be alot further and faster than your mates toyotas.
thats wat i got. and alot more comfortable than my mates sieras on and off the road, and also already has the power of a 1.6 injected standard. and wont roll as easy, parts are also a bit cheaper

Combo wrote: I am guessing if your build was around 5K that i should be able to pick one like that up for say 3.5K maybe 4K? or would i be dreaming sorry i am not up on Sierra prices when modified i had a look at their standard value...also the later the model the better.

I had a bit more of a think and I reckon that my build would be closer to 6K than 5K... I guess the thing with second hand prices is that if you put 2 Sierras side-by-side with the same mods, but which have been built by 2 different people, then you could be looking at two VERY different cars.

In my opinion $4k for my Zook would be an absolute bargain, and I would not consider selling it for an amount like that (I'm not selling it anyway - so I don't have to worry about that!). The thing is that I know the mods have been done right. You could end up buying someone else's shoddy work, and all of the problems and unreliability that goes with it!

Buying a pre-modified Zook is not a bad thing in terms of a cost saving, as long as you know what you are looking at!

Another idea would be to steal Moph's Zook (or even just his AC) when he is not looking!

As for the year models to look at, I would be looking at roughly an 89 to 96 model. This will make it a Wide Track (WT) with leaf springs. Before 88ish they are Narrow Track (NT), and after 96ish they went to coils and are not as easy to modify the way you want. If anyone has the EXACT years for the above info please add it in! (It's probably in the Bible anyway..... maybe...)

Cheers,

Pez