Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi Guys... First of all, i am female, so dont be too hard on me...
I need serious help here and after chasing all sorts of forums, you guys seem to be the only ones that seem to understand some of the components i am having trouble with...

OK... I have a 97 X90 and i want to put toyota or nissan (any other suggestions) solid axle/diffs under my zuk with 32" tyres. The wheel base is so wide on the x90 that hilux is too narrow. Now the diff ratio at present is at 5.13.1, and currently running 26in tyres, so with the bigger tyres (32") as well to compensate, what diff and ratio would i need to go to, so to get everything back in sink again and then what transfer case can i convert to, to make it all come together.. The x90 has IFS and i really want to go to solid axles for better play.

I need to act fast before the minister changes the rules again...
Any help would be greatly appreciated....
I love a good challenge and yes i know it is gunna cost a lot but i love this little unique 4by and love impressin ppl with what it is capable of stock let alone what it will be able to do once it grows big...lol
and dont just tell me the diff ratio, i need to know what that ratio is out of, like 80 series toyota or 97 nissan....
I did read somewhere that you should use pre 1987 in the front and post 1987 in the back, why i dont know....

PLEASE HELP......

SAS for 32"? Your better off running a larger tyre if your going to go to that extent.

Hey Chicy,

Good to see the girls getting stuck into it. First of all we want pics!...of the car that is .

Why not consider something like Bundera front and rear diffs? they already have coil and link mounts and you could probably use the standard arms as well.

You can get some nice ratios with bundy diffs as well from 3.9 to 4.88 off the top of my head, but don't limit yourself to getting all of your gearing from just the diffs. I"m not sure what sort of drive train you've got, guessing efi 1.6 and auto/5spd with attached transfer.

if you are going to all the trouble of an SAS then doing a twin transfer with a sierra leaf sprung case/hilux case and gearing would be a sweet mod giving you a wide range of gearing options.

As for track width, this can be sorted no probs with some custom offset rims.

For all the effort on doing an SAS I wouldn't be looking at running anything under a 35" tyre.

Although you could look at gusseted/braced sierra front diff CrMo cvs and axles and a hybrid full floater vitara rear diff and around a 33" tyre. Speak to Gwagensteve/CJ/greg about that mod. That would be a cool mod with lots of good ground clearance.

If you really want to go nuts get a set of Marks adapters portal axles and strap them onto a set of GU patrol diffs....

Good luck and keep us updated.

This is also my daily driver, so dont want to go too low on the ratios either
I am currently running 26" tyres..

The guards would need choppin too much for bigger tyres, i wanted 33" but partner said too big too much hassle, so am stuck with 32"... also am hoping not to chop the guards as i have heard you can buy a roller/flarer from Bursens in penrith for easy bucks, so am hopin to flare the guards right out if possible

Overkill Engineering in Hornsby did one using 60s diffs IIRC. May be worth giving them a ring.


Found a pic.

Thanks, great response already...

Yes pics soon...
It does have efi 1.6L and 5 speed manual

Yes i would like to go coils not leaf springs

I just wanna get good ground clearance but at the same time keeping the weight as low as possible to the ground, especially with these new impending rules that are tryin to sneak in....

Wow, that is so kool, but its my daily driver, i wanna be able to still drive on the road, but i love the pic, thanks..

I have tried to contact Overkill but since all the engineering rules went pearshaped they have been uncontactable...

and i am in a real hurry... lol

personally i wouldnt recommend calling overkill for anything... but anyways...

sierra diffs on 31's have the same clearance as lux diffs on 33's... so factor that in with what you're planning... IMO keep it all zuk - go 32's and put sierra WT diffs under there with some offset rims...

alien wrote:personally i wouldnt recommend calling overkill for anything... but anyways...

sierra diffs on 31's have the same clearance as lux diffs on 33's... so factor that in with what you're planning... IMO keep it all zuk - go 32's and put sierra WT diffs under there with some offset rims...

really dude how many times????////

stfu or gtfo

Hey, this is a yank hack job. Just go to the bottom and you will see the SAS...
http://www.zukikrawlers.com/showthread. ... light=X-90

I would contact Joeblow, but you would have to take it to melb

to fit 32s you don't need to go to the trouble of SASing it. That route is alot of money to get it right and legal. Whereas fitting a 32 via more traditional routes is possible. Mind you a 30 or 31 is probably a way better idea for a daily driver on an X90.

You're not going to gain more ground clearance or lower your centre of gravity by putting a live axle under your car (honestly) and it's going to cost you thousands of dollars.

The IFS is one of the best design elements of the vitara/X-90 - it's easy to get very good travel out of, it's strong enough, handles very well, has good parts support and is already under your car- and will happily run a 32" tyre.

You've already worked out you can't gear bigger tyres with a live axle, so you're going to have to run a sierra transfer case or something (more $$$ and fab work)

Additionally, if you're daily driving your car, the loss of handling and possible quirks ( vibrations, clucks, wobbles etc) that often occur with a live axle conversion will be a PITA.

Dank's right - Bundera axles and a sierra transfer case behind your vitara one would be one solution if you really want to go down the path, but I can't see any point - you'd have to be on 35" tyres or bigger to have a real advantage over the IFS you have now if it's properly set up.

Look at running a steel housing, Calmini arms, springs and strut spacers, and OME struts.

Just my 2C.

Steve.

I'd be sticking with the IFS, as a daily driver mines nice to drive on the road & goes everywhere off road! Unless you're going to be doing tuff truck or winch racing the IFS will be fine on that sized tyre once lifted, the only drama would be regearing it in high range.

Now it's locked in the front I quite regulary out drive pootrols & landbruisers on 33's





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The main aim of all this is ground clearance and also i am involved with a 4wd club with mainly supersized nissans and landcruisers, whom like to do fairly extreme types of tracks etc. so i do like to follow them, wether it be rock crawling, hill climbs or mud ( love the mud yeh), but i would also like to start going to some events like Peel (Bathurst), Blackrat (Hargreaves) and maybe try my hand at Nissan Trials... so i want it fairly chunky with grunt....

I am also planning to do ARB Air Lockers front and back, maybe turbo it, not sure till i see how good the gear power comes along yet or headers, custom bullbar and custom swing away bar at the back (Get the tyre out of the boot) and a snorkel of course.....

if you want to do all that you may be better served used a vehicle more upto the task. the amount of mods you will have to do get it suitbale for that sort of stuff is going to cost a bundle and in the end 32s wont be enough tyre anyway.

Grimbo, did you miss reading above, that i am female.....
(Look at your avatar, thats me right now)

I dont want the best car, i want "that" car and all my kids have left home now and i get to spend what little money i have, all on my car and i know i will never get back its worth, but i dont care... its unique and different, just like me....

i like your attitude =)

make sure before you start any work you consult and engineer too - even if you're not engineering it to be road worthy in the legal sense, they often have information and ideas that will save you time/money/heartache (like making sure steering components etc are safely addressed and are suited to the application), and consultation is usually cheap compared to them doing inspections etc.

Chicy wrote:The main aim of all this is ground clearance and also i am involved with a 4wd club with mainly supersized nissans and landcruisers, whom like to do fairly extreme types of tracks etc. so i do like to follow them, wether it be rock crawling, hill climbs or mud ( love the mud yeh),

... so i want it fairly chunky with grunt....

Sounds to me like some of those Nissan and Toyota owners have been in your ear about what makes a "capable" car.

If you are going to limit tyre size to 32 (maybe even 33) a solid axle swap is a waste of time and money. Personally, I'd rather outdrive a nissan or toyota on an IFS than swap a solid axle in and potentially loose capability in some circumstances.

The big issue is that once you go to solid axles, you are stuck with the same ground clearance as your toyota/nissan mates. If you're running a cruiser axle (probably the best option) with a 32" tyre, then you only have as much clearance as a cruiser with a 32" tyre. If they have more tyre then you, they'll always do better, and you will have spent all the time and money and not really gained very much.

If you keep the standard rear diff (plenty for a 32-33" tyre) and the IFS front with the usual upgrades, you'll have far more clearance with, say, a 32" tyre than a patrol/cruiser on a 35" tyre or bigger, and your car will be sweeter to drive under all circumstances.

One of the "tricks" of the vitara platform is that they don't want to pick front wheels up. It's a by product of suspension design and weight distribution. As a result, they tend to stay very stable and predictable, even on very severe angles. That's not necessarily going to be the case once you switch to a live axle, and will depend very heavily on how the geometry was set up - a real minefield.

Over the years, I've been very very impressed with what the vitara IFS can achieve. That's what I'd be working with.

You really need to work on the strengths of your vehicle over a cruiser/patrol to get the best out of it. Light weight, a high power to weight ratio (really, compared to most large 4WD's) the nose-lead balance of the vitara, and availability and cost of transfer gears are the strengths you need to work with.

Ripping everything out and putting heavier stuff in is really going to level the playing field out by adding weight and bulk to your car, which works in the favour of the bigger cars you drive with.

Right now you have the opportunity to outperform them if you build the car right.

Steve.

Steve.

Chicy wrote:Grimbo, did you miss reading above, that i am female.....
(Look at your avatar, thats me right now)

I dont want the best car, i want "that" car and all my kids have left home now and i get to spend what little money i have, all on my car and i know i will never get back its worth, but i dont care... its unique and different, just like me....

oh sorry, do you want me to type slower and use smaller words























Joking

As Gwagen has said better than I did build your X90 using the structure it comes with. In the end you will have a much better all round vehicle that will surprise you and the others with its capability

I am going to go to an engineer and i do want it street legal with tickets, but my understanding is that you need to know what you are going to do and what you are going to use to do it, before you go to the engineer.. they just tell you wether it will be right or not, but dont tell you how you can go about it... is this correct.....

LMAO @ Grimbo

Thanks for the clarification...

Chicy wrote:I am going to go to an engineer and i do want it street legal with tickets, but my understanding is that you need to know what you are going to do and what you are going to use to do it, before you go to the engineer.. they just tell you wether it will be right or not, but dont tell you how you can go about it... is this correct.....

That's pretty much correct. An engineer will only tell you what is permissible, not whether it's a good idea or not, or whether it's going to work well for what you want to do.

Steve.

heres a good start

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/ftopic182474.php

ALERT = Female + Indecision

MMMMMMMMMMMMM

Good food for thought Gwagensteve

No one has really been in my ear, i just hate not being able to go where the guys go..

I am by far not a good driver, but i do like to have a go and am willing to listen and learn...

surprised this X90 ( OSCAR ) has not been mentioned yet!

great ride and it was done at manell motors.

http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/x-files/do ... sted_2.php

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/shed/index.php?id=4112

1 More of the V8 X90

You don't need to swap out axles... my baby was locked and geared and was hell fun



Nick at Mannell Motors did most of mine... he knows what you'll be up against, so have a chat with him.

Keep it Zook - mine was a nice, comfy daily driver and felt nice on the road...

32's fit on my vitara with just 2 inch lift and a little guard chopping. why go to all that extent for 32's? which will have less ground clearance with bigger diffs? go 37's.

with my 31's that im running now and rear locker i have all the sky scraper pootrols and hilux's cant believe how good it goes

at zig zags there was a club(wont mention which one) but we lined up behind them at a steep rutted out hill, it was taking them 20 min a car to get up and they had 35's+ and most were twin locked and half of them had to winch up at the top where there was a bit of a bog hole. my vit and mates jimny(3 inch lift 31's-unlocked) both just drove up it. you should of seen the look on their faces- hahaha

ok factor this in..

Guys, i am 5ft nothing, exactly

Ohhh, someone is gunna design me a springloaded step or something..