How much can a Pajero handle?

[Oystein]

First of all, hello there! I'm a completely new-to-the-forum Norwegian who does not even have his Pajero yet, so I'm stuck making plans for it

I'm looking at a 2nd gen Pajero GLS (the ones with rear locker etc), probably a 3.0 V6, but I might end up with a 2.8. Definitely a LWB. I want the space.

Now, after bit of web-crawling I found out that these have potential for looking great on 35" tires, but most people seem to go for 33" instead. Since I will probably spend some time in snow with this thing, the 35"s will also have quite some advantage over 33"s offroad-wise. I guess I would have to regear, though. That might be an issue, since I want a selectable locker up front...?

Apart from the gearing/locker issue, I am worried about reliability. I don't want to break axles, diff locks or any other part for that matter, and thus the question in the thread title - how much can it handle? Can I expect to run comfortably and trouble free on 35"s? Or even 33"s? And if not, is it feasible to strengthen it?

Oh, and this is not going to be a toy Pajero. It will be my daily driver.

[NJV6]

It'll be fine. Biggest issue will be gearing, you can sort the off road gearing but not so much the on road. I'd suggest a 3.5 V6 or 2.8D over the 3.0 V6, it'll struggle a bit on 35's.

[Oystein]

Well, guess that's good news. The gearing issue remains, but what did you mean when you said the offroad gearing could be improved, but not the onroad? You are talking about changing the final ratio in the transfer case? That would solve the locker issue at least.

[NJV6]

Yea, you can get low range lower transfer gears for them. Front lockers are very good and the drivetrain is up to it.

[Oystein]

But you don't get higher ratio transfer gears for high-range?

Is the 2.8 better than the 3.0 V6 in terms of power? And the 3.5 V6?

Any idea how much I will have to lift? I'd prefer to do some fender trimming to keep the lift minimal (better on-road performance, and I like the look).

[arnijr]

The high range gearing in the transfer case is 1:1. You can install crawler gears in the transfer case and thus lower the low range gearing but they are relatively expensive. Another thing that apparently can be done is to swap the transfer case for a Jeep NP242, found in some Cherokees. That's basically the same super select box as the 2.8 or 3500 have, but with a much lower low range, 1:2.72 as opposed to 1:1.90 if memory serves me. The 2.8 truck usually has 1:4.90 or 1:4.88 gearing in the diffs and that's the lowest you can get. That said, there are several gen 2 Pajeros up here running 38" tires and a few running 44", with the stock diffs and transfer case. Granted the gearing is a bit on the high side, but it all works.

Getting a gen 2 on 35s is relatively simple and has been covered many times. In Iceland we lift them far less than Britain/Australia/NZ or South Africa, usually opting to cut the fenders more. My truck would fit 35s with no problems, with 40mm suspension lift and some minor cutting to the fenders and front bumper. I would recommend installing a 50mm body lift instead and then trimming the front bumper and front fender. Be careful about choosing the right backspace for your wheels, for snow you probably want 35x12.50 tires and 10 inch wide wheels. I'm not sure about the correct backspace, my wheels came off a Pajero and I've never measured them.

So, I would recommend a 2.8TDI. Make sure to get one with the rear difflock.