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Just about convinced.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 11:37 pm
by firestang
Hi , first post here and i'm just about convinced on buying a sierra.

Was looking at Feroza/ rocky but the parts are almost non existant whereas for these suziki's WOW :lol:

I'm looking at a 98 sierra at the mo and have looked at a few of the vitaras floating around here in melb. Dunno which way to go yet it's 50/50
Hopefully i can get out to the vic suzuki club next week and have a talk to the guys there.
great info here guys glad i found you.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 11:56 pm
by bushpig59
You see how many posts on this site thats cause they all friut loops on the zooks they can be great fun if you have the time and the money... and heaps cheaper than the big buggers........but I like like the tone of your jib...do your homework and go to a 4by club sus if its your cuppa... Oh and they wont carry the family about its stricktly you and the car and the partner.....
cheers
bushpig59

Re: Just about convinced.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:15 am
by SiKiD_01
firestang wrote:Hi , first post here and i'm just about convinced on buying a sierra.

Was looking at Feroza/ rocky but the parts are almost non existant whereas for these suziki's WOW :lol:

I'm looking at a 98 sierra at the mo and have looked at a few of the vitaras floating around here in melb. Dunno which way to go yet it's 50/50
Hopefully i can get out to the vic suzuki club next week and have a talk to the guys there.
great info here guys glad i found you.
is the 98 sierra a coily? i'm assuming it is, and if it is, then maybe a vitara may be better, unless you get a leafy sierra.

heres some pics of my vit
Image
Image

and what underneath looks like
Image

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:27 am
by firestang
It's going to be my second car (second 4WD), from reading all the tech stuff, it is a "coily" as everyone says.
Vitara over a coiled sierra eh ,interesting .

Why is the vitara better than the late model sierra
:?
The mean green machine looks great , It almost seems to be a badge of honor to have a pic of a tipped up suzi, love it :)

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:46 am
by SiKiD_01
firestang wrote:It's going to be my second car (second 4WD), from reading all the tech stuff, it is a "coily" as everyone says.
Vitara over a coiled sierra eh ,interesting .

Why is the vitara better than the late model sierra
:?
The mean green machine looks great , It almost seems to be a badge of honor to have a pic of a tipped up suzi, love it :)
coily's are a bit more expensive to modify, and not as strong as a leafy. lower control arms may bend when put under a bit of stress, castor probs with lifts over 2" i think. there are more, but i'm not too sure about the specifics.

with the money spent on modding a coily, you could do the same, if not more to a vit, and still have a good ride (coil) and a half capable off roader. depending on what you want to wheel, and how hard you're going to wheel, will depend on what you get. a leafy for its toughness and its willingness to be thrashed, a coil for modern looks but same ol sierra style and a coily comfort ride, a vitara for more room inside, a comfy ride, and a hair dresser title.

with a vit, some practical and smart mods will make it very capable. earlier carby swb's had good diff ratio's, but you can swap these into the newer models if wanted. i dont know ur views on IFS, but the back can flex for the front.

Image
Image


a leafy sierra is prolly by far the easiest and cheapest to mod for a good off roader.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:58 am
by grimbo
Come along to the Suzuki Club meeting on Wednesday the 10th May at the AMRA hall, Wills St Glen Iris 7-30 – 8pm start. Good chance to see alot of different cars and mods and get to ask questions etc

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 9:05 am
by firestang
That's what i'm hoping to do at this stage, thaks grimbo :D

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 9:16 am
by christover1
I agree with SiKid.
He's pretty much explained it all simply and correctly.
And welcome to OL as well.
We have many club members that use OL regularly.
christover

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:11 am
by cj
SiKiD_01 wrote:[ with a vit, some practical and smart mods will make it very capable. earlier carby swb's had good diff ratio's, but you can swap these into the newer models if wanted. i dont know ur views on IFS, but the back can flex for the front.
The early 1.6 8v carb model had 4.6 in the auto and 5.12 in the manual and the later 1.6 16v efi model had 5.12 in both. The 2.0 models had 4.6 and 4.8 ratios. It's only in other overseas markets that they had ratios such as 5.38 and 5.62 or you could go 5.83 with aftermarket R&P's.

The front can be made to work reasonably well but it won't flex as far as a lot of solid axles can without some serious work. But having said that for most purposes it works quite well.

I'll try and remenber to bring my Vit along to the meeting, there should be plenty of Sierra's for you to see.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:37 am
by mach.25
If you want to know just how popular the Zooks are look at the number of posts in each tech section for each Make. I have an 88 leaf sprung zook with only 2" lift and lockers on very ordinary tyres and it amazes me where it will go and I really love to stick it to the Patrol drivers when they are stuck and I am about to drive the same section easily. By the way my mods cost $1000 and it is amazing.
Go see the Crazies at the Vic Club, they will give you all the info you will ever need and much more than will sink in without lots of time. :D

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 3:32 pm
by suzuki boy
I got my leaf sprung seirra for $3500 with f&r lockers, warn winch, Little lift and 30" tyres! Have made some storage draws. Got a further 2" lift, got the ute soft top. Some rock rails to be made up. I'm only 17 and that was the cash i could find so i shoped around a bit. So far it owes me about $4000 and can do some pretty hard tracks! Shop around and you should get a good buy.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 9:49 pm
by firestang
Thanks guys for all the advice.
Don't think i will be getting too hard core with it, but then you never know :roll:
Thing is my wife will be drivin it from time to time, we all know we then need softer suspension for that then.

Suzuki boy , 3500 is a steel by the looks with that gear on it , i reckon i would be happy to spend 2k extra on mods if i got one around that price as you did.

:D

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 9:01 am
by Gwagensteve
Firestang, as per Grimbo's comments, come along to a club meeting.

If you are new to the whole suzuki thing, I wouldn't go with a 98 sierra.

As for ride, a coil sierra (stock) is nicer than a leaf sierra (stock) but at 8 years of age, the coiler will need shocks and they are very low.

The cost of even lightly improving a coiler is more than a leaf car, and a leaf car with a sensible suspension kit will ride better than most modified and all stock coilers. The coil car will feel more modern and be quieter as the body is more rigid and was substantially redesigned, so as a road car, they are better, but you will hit an expensive development wall much quicker with the coil car where you can keep pottering with the leaf car and make it into what you want.

If road driving is a priorirty, I would go with an EFI vitara. They are chalk and chesse over a sierra for comfort and features and are not too hard to make into a decent off road car. They won't really match a hard core leaf sierra, but they are more stable and have many of the features (efi, power steer, automatic transmission) that many of swap into sierras.

Steve.

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 10:44 am
by beally
Why is the vitara better than the late model sierra
its not :finger:

and if you live closer to the sunny coast hit up our club

http://scsuziclub.20m.com

if your in brissie try these fellas

www.nbs4x4club.com

great forum with lots of stuff on it.

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:18 pm
by suzuki boy
Yeah got a steal! Now i need some rock hopers and im sweet.