[Bebbo]

Hay guys im looking on advice on downsizing my 80 series cruiser and get as close as possible stock JIMNY too turn into a mini monster!! Im looking at gerting a 2015 MY15 motor manual ????? Thoughts would be well apricated and hope ill be adopted into your awesome family of maad zookers!!

Few Qs too:
1: manual or auto for 4wd

2: what year, does it really matter

3: prices parts, too turn into a sik fourbie....cheap, normal, pricey

4:getting parts availability

5:things to look for when buying a Jimny!!!

6: do we meet up for trecks,camps in WA??

Again so looki forward to hearing from you guys and any advice and knowledge will be much appreciated!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR
Thanks BEBBO

[sideways]

1. Having owned both auto and manual Jimnys I really prefer the manual. The auto is good if you're going to build an outright rock crawler (which I think the Jimny is probably the wrong car to be doing that with) but otherwise the manual is much more enjoyable. The wide ratios, slow shifting and unfortunate tuning of the auto make it a real pain on sand, I also live in W.A and in my experience the manual is much better for dunes. The auto is known for expensive problems but generally I think that's blown out of proportion, that said if you need to replace one it's going to cost you.

2. 2005+ is all pretty much the same car mechanically. 2009ish got ABS, later facelift models with the bonnet scoop are still the same aside from the front sheetmetal and a bluetooth headunit.

3. Drive it and see what it needs, salt to taste.

4. Yeah easy as.

5. Does it wobble at 70-80km/h? Try giving the brakes a tap at 80ish to try and make it wobble. Do the vacuum hubs work? Other than that they don't have common problems, check everything like any other car.

6. Been years since a W.A trip was organized on here, used to be something practically every week. Various facebook pages organize trips, there's half a dozen active W.A Suzuki groups and a pretty good Jimny page.

[Gwagensteve]

Hi Bebbo,

Sideways is on the money.

When trying to give advice, it's a bit hard to work out what terms like "mini monster" and "sik forbie" means, because that's comparative. A jimny is pretty much the polar opposite of an 80 series. 80's are very flexy with plenty of compression travel in the suspicions and inherently very stable. They also have lots of payload. A jimny is a big step beyond on a Sierra in comfort and performance, but it isn't a smaller 80 in feel at all - it's more like a lighter Bundera.

An M15 would be converted, all Jimny's were M13. I believe it's a straightforward and effective conversion, but it's a conversion nonetheless. There are legal implications, so if you're looking at a particular car with an M15 in it, make sure the paperwork is on place.

Aftermarket 4WD parts for a Jimny are basically the same price as for an 80. Obviously, tyres are smaller and therefore cheaper, and there's less scope for very high end parts like bypass shock kits etc, but most of the parts will be the same price - a locker, for example, costs the same for an 80 as it does for a Jimny.

I'd suggest starting with what you want the car to do - how tall/big/how many parts are on it will depend on what job you need done. You need to be aware that the payload of the car is low (~450kg, including driver, fuel, oil, and all accessories) so it's very hard to add things like an extra battery, winch and bar work along with camping gearl and have the car stay under GVM. The more the car is over GVM, the less reliable the car becomes. bearings, brackets, transfer case are examples of parts that suffer on heavy cars. There are a number of tall suspension lifts for the jimny. My experience of these is limited but lift doesn't make anything about the car better except being able to drive over a bigger log across a track. Jimny's have quite a high rear centre of gravity and as interior room is tight, so a roof basket is a common addition, moving the centre of gravity higher again. Pack light and keep the car low, it will make the car much nicer to own.

A huge factor in Suzuki ownership is changing the gearing to suit the tyre size and use. Generally, owners of large 4WD's make no or only small changes to gearing as they add tyre size. Suzuki's tend to be set up with much larger tyre size increases than larger cars (a 31" tyre on a Jimny is a 19% increase, like putting 38's on a cruiser) so even though the tyres are small, the gearing needs to be significantly changed to make the car work. It's common to fit a sierra transfer case to a jimny (kits are available) but do your sums and understand the consequences. If your goal is a 31" tyre for example, correcting the gearing is mandatory for the car to work properly.

I don't have much experience of an auto jimny but I have plenty of experience with a jimny engine and gearbox in a Sierra, and with correct gearing, cooling and most importantly a transmission temperature gauge, the auto works very well for low speed, technical driving, but that's on a car built specifically for technical driving, not touring or sand. I agree with sideways that the gear spreads are wide for a car with a small engine. If you are interested in technical driving an auto is outstanding, a manual requires more gearing reduction and a line lock to be anywhere near as nice to drive. Horses for courses though. How important performance in technical terrain is compared to the rest of your use will guide gearbox choice.


Just some thoughts, welcome to the board.

[sideways]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Jimny's have quite a high rear centre of gravity

I don't know where this statement comes from and I don't agree with it. Compared to a sierra with no roof? Sure, probably, but that's a pretty unusual case. Compared to any 4wd with glass I reckon it's lower and I think it's an unfair statement to say the COG is high. Suzuki went to quite some effort to reduce the COG of the Jimny, the fuel tank is mounted significantly lower than a Sierra, it's in front of the diff absolutely as low as it could go, the spare tyre is mounted so low it's frenched into the rear bumper and overall, the floor was made as low as possible, you can load heavy items much lower than you can in a Sierra.

I can't think of another live axle 4wd where such efforts were made to reduce rear COG. If anything you would say the Jimny has an unusally low rear COG.

[Gwagensteve]

To be fair, I'm conflating a few things that are going on. Compared to a Sierra, the Jimny carries a lot of weight up high - that tailgate is heavy, there's more glass and trim than a Sierra, and a large proportion of owners add roof load. They have a relatively low rear roll centre and widely spaced radius arms, the result being they don't feel trustworthy on descents when the suspension is flexed - the suspension unloads which results in dramatic body movement. The result, from the driver's perspective, is they behave like they have a high COG, with a tendency to unload the suspension and corkscrew on decents. Is it [i]really[\i[ that high? I don't think the COG/ descent behaviour is worse than, say, a gen1-3 hilux, but they're pretty bad. They are nowhere near as stable as a cruiser and in my opinion they aren't as stable as you'd think they should be. How much of that is COG and how much of it is due to other things like the radius arms, I'm not 100% sure, but if it quacks like a duck....

Neo, for example, with basically no lift, a cut down tailgate and doors, and significantly heavier wheels and tyres doesn't seem to have the issue, but that's not how most Jimny owners would be willing to drive their cars. He has also done little/nothing to increase flex, whereas Jimny's with lift springs (which are therefore stiffer) seem to bob about alarmingly on descents.

I agree that Suzuki added wheelbase, reduced load behind the rear axle, and lowered the fuel tank which should help, but I still think they're spooky on descents once the front end flexes, and it's exacerbated by lift and load.

[MrRocky]

Jimnys are quite unstable considering the front doesnt flex and the rear does. Whilst it is possible to get it looking good on a ramp its not what i would call useable flex it just doesnt bite enough to gain traction.
As mentioned the m13 they come with as standard is greatly inadequate for touring and will have you rowing the gears on the hwy at the slightest incline.
Better off throwing 10k you save on purchase price on a sierra with ac

[Bebbo]

wow info overload thanks so much guys time to fully go over the info here and hav a good ol think older zookies like the sierra be better youse think but i do love the look of the JIMNY!!

I am leaning towards auto now as im in beach, sand and big dune country where i am. from what they tell me!! Cheers
Worried about traction when going hardcore 4wd might have to change my style for the jimny so i dont hurt her.

Im looking at a 3 inch lift with 32"s what will i need for gearing changes and mechanically wise to do it the right way as im a noob at thos thought of thing!!??? Cheers in advance

Plus gonna get custom front bull bar, rear bumber with trye swing arm, rocksliders and roofrack. Snorkel winch
Thats the plan anyways bit by bit while i learn

[Gwagensteve]

I'm going to siggest you carefully go back and read the answers to your post.

Here's Sideways:

Quote:

The auto is good if you're going to build an outright rock crawler (which I think the Jimny is probably the wrong car to be doing that with) but otherwise the manual is much more enjoyable. The wide ratios, slow shifting and unfortunate tuning of the auto make it a real pain on sand

He drives sand all the time in his cars. I'd trust him to know. I'd normally suggest an auto for sand, but I'm going to defer to the experience here.

And me:

Quote:

There are a number of tall suspension lifts for the jimny. My experience of these is limited but lift doesn't make anything about the car better except being able to drive over a bigger log across a track

Make no mistake, 3" is TALL for a jimny.

And also me

Quote:

a 31" tyre on a Jimny is a 19% increase, like putting 38's on a cruiser

I don't know what tyre size your cruiser is running now, by I guess it's not 40's. Putting a 32" tyre on a Jimny is possible, but it requires very significant work and expensive driveline parts, even more so if you actually want the car to be capable and usable after you put the big tyres on.

You'll require every aftermarket Jimny driveline upgrade available. custom front diff lock, 26 spline front axles, sierra transfer case. You'll need to monitor the auto very carefully for heat gain. Expect to struggle with parts breakage and spend lit soft time working on the car, just like if you put 40's on an 80 series. The more modified the car is, the less it gets driven. Take this from someone who knows.

To run 32s you'll need very extensive inner guard work so you can keep the car at stock height or with a tiny lift (so around 1" of suspension lift, remember, 32" tyres lift the car 3" already) so the suspension works. Consider using 16X6 GV rims and 235 85 16's. if you want 32 11.5's you're going to need body lift and/or excessive bump stop spacing and/or excessive cutting (like into the headlights etc) to keep the car a workable height, because the tyres don't tuck into the guards and have huge scrub radius.

A jimny is a very capable sand car standard. far more capable than a land cruiser. Respect what it's good and bad at and you'll be rewarded by a capable, reliable and fun car. Try and turn it into a an 80 series and it's going to be painful, unreliable and ultimately less usable than a standard jimny.

Remember a Jimny has a 450kg payload.

Driver 80kg(?)
Fuel 30kg
oils etc 15kg
Rear bar/tyre carrier 50kg
bull bar 35kg
winch 30kg
sliders 20kg
roof rack 10kg
additional weight of bigger wheels and tyres: 80kg

You now have 100kg of payload for your passenger, anything inside the car (fridge?, dual battery?) anything on the roof, extra fuel or water...

The less you put on or on a Jimny, the better time you'll have. They're a light car designed for Japanese farmers to drive from their homes to their rice paddies. Most Australian Jimny's are well over GVM but the time they are packed for a weekend away, and that absolutely affects their reliability and capability.

Buy a manual car, put 235 75 15's on it, put an automatic Jimny transfer in it, and drive wherever you want in the sand. If you want a rock crawler there are better starting points than a Jimny. If you want an accessory holder there are better starting points than a jimny.

Just my 2c. I'm interested in technical driving so I don't own a jimny, but I respect the people who make them do things they weren't supposed to do. Be aware, that's not the easiest path though, and ignoring the issues with lift or payload applies to everyone, regardless of hat they're trying to make the car do.

[Sookie]

accessory holder. hahahaha, sums up a lot of 4wds getting around now days

[vet 180]

Bebbo wrote:

wow info overload thanks so much guys time to fully go over the info here and hav a good ol think older zookies like the sierra be better youse think but i do love the look of the JIMNY!!

I am leaning towards auto now as im in beach, sand and big dune country where i am. from what they tell me!! Cheers
Worried about traction when going hardcore 4wd might have to change my style for the jimny so i dont hurt her.

Im looking at a 3 inch lift with 32"s what will i need for gearing changes and mechanically wise to do it the right way as im a noob at thos thought of thing!!??? Cheers in advance

Plus gonna get custom front bull bar, rear bumber with trye swing arm, rocksliders and roofrack. Snorkel winch
Thats the plan anyways bit by bit while i learn

I own a GU and a Jimny so one similar vehicle to what you have and the one you are thinking of buying. My jimny is auto and i used in sand a lot and it was very capable. This car was solely used in the arabian gulf so desert dunes. ran what was imo the absolute limit of stock auto gearing in mine with a 215/80R15 any bigger and it would be a turd.

However if you are thinking of 30inch or bigger tires I would strongly consider the manual as transfer reduction gearing options are much better. Although it lacks a torque convertor which is great for sand the actual gear ratios are better in the 5 speed manaul (e.g. 1st in the manual is lower that first on the auto which would cone in handy). Also upgrading to an M18 would be more comfortable in a manual.

3 inch lift is too high for a jimny imo. I would be aiming for a 40-50mm max with good shocks. Avo or something along those lines


I would also reconsider all the bar work and swing away tire carrier. Why does a jimny need swing away when the tire is on the back? It's just unnecessary added weight. You wont need a rear bar either, i have slid off a vertical concrete wall with the stock bar and its fine few little sratches on it. Jimny has a departure angle most 4x4's would dream of and because of of the way the rear bar is shaped it pushes you forward and off whatever you are caught on. More unneeded weight again.

This forum is very biased to the sierra, but having owned a 2 sierra's and jimny my opinion is for a project that will be used for weekends and wheeling only the sierra is a better base . If your looking for something to jump in and drive durring the week and hit the trails on the weekend the jimny is a better base.

My jimny on 28.5 inch tires and is more capable than my GU on 32's. I rarely get too hung up in my jimny, but always do in the patrol. I feel the Patrol needs 3-4 inches of lift and 35's to be any good. That wont happen as uts a family rig. The jimny now has a 30mm lift and its plenty. I have the small rear H233 diff in the patrol that a lot of guys prefer for under 35's as it offers more clearance and on the 32's doesn't come close to the jimny diff clearance on 28.5's. Also despite what was mentioned earlier modding the jimny is MUCH cheaper than the patrol and I assume the 80 also. And maintenance is in another league.

Tire size that would be good to start with would be 30x9.5 with transfer gears. This will be very capable on a jimny, look good and from my experience tall and thin tires work well on jimnys as they bite into the ground better. If you coukd find an SL rated 235/80R16 or 265/75/R16 if you really want a 32 it might work, but will be hard to find in a SL tire. I would be upgrading your front axles and CV's though. Purchase gears, axles and CV's all at once from low range

The weak point in the jimny is the front bumper clearance at 34deg (opposite to most 4x4's as it's normally departure). I always got hung up on it when it was stock to the point I had to change it due to being too hacked. On my car I ran a very lightweight non winch compatible front bar that saved me 50-60kgs over the front end (25-30kg for the bar and again for the winch) and also offered more approach angle due to not needing to poke out to house the winch. I just carried a hand winch in the back which was fine due to the lighter vehicle weight. On the patrol I wouldnt think twice about running a big heavy electric winch as it would be only 1-2% of the vehicle weight.

I drive a lot of sand and I spent a lot of time researching my tires. I eventually ran 215/80R15 SL rated Yokohama AT-S. I went these as ended up being lighter than other options that were an inch smaller. They deflated awesome, were great in rocks and I never once had a puncture inoftem. Great grip onroad also. Interestingly a mate I would often wheel with ran 265/75R16 BFG KO2's LT load range E on his disco 2 and in the couple years I had the yokos on the car he had 4 punctures. I would often lead so he was traveling the same path as me. He ended up buying a set of SL rated 275/70R16 yokos about a year ago. He lost faith in the whole LT is stronger argument and looked for the SL tire after driving mine as his car also wasnt too heavy. He drives mostly sand and rates them quite highly over the old stiff BFG's. If you can find an SL tire save the unsprung weight and do it. The Australian touring scene is really geared to high LT load range tires though making other options hard to find. Everyone likes to vrag about how "over engineered" their tyres are.

You may be noticing a theme if you have read this far and that is save weight were you can A jimny is capable and reliable because its light. Start throwing lots of weight on it and its selling point goes out the window.

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[sideways]

Gwagensteve wrote:

To be fair, I'm conflating a few things that are going on. Compared to a Sierra, the Jimny carries a lot of weight up high

Apples to apples though, What about a soft top Jimny? Compared to a hard top sierra I believe the rear COG would be lower, especially so if it is loaded. I fit spare fuel, all tools/spare parts, fire extinguisher and the air compressor in a space that is under the floor of a Sierra.

Gwagensteve wrote:

large proportion of owners add roof load.

I don't see what fitting roof load has to do with it, of course that's going to make it worse and people do that to every flavour of 4wd. That's like saying your Ute would be slower if it had a full payload. Personally I've managed to avoid using a roof rack despite the touring trips.

Gwagensteve wrote:

They have a relatively low rear roll centre

Compared to what? Compared to a leafy Sierra, depending how you want to measure leaf spring roll centre* the Jimny similar or maybe a little higher. I'd say the relative (excluding tyre size) roll centre is comparable to other panhard equipped 4wds. In any case it's exceptionally easy to lift the roll centre with cheap, bolt on kits.

*I've seen numerous conflicting ways of measuring leaf spring roll centre, I have books that show it both ways. Either from a line through the centre of the fixed bush to the centre of the spring bush on the shackle or from the fixed to the chassis bush on the shackle. Personally, I don't see what the chassis end of the shackle has to do with it, excluding bush deflection we don't have roll movement there. In any case, I think leaf roll centre is dynamic and not fixed.

Gwagensteve wrote:

and widely spaced radius arms, the result being they don't feel trustworthy on descents when the suspension is flexed - the suspension unloads which results in dramatic body movement. The result, from the driver's perspective, is they behave like they have a high COG, with a tendency to unload the suspension and corkscrew on decents.

Personally I've never encountered this behavior in a Jimny outside of this forum. I've found it to be remarkably stable/balanced and have less body movement than my Sierras. And that's either suspension stock vs stock or typical modded vs typical modded.

Gwagensteve wrote:

I don't think the COG/ descent behaviour is worse than, say, a gen1-3 hilux

Off topicish/ as someone who owns a couple (I know you have too) I think the SFA Hilux problem is more the high roll centre, super low seating position and complete lack of up travel (settles on the bumpstops). They feel super trustworthy right up until the limit where the high COG screws it and you're left thinking "what the fuck that didn't feel that bad". This is the direct opposite of say, a leaf 7x cruiser or series land rover where the low roll centre and high seating position makes them feel sketchy as frig when they're both pretty stable cars for their relatively narrow track width. The other problem with a SFA Hilux is their flex tends to be pretty much a 80/20 split front to rear, the front does all the work, all the weight is high up over the front and they will flop over it. This is pretty much worse case design for descents but makes them climb well. You can of course de rate the rear to balance but given they carry virtually no weight over the rear stock and have a 1ton payoad it's hard to split the compromise.

If you're going to mostly drive sand then I'd skip out on the sliders and I'd skip out on the rear bar regardless. The spare lives on the back door and Jimnys have such a good departure angle you wont be dragging the rear over stuff like you would in a wagon. Even if you do the rear bumper is plastic and does a pretty remarkable job of popping back into shape.

IMO if you wanna run a 30" or smaller then a Jimny makes a lot of sense, if you wanna run 31 or bigger and actually use that tyre to it's potential then Sierra all the way. One of the big problems with big tyres on a Jimny is the small wheel arches, you'd have to cut the living fuck out of them to clear a 32. Sure plenty of folks fit 31s, 5" lift to Jimnys with no gearing and you're welcome to go down this path but I think you'l quickly realize what we're going on about. If you wanna use a 32" tyre to its potential then you'l need chomo front axles and CVs, you'l probably find the limits of the rear diff gears too.

I have 29" tyres with no gearing, 5th gear is mostly useless. I use a fair bit of clutch slip offroad, it could do with reduction gears but I can't really justify the money.

Personally, for sand I think the best thing you could do is fit an M15/M16/M18 engine.

[Bebbo]

Well rightio guys today comin back from a camp my 80 series has bl9wn the motor i knew it was coming so looks like im goona get jimny quicker then i think if i find the right one for me, thanks so much again for all the advice as im a noob to all this 4wd custmoization, im taking your help whole hardly going over each of your replies taking it in chewing it and start just go with a manual 2inch lift, not so big tyres like 30s and keep it mostly stock need a roobar as im out bush but yea keep it light and simple thanks guys...hope to see youse out there somewhere where only the zookers can go!!!

[vet 180]

You will still want gears for 30's. And as sideways mentioned an m15, m16 or m18 conversion will be best for sand. For just sand you could get away with just the bigger engine, but if you drive terrain where you need the controk gears will goba long way. Low range offroad sell a good set of gears for the jimny. They also do HD front axles.

Sideways has owned both Jimnys and sierras and is a wealth of information for anything suzuki. His last post is the money. I do disagree with him in regards to the auto comment, I found the auto very good in sand due to not losing speed on the gear changes and the fact the jimny 4 speed you can bounce of limiter and hokd gears. I found changes are quite sharp and quick (better than the patrol 5 speed auto in many ways). I could also hold 130kph on the highway with 28.5's in 4th as long as it wasnt too hilly. But it was happier at 100-120. Have heard the 3 speed jimny auto is a turd ratio wise though. In saying all that if you are planning anything bigger than 215's or plan a bigger engine the manual is a better starting point 215's or under then auto.

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[Bebbo]

Thanks mate what do you mean by gears what will i need?? To make it run well and smooth as possible?

[Bebbo]

Thanks mate what do you mean by control gears what will i need?? To make it run well and smooth as possible?

[MrRocky]

30"s fit with zero rubbing and no lift if you trim the guards.
For sand with 30"s i found it managable but on anything rocky or technical it cooks the clutch.
I fitted 4:16 transfer gears and a sierra case that made it a much better car to drive all around.
If only fitting 30"s i fail to see the point in lifting the car

[vet 180]

Bebbo wrote:

Thanks mate what do you mean by control gears what will i need?? To make it run well and smooth as possible?

Gears:

https://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/1998-20 ... 3-kit.html

In a nutshell fitting big tires will feel like you have zapped all your power. You will need to ride your clutch much harder just to take off and in sand that will be amplified. You also have less tourque to tge pavement in each gear. The easiest way to understand is think that taking off in first gear after tires will feel like taking off in second gear before tires. Obviously not quite that bad, but the best way to explain it.

Mr Rockys post above is on the money.


What tires are currently on your 80?
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[Marko_SJ]

I'd run 2in max and only slightly bigger than std tyres on a Jimny.

My brother's Jim was pretty much an example of how not to build one (Basically ran Monley's early tall setup). It wobbles everywhere.

[Marko_SJ]

vet 180 wrote:

You will still want gears for 30's. And as sideways mentioned an m15, m16 or m18 conversion will be best for sand. For just sand you could get away with just the bigger engine, but if you drive terrain where you need the controk gears will goba long way. Low range offroad sell a good set of gears for the jimny. They also do HD front axles.

Sideways has owned both Jimnys and sierras and is a wealth of information for anything suzuki. His last post is the money. I do disagree with him in regards to the auto comment, I found the auto very good in sand due to not losing speed on the gear changes and the fact the jimny 4 speed you can bounce of limiter and hokd gears. I found changes are quite sharp and quick (better than the patrol 5 speed auto in many ways). I could also hold 130kph on the highway with 28.5's in 4th as long as it wasnt too hilly. But it was happier at 100-120. Have heard the 3 speed jimny auto is a turd ratio wise though. In saying all that if you are planning anything bigger than 215's or plan a bigger engine the manual is a better starting point 215's or under then auto.

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Vet 180, are you on the Pootrol forum?

Good group for the most part. 5 speed auto I'm guessing you have a TB48DE (Nice), I could only DREAM of having 5 gears with my lowly RE4.

[vet 180]

Marko_SJ wrote:

vet 180 wrote:

You will still want gears for 30's. And as sideways mentioned an m15, m16 or m18 conversion will be best for sand. For just sand you could get away with just the bigger engine, but if you drive terrain where you need the controk gears will goba long way. Low range offroad sell a good set of gears for the jimny. They also do HD front axles.

Sideways has owned both Jimnys and sierras and is a wealth of information for anything suzuki. His last post is the money. I do disagree with him in regards to the auto comment, I found the auto very good in sand due to not losing speed on the gear changes and the fact the jimny 4 speed you can bounce of limiter and hokd gears. I found changes are quite sharp and quick (better than the patrol 5 speed auto in many ways). I could also hold 130kph on the highway with 28.5's in 4th as long as it wasnt too hilly. But it was happier at 100-120. Have heard the 3 speed jimny auto is a turd ratio wise though. In saying all that if you are planning anything bigger than 215's or plan a bigger engine the manual is a better starting point 215's or under then auto.

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Vet 180, are you on the Pootrol forum?

Good group for the most part. 5 speed auto I'm guessing you have a TB48DE (Nice), I could only DREAM of having 5 gears with my lowly RE4.

I am on one of the patrol forums, not sure which one, dont spend much time on there though. Yeah running the TB48DE and 5 speed. The gearing itself is really good and tge torque convertor is great, but the auto throttle is rather annoying. Has all the worst of both worlds (cable and drive by wire) as it runs cable for the first 30% or something and then a stepper motor for the rest. The cruise control is an old cable style aswell which drives me crazy, i have to disengage on anything hilly and use the right foot. So you get the expense of a drive by wire throttle with no cruise or pedel control benifits. The manual mode of the auto is a bit frustrating too as its not a true manual mode. In saying that as the engine is soo torquey and responsive being NA in low range its actually hard to keep things smooth with light throttle applications over 2000rpm anything bumpy.

I feel it would be great with with an ecu, drive by wire throttle, and trans computer.

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[MrRocky]

Hows the economy of the 4.8 ?
Ive got a barra swapped gu but kinda over it tbh

[vet 180]

MrRocky wrote:

Hows the economy of the 4.8 ?
Ive got a barra swapped gu but kinda over it tbh

Its not great to be honest, but about what i expected. At the end of the day with cars like this fuel economy isnt its biggest expense. It is our family rig, but not doing too many kms in it with tge exception of trips. Wouldn't want to drive and hour to work and back everyday or anything in it.

Assume the barra swap is a turbo barra? I always thought they would be a good thing if you get it running with the ZF 6 speed, but most swaps seems to be mated to the stock 5 speed manual.

What parts of the swap are you over? I imagine it would be worth some coin with covid tax.
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[MrRocky]

Yeah the 6 spd auto is def the the best combo for the barra swap.
Its just loud, fast and a handful with the manual, i was just after a slow diesel 4by as a family wagon but it did what zd30's do and blew up for no good reason. The barra swap was on par with cost to rebuild the zd30 so thought id give it a go.
I will likely sell it over the next few months and perhaps look to a 4.2 gq or a 4.8 gu if i can find one withou the associated covid tax.

[vet 180]

MrRocky wrote:

Yeah the 6 spd auto is def the the best combo for the barra swap.
Its just loud, fast and a handful with the manual, i was just after a slow diesel 4by as a family wagon but it did what zd30's do and blew up for no good reason. The barra swap was on par with cost to rebuild the zd30 so thought id give it a go.
I will likely sell it over the next few months and perhaps look to a 4.2 gq or a 4.8 gu if i can find one withou the associated covid tax.

Yeah I have never driven a barra patrol, but driven a few 700rwhp turbo tb48 manual patrols and get the handful in manual thing. I wouldnt want as a family rig.

The 5 speed auto tb48 sounds like a good option for you tbh. I bought my car for the same reasons and its pretty cruisy to drive. The 48 is all torque and not much power. All the 48 lads will talk about them like they are 1000hp LS's....i guess it feels like that when you jump from a TD42 but they are like what 180kw in a 3 tonne truck. Plus they actually make some torque below 4000rpm unlike an LS [emoji850]. From factory this is disguised a little with the 3.5 diff gears though. I run 3.9's with 32's. 4.11's and 33's would be a good match.

I have driven NA and turbo TD42's and the NA's are just painful, the turbos are ok but a little underpowered, not that economical, 99% are manual and have a bit of a peaky powerband when modded. The best factory patrol is the 48 and 5 speed auto imo. Nice even torque spread, good gearing, reliable, benifits of auto etc

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[Marko_SJ]

MrRocky wrote:

Yeah the 6 spd auto is def the the best combo for the barra swap.
Its just loud, fast and a handful with the manual, i was just after a slow diesel 4by as a family wagon but it did what zd30's do and blew up for no good reason. The barra swap was on par with cost to rebuild the zd30 so thought id give it a go.
I will likely sell it over the next few months and perhaps look to a 4.2 gq or a 4.8 gu if i can find one withou the associated covid tax.

Could you detune and muffle the Barra? I'd imagine that's worth trying first?

[MrRocky]

In all honesty id prefer a more standard car for long trips away ect.. custom bits and bobs just dont fill me with confidence being in the middle of nowhere.
It would be nice if 4wd prices could go back to normal sometime soon

[vet 180]

MrRocky wrote:

In all honesty id prefer a more standard car for long trips away ect.. custom bits and bobs just dont fill me with confidence being in the middle of nowhere.
It would be nice if 4wd prices could go back to normal sometime soon

Why dont you put yours up for swap? There is a fair bit of demand out there for barra swapped patrols

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[MrRocky]

Think id rather burn it than deal with the gumtree swap crew haha. Might test the water with it for sale and wait for the market to correct itself