Hi all,
Hope you've all been good and played nice whilst I was away.
We left
Perth around 10/5/06 for a 6 to 8 week prospectinng trip in the W.A. gold patches. Got back last night - knackered, as I'm not getting any younger.There was a lot going on and it was a "busy" trip that went
well in spite of being a bit "underdone" for a long bush trip. We were after all a bit rushed getting the "new" Patrol ready after losing the 'Cruiser. Changes will be made.
However - on with the guts of the story. "Frodo" as the truck is affectionately known, had the 6.5 litre Chev fitted only weeks before we left. It had done only 1500 kms since the Chev was fitted, when we left home. It's first oil change was done in the bush at about 3,500 kms. The body of "Frodo" has actually done about 275,000 kms.
The oil showed no signs of metal contamination and I've since found out that this particular Chev engine is actually a standard motor. Brunswicks inspected all the bores and bearings surfaces and simply honed & polished the lot and new, standard sizes rings and bearing shells were fitted. So there's plenty of scope for rebores and crank grinds etc.
Overall impression? One hell of a bush truck! Compared to my stolen 100 series TD Cruiser? The 'Cruiser was a "creamy" vehicle to drive, smooth, effortless overtaking and a dream to drive and tow a van on the bitumen. But "Frodo" beats it hands down in the bush. The IHDT-FE engine in the "Cruiser depends heavily on the turbo for that awesome rush of power and torque when it winds up but the Chev just delivers torque at tickover. It just tonked along at tickover speed in second gear when out and about looking for "good ground", without any vibration or transmission snatch. Although, the GQ gearbox that replaced the original 2.8 gearbox is still very "notchy" and needs the clutch master cylinder pushrod extended by another quarter of a turn. The Chev/Patrol just stolled through dry sandy creeks with my 1.8 tonne Supreme Getaway offroad van behind it, in second gear at 600 to 800 rpm. It seemed to be saying "Weight? What weight??" No grabbing at the gearstick to change down, just give it a bit more throttle and away it went. The 'Cruiser was a bit flat at the bottom of rev range by comparisonand I was always grabbing at the gears in these situations.
On the bitumen it's very quick off the mark even with the van behind it and is quickly up to 100 kmh. When it's not towing, I only use 3 gears - 2nd, 3rd and 5th, I use all of 'em when towing but could get away with just 3 gears if I really had to - but that would be abuse. Towing on the bitumen, I'd choose the 'Cruiser' but for what I want - a good bush truck, the Nissan/Chev is a better option. I miss the real rush of power of the turbo diesel 'Cruiser, but the Chev does almost the same but without the "kick in the arriss" that the turbo 'Cruiser gives you.
It's currently got diff ratios of 3.9 in it, but after seeing what it can do on this trip I'm considering going up to 3.7 diff ratios. I reckon with my smaller van, it would pull these ratios easily. Without the van, it would eat a 3.7 ratio. This would give me about 12% better fuel economy. (hmmm,,,,,,,do Nissans do a 3.5 ratio??).
At times I (slightly) abused the motor to observe any ill effects, but the temp guage never moved from it's normal reading even pulling hard in 5th gear uphill. Very rarely did I change down to get up a
hill. The only real challenge was
Bindoon Hill, about 100 kms out of
Perth. I finally dropped to 3rd gear for the final 100 metres of the
hill - but that was at 75 kmh! It was more of a concession to the engine than a problem for it. It would have done it 4th gear.
Economy? The Turbo 'Cruiser did about 23 mpg (12.2 litres/ 100 km, 8.2 km/litre) around town. The Chev does about 18 mpg. However it is still a "tight" motor & I'm hoping it will do better after doing the bext 40,000 kms. Towing? The "Cruiser did 16.5 MPG, the Chev did about 13.5 MPG. I reckon the Chev will never be as economical as the 'Cruiser, but I save about $2200.00 per annum by not paying for servicing on the Toyota. Being an ex-diesel mechanic and the Chev being such a simple motor, I'm back to doing my own servicing again. Plus, now I'm retired I'll be making a bit more bio-diesel again.
Noise? It's a noisy, indirect injection engine and rattles like a 44 gallon drum of hammers in a morning. I'm gonna fix that with more soundproofing. At 100 kmh, towing my van it's like being in a Sherman
tank!! The "straight through" exhaust and that "booming", V8 sound makes it even worse! At least it keep SWMBO from pestering me with nonsensical comments!! If ya want a quiet engine ( or wanna talk to yer wife!) - buy a Landcruiser. If ya want top bush truck buy a Nissan/Chev.
There's a lot of other stuff, but I'll do these in further threads. For now, that's it folks. That's the show!
CYA - take care,
Bilbo