opinions & advice on GQ's

hi extras depond upon how much you want to spend and how much of road you plan on doing long range tank good idea.now with any car they make the later the model the better they always fixing little problems from the one before.4,2 diesel pretty wel bullet proof and ks really dont matter to a certain degree i wouldnt by one with 500000ks but one thing you have to make sure of is that it has been properly serviced they cost heaps to repair and dont let the bloke selling it to you tell you yeh mate i service it all the time find out who does his servicing and ask them that do have a few common probs not sure of them all but i know rear windows rust /rear axle seals leak/front inner guards crack but not sure of much else and i own petrol so not sure about diesel probs.hope that was some help looking foward to easter at jamieson

Mate, GQ's are bulletproof. An excellent choice for a tourer. The diesel is a little slow off the mark, but when your cruising, raw accelaration wont mean a thing. You should expect, with a load aboard but not towing, between 12- 15ltrs per hundred kays, the latter figure being absolute worst case scenario. Very reliable motor, have heard many people getting close to the 1 million kays mark now, with no major probs. They have a few little, and i stress little problems: Leaky rear axle seals, leaky power steering pump, siezed rear brake callipers, and occasionally rust in the very rear side windows. 20k should see you pick up a good 91-94 model, with around 200k on it, but that is barely run in. if its still on its original suspension, a good suspension system will make a world of difference in all aspects of the vehicles capability. 1-2k should see you with a nice system. 90ltr fuel capacity is ok for h'way work, but if your gonna get a good way off the track, a l-r tank is a good idea. Allow around a grand. Changing the oil and filter every 5k, and you wont have a problem. All in all an excellent truck that i highly recomend.
Mate, you've made a bloody good choice.
Enjoy your round Oz trip. Tristjo.

This sort of question always is fun. I'm a Toyota fan, my brother is a Patrol fan. His one is a 91 model 4.2 diesel LWB done 180,000. I'm embarrassed to say he's had less work to do on his than i have on the Toy that's done the same K's although mine has had a much harder life. Mostly his problems have related to the electrical bits, ie central locking, electric windows etc. Small stuff. The only larger item has been to rebuild the radiator with a bigger unit, ie extra set of cores as he found that with a lot of towing through the hills it was getting hot. The bigger capacity radiator has now fixed that. We also turbo'd the truck and installed a big bore. Heaps of grunt now. Great trucks, especially when towing, go for one, i wished i had gone that way instead of the Toyota which wa the same price and is worth much less now.
By the way they sit really steady with 1500kg of boat on a trailer at the back when doing 140kms. We know he was doing that as we saw it on the radar clock in the officers car. His speedo was reading 125 at the time.

The GQ Patrol is a good choise. Very rugged , reliable and reasonable on fuel (diesel). I have a 1990 with 315000km, still going strong. A friend has an 80 series diesel cruiser which I must say is nicer to drive but isn't as tough in the driveline department ie gearbox,diffs.

TD42 is well known as "ONE OF THE BEST" engines out there. strong as an Ox.

Elects are good but if you go hard offroad with elect windows and thigns they suffer.

Communications is your first purchase, UHF radio.
LRT is a must, as is good suspension, go with King springs and Koni shocks.

Thing to look out for are

Cracked inner guards on both sides
Cracked Pillars if its had lots of roofrack work
rear diffs can crack at the welds on the top
Body mount rubbers wear and then oval out, causing clunks under foot,
floor pan cracks under the firewall and floorpan join
Rusty rear side windows
Rear door hinges suffer from big tires
Grill mounts vibrate and die needing bodging up or new grill
mudflaps die, and are EXPENSIVE VERY!
There are more, but this should keep you busy!


Autos are $4000 to rebuild. But are far superior off road.



Diesels are good for 5-600,000klms IF treated well, theres a few on the patrol list with over 550,000klms on them still runnin strong.


http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Patrol4WD/ theres an archive with 15000+ posts on Patrols...

You wont go wrong with a GQ TD42.

Mine had 385,000 on when sold and the motor was fine. The list of possible problems above sounds about right, although I had very few of those problems.

Don't buy one with heaps of extras on it cos it's probably been flogged. Buy one close to standard and dress it yourself.

If you can't resist the two dif locks big tyres and super suspension then there is one more problem you need to check

The ball joints on the drag link break in cars that have worked hard.Mine was doing about 40 insoft sand and ended reasonably happily. THe day before I had been doing 120 with the trailer on. They go from about 240k on mine had done 315k.

Apart from that go for it you won't be dissapointed.

Great vehicles done 26000ks and no probs. The best models are 90 to 94 as they have better pistons if you ever turbo or super charge as i did to mine which is the best choice if you tend to tow. Have never had any probs with elec windows, a bigger radiator and reco the fan clutch is a priority as they do run hot when towing on steep hills, they also have the best and strongest lsd diff on the market. Great vehicles, also have great visiblity over the bonnet when off road. Col

Grab this month's '4WD Monthly', A bumper issue with a 12 or so page spread on the GQ. Everything you'd want to know about it, is in there.