What can I do to my patrol?

hahaha, so no go for the central locking thing then lol
Good suggestions, thanks for posting ross )

Well, it will only be occasional caravanning, say school holidays a couple times a year, so what shocks are good ones?

Well we could start an argument here but I guess any of the brand names would be better than standard shocks.
I put Old Man Emus from ARB on the Rodeo after a couple of trips to Weipa and Bamaga and the difference is chalk and cheese. Specially with a load and on corrugations. When hitting those sudden dips you can feel the car being slowed instead of hitting the stops with a thud, and you come up gently rather than feeling the seat belt grab your shoulders.
Standard shocks are only good for the highway.

Thanks for the post onyabike!

Do you think its worthwhile upgrading shocks if the long touring trips/caravanning etc, are only a few times a year? Is it worth upgrading them if you mostly drive on bitumen? Would the shocks you mention be bad using on the tarmac all the time? Also, dont want a lift kit with the shockers, how do they tow with their 4wds so high and the caravan low?
cheers
justin

You've just about gone past my level of expertise on things mechanical.
I would say if towing or carrying reasonably heavy loads on tarmac they would be worthwhile. Maybe get them just on the back. Definitely won't be bad! I meant that just tooling round town unloaded the standard ones will do you. You don't want to spend $600 plus if you don't need to.
Can't comment on lift kits etc but I'm sure there is some expertise out there.

Good idea, would keep our 5 1/2 yr old in the back at the same time!! He has a tendecny to like the back dicky seats lol

Dont know, couple of grand maybe, although I need new tryres pretty soon, just wanted to add some individualism to it.

Well to give you a idea

Tyres will be $320 or so per corner if you go for a good tyre and some a little bigger than standard
Cargo Barrier roughly $800….check ebay for second hand ones…I did that and saved heaps
Good spot lights $300 for a pair
You will need a good UHF and aerial when you go touring that’s another $500
Good shocks and coil upgrade maybe another $1500
Maybe some air bags in the back to help with sagging when you tow another $500…I think
A nice roof rack to carry bulky things $800
GPS system for when you are off the normal roads $700
A entertainment system for the young ones in the back…maybe a flip down screen or something so they can watch DVD’s on the long road $500
Reputable air pump for inflating tyres and possibly air beds
I would also go a nice dark tint to make it hard to see into the car
I can keep going but we are already up to the $8000 mark

Most people take years to setup their trucks to the way they want them. It’s very much a individual thing and what you want to do with your truck

Thanks for the informative post troll 81!!!

Yes of course I see what you mean with all the extras etc. hows longs a piece of string eh.

Well, I just checked out your rig page, thats a friggin beast there mate, nice truck!

Can you tell me anything about the 99 patrol? I was actually on the pacemaker site last night having a look, how does it go with the headers, what difference has it made? With your shockers, it looks like theres a decent lift kit fitted to your truck, how do the nissans behave on the open sealed highways with the big lift kits? And another q. is how do u tow caravans with the nissan being so high off the ground.

thanks, I could ask heaps more questions, if you could let me in on any sites you know with advise and info for the new nissan owners, that would be awesome,

regards

Justin

Justin

My rig is not really that big…it only looks big in the photos. I am running a 2 inch lift with 285x75R16 Micky Thompsons. The shocks are Rancho adjustable and I find them a little bit to soft but they are a good shock but I don’t think you need those adjustable ones I have only adjusted them once or twice since I have had the car and that was from soft to hard and it’s still to soft As far as the engine is concerned the 4.5 petrol is a very reliable engine….I can’t comment on gas since mine is petrol only. You will find that you have allot of torque in this car for 4x4 especially in low range and towing. I don’t have anything I tow but sometimes I tow my Dad’s boat and hardly notice the boat behind it. I have pacemakers on mine but I bought the truck with them on so can’t comment on before and after. But a mate didn’t have pacemakers on his and then he got some and he noticed a slight difference in performance. One thing that I would recommend you do is take it to a performance place and let them test and tune it on a dyno. My fuel economy was pretty bad I used to get around 500km’s out of both tanks and after the dyno they noticed that the oxy sensor was faulty thus causing the fuel fix to be wrong and pumping in more fuel then was needed. Now I get around 650-700 out of both tanks and I am happy with that. As for the open highways I regularly drive from Brisbane to Noosa and find it fine on the open road and I don’t have any complaints in that department.

The other thing I didn’t mention is you MUST get a dual battery setup. Some people will debate the MUST but I don’t want to be stuck out in the bush only to find I left my radio on over night and I can’t start my car or the battery might be faulty or what ever the case might be.

But seriously most of the information and advice I got over the years was from this site. There are some very nice and clever people on here

Hi Justin,

I have to agree with Troll here. Some of the rigs you see on the members pages (hit members bar and then members rigs button) are awesome and if there is anything there you are interested in, you just need drop an e-mail there way and most blokes will bend over backwards to help you out. Enjoy your new project.

Dave

Thanks for that info Troll. I was reading up on dual battery systems on ebay the other day, they seem a great idea, and why not since theres the space under the bonnet for it.
Re the dyno tuning, Ive heard that before that people get much better economy after dyno tuning, and specifically with gas too, I will wait until I get my gas system serviced for its 1500k one and then get it dyno tuned, see what happens.

I was thinking of getting a k&n air filter as a cheap and good upgrade just to make it breath easier, what do you think?

My father in law whos an ex truck diesel mechanic was watching the tacho as we took him for a drive the other week and he said what you said about the towing and easily towing stuff with it and not even noticing it, it seems a grunty low geared engine. We had a v8 jeep grand cherockee for 5 yrs before the patrol and that went like a cut cat, but this one loafs around, but it seems to be nice and gutsy though.

How bigs the sub tank in the patrol? It never seems to take much petrol and mine is so dicky with petrol bowsers, hard to get it to poor in, keeps stopping. It only seems a small tank though as it doesnt take much to fill it. The gas tank I put 100 litres in the other day so the tank must be 100+ litres which is good.

When do you use 4wd high? Is this mainly for using when you are going a bit too fast to have it in low? The diff locks are a new idea for me, u get spolit with the jeep having quadradrive and only ever having to put it in low, not even get out of the vehicle. Do nissan still have the diff locks on the new patrols where you have to manually change them?

Enough babbling I guess, thanks for the info, much appreciated

Justin

K&N filter won’t make that much difference but others might disagree with me. The sub tank is 30 or 35 liters very small yes. High and Low range is very much a individual thing …I use High when I am in thick sand and driving in muddy and very sandy conditions…low range only gets use when I go and play out in the 4x4 parks up steep hills and rocks etc etc or when I pull someone out of a bog. As for the diff locks read your manual I actually have ARB air lockers on the front and rear so I just flick a switch when I want to engage.

Do some searching on this forum for some key words and you will find heaps of good gear

Hey Troll

Read through my manual when we got it, its one of those multi model ones where it says may be fitted or whatever. Just have diff locks on the front that I can tell, do you have ones on the back as well? How much were the air lockers?
Thats what I was thinking with the high and low.
cheers, & yes, been researching on here for a week now, but I like to chat to specific people that have the same car, hence you!
thanks
Justin

I was actually very lucky with my truck the guy before me did some touring and added bits and pieces on so when I got it I only had to add minor things. Your patrol will have a LSD in the back and they are pretty good from what I have read and then just the standard dif locks on the front. Lockers front and rear will set you back around 4k I think

Thanks for the info Patrick.

Adjustable hayman reese sounds the way to go then if you had a high lift kit and are towing. cheers
Justin