Pajero Mods

Make sure you take it for a test drive, apart from being a bit noisy(diesel) they drive far better then a prado. 50mm lift is the most common mod and should be all you need, esp if it has traction control.
Cheers Pete

G/DAY, I had a 2003 NP diesel auto & now a 2009 VRX diesel auto. Both fantastic the latter with the common rail motor has better auto,brakes & motor. The 2008 is a NS I think if so be sure it has had the DPF recall done...this is the diesel particle filter which was introduced on the NS by MM. There was a problem causing the DPF warning light to stay on & eventually drive owners crazy by having to attend Mits. service centres (as per directions to do so in drivers manual) because it identified unburnt fuel & would block up. The DPF was modified greatly in the NT to a flow through system & never a problem. Don't let this turn you away from the vehicle but if you can go the NT. My wife & I drove the Prado to compare it with the NT...there is no comparision in MHO. the Pajero is the best touring & towing vehicle I have ever owned & I have had Nissan,Toyota & Range Rover. All apart from the latter were reliable & very well made but the NP & NT were better. Have a look at the Pajero four wheel drive club of Victoria web site....like this forum they are very helpful & have a catogory for all Mits. vehicles. Good Luck.....you'll love that car!!

Hi Lloyd,
Towed our Kimberley Kamper 10,800 kms from Adelaide to Alice, across Tanami to Hall's Ck, Bungles, Broome, Cape Leveque, the Kimberley, Kunnunara, Darwin to Adelaide in 2010 over a 6 week period. Our 2005 Pajero DiD returned 14.2 l/100km for an all up weight of 3.94 tonnes ( checked over weigh bridge), with comfort and inspired confidence all the while. 50mm lift and OME springs and Shocks are the only mods. In my view, anything else just adds weight.
These vehicles will surprise you where they will go with the utmost aplomb. I've not experienced a Prado personally, but I can't imagine a superior performance from them, and the Pajero servicing appears to be significantly less expensive from what I've heard. eg the Paj has a 15,000km oil change interval, and the oil is cleaner at oil change time on the Paj than my Toyota Hi-ace van is at its required 5000km oil change interval.
Around town it drives like a car, and returns better than 10.2l/100km. My wife finds it easier to drive than any car we've had before (mainly Commodores and a Land Rover).
I hope you can find these comments helpfull.
Cheers, Bob

Another happy owner here - an 06 NP Diesel with manual. As the others have said it will go places that surprise you and the traction control does a good job of making up for the lack of articulation. As others have said a 2" lift is almost mandatory, but also fairly inexpensive in these as you do not need diff drops or extended brake lines etc. Other mods you should consider are some bash plates for underneath and a long range aux fuel tank for decent touring range. Total capacity of mine is 150l and on a freeway cruise it can return 1450km before a refill. Prados of that era do have 180l though.

The DiD motor is grunty, tough as nails, very reliable and has very few foibles. Get the top timing chain guide changed at 100,000km odd (some have fallen apart and dropped down the timing chain). If it's an NS the other main faults are a suction control valve (causes surging) and a blocked MAP sensor inlet causing a check light and low power (fixed with a fresh manifold under warranty from MMAL). Most of the DPF issues were resolved with fresh software about 6 months after the NS release. The NS has more power than the NP and the NT has more again, and is a fair way in front of the Prado D4D.

The Prado is a very good wagon as well. They are very capable out of the box and do well with similar mods to the Pajero. The D4D is a sweet & smooth motor but is slightly down on power in comparison. Some early ones have injector issues that can be identified with a loud knock at cold idle. Best thing over the Pajero is NVH. Worst thing is wobbly feeling on-road handling. I'd recommend you drive both at touring speeds and see what you prefer.

Pat

IF you are going to do touring as mentioned above, I don't know why you would bother with the lift, it will only detract from handling dynamics.
IF you were going to regularly do mountain tracks or maybe OTT, then the lift yes.
Good Light Truck tyres are probably the best post purchase item you will buy.

The only mods we have on ours are Roo bar (only because I drive in roo country at night, otherwise a waste), Good driving lights (again if you do inland driving at night) and probably the best mod is the 2nd battery and heavy dutry wiring to the rear.
IF you are going to tow, then definitely improved springs and shocks.
IF you are kids free, consider a cargo barrier, Fridge slide.

What ever you buy you won't regret it!

Hi Lloyd,
I have an NS Pajero. The only mods I have done are to add a bullbar, towbar, driving lights and cargo barrier. I have also changed the standard 18" rims to 17" so I could have a larger choice of tyres. I had to buy OME steel 17" rims to do this because it was too difficult to find non genuine rims with the same offset.
My vehicle has the rear diff lock, added as an option at the time of purchase.
My wishlist includes another battery, upgraded wiring to the 12v socket in the cargo area, and a spare wheel lift. It gets really frustrating not being able to open the rear cargo door with our camper attached (although it is not too bad with the horsefloat), and having the cargo barrier means we can't access the cargo area through the back seats.
I like the way the seats in the cargo area fold under the floor, leaving more space in the cargo area. The seats can be very quickly and easily removed if needed too.
I had the DPF problems early on, but since the recall and fix, have had no further issues.
Good luck with your choice.
Leanne