NW Gen 4 Transformation

Stevemc181

Observer
The next items fitted were the airtec snorkel, LRA Aux Fuel Tank and Polyair airbags.

I was on a trip last year where we crossed a flooded creek, the water was fast flowing and I was lucky to get through without the snorkel. The guy behind me was driving a near new VW Amarok and he came in a bit quicker and unfortunately sucked a heap of water into his diesel engine. The end result was a repair bill of $40,000 dollars and it took us several hours to tow him out, we were in some pretty hilly clay type terrain which made it difficult to tow him out and get to a near-by road. He was extremely lucky his insurers paid out the claim though :)

The snorkel is cheap insurance.



At the same time, I had an LRA 58 Litre Auxilliary fuel tank fitted. Due to the rear airconditiong unit in these model Pajero's, I was limited to a 58 Litre Aux tank for a total capacity of 146 Litres (38.5 US gallons) this now gives me the ability to tackle some of the more out of the way places with ease. As an example, the next trip I am doing will have a stretch of 750km's between fuel stops without any side track diversions, most of this will be at slow speeds in sandy terrain, so fuel consumption will be high. I'll also be taking along a 20 Litre jerry can as added back-up. The Aux fuelk tank has already taken some hard knocks but is holding up well and also offers some protection of the rear bumper.

I have the fuel transfer pump switch located near the drivers left knee.



The tank filler replaces the standard filler with a twin tube filler. I may at some stage make up some sheetmetal covers for these pipes, but so far it hasn't been an issue.



The tank hangs a little lower and does have an effect on departure angle, but she handles the bumps and scrapes well and is a good solid piece of gear.



While at the same shop, I also had them fit a set of Poly-air airbags. This was due to all the weight I was adding and gives the ability to adjust the Paj back to level when all the tanks are full and the back is full of gear. I generally run with these at about 15psi and when fully loaded I pump them up to 30psi, they work extremely well at keeping the Paj level.

 

montypower

Adventure Time!
Does the tank hang lower than the rear diff? I'm looking to get one soon. Just wish it could be installed a couple inches higher.
 

Stevemc181

Observer
Does the tank hang lower than the rear diff? I'm looking to get one soon. Just wish it could be installed a couple inches higher.

Yes, it does hang a bit lower and some loss of departure angle is the result. There are several tanks available in Australia, but the LRA Tank doesn't hang as low as some others. This thing has taken a beating and has the usual dents and scrapes to prove it with a few more just added this weekend after a Trek a few of us did in Western Australia called the Holland Track. Lots of deep mud holes at the Southern End, but no major problems getting through.

The LRA tank is a tough bit of gear and very well made, I haven't heard of one leaking yet, but I guess a sharp enough rock will puncture anything. It's always a trade off I guess, but it beats carrying 3 or 4 Jerry cans with you along with the usual gear for an extended off road trip. It hasn't caused me to get hung up on anything I'd consider taking the Paj through. Just need to drive it like you own it and not stole it :)
 

Stevemc181

Observer
Next on the shopping list was a set of aftermarket wheels. I am running 17" wheels as standard and have never liked the look of the factory alloys and wanted to spruce her up a bit. My initial choice of wheels wouldn't fit unfortunately (CSA Large Cap Raptors) The NW Pajero has a +46 Offset and the problem is the front brake caliper clearance. Some aftermarket wheels may have the correct offset but it is what is called the 'X' Factor that is the problem. This is the angle that the wheel slopes away from the mounting face and most wheels don't have sufficient 'X' Factor.

I ended up with a set of King Wheels Rebel series in Black with silver piping and a +20 Offset, this has effectively pushed out the wheel track by 52mm. This is not ideal and time will tell if there any issues with the CV's due to the larger wheel track. The Pajero is noted as having one of the toughest CV's out there though, so pretty sure it won't lead to any breakages. Along with new wheels, I decided a set of Mickey Thompson ATZ P3's in 265/70/17 was in order. I bought 6 wheels in total and rotate the spares through every 5000Km's. I don't often require a second spare, but for extended offroad trips it is a necessity, as some of our terrain is very prone to tyre staking. I also carry an R&R beadbreaker and all the necessary gear to strip the tyre and repair trackside if required. A couple of 17" tubes for emergency use are also carried and will be enough to get me to the next town if I have torn open a sidewall etc.

Around the same time I also removed the factory steps and fitted a set of Bushskinz Rock Sliders. She is now getting the look and toughness I was after. The sliders have saved me a couple of times when coming down hard while climbing rocks, so have been a worthwhile investment. The Mickey T tyres are also like chalk and cheese when compared to the Previous Maxxis 700's. They are a great AT Tyre with not too much road noise for an aggressive AT.





One of the issues with this model is that when changing to larger tyres and different offset rims, it means the spare won't fit in the rear tyre carrier. I solved this issue by removing the carrier and cutting it down by about 25mm. It was an easy fix and looks factory. The rear cover now closes easily over the larger wheel.
The pic below shows how high the factory mount is.



and this pic is after cutting the top off and re-welding.

 

Stevemc181

Observer
Does the tank hang lower than the rear diff? I'm looking to get one soon. Just wish it could be installed a couple inches higher.

I just had another good look at this today, and it is basically in line with the bottom of the rear diff/cross member, not any lower, it does affect departure angle slightly though.
 

Monstero

Adventurer
All around great rig. Its set up to do what you need it to and go where you need to go with reliability. Great planning and execution
 

montypower

Adventure Time!
Would you post some pics of the side of the tank where the fuel filler connects to the tank? Maybe also take some measurements to see how much higher the tank could be mounted. I'm working on importing that tank but want more ground clearance so looking at cutting down / reducing the height of the factory storage and mounting the tank up higher.
 

Stevemc181

Observer
Sorry, I've been away on a trip for the past month, covered 15,000Km's in 4 weeks over some of the harshest terrain Australia can offer. Western Most point to the Eastern Most Point via the Geographical central most point and Simpson desert. I have a trip report up on this on the Australian Paj Forum here: http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=41765
The Paj handled it all well apart from a cracked alloy wheel and a few more knocks in the Aux Fuel tank. The dash also vibrated itself loose once again, so I'll be stripping it down and looking for a solution to this problem when time allows.

I'll get a couple of pics up of the Aux tank filler pipes etc, although if you are going to the trouble of cutting down the rear storage area, it may be easier to just mount a tank in the rear storage well and cover it with a bolt down cover?
 

montypower

Adventure Time!
Fantastic trip! My friend and I are thinking about shipping our trucks to Australia and touring the country. Beautiful area...
 

Stevemc181

Observer
Would you post some pics of the side of the tank where the fuel filler connects to the tank? Maybe also take some measurements to see how much higher the tank could be mounted. I'm working on importing that tank but want more ground clearance so looking at cutting down / reducing the height of the factory storage and mounting the tank up higher.

I am not sure you'll be able to tell much from my pics as it's a bit hard to get the camera in there. There looks to be a bit of room for movement on the filler pipe side of things though. In one of the pics below you can see the tank is basically flat up against the bottom of the rear seat well. I think if you alter the well, there should be clearance to get the pipes up another 30 or 40mm. Not really sure though, but looks possible?











Not sure if the above pics will help, I can take some more next time I have the wheels off and maybe get a better view of it.
 

Stevemc181

Observer
Thanks for all the positive comments regarding the Vehicle and the trip :)

I found the lack of ground clearance was an issue on a couple of occasions, but this was mainly due to the weight she had onboard and it looks like the Lovells HD rear springs have all but given up the ghost. I have polyair air bags also in the rear, but even with 30psi in the airbags she was still nose up and bum down, so I think I'll start investigating a set of Extra Heavy Duty springs for the rear.
 

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