New Telstra Ute Advice

[Cuppa]

I had to run my tyres at 68psi when I had the split rim ‘cheese cutters’ (235/85) which came fitted from Telstra. When mentioning these pressures here I received the ‘jaw drop’ response from others unused to heavier Patrols on narrow tyres. It was the main reason for changing to wider tyres. (265/75) I now run 40psi front & 45 or 50psi rear, & would drop this a bit when on long stretches of dirt. The lower pressures has made a big difference to driving comfort & will treat the car more kindly. I would suggest that if you are going to get new suspension that you get some new rims & tyres too. Ensure the rims have sufficient load rating.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...ghlight=wheels

[rafa]

Ok so I'm going to keep her.

If I upgrade/renew the suspension does it have to be ARB to keep the increase in GVM?

Cheers

[threedogs]

have a talk to Iron man on this Forum then you can tell them exactly what you do and what you want,
cause what works for one may not work for another

[Cuppa]

Ok so I'm going to keep her.

If I upgrade/renew the suspension does it have to be ARB to keep the increase in GVM?

Cheers

To keep the increase in GVM? Are you saying that you already have an upgraded GVM? Or are you assuming that the ARB Old Man Emu suspension fitted by Telstra gives an increased GVM? If the latter, this is not so. GVM (legal total weight of vehicle including everything it carries) is not the same as ‘load carrying capacity’. It is my belief that Telstra, renowned for carrying heavy loads, would have commonly run these Patrols at over the GVM & that they likely took the view, as a large corporation, that if any claims were made against them resulting from any accident where weight was considered an issue that the risk of a payout was probably less costly than compliancing all of their vehicles. As I don’t have a corporate bank balance I felt it more prudent to get the GVM increased (3400kg to 3900kg) & to stay within it.

As far as I know there are only two companies who do bolt in kits to increase GVM, Lovells & another who’s name escapes me at the moment. These kits are made for the 3.0 litre Patrols (same chassis & brakes as ours) & intended to be fitted before the vehicle is first registered. However they can be fitted to our vehicles to gain an increased GVM but because it is retrospective & being fitted to a different model it requires inspection & approval by an engineer, obviously costing over & above the kit. The same could be achieved without a kit, but the engineering costs for such a one off would be horrendously high. Note that getting a complianced increase in GVM is probably not going to increase the load carrying ability of that provided by the OME HD 10 leaf suspension, but it does make it legal for insurance purposes. Nice to know in the event of an accident. If the OME suspension is knackered (likely) the new suspension all round (springs, shocks, bushes etc) will make quite a difference. Cost to me was $5200 to have the full kit fitted, brake proportioning altered & all the ‘engineering’. (Engineering was $1200 - Some folk have used engineers who charged less, depends upon the luck of the draw as to how much the engineer local to you charges). Since then I fitted the wider tyres & upgraded front brakes. So not cheap ........ but it’s a much better car.

Before doing anything else you should load your vehicle as it would normally be, including full water & fuel tanks & get it weighed (including yourself). I reckon you might be surprised at how heavy it is. Most of the blokes here would be looking at up to 3 tonnes in everyday use, & up to 4 tonnes fully packed for occasional trips. I’m guessing you will be close to 4 tonnes most of the time like me. There is a price to pay for this weight - every kilo means additional wear & tear on the vehicle.

The following two threads may be of interest:

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...-stressful-day!

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...lls-suspension

Cuppa

[rafa]

To keep the increase in GVM? Are you saying that you already have an upgraded GVM? Or are you assuming that the ARB Old Man Emu suspension fitted by Telstra gives an increased GVM? If the latter, this is not so. GVM (legal total weight of vehicle including everything it carries) is not the same as ‘load carrying capacity’. It is my belief that Telstra, renowned for carrying heavy loads, would have commonly run these Patrols at over the GVM & that they likely took the view, as a large corporation, that if any claims were made against them resulting from any accident where weight was considered an issue that the risk of a payout was probably less costly than compliancing all of their vehicles. As I don’t have a corporate bank balance I felt it more prudent to get the GVM increased (3400kg to 3900kg) & to stay within it.

As far as I know there are only two companies who do bolt in kits to increase GVM, Lovells & another who’s name escapes me at the moment. These kits are made for the 3.0 litre Patrols (same chassis & brakes as ours) & intended to be fitted before the vehicle is first registered. However they can be fitted to our vehicles to gain an increased GVM but because it is retrospective & being fitted to a different model it requires inspection & approval by an engineer, obviously costing over & above the kit. The same could be achieved without a kit, but the engineering costs for such a one off would be horrendously high. Note that getting a complianced increase in GVM is probably not going to increase the load carrying ability of that provided by the OME HD 10 leaf suspension, but it does make it legal for insurance purposes. Nice to know in the event of an accident. If the OME suspension is knackered (likely) the new suspension all round (springs, shocks, bushes etc) will make quite a difference. Cost to me was $5200 to have the full kit fitted, brake proportioning altered & all the ‘engineering’. (Engineering was $1200 - Some folk have used engineers who charged less, depends upon the luck of the draw as to how much the engineer local to you charges). Since then I fitted the wider tyres & upgraded front brakes. So not cheap ........ but it’s a much better car.

Before doing anything else you should load your vehicle as it would normally be, including full water & fuel tanks & get it weighed (including yourself). I reckon you might be surprised at how heavy it is. Most of the blokes here would be looking at up to 3 tonnes in everyday use, & up to 4 tonnes fully packed for occasional trips. I’m guessing you will be close to 4 tonnes most of the time like me. There is a price to pay for this weight - every kilo means additional wear & tear on the vehicle.

The following two threads may be of interest:

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...-stressful-day!

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...lls-suspension

Cuppa

Ok thanks Cuppa, I'm not sure what you mean about engineering etc that you paid, mine has a 2nd compliance plate for the GVM increase, do I need to renew it? Or was it that some Telstra Utes didn't have it?

I will take your advice and weigh it for sure. The Old Man Emu suspension standard on the Telstra troll is also a lift??

I really appreciate your input

Marty

[threedogs]

What is your new GVM as written/stamped on the compliance plate ?

[rafa]

What is your new GVM as written/stamped on the compliance plate ?

From memory (ute in Darwin being fixed) I think it's 3800

[threedogs]

So you already have an up graded GMV, so I take it the Patrol sits nice and level.?
If not I would suggest some bellows/airbags in the rear to level it out.
Also the chassis strengthening kit comes it a bolt on or weld on kit;
Give Michael a call at Superior. I would also be fitting rebuildable Koni extreme shocks
Pricey but very good shocks, or some kind of remote canister shock.

My mate had this very problem on a GU Tipper ute with a tray-on camper top fitted all coil.
we got it sorted quickly over a few beers lol

[Cuppa]

From memory (ute in Darwin being fixed) I think it's 3800

Lucky you if you already have an increased GVM/2nd compliance plate. Many don’t. In fact this is the first Ex Telstra Patrol I’ve heard of with an uprated GVM.
I would think that strictly speaking if it was complianced with the OME gear, you should probably stick with that. However if you’ve got the plate you’ve got the plate & in that situation provided you ensured that whatever you replaced the old suspension with had at least the same load carrying capacity you should be ok ------- but I’m not a lawyer.

Cuppa

EDIT. Based on the info I was given by the people who fitted my GVM upgrade air bags are to be avoided like the plague on leaf sprung Patrols. They had a fair bit of experience trying to beef up Patrol utes for the copmpanies servicing local mines. These utes run very heavy, up to 5 tonnes. Their experience with airbags was a disaster - broken chassis’ being a common outcome. Problem apparently is that the airbags focus all the forces into one section of each side of the chassis, rather than spreading the load as the leaves are designed to do. I expect that this is less of a problem on Patrols running less weight, but in Rafa’s case he’ll be heavier than many AND using it over consistently rough ground, so I think airbags would not be a good option. Airbags used in conjunction with coil sprung Patrols may be a different ballgame.

[DX grunt]

Thanks, Cuppa.

I'm seriously considering upping my towing capacity from 2500 to 3200kg and I was told that I could upgrade the towball/towbar and put in airbags. But first I must seek govt approval, do the mods and then put it over the pits. Eventually I wanna buy a caravan with most of the fruit, but I still want the freedom of DX grunt for remote camping.

Rossco