Hello from South-Africa

[adefischer]

Hi Everyone

I'm the almost-owner of a GQ Ute (if all goes well).

My dad have been driving Patrols since I can remember (used to be known as a Nissan Safari over here). First was a 1986 MQ with the 2.8l petrol, orange in colour. That got replaced by a yellow 1990 MQ which in turn got replaced bay a 1992 MQ (all with the 2.8 petrol engine). In 1995 my dad opted for y60 (or GQ) 4.2 petrol which he drove until 1997. Due the increasing fuel price and unstable economy in South-Africa he decided to sell it. In 2000 my dad picked up a 1999 GQ Ute with the TD42 under the bonnet which he drove until 2002. Due to changes in his work, and not needing such a rugged 4wd anymore he sold it to my uncle who is still driving it with almost 900 000 km on the odo.

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My uncle's GQ with allmost 900 000km on the original engine

I currently drive a D22 Navara (known as the Hardbody locally) with the TD27 (which as far as I understand is a TD42 minus two pistons, in simple terms). I have always wanted a Patrol of some sorts and recently found one through a friend; It's a 1999 GQ Ute (like the one my dad used to own) which is very rare since only 44 was imported to South-Africa according to urban legend. The guy it's with is a reputable engineer on the TD42's who is currently rebuilding the engine balanced, blueprinted with a top mounted turbo and, I believe, front mounted intercooler. It will probably be done with in a month or two, after which I will post some pictures.

Thank you for an informative forum!

[AB]

Welcome to the forum mate and feel free to ask any questions.

[GQtdauto]

Hello and welcome and thanks for the great intro mate , nice looking ute and great mileage out of your fathers old truck .
Our Utes here are a bit different in that I don't think we had the rear tub all ours were trays but I could be wrong .

[Dhuck]

Welcome to the forum mate

[adefischer]

Thank you AB and GQtdauto. And thank you for the extensive service manual.

I saw what you mean GQtdauto, the only markets I could find on Google where the Tubbies where sold is Columbia, Middle-East, Japan and South-Africa. Very few pictures are available of these online. As far as RHD versions goes it's only Japan and SA I'm aware of. The UAE versions seems to have fender flares moulded on the tub on certain models, with a few people opting for fiberglass/ABS moulded flares like the station wagon.

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One of your rally Patrols, Driven by Terry and Jodi Conner where a tubby aswell, but I think that might be a conversion from a SW.

images (4).jpeg

[adefischer]

Thank you Dhuck!

[AB]

Love the tubs, wish we had them here!

[MB]

Welcome aboard from abroad mate, great looking utes there, thanks for sharing!
Are you good folks still calling them all Bakkie’s these days?
Love the new Y61 bakkie you can get over there too but not here still:
https://www.nissan.co.za/vehicles/ne...l-pick-up.html



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[adefischer]

Hi MB, thanks for the welcome!

Yes we still call them bakkies, which is funny enough Afrikaans for tubs!

We used to get the TD42 up untill a few years ago, but recently only the ZD30 in ute form. We also never got a ute with coils all round which would have been nice. Did you guys ever get the TB48 in a ute? Here's a pic of my cousins TB48 with coils all round converted from a SW.

I love the trays you guys get over there, seems a lot more practical than the tubs

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[MB]

Unfortunately no TB48 utes for us either here I believe mate and even more unfortunate our TD42’s stopped in late 2006 very early 2007. Trays are great and especially in steel do allow for some bashing and crashing out there without too much damage. Coil rears here are very comfortable and perform super well off-road but we legally lose some 400kg GVM having those models versus the good old leafy versions.
I reckon one of your awesome bakkie tubs would be tops for loading heavy tool gear & small hay bales into it having the much lower floor pan area :-)


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