GQ X-Cab Ute - Daily and weekend rig.

[surrender]

Gday everyone, been lurking around for a while learning lots about patrols. Been getting into 4wding a fair bit lately, was driving a stock 4.8 GU for a while and had been looking around for something a bit more serious to get in to some of the harder stuff.

Was initially looking for a stockish td42 ute but it was proving to be very difficult to find one with what I wanted in NSW and in my price range. This one came up and I went out to look at it, a few days and an empty bank account later, it was in my carport. Would have liked a TD42 but I am still stoked on this one, also means I get that extra bit of room from the X-cab which is just bloody lovely I must say.

It's got a carby TB42 in it with lots of k's, 360,000 actually.. I am looking to drop a TD42 Turbo into it in the coming couple of years, unless I choose to go a different way and do a 6.5L conversion or even a 5.7 v8 conversion. Diesel would be nice though. But that's on the cards for the future, apart from the fuel economy the TB42 carby has been surprisingly ok (probably due to the 4.6's turning the 35's without hassles).

So far the car has:
Current mods
* GU Diffs- Front and Rear
* 4:6 Diff Ratios
* Front Diff Fully strengthened and gussetted
* Brand new ARB Front air locker
* Swivel Hub Kit recently been done
* 4 Link Rear suspension
* 7" suspension lift- 1" Coil packers in the front
* 2" Body Lift
* Snake Racing Drop Arms
* Braided brake lines
* Tuff Dog adjustable shocks
* Inverted Rear Shocks
* Chromoly Drag Link
* Adjustable front panhard rod
* Brand New safari Tuff Clutch
* 85% Reduction Gears in the transfer
* Snorkel
* Exo-Cage
* CD Player
* UHF Radio
* Air Conditioning
* 15 X 10" Sunraiser Rims
* 35" Baja Claws
* Recently been repainted
* Cut down guards

Immediate mods (next couple days) are gonna be:

*New tyres all round, the Bajas are dead and there is a mismatched kumho on the front right, am thinking 35" MTZ's or 35" KM2's.

*Brakes and rotors all round, thinking slotted DBA's and Bendix pads.

*Steering wheel, anything round and around the 380mm mark. (Current one is slippin all over the joint).

*Gonna start designing a canopy and frame for the back for touring purposes, will probably house a fridge slide, dog box, drawers etc. Maybe even have a roof top tent above it all

Future mods:

*Water tank under tray.

*High mount winch

*Rear locker

*Flip down light bar and lights

*New seats, undecided about this still. Commodore maybe?

*Engine swap (this is a while away mind you).

Anyway that's enough babbling, here is a couple of photos I have taken, one from when I went to look at it and one now it's home in the carport. Will get some more tomorrow and maybe even some poser flex shots in the yard.

Cheers.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1116_zps96df5daf.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/35b0917c-ba93-414e-8dc8-9d2c4f05bdd6_zps1843dd09.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/6fffc86c-5024-42da-a827-0828dca18130_zps47141896.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/51e80b48-2e1e-4902-8cab-d469e5da3532_zps3f499ed6.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1137_zpsbbfd5723.jpg

[89gqpatrol4x4]

very nice rig mate! should be lots of fun.

[Winnie]

Awesome rig! Regarding new seats have a look at the build thread by the member BigRig, I'd give a link but I'm on tappacrap at the moment. He just put XR6 seats in his and IMO they are way better than commodore seats.


If you're happy and you know it tap a post!

[DX grunt]

That is one sick ute, bro.

Well done.

Rossco

[NP99]

Nice...some led bars to top it off!

[surrender]

Cheers fellas, it has been excellent so far, really keen to get some new tyres on it this week though. Winnie I will definitely look into the xr6 seats, as long as it isn't too tricky to get em in then I'm happy to mess around a little. Led bars would be excellent. thinking a couple of HID spotties on the front bar and then maybe a big 44" led bar on the roof. There is no doubt this will be the death of my wallet for a while to come, but I ain't complaining!

[NP99]

Cheers fellas, it has been excellent so far, really keen to get some new tyres on it this week though. Winnie I will definitely look into the xr6 seats, as long as it isn't too tricky to get em in then I'm happy to mess around a little. Led bars would be excellent. thinking a couple of HID spotties on the front bar and then maybe a big 44" led bar on the roof. There is no doubt this will be the death of my wallet for a while to come, but I ain't complaining!

A house would be cheaper than 44" led bar:)

[surrender]

You're right about that bud! But can't drive a house up a hill climb, I'll just have to sleep in the truck..

[BLKWDW]

Nice rig to start with mate alot of the hard work has been done for you. Just need your own touches now.

[surrender]

Thanks mate, definitely a good starting point. Still plenty to do (but when isn't there). I took some decent photos this arvo, green looks pretty wild in the sun.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/Green4_zps5bc90628.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/Green2_zpsddd81071.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/Green1_zps124861c9.jpg

[Ben-e-boy]

Nice!! I like the 4 link rear end

[Bloodyaussie]

Me likes .............. would love a dedicated toy!!!!

[surrender]

Yeah it's good to have a rig for the tough stuff. Just means that I gotta drive this around as my daily, don't really mind though it's just too much fun!

[Ben-e-boy]

Yeah it's good to have a rig for the tough stuff. Just means that I gotta drive this around as my daily, don't really mind though it's just too much fun!

how does it handle on the road??

[surrender]

Honestly with no sway bars the rear floats around pretty bad. Will be getting a whiteline 24mm rear sway bar and disconnects at some point. Just need to find somebody who makes quality disconnects and find out what length they need to be.I gotta say it's all worth it when it's in the bush though, rear 4 link works a treat. I also need to do something about the front end so it can match up to the rear a bit more, thinking that superior superflex arms would be better than the snake racing arms but i'll have to do a bit of research into that one first.

[Wine_maker]

Looks awesome mate especially frame and bullbar work!

[BigRAWesty]

Nutts looking patrol mate.
The Nissan rear disconnect is tough as nuts, and a bloke in boardertown does extension units, you just need the original unit to start..

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[Ben-e-boy]

Honestly with no sway bars the rear floats around pretty bad. Will be getting a whiteline 24mm rear sway bar and disconnects at some point. Just need to find somebody who makes quality disconnects and find out what length they need to be.I gotta say it's all worth it when it's in the bush though, rear 4 link works a treat. I also need to do something about the front end so it can match up to the rear a bit more, thinking that superior superflex arms would be better than the snake racing arms but i'll have to do a bit of research into that one first.

If you wanta sway bar try a currie industries anti-rock or Aurora custom fab sway bar. They requrie fabrication to install. but you are already running a 4 link so if you get pulled over you are already in trouble.
Definatly go the superflex arms, you cant go wrong.

EDIT. using these sway bars in the link below you dont need disconnects.

http://www.auroracustomfab.com.au/?page_id=330

http://www.dragtec.com.au/category.php?id_category=146

[surrender]

Definitely looks like a good unit, could end up being a bit more than I was wanting to spend but it's definitely a better idea. Will have to assess my options. Pretty keen on the superflex arms although the fella I bought the truck from said it has a 7" coil lift with 1" packers in the front and superior only makes arms up to 6". Added to the 2" body and that means it's been lifted 10" in the front which I just can't see unless the new coils have already sagged a lot or the barwork is weighing it all down. Who knows really, but I have seen GQ's lited 9" and it looks crazy high, I just can't see how this is more. I guess I will just have to do some measuring.

[Ben-e-boy]

Definitely looks like a good unit, could end up being a bit more than I was wanting to spend but it's definitely a better idea. Will have to assess my options. Pretty keen on the superflex arms although the fella I bought the truck from said it has a 7" coil lift with 1" packers in the front and superior only makes arms up to 6". Added to the 2" body and that means it's been lifted 10" in the front which I just can't see unless the new coils have already sagged a lot or the barwork is weighing it all down. Who knows really, but I have seen GQ's lited 9" and it looks crazy high, I just can't see how this is more. I guess I will just have to do some measuring.

You can always lower it. Thats too high IMO. Too unstable, What size and type of shocks are you running?

[surrender]

Yeah it's way too damn high if it's a true 10" lift but I doubt it is. What do you think from looking at the photos? Keep in mind the guards have been radiused so it makes the wheel gap look bigger. I would like to take the body lift out but that just throws out all of the bar work which is a pain. Shocks are tough dog adjustables, will take them out sometime this week and measure it all up.

[Ben-e-boy]

I cant really tell by the pics. it does look big. May a pic next to one of your mates 4x4?

[surrender]

Yeah I will get one when I can, It looks more like 5" lift 2" body to me. Would prefer it to just be 5" lift no body lift and 37's but what can ya do, leaves me something to work towards! I'm just stoked to have a GQ ute now, been keen on getting one for ages.

[threedogs]

Hi again Mate Great pics BTW,
Did you shorten the rear of chassis ????

[surrender]

Gday bud, yeah the previous owner did it himself. Really saved me doing a lot of the things I was going to do myself, everything was done really well too. Engineers is pretty much sorted but unfortunately it's looking like a large portion of the exo cage will be coming off, although I will take it off in one piece and have mounts welded to the existing parts as to make it somewhat of a removable cage, good for the tough tracks etc. Should be an interesting experiment!

[Nmcswan]

Looks beasty. Real nice

[Parraeels101]

Great looking truck mate

[kingrat427]

that looks so good mate,,real credit to you,,

[surrender]

Well it's going back to a 5 link tomorrow, relocating the shocks again and putting the panhard in. I guess I am still happy with having the long arms though. I am also pretty set on getting a dobbins xlink for the front end to even it up and after that I'm gonna leave the suspension alone and just drive it how it's meant to be driven! Also sorting out little bits and pieces and am still designing a setup for the back for when I do the longer trips.

[Ben-e-boy]

I am going down the same path as you are. ie. building something that works well offroad, and can comfortably handle long distance touring. Its all about comprimise.

IMO you cant go past a long arm rear and a superflex arm front. It handles well on road, performs very well off road

[surrender]

Yeah it is definitely all about compromise. It's a tricky balance to find sometimes, though I have driven a GQ ute that was built for touring and tough tracks, it ran 37" creepies full time and drove great (obviously not quiet and smooth like A/T's) but I could still happily live with it, I think it came down to the fact it wasn't lifted super high. The body lift in my truck is letting me down, it's just 2" of height I don't need. That will be dealt with eventually, first thing is getting the suspension sorted.

The new longer superflex arms are definitely looking promising although I am very much liking the x-link idea as dobbins have the locking pin which will drive just like it does now and then unlock it in the bush and there goes all the binding issues with the radius arms.. I think once you get the right balance of hardcore/touring it's a combination that can't be beat, no tow car, just pack it up and go anywhere, that idea really appeals to me. What are your plans for touring/camper setup on the back of your ute Ben-e-boy?

[Ben-e-boy]

I think it depends on your idea of handling.

I want mine to handle as good if not better than stock. (mine is 4 inch lift, long arm rear, superflex front and adjustable king shocks). At the moment I can easily take the ute in an out of understeer (dirt or bitumen), its very controllable with fine throttle adjustment even though I have no ability to make adjustment to increase/decrease understeer, Its just what mr nissan gave me and that is my limiting factor and I can deal with it as I am hitting a corner pretty dam fast when it decides to let go.
Oversteer is good to a point where if you get it out too far the lack of sway bar (just need extended links and drill and tap superflex arms and they will be reinstalled) come into play when you correct, the body flops around and unsettles it wiping off whatever speed I had or directing me to the closest tree then the closest toilet lmao
If I just put it into oversteer when exiting a corner as fast as possible as opposed to 'drifting' if you could call it that lol, again its controllable with fine throttle adjustment the rear just squats down and sits there and even though I have broken traction its still putting power to the ground and still accelerating at a decent rate (as much as my boosted diesel will give me).

with a few more add ons and adjustment I think I will accomplish what I set out to do handling wise

As for the tray I have a thread in the DIY section. Its just a google sketchup drawing atm I havent done anything more than that.
I have a 130L tank under the tray which I need to get modified so I can sit it lower and it wont foul on the drive shaft. I am going to build the tray as low as possible. This is where comprimise really starts to kick in. Its probably going to be heavy, and space is going to be taken up by wheel arches and I need to make provisions for shock mounts. I would like to section the rest of the tray for storage and have it so when it is enclosed I have a nice level area to sleep on, then most likely a cage and canvas canopy. Still all on paper at the moment it will no doubt change in time.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?14247-opinions-on-my-tray-design

This is where it sits in the flex department (although it looks stupid on the 31's but its the most recent shot lmao)


28525

[rusty_nail]

This is where it sits in the flex department (although it looks stupid on the 31's but its the most recent shot lmao)


28525

the 31's look tough mate!!! haha

[Ben-e-boy]

the 31's look tough mate!!! haha


for a rollerskate lmfao

[surrender]

I think it depends on your idea of handling.

I want mine to handle as good if not better than stock. (mine is 4 inch lift, long arm rear, superflex front and adjustable king shocks). At the moment I can easily take the ute in an out of understeer (dirt or bitumen), its very controllable with fine throttle adjustment even though I have no ability to make adjustment to increase/decrease understeer, Its just what mr nissan gave me and that is my limiting factor and I can deal with it as I am hitting a corner pretty dam fast when it decides to let go.
Oversteer is good to a point where if you get it out too far the lack of sway bar (just need extended links and drill and tap superflex arms and they will be reinstalled) come into play when you correct, the body flops around and unsettles it wiping off whatever speed I had or directing me to the closest tree then the closest toilet lmao
If I just put it into oversteer when exiting a corner as fast as possible as opposed to 'drifting' if you could call it that lol, again its controllable with fine throttle adjustment the rear just squats down and sits there and even though I have broken traction its still putting power to the ground and still accelerating at a decent rate (as much as my boosted diesel will give me).

with a few more add ons and adjustment I think I will accomplish what I set out to do handling wise

As for the tray I have a thread in the DIY section. Its just a google sketchup drawing atm I havent done anything more than that.
I have a 130L tank under the tray which I need to get modified so I can sit it lower and it wont foul on the drive shaft. I am going to build the tray as low as possible. This is where comprimise really starts to kick in. Its probably going to be heavy, and space is going to be taken up by wheel arches and I need to make provisions for shock mounts. I would like to section the rest of the tray for storage and have it so when it is enclosed I have a nice level area to sleep on, then most likely a cage and canvas canopy. Still all on paper at the moment it will no doubt change in time.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?14247-opinions-on-my-tray-design

This is where it sits in the flex department (although it looks stupid on the 31's but its the most recent shot lmao)




Yeah it definitely depends on what you want out of it too. I don't do too much high speed stuff off road, but I still want decent on road manners from it. Still tossing up what I wanna do with the rear sway bar, am thinking of maybe going a currie style setup to keep it working well while keeping the handling reasonable. I think I need to just drive it some more and find out where I want to make changes and go from there. Just got the truck back about half an hour ago, the rear end feels 10x better now on road with the panhard back in, took it for a quick bash then and the rear end still works fine, don't feel it as much as I thought I would. Like I said, time will tell where I wanna go with the rest of it. I imagine your kings made a good difference too? Quality shocks are such an improvement, some people don't really think about it that much.

Your tray idea looks excellent, utilising the space underneath is essential, my chassis has been shortened and in turn my fuel tank is up next to the cab, I am thinking of putting another fuel tank and water tank in the existing space, then a cage and canopy for storage and the dog, with a roof top tent ontop of it all. It shouldn't really be too difficult, just a matter of planning it out and gettin it done. Having a super capable go anywhere touring rig is gonna be great.

Here are some pictures of the rear end with the panhard back in, the original plan was to move the shocks again, this time to the front of the diff so the panhard could go in and wouldn't foul the shocks. Was much easier just to move the panhard mount on the diff and make up a bracket that spaces it out enough to clear the shocks. No need to mess around with the rest of the setup.

This is the bracket and how the panhard sits now:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1169_zpsc7a93cca.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1169_zpsc7a93cca.jpg.html)


and here is where I will put some more fuel and water:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1168_zpsdda1b694.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1168_zpsdda1b694.jpg.html)

[surrender]

You are getting real good flex with the long arm/superflex combo too, I will definitely be keeping my options open. I think a bit of work on the cage and the possible removal of the body lift is next on my list. Right after new tyres anyway.

[surrender]

Went for a play the other day, didn't have anybody to take real action shots but heres a couple photos of it dirty and one of it after a clean..

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1176_zps59005fcd.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1176_zps59005fcd.jpg.html)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1177_zps9c158778.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1177_zps9c158778.jpg.html)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1188_zps1d542d6c.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1188_zps1d542d6c.jpg.html)


After a quick rinse..

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_1190_zps99983496.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_1190_zps99983496.jpg.html)

[Ben-e-boy]

where are the flex shots :)

[surrender]

I'll get some decent ones tomorrow when I head out as long as you promise not to laugh at the lack of front end flex! It's already covered in dirt again after I cleaned it the other day. I also cut the lower windscreen bar off and it's much better, don't think structural integrity was compromised too much but visibility is a shitload better and now it will be engineered very soon.

[DX grunt]

The 'floodway' you went through, is about my limit, too. PML.

[surrender]

Haha mate unless I convince my mates or my missus to come out and take some photos, that is about the best action i'll get a picture of! I'll get some poser flex shots soon at least.. :bananarock:

[surrender]

As promised, some poser flex shots from the yard, front end needs flex arms or something asap! Still a blast to drive though. Also still really need new tyres..

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_4209_zpse01fa7dd.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_4209_zpse01fa7dd.jpg.html)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/IMG_4211_zps5bdb5853.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/IMG_4211_zps5bdb5853.jpg.html)

[surrender]

Everybody likes photos, here are some from today. Couple poser flex shots, didn't get any shots of the better tracks but will next time for sure!


Posing
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/1_zps45181c68.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/1_zps45181c68.jpg.html)

Half up a rock step
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/4_zps6108dc25.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/4_zps6108dc25.jpg.html)

Posing again
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/2_zpsc39e4f3f.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/2_zpsc39e4f3f.jpg.html)

Just liked this photo of the truck
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/3_zps81361d5d.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/3_zps81361d5d.jpg.html)

[surrender]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/fitseries2/Tyres_zpsd6153052.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/fitseries2/media/Tyres_zpsd6153052.jpg.html)

New creepies, 37/12.5/16.. Waiting on some rims, was gonna get 16x10 but after reading quite a bit about leaky beads and bias tyres I am going to go with the 16x8 -50 pro comp 52's. Should be able to go to 10psi safely before I get em beadlocked and big offset because it's more stable and to be honest whoever doesn't think it looks awesome is lying to themselves.

[nissannewby]

So it's staying more comp than daily driver then? Those Tyres and rim offset are gonna see you chewing through front wheel bearings and king pin bearings.

Apart from that its a good looking rig.

[Ben-e-boy]

So it's staying more comp than daily driver then? Those Tyres and rim offset are gonna see you chewing through front wheel bearings and king pin bearings.

Apart from that its a good looking rig.


X2 you will need to per load the fork out of your wheel bearings and remove the shim packs from the king pin bearings to preload the bearings more. Otherwise the wobbles are going to be a common thing.

[surrender]

My current rims are 15x10 -44 which sit 19mm further out than a 16x8 -50, so should be less stress on bearings with the new wheels.. If they go then they go, i'll replace them and continue. It's not going to be built as a daily but it currently is being driven daily. Some time I would like to get a smaller run about car but if that doesn't happen soon I don't really mind, I would prefer to be putting the cash into this first anyway.