Any one in SA done a GVM upgrade?

[outback]

Just asking to see if anyone in SA has done a GVM up grade and what was the inspectors reactions/fault finding behaviour?

Not that I am suspicious but!

I have had my GU upgraded to 3.3t GVM and it has to go through road worthy test.

[Hodge]

G'day mate. Can't answer your question but, what was involved in gaining 220kg extra? Specific suspension brand / setup ?

[BigRAWesty]

Mine is done to 3.49T but it was done in Vic.
It's had the rear diff braced and the superior tower braces fitted..
I've added a list of engineers to the engineering thread we have going so give a few a call and ask around..

But if I may ask, why did you stop at 3.3 and not go the max 3490kg?

[outback]

It's a GU IV, 2005 and it was assumed the base GVM was 3020kg. Also based on Mr Nissans web the best would be 3300kg for GVM, axel load etc.
I would be happy to go to the 3490kgs.
The people doing the upgrade said based on Nissans web 3300 kg was the limit.
All it involved was a 2" lift with heavy duty springs and shocks as well as engineer report.

Also transport want a FULL road worthy.

[Cuppa]

Mine (leaf) was done in Vic. 3900kg (up from 3400kg). No roadworthy required, but did have to pass dynamic braking tests for the engineer.

[BigRAWesty]

It's a GU IV, 2005 and it was assumed the base GVM was 3020kg. Also based on Mr Nissans web the best would be 3300kg for GVM, axel load etc.
I would be happy to go to the 3490kgs.
The people doing the upgrade said based on Nissans web 3300 kg was the limit.
All it involved was a 2" lift with heavy duty springs and shocks as well as engineer report.

Also transport want a FULL road worthy.
Fair enough. I would be strengthening the tower braces regardless of load increase or not..

Mine (leaf) was done in Vic. 3900kg (up from 3400kg). No roadworthy required, but did have to pass dynamic braking tests for the engineer.
Yours was new though ey cuppa

[Cuppa]

Yours was new though ey cuppa

The upgrade was all new components, but the vehicle was 6 or 7 years old.

[BigRAWesty]

The upgrade was all new components, but the vehicle was 6 or 7 years old.
Righto.. all coming back to me now..

[Rock Trol]

I thought you could only do a gvm upgrade to a new vehicle? I am very interested in the results as mine is very heavy as is. It's already got the heavy duty 2 inch lift and tower brace. If it's a straight forward job I would be interested in doing one.

[Cuppa]

I thought you could only do a gvm upgrade to a new vehicle? I am very interested in the results as mine is very heavy as is. It's already got the heavy duty 2 inch lift and tower brace. If it's a straight forward job I would be interested in doing one.

Not sure about SA. Also not sure what is possible with rear coils, although increased gvm will be less with coils than was possible with my leafs.
As far as I know there had been a change to what was allowed by VicRoads around 6 months before I got my GVM upgrade in April 2013. I had to use the Lovells upgrade kit as it had VicRoads approval & this involved removing OME leaf springs which appeared virtually identical to those that replaced them. Although the paperwork stated the approval was for when fitted pre first registration, the change in rules allowed for it to be fitted retrospectively. I believe I was the first to get this done in Vic & I'd doubt there have been many done since. There were complications however as the approval was for Patrols with the 3 litre motors & mine is a 4.2, & despite the rest of the vehicle having the same specs as the 3 litre version, this difference required me to get it engineered. I believe that if my car had been a 3 litre it may have been possible to have the upgrade done without as much involvement of the engineer (Engineer fees alone were $1200). It also helped that the local engineer was familiar with the Lovells upgrade having been involved with them being fitted to several mine vehicles locally pre-registration prior to mine.

I had weighed my vehicle loaded as if fully ready to travel, with all tanks full & two people. It was 3700kg & removing 300kg to bring it down to the GVM would have destroyed the integrity of my camper conversion. VicRoads have put 3400kg as the Tare weight on my rego certificate. Much of the time it is significantly less than this. (No recovery & camping gear, no food, minimal tools/spares. Full tanks (fuel & water) alone weigh 370kg plus the weight of the 4 tanks themselves, so probablly at least 400kg, & since removing the rooftop tent have knocked of around 70Kg. When fully packed for long term travel & including the ball weight from the Tvan I still expect to be over the original GVM of 3400kg, but hopefully a bit less than 3700kg, but have some leeway with the 3900kg limit.

I would suggest that you contact Lovells direct to enquire about retrospective upgrades in SA, & failing that consider finding a garaging address in Victoria.

Oh, and my Lovells kit had to be professionally fitted to keep both engineer & VicRoads happy. All up $4k for the kit fitted & $1200 for the engineer with no guarantee it was going to pass the required dynamic braking tests (in which it had to not 'nose dive' more than a certain amount as well as stopping within max distances. Heart in the mouth stuff, but the place which did the work was reasonably confident, but was still a bit of a gamble (which paid off).

[Rock Trol]

Just checked on the Lovells web site. Nothing for a Y61 wagon.

http://www.lovellsauto.com.au/product12.php

[Cuppa]

Just checked on the Lovells web site. Nothing for a Y61 wagon.

http://www.lovellsauto.com.au/product12.php

...............Bummer.

[Rock Trol]

Sane for ARB and a couple of others. Its mainly Patrol utes, 70 series and 200 series. I guess I wont be legal some of the time. :(

[Cuppa]

I know nothing about these folks, but they say they do GVM upgrades for y61 coil wagons & in their FAQ refer doing them to pre & post registration.

http://www.statewide4x4.com.au/gvm-products/nissan-patrol-gu-wagon-lwb.aspx

[BigRAWesty]

Well my setup is a lovells kit, from the research I've done they have used the extra HD coils but unsure on the shocks as they have no brand on them..

Being a wagon they installed the superior tower brace kit and the rear diff was laminated (braced).

It was done by State Wide engineering in Vic but when I dropped them a line about some info on the install they were as tight as a fishes a**hole and gave nothing except the off of an engineers report for $500..
They can blow that were the sun don't shine..
As said before mines good for 3.49T but have no idea if that's max or not..

[threedogs]

I know nothing about these folks, but they say they do GVM upgrades for y61 coil wagons & in their FAQ refer doing them to pre & post registration.

http://www.statewide4x4.com.au/gvm-products/nissan-patrol-gu-wagon-lwb.aspx

They are just around the corner from me, next to my laser cutter near enough.
If you need info I can pop in if you like

[the evil twin]

Don't go by Lovells website... give them a ring.

We have vehicles with Lovells GVM upgrades that aren't on their website like Rangers and BT50's etc

[Cuppa]

Don't go by Lovells website... give them a ring.

We have vehicles with Lovells GVM upgrades that aren't on their website like Rangers and BT50's etc

Agreed, a call wouldn’t do any harm & might turn out to be productive. Their web site is dated 2010 & mentions nothing about retrospective upgrades.

Interesting (to me) aside - the front coil springs fitted to mine were, I believe, standard rate, but longer in order to overcome the tendency for the front end to dive under heavy braking (in conjunction with the front/rear brake bias being altered.

[Rock Trol]

Thanks guys. I might look into statewide but the problem is that I have already done most of these upgrades last year without getting it certified. I didn't think it could be certified at the time.


I have 120kg constant EFS springs up front, 300kg constants at the rear, castor correction bushes, BOSS coil tower braces and I fitted a brake bias proprtioning valve bracket as well. That took a little bit of adjustment before I got it right. Too much rear brake bias for a while. It was too easy to lock the brakes when going down hill or in the wet.


I suspect statewide will want to replace it all with their own brand of similar spec. It's just too soon after installing to replace that stuff.


The other option which i have been thinking about is giving the patrol a drastic diet and getting rid of some of the gear. That would help fuel economy as well as giving the engine a bit less to move around. Drawers might be the first to go, especially since I know someone in my club that might be interested in them. I also like the idea of getting the rear cargo bay back so its easier to use the car to move stuff. Drawers really get in the way.

[Cuppa]

Yep, you're probably right. The Lovells stuff in mine replaced OME stuff , the rear springs (10 leaf) looked virtually identical but I had no choice if I wanted the upgrade. As it turned out the new Lovells shocks made quite a difference to the amount of body sway in corners which I had, until then, thought fairly normal for a large 4wd. The OME ones must've been getting a bit tired.

[threedogs]

@ RT do you have wire on your winch , if so changing to Dyneema/Plasma and removing the roller fairlead
will drop 30kg plus off your waist line lol. Can I suggest you get the patrol weighed and then see
where you can make changes.

[Cuppa]

@ RT do you have wire on your winch , if so changing to Dyneema/Plasma and removing the roller fairlead
will drop 30kg plus off your waist line lol. Can I suggest you get the patrol weighed and then see
where you can make changes.

30kg? Dropped 13kg on mine. But yes there are things you can do - unless like me you've already built in a heap of stuff & to remove it destroys the integrity of the entire layout.

[BigRAWesty]

Unfortunately I think your best option will be to talk to the engineers in Adelaide..
But if you've done most the work it may not be much more needed to be signed off on it

[Rock Trol]

I might have a chat to an engineer and see what they say. Probably want to book a runway for a lane change test.....

3D, I have rope on the winch so unfortunately no savings there.