TC.Barky's NW Buildup Thread

[Chooseboost]

It would all be funny if it wasn't so true....

Interested in what type of rear bar protector you are thinking about getting.

[TC.Barky]

At this stage I'm gonna look into custom fab depending on cost, doing Googs track middle of next year so will be done reasonably soon

[Kirkster72]

[QUOTE=Nik;407922]Ah so you're not married yet ... best get those mods done soon

[ How true, the minister of war & finance always gets the last say!

[TC.Barky]

Snorkel Fitted

Hey guys, I'm back with another update!

Got my snorkel fitted today by the guys at TJM Sunbury. Was about to order one anyway and then the stars aligned for a 20% discount as part of the TJM Summer Sale (thread here).

Now I want to take this opportunity to discuss a couple of things with snorkels that pops up a lot here and everywhere else. Primarily, is fitting a snorkel a performance modification and will it help fuel economy. Short answer..... no. The only reason you would need a snorkel is for ENGINE PROTECTION any other reason then you are wasting your time (and money!) imo. There is arguably some benefit to fitting them to older 4WDs which had the intake in the inner wheel guard as this is a pretty asthmatic design however even then in my old pajero I never noticed any performance or economy benefit whatsoever. On the majority of newer 4WDs (including pajeros) the intakes are designed as an air ram anyway. Having said all that, this factory intake design means you are more likely to get water going into your airbox than with the older style so I would be more hesitant to do river crossings at or approaching radiator height without one in this car.

Anyway, enough of the preaching onto the snorkel itself. So as most people are aware the washer bottle has to be changed as the factory one is inside the inner guard. The new bottle is pretty damn small imo, there's plenty more room there for a bigger capacity if they shaped it to the cavity better but obviously it's not something they decided to do. We'll see how I go with this, I tend to use my wiper washers pretty frequently, especially in dusty conditions so I may have to come up with something else (doubt I will though, will probably just carry a bottle of water in the back specially for the wipers).

Quality is great as you would expect, fit is good no complaints. The fixing of it is perhaps not quite as rigid near the ram head as the NL snorkel was, there is a small amount of flex in the plate that connects the neck of the snorkel with the bolt points up the top but its only if you swing off it, no movement when driving.

Jury is still out on any noteworthy increase in wind noise. Was pretty windy on the drive home so will need to have a listen when it's a bit more still. It could be my imagination by my initial impression was that the throaty low frequency parts of the engine noise was a little more audible. This doesn't bother me though I'm still not convinced that I'm not imagining it. TBH I'm a little disappointed there's not more turbo noise evident (there's two types of people )

Anyway, pictures! I've included some pictures of how the ducting is run just in case anyone is looking to fit it themselves as I can't say I remember seeing any posted anywhere. Pretty clever, was wondering how they would get it to hook up and still look neat since the intake was on the opposite side to the snorkel.

[Rovingman]

looking good TC

[Corker]

Looks great TC, enjoying your thread.

[Lazarus]

Looks OK.

I noticed in your signature that you have EGR mod but I can't see it plugged in.
Or do you have older version which connects to the wire directly?

[TC.Barky]

Looks OK.

I noticed in your signature that you have EGR mod but I can't see it plugged in.
Or do you have older version which connects to the wire directly?

Only OK? Sheesh! (jk)

I've got the original type which spliced in.

[jinks_one]

Congrats on your new addition to the family looks good

Are you happy with the installation of it and did they seal the joints

[Lazarus]

Yep, looks OK

I prefer the look and shape of safari snorkel

[Chooseboost]

What type of head have you fitted to the snorkel?

[TC.Barky]

What type of head have you fitted to the snorkel?

Whatever the one is that it came with. It's a reasonably new style, preferred the old one but no biggie I'm sure it'll grow on me.

[TC.Barky]

Lift Kit Fitted

Paj has now been lifted, hooray!

This would have been done a long time ago but I was concerned about the legalities of lifting the car given that it has ESC (see VSB14 etc). My interpretation of the way the law is written is that as long as you can prove with 'thorough testing' that there is no effect on the ESC you can fit a lift kit. I rang a couple of manufacturers and have done some reading in the past and nobody (ARB etc) could tell me that I would have no issues, often saying the onus is on the buyer etc. I gave up for a while but then I spoke at length with the guys at Ultimate Suspension in NSW on this topic and they could confidently tell me they have done all the required testing and they will not sell kits that affect ESC (for example they didn't do Hilux kits when they first got ESC). Absolutely wrapped with that so immediately ordered one. I wish I'd rung Ultimate Suspension earlier!

Anyway, onto the good stuff. I fitted the kit myself (*with the generous help of Rick) as I was quoted a whopping $550 (minimum) to install them. Used this thread as a guide (thankyou to mmanion and all the others who contributed to this thread, amazing). Relatively easy job with two people. I started the job on my own but was very difficult to line the bottom bolt for the front strut up, spent a couple hours on it to no avail. Took 2 minutes with an extra set of hands. Having said that you could probably manage it on your own if you are more experienced (read: not incompetent) on the tools.

Parts are Aussie Ryder twin tube shocks/struts with Lovells raised height HD coils (UCMNM-3F and UCMNM-3R). Went with the twin tubes on the recommendation of Ultimate. Apparently they have made some significant recent improvements in the oils used in shocks to the point where they are only recommending monotubes for racing applications (even though they make more money off the monotubes). I queried how they would perform on corrugations and he said they've tested them in vehicles loaded past the GVM at high speed over 'big' corrugations in remote areas and they had zero fade. Good enough for me!

Here is some pictures showing a comparison of the old vs new gear. All of the new parts were significantly heavier, pretty much twice as heavy on each part.


Front Struts. Slightly longer extension and heaps more winds on the coils coupled with thicker wire.




Rear shocks and coils. Interestingly the coils seem to have the same freestanding height which means the 'lift' comes from the thicker wire and more turns. I imagine because of the independent rear end unlike a live axle the springs can't be longer. The factory coils are progressive (slightly) whilst the new coils are linear. There is slightly longer extension on the rear shocks, but not much.


Now for the money shots:

Pre lift


Post Lift

Measurements:
Note:
- All measurements at the wheel are from CENTER of rim to guard
- All measurements are in mm

Location - Pre lift - Post lift - Difference

Front Right Wheel - 480 - 555 - 75
Front Left Wheel - 484 - 557 - 73
Rear Right Wheel - 495 - 563 - 68
Rear Left Wheel - 500 - 563 - 63

Bullbar front of bottom lip - 435 - 507 - 72
Intercooler guard - 230 - 303 - 73
Towbar below hitch - 385 - 448 - 63

I took multiple measuring points across the front and rear both for interest and to be able to get an picture of the average lift to better allow for any measurement innacuracies. Based on all that it looks like I got about:
73mm at the front and;
Roughly 65mm at the rear

Note all of these measurements were taken 'immediately' after fitting the suspension (<50km of driving) so it will settle to a lower height (will remeasure down the track). Will be getting a wheel alignment tomorrow if I can find someone to fit me in.

Can't really comment on how the suspension feels as the alignment is so far out of whack it's affecting the way the car handles significantly. Thus far though it still seems like a very compliant ride, not particularly harsh on bumps or any noteworthy increase in road noise.

Overall at this early stage very pleased with it all.

[Defender]

Good timely post ... looking into this now.

Can I get a rough cost / supplier ?

TIA !

Cam

[TC.Barky]

1150 delivered from The Ultimate Suspension for the lot. They waived the fee for preassembly (+209.09) because I'm a club member (edit, at least I think that's why. They may have just been feeling generous )