Noob seeking advice - Wellington

[Sticks]

Firstly, great site guys! A fountain of knowledge and makes for very interesting reading. I've spent more hours than I care to admit trawling the forums and would like some advice on getting a new truck if possible.

I've recently parted with a SWB Pajero 2.5 auto which was loads of fun around Welly but was pretty gutless when it came to the crunch and IFS was limiting. I'm very keen to get out missioning again so I'm looking for a replacement. I've been keeping a close eye on Trademe but am having a bit of trouble deciding what to go for.

I started out looking at any 4x4 and drove out to Reparoa to test drive an ex military landy J8 109 which was way too unwieldy so started looking at double cab Hilux's and then moved on to the LC70 and a few others...

I've got a daily runabout so need something almost dedicated offroad but road legal. I reckon I've nailed down the make, aiming for a Nissan Safari 4.2 auto (missing some toes on my left foot so working a clutch properly offroad is a bit of a mission) and have a few questions to help make up my mind.

I would like something that would last a good few years and can be tricked out a bit over time.

Budget is around 4 grand plus a grand for new tyres if needed.

Questions:-

1. Diesel, Petrol or LPG?
2. LWB or SWB? Benefits?
3. The Patrol/Safari is quite a wide vehicle, does this limit the off road capability? (a bit tight around Devil's Gate)

Cheers
Sticks

[Jerry]

Diesel (turbo if you can get one), go swb unless you need LWB, good big heavy solid truck, coils and discs on all wheels too, some come out with factory lockers, good tow beastie. some hazards/tracks suit swb/lwb and or light/heavy truck so whatever you get will suit some hazards and not others.

[Sadam_Husain]

Questions:-

1. Diesel, Petrol or LPG?
2. LWB or SWB? Benefits?
3. The Patrol/Safari is quite a wide vehicle, does this limit the off road capability? (a bit tight around Devil's Gate)

Cheers
Sticks

Nothing wrong with a Saf, sounds like you've worked out the sort of truck your looking for, petrol or diesel is a personal preference but if you get an old coal burner try and find one with a turbo so you dont run out of power at 1500rpm or whatever they rev out to

SWB would get around a lot of the Wgtn stuff better than a big LWB truck and wouldnt get hooked up and stuck as much, also try and find one with a pto winch to save you looking for one later on


Welcome to the forum

[wgtnnewbie]

what sadam said...lol

also there are plenty on here who'll be able to help ya out, Suzuki1k, coxsy, curly12, blackdeath (to name a few) all have nissan whales.

and hi and welcome to the site

[Bubba]

Oh it's sounds like you have the ORE bug bad,

In the SWB/LWB debate my advise would be to consider what you want tio use it for ie; lots of gear, including fishing, divinggear, plus camping gear, add in recovery gear, spares parts and mates/kids/wife? Do you want to be able to sleep in the back? Each addtional person dosen't just add 50% more gear but more like 150%. Or are you going to have half a rugby fielld of spare space in the back and never use it.

The LWB climb better but SWB get into more places. Diesel's are more popular but if you are around on the beach in the sand alot you may want petrol as they tend to be better in sand.

[Bolo]

Welcome into the Welly bunch ,

[stinky]

So did you get that safari ???

[flyingbrick]

I agree with Bubba about SWB vs LWB.

SWB is more capable but you need to make sure its large enough for your needs or the fact it gets a little farther doesnt matter. I bought a SWB truck but kinda wish i had gone long. I could have slept in the back of a LWB with room for gear and a friend

LWB trucks are easier to lift too before the diff angles are all out to shit.

[curly12]

Come out for a drive in my Whale if you like.

After owning a hilux double cab, Sj410 soft top (stop laughing ya bastards, yes I did fit ), three landrovers and about 6 40 series over the years I would not go back to a SWB. Can be a bit tight getting around at times but am yet to be unable to go anywhere yet.
A couple of the aussie guys use them in the winch challanges.

Nice to be able to fit a full size double mattress in the back and also be able to carry all you gear and passengers.
Only thing is I seem to be asked to do a lot of towing and at 2750kg when loaded (the whale, not me) I tend to not go places where i know I will get stuck.

[Jerry]

Petrol ones are kinda thirsty (Mark is local and has one if you wanted ask him questions about it), and seem to be not as common as the diesels so parts are harder to find....

[Sticks]

Wow awesome guys, thanks for the responses and the welcomes.

I didn't get that Safari yet Stinky, it is on a tender process and their terms and conditions don't allow for recourse if it goes tits up. Still considering that one and have found a couple other ones that I'm quite interested in, 1 being a LWB LPG model in good nick that does 550K's on a filling. Recommended? Another one in Aucks which has already been lifted so less mods I need to do for now.

I reckon short would probably suit my needs better, especially with the points you all raised. I don't particularly want to be the tower as much as the towee I'd like to take you up on that offer Curly, would be good to see it in action. I was told that you need a class 2 to tow with them tho..? True?

Diesel Turbo sounds like the way to go, but LPG? Not even dual fuel? Not too sure. Do all Petrol stations have LPG? Kinda hard to carry a jerry can or transfer fuel if you're out in the sticks... What about the power differences? Is LPG as strong as a diesel?

My needs are simple. I need a strong, bulletproof capable machine to play with. Good to take around Welly and up to Ruapehu and not really planning on carrying too many peeps. Towing mates out of mud must be effortless, just so I can rag them later

[Sadam_Husain]

If you go diesel you can fume LPG into it for better performance...... theres a thread about it on here somewhere

[Sticks]

Thanks Sadam, I'll do some digging.

[flyingbrick]

oh shit.

[Sticks]

[Bubba]

LPG, now thats something I can bored you to tears over

My 70 is duel fuel, what a fckin nightmare! It's not much cheaper than Petrol, the tank has fck all range, you have to plan your trips. You can tune to LPG or Petrol but not both. They hate cold mornings, if you are going up the mountain, forget about it, you will never get it started if the systems freezes up, you will need to leave it up there until summer.

If it's dedicated LPG whats happens when it's starts to run low, you end up shitting your pants praying to the 4wd Gods that you can make it back to refuel, often you don't. If it has a LED gauge, forget about it, mine is acturate to + or - 1/2 a tank

Get it checked out to ensure it's the right size system for your truck and not to small and or old and strangling the motor.

The other side is, a good set up is apparently great, bored to tears yet, Ive just started

IMHO go for a turbo coal burner

As for fuming LPG, start a thread and ask some questions BAWHAHA (Evil laugh)

[coxsy]

hi, a lift, rear locker, pto remove, the bumpers, 33'' or 35 '' with turbo the tie rod and drag link should be replaced with heavy duty one's [getting the myself slowly] diesel will do 570 kms per tank , if just you can remove the rear seats for less weight more rooom [ will happen when that 40 is running] and don't pussy around with muds buy simexs for it

[Sticks]

Damned Skippy! that LPG schpiel was gripping Bubba totally bored me out of considering it

Thanks guys. Diesel, SWB auto it is.

I had some Cooper Discoverer 31" on my old Paj which did wonders to the handling on and off road. I was thinking of going 33" Coopers but that should only need to be worked out later when I run out of rubber.

I'll post up news as soon as I've found one. Or post up some Trademe links to some for advice.

Sweet!

[Sadam_Husain]

I had some Cooper Discoverer 31" on my old Paj which did wonders to the handling on and off road. I was thinking of going 33" Coopers but that should only need to be worked out later when I run out of rubber.

If you can, go 35" tyres to get some clearance coz those Saf's have got big low diffs and a lot of the Wellington tracks are deeply rutted, 35's on a Saf are probably the same as 31's or 32's on your old Paj

Go see Rob at Naenae Tyres for tyres, he looks after all us Wellington guys with good prices and service, he's got shit coffee but always good for a bit of a yarn and a good deal

[Sticks]

Sweet as. Clearance is key Thanks Sadam

35"s it is. I'll go spin a yarn or 2 with Rob and sample this shit coffee you speak of.

[Jerry]

stinky's coffee is just as bad .....

We got some trips coming up, if you don't have a pos yet there should be a spare seat.....

[Sticks]

Awesome, thanks Jerry. I'd be well keen to come out and have a laugh.

[Sticks]

Right, I've got an SWB Nissan Patrol in Aucks and need to get it to Wellington.

So far pricing is around $486.00 incl. from Jeff's Vehicle deliveries. Anyone know of any companies that will do this cheaper?

[Jerry]

I used Automovements when I got my pos down from Auckland, was a door to door service was 300+gst

[stinky]

wheres the pics ya bugger

[Sticks]

Removed from trademe. trynna work out how to post pics from local disk rather than http://....

Knocked the price down a bit

[Sticks]

Thanks Jerry. I just gave them a call and got voicemail. Will give them a call on Monday to see if they can deliver on Tuesday.

On a bit of a tight schedule here and I realise it's not the best time to be looking for a delivery company on a Saturday arvo...

May just have to bite the bullet this one time and cough...

[flyingbrick]

Man just bus up and drive it down.

[Sticks]

On the bus up to Aucks...

1 year anniversary with the missus tomorrow. She's a bit pissed...

[flyingbrick]

On the bus up to Aucks...

1 year anniversary with the missus tomorrow. She's a bit pissed...

Happy anniversary darling.... I've bought you a SAFARI!