Project Pajero

[NJV6]

I've just realised I haven't actually put any pics of the finished bull bar on here.

A couple of finishing touches to do still, mainly tidying and some sort of mod that can enable me to get the grill out without taking the bar off Things are just a bit neat, possibly I could get it 1mm closer to the body.






All these photo's show a nice straight front bash plate. I keep bending it and turning it into an upside down moon. So after straightening it a number of times (take it off, take the plastic bit off, sit it between two boards, then jump half a dozen times) It now has a good chunk of angle iron behind it so if it bends it won't straighten and then I will have a decent excuse to get a more solid one made.

& yep, bent it on Mt Frederick (Westport )

[Steve_t647]

Does that bonnet come up enought to let your fingers get in behind there to open it?

Looks tight or maybe that is just my fat fingers

[NJV6]

Heaps of room - well enough...

[NJV6]

Winch controls

Wired up a winch controller in the cab and also in the front grill - one of the best mod's I've done. Also incorporated a master key in the main line incase of solinoid jam, which I have seen happen a couple of times.

Here is where I put the isolation switch. It may not be it's final resting spot however....



Vehicle is a bit dusty as it's been no where for some time

And here is the switch that operates the winch from the outside, nice and discrete



Another picture to come of the one inside in the dash.

[NJV6]

Rear shelf Mark VII




Finally happy with it. Might line them so if stuff rolls around it doesn't go clonk clonk. Centre hole is designed for a Jerry can, Right space is for my tyre chains and draws hold recovery gear. Also has a power outlet in it and can get the jack out. (just).

[Mattman]

Very well setup truck mate. Nicely done.

Do you have onboard air?

Matt.

[NJV6]

Very well setup truck mate. Nicely done.

Do you have onboard air?

Matt.

Thanks Matt, yes it is coming together. No I haven't onboard air apart from the ARB compressor which chugs away. I have been taking a bit on interest in these air conditioners people seem to be modifying, still a bit over my head at this stage as to where to get moisture traps, inline oiler's etc.
I am going to be moving the alternator and will have space for an a/c unit where it came from as I' ain't losing my a/c!

[NJV6]

Steering Damper

Something I felt would be good for gravel roads and rougher surfaces but there was nothing available so got a standard damper with a pin at either end, a Range Rover one fitted the job. Made a bracket for the fixed end which bolted to the diff sub frame...



That above was 1st try but it was to close to teh steering arm when it went through its arc and the damper was going to hit the arm. Out with the grinder and redrill the bracket it fitted up nicely.


Seering arm side.... Needed spacing out to stop damper hitting arm as it also went through its arc.



Seems to feel nice through the wheel on my test try but yet to test it properly.

[dvszuk]

good wright up of your truck mate. Good to be able to see all the mods you have done to your truck. I am thing about making a shelf and draw unit simular to yours for the back of my teranno.

[coxsy]

this one runs with the manukau club a cool truck

[WACKO]

very nice unit in the back. was trying to thing of a way to make up somthing for mine a while ago, but it took to long so i got bored. dam short attn spans...

and loving the steer damper idea. never would have thought to mount one like that. im always thinking of complex ways to do things and it never works for me. ah well.. thats why i ask people questions.... and am always suprised with how simple an answer i get back!

[NJV6]

I'll let you know how the steering damper goes after next weekends outing, It was rather simple to fit!

[NJV6]

An Update....

Voltmeter

I put it where the roll meter went in the centre instruments to keep an idea of when I can turn the vehicle off after winching. I felt I know when I'm on a hell of an angle and the tilt meter is the last thing i'd be admiring about then.

Heavy winching voltage drops to about 10 volts and operating is about 14.

Fits well, even the back light goes

[NJV6]

Table

Got my rear 'Picnic table' finished, working and kind of looking good.

It is a right pain in the rear trying to get a flat table to mount to a curved rear door, luckily under the plastic panelling it is basically flat where I mounted a piece of steel from one end to the other and bolted it to the door.

Next mission was getting it to stay 'up' while still looking tidy - I have suceeded with the 'up' part and I guess it is tidy enough.

[SupraLux]

Very flash - I was thinking of something like that, but I want to put a couple of 8" subs in the back door instead

[RJ]

Hi NJV6,

I was curious to know how you are progressing with your mods. I guess you spend a lot of time answering questions to the likes of myself on the forum, to which I do appreciate your input and odbvious knowledge on Mitsi's. Just great. Couple of questions with regards to your mods on this thread.
You did the Ball joint flip which I am looking at soon. And you have commented about drilling out to 10mm bolts etc, very handy to know. I was curious as to what happens at Warrant time, any probs with the ball joint flip or is this getting into a mod cert as well. Do you gain any lift by doing the Ball joint flip as well as articulation or is it more one than the other?
The other question I have is we also have a SWB Pajero, and I was reading where you can put LWB springs in the rear to gain 40 odd mm of lift. Any thoughts on this. I have been trying to work this out as I would assume the LWB weighs more and hence a heavier rating of spring. If its true is there any particular year I should look for. Our Paj is a 92 SWB V6, can I assume any 91-99 LWB rear springs would work. Also we have the hydraulic lift in ours, will this be effected by heavier springs.
Good to see you recording your modifications. We will be heading slowly down a similar road so your comments and photos are just great

Cheers

[NJV6]

Cheers RJ

The LWB's do give a lift and so do standard Nissan Patrol springs that fit straight in - but they are a bit harsh on the lighter Pajero and I like a nice ride.

I had some Chamberlain springs in mine that were ok but still at bit harsh so now have some maxitrac which the dury is still out on.

Any more than 50mm and you will run into driveline vibrations due to the angle of the rear driveshaft, a body lift is easyto do on these and is the way i'd go if you want to run a true 33inch tyre.

The BJ flip - well it is very easy to do and I ahve not been asked anything with regards to wof's. The BJ is always well greased and unless the wof person knew Pajero upper control arms well, they wouldn't notice. By doing the flip, you will either (regain lost down travel by lifting it or having yours in it's high position) or you will be able to lift it higher. The alignment does get screwed up however, and I strongly suggest Free wheeling hubs.

1991- 1999- all the same suspension wise.

The Hydraulic lift - well I am not so sure on it, if it was mine i'd be ripping it all out and starting again, It'd be easy to put longer springs in the rear but I think the front torsions are a bit harder to change and it may mean binning them.


Glen

[WACKO]

I have been trying to work this out as I would assume the LWB weighs more and hence a heavier rating of spring. If its true is there any particular year I should look for. Our Paj is a 92 SWB V6, can I assume any 91-99 LWB rear springs would work. Also we have the hydraulic lift in ours, will this be effected by heavier springs.

i have a 93 jtop and have fitted raised (heavy duty) lwb king springs into it. the ride is a hardish but nothing that i worry about. off road it is great. maybe down to the adjustable shocks in mine tho. always set to soft when i head off road.
mine also has the hydro lift and after springs were fitted and bj flip done it still worked. the only problem being that when its in the high position the front rests on the bumpstops. as it was putting my cvs on such an angle also, i just stoped using it unless i needed a bit of clearance offroad. keep it low and it keeps the centre of gravity low too so its win win.

Sam.

[sodhimanawa]

Hmmm

[NJV6]

Spent a bit of time remodelling my front bar. (a while ago - just got round to updating here )

I felt the winch stuck out further than it should so just cutting the grill and simply by loosening the two bolts holding the two horns on and moving them sideways there was alot of unsed space.

So I moved the winch back the width of it and used the old rear holes as the fronts and added a plate to the back to fit the winch.

Added some bracing to stop the twist with some super long bolts right down through the chassis and had to remount the lights. I wanted to be able to use the horns on the bull bar to wrap the rope around without it hitting the lights.

This also enabled me to fit a second front recovery hook.

All in all pretty happy but I would like to beef up the chassis mount at some stage if I was going to be doing hard snatchs. The factory welds on the uprights look pretty marginal.

The winch can be taken off without taking the bar off which was a must and the winch motor can be taken off without removing the winch to dry it out etc which is also a bonus.

[northland_pajero]

I have no photos but I mounted my winch on a plate bolted to the chassie rails, right up under the grill, I did this because I have an alloy front bar, it makes it harder to get to (cant even freespool it) but I dont use it often and winching it out is a small proce to pay for having it out of the way

[NJV6]

Mounting it low and hidden was never an option for me And freespool is a very important feature IMO. This way it looks tidy, got my hooks where they are foolproof, and the winch is well out of the way, approach angle is better than standard.

[northland_pajero]

You winch looks great, as I only use mine a few times a year the lack of free spool dosent cause me any problems.

[NJV6]

Got sick of small stones and grit getting in behind the stone guards, it would happen to any one of 4! After deciding they were pointless I decided off they were coming.
When I went to do this there is a flange than would protect the seal somewhat where the axle goes in. So I simply ground out the centre of the guard and reassembled.



No more screaching stones!!! Yet to do the rears.

And this weekend this happened


The front diff is getting an air locker fitted, taking this opportunity to put new seals in each end of the diff where the cv's enter as both were weaping and the diff oil murky (again!).
Will probably do the hub seals also as there was a bit of moisture there (again - sigh)

[NJV6]

Next mod was twin batteries.

I took my original battery tray and cut the end off it, got another identical tray and cut the other end off it, cut it to the right length then welded them together.

Drilled some new mounts into the side panel, made a bracket that supports the 2nd battery cradle and it went pretty well.

Found a 2.8 Diesel earth lead (which is probably twice the size of mine) and added that for the 2nd battery and joined the two +ve's with some cable. All done for the price of 1 battery terminal and 1 battery.









Oveerhauled the Alternator - it was only putting out 30amps on the test bench, most things were shorted out inside - the joys of water and mud and terrible altinator placement.

Mounted the new winch controller and need to get onto the wiring this weekend. Getting some welding leads for the least power drop getting to the winch motor.



Looks like I need to fix the pic's links.

[Bolo]

Can we get a update , i have just gone back through this Bulid and it looks really good, i would just like to know what else have you done to your beast

[NJV6]

Wow, bit has happened since then!

Now got a rear ARB as well which is proving to be a bit troublesome, more like an air leaker. It is a new design and leaks when under load and the compressor runs continuously.

I also put an ARB bar on it and grafted a 12 volt toyota hi mount onto it.

With this I also put an air ram free spoolwhich is cab operated and awesome to use.

[MarkT]

Nice truck...wondering how did you sort out the charging of the 2 batteries (so one dosnt become the 'charger', or the other dosnt get a charge?)

[NJV6]

Effectively is is just one big battery so charging is not an issue.

Or at least i haven't noticed any issues, should there be some? I am not a sparky

Glen

[darinz]

Yeah the second battery won't be getting charged fully so will have a very short life span. The problem is the alternator is sensing from one battery only so once that is full it stops charging and the charge doesn't go into the batteries equally. it is the same result as taking 12v power from one battery in 24v (2 battery) truck.
You need either smart charge system, a charge equalser or you need to stick a battery charger onto the individual batteries on a regular basis.
I'd suggest a smart charge system but they aren't cheap.