Project Scumbag : Daihatsu Rugger

[Ashkan]

So finally got round to starting a project thread (and doing work on said project) and here it is.





1987 Daihatsu Rugger
2.8td manual etc.
I bought it off a mate of mine who had it for a while in the family up north and used it as a bush/farm hack so naturally, it is dirty as!

It has a half cage on the inside, bullbars on the front and back and tree sliders (is that what they're called?) on the sides.
There is a 9500lb electric winch on the front and an assortment of rated hooks all around it.
It appears to be lifted (slightly) and has 30 inch Pirelli Scorpions on some scummy steel wheels.

My plans for it are to tidy it up somewhat, paint the outside in either the same colour scheme as my race car, or scum satin black. I am leaning towards satin black.
I will tidy the interior up a little bit and throw in some cheap sounds etc.
I have never owned a car with leaf springs before let alone a 4wd, so would like some insight on the best bang for buck method of lifting one of these? I would assume resetting the leaves would be the easiest/cost effective?

As you can see, it needs a bit of work but hey, its not a show car so will not be spending much on the aesthetics, but will slowly chuck some cool shit on it as they appear.

Anywho, look forward to picking some of your guys brains with retarded questions that I should probably know!

Cheers
Ash

[Ashkan]

Got stuck into the interior today as I couldn't really handle driving around and getting muddy as shit by the time I got anywhere.

As you can see, it had never been cleaned inside.




So I pulled the seats out and waterblasted the inside with all the bungs out. Gave it a quick scrub and it came up like this


On my trip to get lunch, I saw JB HiFi had a sale. So I bought a basic stereo and speakers to replace the factory POS. I had a hunt to figure out the best place to put the speakers, and after a while I figured seeing the rear "door cards" were rooted, I decided I would go see my friend who sponsors my race car at Acryform, and build new ones out of polycarb. They aren't pretty to look at but neither is the car. After a few beers and some mucking around the inside now looks like this



I will finish cleaning up the seats etc and put it back together tommorow.

[Nivapulledout]

Cool little truck. I like the ruggers. look like a mini Cruiser sort of

[Ashkan]

So on the weekend we took it into the bush at Woodhill to see what it could do. Was certainly much more capable than my hilux was, but I think there is definitly room for improvement. It definitly needs to be lifted a bit, as you can see in the pics, it liked to bottom out on even medium sized ruts.
What would be the best way to go about lifting it? Reset leaves? Sorry, am new to all this!
Cheers to Warren from 4wdbits who helped me get the right stuff to do all the recovery work (straps, hooks etc) and the GC who pulled me out of the really boggy shit seen below. I would have been able to get thru I'm sure but would have been a huge PITA! I am having heaps of fun learning all the little tricks etc that people use to get out of the shit!
Anywho, heres some pictures cos everyone likes pictures.

[Sadam_Husain]

It definitly needs to be lifted a bit, as you can see in the pics, it liked to bottom out on even medium sized ruts.
What would be the best way to go about lifting it? Reset leaves? Sorry, am new to all this!

you probably want to start getting used to getting hung up like that, if you look in the pictures between the two wheel ruts you'll see a centre rut where the last joker dragged his diffs all the way through those holes, when you drag your diff it sucks all the momentum and forward motion out of your truck. Putting a spring or body lift in the truck isnt going to lift the diff height at all, it would let you put bigger $tyres$ on it but you cant increase the size too much or the gearing will get too high for the engine and you'll lose your torque. Once you get to know your truck a bit you'll learn what its capable of getting through and how to read the terain and the techniques to get you through or further through stuff




Diff Head Clearance Heights

[Ashkan]

Ahh I see. Thanks for that mate I really appreciate it. I have had 33's on it and they made the truck gutless as hell. So I guess the best thing to do is stay out of the deep ruts?

[pruggerdore]

yep and if you can figure out how to do that let the rest of us know how
I found with my rugger that due to the narrow wheel base it could do well by griping on the inside of the ruts, but to do that you need a tyre with an aggresive side grip like siverstones/simex.
try and drive with one wheel on the centre ridge.
I SOA (spring over axle) on mine. dont do it. makes it very high and tippy. it's like a 5 inch lift. and the springs still need resetting to give them some strength.
I have learnt alot since then so this is roughly what I would do If I was to do it again. have been playing extensivly with the leaves on my hilux and have realy got them working so feel I know what Im on about.
rugger transfer case hangs down a bit so a suspension lift is a good idea.
the leaves are flat weak and crap so I would look at geting a set in there with more arch. either aftermarket or yours resett. there 4 leaf try to go to 5 do get a bit more strength to resist flopping over. looking for a bout 2-3 inch lift.
your diffs are only about 7-71/2 inch so thats a clearance win provide you dont try and put to much power thru them. never broke a diff or cv with a slight turbo boost/pump upgrade. would do a diff shave to gain more clearance. not quite a job for a beginner tho.
I found on mine power wise in the knarly stuff if I could get it spinning in 2nd and rev's up she would claw its way quite well wheras in first she would run out of rev's quite quick. i was runing 31 swampers measure 32. by going to a measured 33 you wouldnt pull 2nd so easy which is a bit of a stretch any way but you would get more out of first with more usable power. if the 33 you tried was wide it would be heavy and suck power. my choice would be 35/11.5 silverstones measure a 33 on 7 inch rims. on 33 with diff shave you would have more diff clearance than most. guard trim if thats what it took to make them fit. do away with sway bars and fit good shocks. maybe a shackel lengthen if you want more height. helps with down travel. tho I would be trying to keep the truck as low as I can. guard triming is the way to get the bigger tyres on. pretty mild mods really but will make a huge difference. there a strong engine so a bit more boost for more power. diff shave would be awesome for your clearance but a bit costly when paying someone else.
Good luck clive

[pruggerdore]

Ok couple of correction points here. looking at pics reminds me that the front spring shackle is at the front of spring (correct ?) so dont lengthen it as it will reduce your approach angle.
also if this is your only vehicle daily driver then going to 33 tyre will cost power too much for that so staying smaller may be more important. in which case diff shave is the only way to get more diff clearance. how ever upping engine power will make it easier to fit the bigger tyre. remember what manufacturer states on side of tyre means nothing. measure them
Is it your daily driver?

[Ashkan]

Thanks for that Clive, very good read. Sorry should have been a bit less vague. This is not my daily, I have a work car which is awesome even though it is a boring pos. in saying that I do drive it when I want to feel a bit more masculin ( oxymoron in a daihstsu surely). I also use it to tow my race car once a month all over the north island.

The 33s I used were a 33 12.5 15 kumho something. They made the truck über sluggish even on the road.

I don't think I would get into diff shaving etc as I don't have the time.

[tuk]

The sensible options have been said so il say how i did mine lol. Springs over diff - cut and welded brackets onto top of diff -easy as. chucked 2 x smaller hilux leafs in also to get more curve, lengthen front drive shaft. able to fit huge 16" ag tractor tyres on. Only a bush / mud basher so it works perfect for what i do.

cheers

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[crazyclark31]

these are a good wee truck. I had a blizzard.same truck but with toyota badge and a 2lt motor. ran 31s on mine and went pretty much anywere i wanted. With chains on i could run rings around guys in huluxs/cruisers/safari with 35in simexs.
Drive lines are stronger than you'd think. I never blew a cv/axle and the gearbox/transfer case are really strong!
I just gave mine a 2in spring lift and was all i ever needed. Wheel stud spacing is same as suzuki aswell.

[new2zukes]

hey that truck used to be in the boi club, didnt come out much but great in the bush, can i ask if you have checked the recovery hooks and mounting points? the front hook came off a few years back and i hope another one was put back on and mounted correctly. the flying hook missed people standing near by by a few feet. cheers.

martin

[Ashkan]

Cheers for the heads up, yeah my mate lived up in Keri Keri and said he did a few club runs etc.
As far as I can see, they appear to be strong but will take a pic when it's not dark for someone who isn't a noob to assess

[tuk]

coupla pics, running on 3.5 cylinders at the moment but still chugs everywhere i point it.