Turning an Escudo into a serious 4x4

[4x4rookie]

Have bought a 4 cylinder J20A 2 litre motor 96 Escudo auto.
Straight of the road. What would you do to it to turn it into a serious 4x4 ?
Suspension, lifting, lockers etc
What's the greatest down side of this vehicle, axles, gearbox, motor all strong or dodgy and needing upgrading ?
Any advice, greatly appreciated
cheers

[derk]

if your serious about serious solid axle swap, lengthen wheelbase, articulation and drivetrain repower and shove the radiator up the back (don't forget to pop the rear windows out ) would be a good starting point


what are you wanting to use the truck for mate, legal or not legal, club truck, comps or general hack

[zukmeista]

Road legal or not? If not then weld rear diff, cut/hammer guards to fit 30" tyres, extend air intake into cab and rollcage if budget allows. Alloy front diff is a major weak point, if you drive sensibly and don't launch it off the ground you might get away with it. Steel front diffs are available but usually quite expensive. J20A is a strong motor, same with auto pretty sure it is an AW4 as used in a lot of jap applications (even used in Jeep Cherokees)

[derk]

come on how does a welded diff and some hammered in guards become serious surely we're talking a mafless LS1 and a custom drum PTO with 80m of rope shoved up the back

[zukmeista]

Because to do the things you suggested to an Escudo/Vitara doesn't make sense IMO, why not start with something that has a half decent chassis and diffs/suspension design rather than chucking away 60% of the truck and buying 60% of another one and spending a ridiculous amount of time to make it all work? Not a dig at those who have done it, I just don't see the point. Besides a Suzuki will go stupid places with the mods I suggested, enough to satisfy most people anyway.

[derk]

shit no need to get too sensitive mate was only answering the question about turning a escudo into something serious

[Rotazuk]

No need to repower a J20a vitara , it is a J20a and not the v6 ?

To be honest , my optinion would be on of two , medium or serious .

Medium , find a steel front diff housing , do the bolt on cv mod ( one cv can be unbolted , one can't google it ) and fit a locker to the front and go wheel it .
Serious , solid axle swap .

First thou I would drive it a few months and see how you like it . So get some recovery points on it , some gear and go and see what it does now . Then work out what you want to do with it .

[zukmeista]

Not being sensitive at all, just suggesting there are better trucks to turn into a balls to the wall bog conquering mud slinging winch comp winning off road beast

[lax2wlg]

So other than the alloy diff case, whats wrong with the IFS on these vehicles?

And what constitutes 'serious' ??

[churchill]

No need to repower a J20a vitara , it is a J20a and not the v6 ?

To be honest , my optinion would be on of two , medis weak soum or serious .

Medium , find a steel front diff housing , do the bolt on cv mod ( one cv can be unbolted , one can't google it ) and fit a locker to the front and go wheel it .
Serious , solid axle swap .

First thou I would drive it a few months and see how you like it . So get some recovery points on it , some gear and go and see what it does now . Then work out what you want to do with it .

Yep, small suspension lift with longer shocks and remove the front sway bar. J20a are good motors and the auto trans are tough. The drive line is weak so go easy on it but they are a pretty capable after a few mods as they are light and low.

[churchill]

So other than the alloy diff case, whats wrong with the IFS on these vehicles?

And what constitutes 'serious' ??

The ifs ok as long as the wheel offset doesn't get too big and camber adjusting bolts aren't used.
Cv's are also weak in the front, in reality the both front and rear axles are too weak for that size vehicle. Auto gearboxes are transfer case dont seem to break but the manuals seem too need recondotioning at around 200,000km.

[derk]

And what constitutes 'serious' ??

yeah somebody better clarify that so we know whether he's looking for a new set of AT's or some 36 inch iroks and some power to spin them

[Crash bandicoot]

And what constitutes 'serious' ??

yeah somebody better clarify that so we know whether he's looking for a new set of AT's or some 36 inch iroks and some power to spin them

or a tractor P.T.O for a driveshaft

[4x4rookie]

GREAT this is going GREAT.....................SO...............
ifs -is that independent front suspension ?
can you get chromoly cv's - axles for escudo's ?
so longer shocks alone - no change of springs ?
sounds like the motor and gearboxe are fine.
Off with the swaybay
Any recommendations to make etc of shocks ?
CHEERS

[4x4rookie]

SERIOUS - everything but the hard trials truck stuff.
hard runs - bogs - club competitions - winch challenges.
cheers

[zukmeista]

ifs -is that independent front suspension ? YES
can you get chromoly cv's - axles for escudo's ? NO

[zukmeista]

[Cv's are also weak in the front, in reality the both front and rear axles are too weak for that size vehicle.

Really? The rear axles are supposed to be pretty strong, haven't heard of anyone breaking one.

SERIOUS - everything but the hard trials truck stuff.
hard runs - bogs - club competitions - winch challenges.
cheers

Going to get shot down for this but I don't think the vit is going to be suitable for what you want to do with it. The front suspension/driveline is just not going to cut it for winch comp type events, you will constantly be breaking shit. Well sas it I hear you say... Trouble is there isn't really any diff that will suit in terms of width, stud pattern and gear ratio if you keep the standard rear diff. You could go hilux diffs, which will need bigger tyres to maintain clearance. Then you need more HP to turn said tyres so you do a motor swap. You will also want a longer wheelbase to keep the front wheels on the ground going uphill which will mean ute chop +chassis extension. By the time you have done all this is there really any point in starting with a vit?

Don't get me wrong they are great for 'normal' 4WDing and club type events but they are just not built for serious abuse.

[J_Dub]

Swap it for a hilux

[churchill]

Ive broken a rear axle hence my change to hilux diffs both front rear. You're right about the diff width, hilux are too narrow, 80 series front would've been the ticket.

Winch challange would be pushing it without a diff swap.

Commodore shocks in the back and strut spacers in the front to increase down travel, watch your abs lines as they can get tight but you can get around this by bending a bracket.

50mm spring lift, talk to mark from Chamberlain springs in chch. You'll need a hiem joint spacer for the link above the diff and extend the diff breather.

Take out your abs fuse for off road use and put it back in once your back on the road.

245/75/16 will fit with some guard tweaks. These will fit on the standard rims but you might need to space the bump stops front and rear to reduce guard rub on the top.

[churchill]

Is it a short or long wheelbase?

[Smurf]

Have a read through this thread, may give you some ideas.
http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... hp?t=26647

[Pico42]

Have bought a 4 cylinder J20A 2 litre motor 96 Escudo auto.
Straight of the road. What would you do to it to turn it into a serious 4x4 ?
Suspension, lifting, lockers etc
What's the greatest down side of this vehicle, axles, gearbox, motor all strong or dodgy and needing upgrading ?
Any advice, greatly appreciated
cheers

SERIOUS - everything but the hard trials truck stuff.
hard runs - bogs - club competitions - winch challenges.
cheers

Is hard trials stuff harder than winch challenges? Have never competed in either, only observed winch challenges. And if I was competing in winch challenges, I probably wouldn't think twice about giving the trials a nudge.

From my specific experience as a rough minimum, in semi order of priority (but many items require other items)
Know how to drive your vehicle, and not be afraid to drive it hard.
Off-road tyres - MT's or chevron pattern. Decide on a size, then build to that (perhaps dictated by comp rules?)
Recovery points
Recovery gear, including winch.
Snorkel
Front diff - nose mount, steel, SAS or something
Gearing, depending on tyre size
Lift (Body and suspension), depending on tyre size and articulation
Armour/protection
Lockers

The alloy front diff is a weak point, as is the ratio of the low gearing. The front IFS limits articulation and the amount of lift compared to solid front diff. CV's are also reportedly a problem.

In short there is a lot to modify to make a Vitara suited for repeated hard use, which does highlight the point raised earlier as to whether a Vitara is suitable as a base vehicle for such things. But most hard yakka/part-time competition vehicles also have a lot of modifications putting them far from standard, negating the comparison of the most capable vehicle off the showroom floor. On our last trip, the four vehicles on the main hard run were all heavily modified (2 x Vitara's, 1 x Range Rover and 1 x s70 Cruiser, some more subtle than others) and it would be hard to pick the best to start from as a base.

[Crash bandicoot]

winch comps are an issue for zuk's even with diff swaps.

[Ralfie]

Have bought a 4 cylinder J20A 2 litre motor 96 Escudo auto.
Straight of the road. What would you do to it to turn it into a serious 4x4 ?
Suspension, lifting, lockers etc
What's the greatest down side of this vehicle, axles, gearbox, motor all strong or dodgy and needing upgrading ?
Any advice, greatly appreciated
cheers

SERIOUS - everything but the hard trials truck stuff.
hard runs - bogs - club competitions - winch challenges.
cheers

Is hard trials stuff harder than winch challenges? Have never competed in either, only observed winch challenges. And if I was competing in winch challenges, I probably wouldn't think twice about giving the trials a nudge.

From my specific experience as a rough minimum, in semi order of priority (but many items require other items)
Know how to drive your vehicle, and not be afraid to drive it hard.
Off-road tyres - MT's or chevron pattern. Decide on a size, then build to that (perhaps dictated by comp rules?)
Recovery points
Recovery gear, including winch.
Snorkel
Front diff - nose mount, steel, SAS or something
Gearing, depending on tyre size
Lift (Body and suspension), depending on tyre size and articulation
Armour/protection
Lockers

The alloy front diff is a weak point, as is the ratio of the low gearing. The front IFS limits articulation and the amount of lift compared to solid front diff. CV's are also reportedly a problem.

In short there is a lot to modify to make a Vitara suited for repeated hard use, which does highlight the point raised earlier as to whether a Vitara is suitable as a base vehicle for such things. But most hard yakka/part-time competition vehicles also have a lot of modifications putting them far from standard, negating the comparison of the most capable vehicle off the showroom floor. On our last trip, the four vehicles on the main hard run were all heavily modified (2 x Vitara's, 1 x Range Rover and 1 x s70 Cruiser, some more subtle than others) and it would be hard to pick the best to start from as a base.

There have been several people campaign Suzuki Vitara's or Escudo's in winch challenges in the past and been reasonably successful as well.

[spanky]

lift it, but keep it soft still, firm susp no good off road, weld the rear diff,had mine for years and thrashed it all round the place,laurie sanson trials ,club stuff and up to your nuts in mud up the bush, broke 7 front diffs and one cv ,ended up welded at both ends and would unlock rh front hub until i needed true 4wd then i could just lock the hub and go anywhere.