On Patrol ... (SWB Y60 thread)

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 3:43 pm Post subject: On Patrol ... (SWB Y60 thread)

Hi Folks.

Been meaning to start this thread for a while. I acquired a Nissan Patrol Y60 2.8TD late in 2014 and have done a few mods to it since. Sorted all my pics the other day so thought I'd start a thread for it with the hope of adding as I go. Intent was as a towing vehicle but haven't quite got there yet and not sure its really got the power.

I've kept the modifications really light so far and don't currently plan to go to far with it.

Here it is day of collection...
[URL=http://s1306.photobucket.com/user/RichMayo/media/b32052e6-c72e-407d-9127-f4a8ef6052ab_zpsrwpqhmq3.jpg.html]

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When I first drove it away I thought something was seriously wrong as it really didn't pickup very well at all - but turns out I just needed to get used to how to drive it. Makes a great noise though.

Took it out for some light laning. Nothing to challenge it really... but got some pics all the same...

It's quite comfy when compared with my vitara. I drove it from Yate to Bury to see what it was like on decent length journeys and was pretty impressed. Cruised nicely on motorway. Stopped in at Devils Pit on the way back (well sort of on the way) - but got told i wouldn't fair too well on those tyres due to slippy surfaces - and as it was half way through the day I decided just to go have a spectate and see what the site was like. Knowing what I do now about it's ability I wish I'd gone in. Will have to go back one day.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 4:13 pm Post subject:

Anyways so suspension. Spent a lot of time googling what to go for... towing was part of the original plan and I also had it in my mind that if it proved to be reliable I'd like to go travelling with it a bit. For this usage the thing that I kept reading was a 2" suspension lift was good enough - anything more gets more complicated. The other thing I was look to resolve was sagging rear springs. Not sure if it's clear from the pics but the backend was sitting a bit low.

I looked into OME - but I wasn't to comfortable with their prices - seemed like a lot basically. Pedders and Iron Man seemed like the other options to go with and after a pretty good chat with the chap from WestCoastOffRoad I'd got the 2" Iron Man lift on order. I read lots about you get what you pay for - but considering a lot of the folks saying this are probably putting their patrols through far harsher terrain on a regular basis than mine will see - I figured it was a risk I could take.

Fitting the kit was pretty straight forward. Didn't need compressors. Did reposition the brake line mounts on the axles just to be safe at full extension. One end I re-angled the mount and the other end I created a little extension to the bracket which improved it's angle. The biggest hassle was re-attaching the front bump stops which instantly fell off when I took the old springs out. Looks like they'd been re-attached previously. Had to buy new bump stops for the rear too as they had fallen off at some point.

Anyways pics or it didn't happen...

Crude flex test. Not as much as I thought it might, but perhaps that's why it's got a difflock :S I left the anti roll bar on there and it's still there now. Haven't tested how much that opens up the flex. My measuring says I did gain well over 2" of lift at the back due to the old springs.

Somewhere around this point I took it to WithoutAClub to give it a test. Couldn't try some of the tougher stuff there due to lack of a cage but it performed pretty damn well. It had really grown on me by the end of the day, really enjoyed it - and was comfy all day! Very different to my vitara. Both fun in their own right. There's one bit I know the vitara won't go up and the patrol just chugged up there with no grief at all. It did get a bit slippy in a few spots with relatively well worn all terrains - but the site doesn't have much slippy mud so it wasn't too much of an issue.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 4:34 pm Post subject:

As it's obviously all about how much lift you have - and I often debate with a friend whether horses or 4x4s are better off roaders it was time to do the height test...

I lost. Horse 1, Patrol 0.

I'm told the aerial doesn't count.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:01 pm Post subject:

Next step was tyres. Like I said before current all terrains didn't have a lot of tred left. Existing wheels were 31 10.5 15. My original plan was to go for some 33" muddies on a new set of wheels with less offset than my existing rims. Again this was for similar reasons to choosing a 2" susp lift. Enough people saying it is the combination that works for what I wanted to do with the truck. The hope was also I could get 12.5" (i'll be honest I just prefer how they look compared to 10.5" equivalent) width tyres close to inside the arch. Whatever I currently had on there have a lot of offset - I don't know what or where they are from (if anyone knows please let me know), and thought was I needed to be a lot closer to standard. Theory was I would eventually save up some money and get standard size road or all terrains on the rims I had - and that they would be better for towing.

So this is where I started umming and arring about what tyre/wheel combo to go for. I've been pretty happy with my KM2's on the Suzuki's but was reading about the cooper stt being a strong equivalent and less money. Looked into some other alternatives too but most were harder to get hold of or more expensive. I get a bit particular about wheels/tyres from a "look" point of view too so that made it all the more complicated.

While I was servicing brakes I offered up the vitara spare to get an idea of how a 31 12.5 15 km2 might sit...

Didn't really do it for me. Definitely knew I didn't want white rims at this point - and reckon 33" was the right call. That bit bigger but should be alright in the arches (as google suggests).

Also - perhaps a sign that it was time for new tyres - this happened overnight while it was jacked up...

Reckon I picked up some punctures at the pay and play as the other tyre on the same side started getting soft too.

So I ordered 4 33 12.5 15 km2s (sticking with what I know, coopers next time maybe) on 15x10 -32 rims. More offset that I wanted but my options seemed limited. Spare when I had some more savings if you know what I mean. I also looked into 15x8 rims but no-one seemed to think it was a good idea with 12.5 wide wheels... a lot of googling suggests it's the done thing. Looking on KM2 specs it says recommended on 8.5" minimum for the 12.5" tyre... rather not have any warranty arguments down the line so went with what all the sellers were telling me.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:46 pm Post subject:

So my dad works near the tyre place and picked them up for me. I headed to there to fit them.

Well done outback! It was touch and go when I picked up the vitara wheels in my Octavia so I wasn't sure if this was going to involve the trailer or not.

So I started offering them up and comparing them to other tyres. My Dad had acquired a wrangler mt r for his recent purchase so that went into the comparison. I forget the size of that one but the rest are the original wheels.

This is where things started go a bit wrong. Basically due to the shape of the well on the new rims (which by this point I'd decided I was really happy with) they wouldn't clear the brake caliper. Erg. I've played this game before with a grand vitara. I didn't want to add spacers so after sitting on a pile of tyres and cursing a bit I decided I didn't have a lot of other options of wheels I would like and the day would be spent getting the new tyres fitted to the rims I already had. I'd then send the rims back. Really I wanted to give these rims some attention while the tyres were off as they had some rust showing through - but wanted to get the tyres sorted more due to the puncture(s). Anyways lots of rushing around back down near mine and got them sorted...

At one point I ended up a bit stranded outside the tyre place with my Octavia, 4 33" tyres on rims, 4 31" tyres not on rims, and 4 rims... and having forgotten to tell someone to come help me move it all. Didn't really want to leave half the pile lying on the side of the road and didn't want to throw the wheels on the patrol there as by this pointed I knew some chopping would be involved (shame it's not a straight road between my house and the tyre place). Luckily - my friend and his Sporttrak come to my aid... it's not an outback but it works just fine Smile

I had to remove the mud flaps and do a bit of persuasion. You might notice a fair bit of metal below the fuel filler decided to part with the vehicle - bit rusty around there. I also removed the edges of the front bumper (to be reshaped and refitted at a later date). The tyres rub slightly on the plastic of the rear arch under some flex. Still need to fix that.

Also couldn't resist...

Hmm... maybe not. That's 31x10.5 insa for a comparison on the sportrak.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:56 pm Post subject:

So I've gained an inch of height!!! Right better do the height check again...

Doh. Horse 2. Patrol 0. (at least when it wasn't slouching)

Better idea...

Hmm I think that's worryingly close. In fact I think if the rascal was on equivalent tyres it'd be a winner...(also that'd be a sight). Think i'll stop doing these comparisons now. Maybe it isn't all about lift Wink

Also note I've cut the bumper ends at an angle and stuck a bit of what I think was door edging material over the sharp edge. Clear tyres happily now.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:04 pm Post subject:

Around this time I developed an issue with one of the glow relays. It hadn't been starting very well for a while - fairly lumpy - but was improved cycling the glows a few times. Then it decided start clicking off immediately. Someone had cut it apart before and I found this had happened...

Looks like its been repaired before with a piece of wire.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:21 pm Post subject:

Sent back the rims that didn't fit and got a spare 10.5" version of the tyres I'd fitted.

A cooper had appeared so I did a quick comparison...

Interesting to see the treads side by side I think.

The spare wheel was looking a bit tatty and I wanted to test how well I could paint a wheel with a tyre on it...

Could have spent a lot longer cleaning it up tbh but I think it looks alright. I've got a plastic cover for it - but I have plans for that so not sure it's going to be on the vehicle for a while.

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:35 pm Post subject:

This pretty much brings me up to date with where I am right now. House move imminent so hoping to get on with some more mods. Thanks for reading if you still are Smile

Pretty standard stuff tbh but maybe useful to anyone trying to do the same thing in the UK as I bumped into a few complications mentioned so far.

I did apply a sticker...

And found a budget winch bumper...

In seriousness though - I have plans to move the winch from my vitara into a home made bumper on the patrol. Possibly salvage part of the bumper from vitara if it can't be sold as I have other plans for vitara.

So things I plan to do in near future are...
- exhaust upgrade (supposed bit more much needed go)
- winch bumper
- fix some rusty bits
- add some undersealent (attacked it when I first bought it but needs a proper go)
- tidy up wheels
- bracket to bolt down battery securely
- got an oil seal to do on the front axle
- respray ( either all black or I might preserve the original two-tone pattern using black and orange maybe )
- snorkel ( probably a wickes special as prices are crazy for those things! )

jeremy · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:29 pm Post subject:

I've got similar rims on my old 260 series, They cam off a Chevy blazer.

[IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/jezwild2001/Picture%20342_zpsdybczwik.jpg~original[/IMG]

Trolllover · Gate Opener Joined: 03 Sep 2013 Odometer: 10

Depends on what you're using it for of course but removing your ARB will make a huge difference to the flex, I don't run any (no front or rear) on mine (2" lift) Wink

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 6:40 am Post subject:

Nice truck! I think most of your flex in that pic is occurring at the back though. I might undo it and have an experiment/measure to see what it does. You got a bit more length helping out there too as mines the shorty.

Trolllover · Gate Opener Joined: 03 Sep 2013 Odometer: 10

Thanks bud, yeh front axle resists flexing to an extent due to the radius arms but will still flex better now than it ever did with the ARBs fitted.

Would need to get her in a proper crossaxle situation to show off the front end flex properly.

RichMayo · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:22 pm Post subject:

If you get a pic at some point post it! I normally test out using a couple of ramps opposite corners but I don't think it's enough to push it to limits by a fair stretch.

New garage - thought I'd better check if it's big enough for the 'troll...

It fits!!! It's a wedge shaped garage so there's enough space to move around it at the front and plenty of space upwards to put it on some stands. Got it in to do some jobs...
- have a go at a DIY paint job on the wheels
- got an axle oil seal leaking
- replace seals on the caliper slide pins and have a general inspect of the brakes to make sure they are still behaving since I replaced them
- check severity of wheel arch rust

If I get enthusiastic I might put a winch on it... possibly look at a snorkel.

RichMayo · Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:04 pm Post subject:

Another job has appeared. Found source of steering "groan" that appeared a couple of weeks ago. Steering damper doesn't sound very well so think replacing that goes on the job list.

fez_uk · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 1:52 pm Post subject:

Looks very nice, You will probably find the arch rust worse than it looks sadly.

Come and join the nissan 4x4 owners forum, Great bunch.

This is my project:

RichMayo · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:23 pm Post subject:

looks interesting - I'm guessing yours was pretty widespread then? Wink

Rightio - I've signed up and posted in the hello section. Is it mostly UK based over there?

mike328 · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:56 pm Post subject:

RichMayo · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:26 pm Post subject:

Would go well with my winch bumper ...

Trolllover · Gate Opener Joined: 03 Sep 2013 Odometer: 10

Not been on here in ages but was having a gander and remembered about that crossaxle pic... voila!

** GED ** · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:35 pm Post subject:

that a cob?

Trolllover · Gate Opener Joined: 03 Sep 2013 Odometer: 10

?? Not understanding bud? Confused

** GED ** · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 10:42 pm Post subject:

was asking rich about his donkey mate.

RichMayo · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:44 am Post subject:

I think he's a friesian. I did ask them at some point - but don't remember for sure.

RichMayo · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:50 am Post subject:

Thanks for the flex pic. I've got another y60 (still own the blue one) now with front anti roll bar detached it flexes real good. Think that's the reason for it at least - I haven't really identified what has been done to the suspension on it though. I've seen it on a thread on the other patrol forum so keep meaning to sign up and get in touch with the previous owner who posted some information on there. Would like to know more about it.

The Blue one (2. Cool

has 2.5" exhaust turbo back now and i've tweaked the pump a little. Pulls alot better than it did and isn't producing any smoke.

Supposed to be cracking on with more jobs on it pretty shortly so think i'll need to come back and update this thread.

I've also hoovered it as it's now our tidy sensible vehicle Smile

Xpajun · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 1:28 pm Post subject:

RichMayo · Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:53 pm Post subject:

Can't see how much space I get for a run up - the run up is still critical to success.