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MUDTROL
It’s got all the gear a stock Nissan’s missin’
Words by Brendan Seymour, photography by Robb Cox
It takes a pretty brave person to push a brand-new 4WD to its limits, especially when we’re talking about a ‘real’ 4WD like a LandCruiser or Patrol. That’s not only because there’s a lot of expense to cop when you damage something, but also because modern 4WDs are extremely capable, even in stock form. Traction control, LSDs, factory diff locks, stretchy coil suspension and powerful engines mean that the average 4WD rolling off the assembly line will go much further and harder than it would have 20 years ago. That’s why it takes an even braver person to take such a vehicle and modify it to push it further off-road.
David Becker is one such person, having taken this then brand-new 3L Patrol not only off-road, but up some of the hardest tracks the east coast has to offer. David lives in western Sydney and has at his access the playgrounds of Menai and Appin to the south, Lithgow/the Blue Mountains to the west and the Watagans to the north, to name just a few. However, once he did push the Patrol to its limits, David found that like all 4WDs, certain aspects of vehicle design had been compromised to give the best balance between on- and off-road performance.
When the suspension wouldn’t keep the tyres on the ground anymore, he fitted custom aftermarket coils and shocks. When the tyres would spin without making the car move, diff locks were on the agenda. And when the tyres clogged up with clay, a set of muddies was wrapped around the rims to maintain forward momentum. That’s what customising a 4WD is about : rectifying the compromises that manufacturers make in trying to market one vehicle to everyone. Whether it’s fixing the storage, lighting, drivetrain or anything in between, the more single-purpose you make your 4WD, the further it’s going to go. With destinations such as the Victorian High Country listed among his favourites, it’s just as well David’s committed to his ‘no compromise’ stance, because he wouldn’t be going much further without it!
INTERIOR
The inside of the Patrol remains largely untouched from the day it left the factory, with a few notable exceptions. The dash is only broken up by two solitary black switches with blue LEDs, being the control switches for the ARB Air Lockers. A set of dual gauges for the Rancho air shocks shows what settings the front and rear shocks are on, and there are adjustment buttons to change the setting, too. A GME UHF radio helps David keep in touch with mates when he’s 4WDing, but apart from these additions, the business end of the cabin remains unchanged.
Have you noticed from the pictures that it appears David doesn’t carry a spare tyre? Well, he doesn’t, not on the outside at least. A custom storage system for the rear of the Patrol houses the massive spare 37x12.5in MTR along with all of David’s recovery gear.
The spare is a snug fit, but housed in the plywood and marine-carpet compartment it is well out of the way, and it’s always accessible whenever needed, which means no digging out half of the gear being carried to access the spare. The storage compartments are also accessible from inside the cabin by pulling the back row of seats forward to expose an access door. It’s a great way to get to a snatch strap without having to wade through the mud, though you can’t imagine this Patrol would have too much trouble in the sticky stuff.
EXTERIOR
The rubber separating the 15x10in alloy wheels from the ground is a set of Goodyear MTRs measuring in at 37x12.5xR15. While there are certainly vehicles getting around with bigger rubber, they usually achieve this through a combination of body lift and guard massaging. The difference with David’s GU, however, is that there’s no body lift, and the guards are stock. There is some rubbing at full flex, but on the whole the big muddies fit without too many dramas.
A custom tube bar replaced the stock Patrol bumper bar and now houses a set of Lightforce 240s and a Warn 9500lb low-mount winch. The rock sliders are made of the same tube as the winch bar, with both coming from Overkill Engineering. A Safari snorkel does the job of keeping the water and mud out of the air intake, and in the engine bay an ARB air compressor and reservoir feed the Air Lockers and also let David air back up after a stint off-road.
MECHANICALS
In stock form, the high-tech Nissan ZD-30 3L turbo-diesel pumps out 118kW and 380Nm of torque, which is enough to propel the 2t or more vehicle to well over the speed limit. However, as the old saying goes, too much is never enough, so a Safari Dtronic engine management system was sourced and installed. By upping both the fuel volume and fuel timing, an increase in power and torque can be gained just by using this plug-in module. Results vary from vehicle to vehicle, but in David’s case, the diesel donk now develops 15kW and 40Nm more than before.
As touched on in the Interior section, a full set of Rancho RS9000 adjustable shocks keeps the 6in Dobinson Engineering springs from bouncing the Nissan all over the place. They’re fully controlled via an in-cab adjustment kit (see Interior breakout).
Up the front, a custom adjustable Panhard rod helps to keep the suspension and steering geometry in line, while at the back adjustable control arms do their best to locate the axle squarely under the raised body. Spring retainers were used in the rear after it was found that the Nissan four-link was flexing so much that the springs were popping out!
BRIEFLY
VEHICLE: 2001 Nissan Patrol
ENGINE: 3L EFI turbo-diesel
GEARBOX: 5-speed manual
4WD ACTIVATION: Part-time, stationary engagement, manual-locking front hubs
SUSPENSION: Front : rigid-axle coil-sprung, 6in-raised coils, Rancho RS9000 shocks, custom adjustable Panhard rod. Rear : rigid-axle coil-sprung, 6in-raised coils, Rancho RS9000 shocks
BRAKES: Front : ventilated disc. Rear : solid disc
WHEELS: 15x10in alloys
TYRES: 37x12.5xR15 Goodyear Wrangler MTRs
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