Congratulations on being selected for Auszookers Zook Owner of the Month!
How does it feel being honoured with the nomination for Z.O.O.M. 2013?
Feels pretty awesome! Great way to find out a bit more about other forum members. Some interesting stories have come out of it so far!
So tell us about yourself. Who are you, What's the meaning to your username, Where do you live, and what do you do for a living?
Hi I’m Dan! Have been living in Brisbane for the past 8 years but originally from Cairns, up in nice warm FNQ. I’m a Microelectronic engineer but didn’t learn from just surviving through 4 years of uni hell, as a result I’m still there attempting to complete my PhD on Silicon Carbide semiconductor power devices (yea super nerd stuff….). My user name was strongly influenced by my uncle. He was quite involved with the Suzuki 4WD Club of NSW back in the 90’s and early 00’s. He also was commentator at the first tuff truck event so a few of you may know of him. Anyway he had the MRZOOK plates on his zooks so I guess that’s what inspired my user name, JrZook (hopefully upgrade to DrZook when I graduate haha).
How did you get started in Suzuki's & how many have you owned?
Well I guess I got into 4x4ing ever since I was born. We always went on family camping trips or pigging out in north-west QLD. Back then Dad had the ’83 L300 van, equipped with custom spring lift, muds, winch and the 2 canoes on the roof. Did the job as a 4x4 tourer very well and boy did it get used! Always was immaculate and looked like it just came of the showroom floor even when he sold it a few years ago. So naturally to 4x4 bug bit hard!
Ended up getting my first zuk in highschool. It was an ’85 normal roof drover, non ugly! In its prime it was resprayed in british racing green, ran 235’s, 4:1s, weber and OME springs. Really simple yet capable rig!
Now in my 2nd zuk “lil foot”. A bit more time was spent on this one with the knowledge gained from the 1st
How long did it take you to build your zook to what it is today?
The lil foot build up love affair initially took me 12 weeks from a $300 backyard bargain to body off rebuild including 1.6EFI, 4.9’s, OMEs and 30” BFGs. Had to do it in 6 week stints when I had holidays from uni. It’s had a bit of work since then to how she stands now.
Any changes in store for your Suzuki?
With the winch install she is pretty capable now. Self recovery systems are awesome especially when you like to wheel from days on end solo.
I still have yet to complete my custom 5/4 capacity fuel tank which should get me a reliable 400-450ks per tank and with the 20L jerry I should have around 600k range. This is great when you do 2000km trips home and back. Apart from that a diff shave and 3.9s would be nice. Also need to work out some better bumpstops for rough dirt roads at speed.
What has been your best modification?
Best mod would have had to have been the Koni shocks combined with my custom leaf packs and RUF. These shocks as just awesome! I initially tried the commo/hiace setups which were apparently the ducks nuts from info on here. May have well welded them solid! Dam they were insanely hard! They are cheap and can provide some extra travel if you get the correct lengths but that’s about it.
The Koni’s really made a world of difference, especially on the road. Being my daily, that does a lot of k’s, I needed something that rode better than a shopping cart.
What has been your worse modification?
As above, poor initial shock choice
If you could have anybody else's zook, who's would it be and why?
Xedent’s GOZUK is pretty neat! Tame yet capable. I reckon with a little bit more work it would be perfect for what I do! For all out fun and extreme 4x4 you just can’t beat them 2 smokers of tanshi and 3 cyl!
What has been your best 4wding trip?
Best trip ever would have been our first mission to get to Windin falls on the old Cairns track at home. A landy, vitara, sierra, hand winch, chainsaw, axe and machete. Add a downpour and it turned into 17hr ordeal!!!
If you could go to any place in the world to wheel, where would that be?
The Rubicon trail and Moab as well as Hawaii would top my list
Who are you closest to in the auszooker's community?
The Ripley crew, HighwayStar, 3cyl and Tanshi are the regulars I usually go wheeling with. Trying to follow these narrow, non daily rigs becomes quite a bit of a mission but I get crazy and tend to try and follow suit haha.
Tell us what the wheeling is like in your area?
The tropics! Water and wildlife everywhere! Can range from muddy/clay winching type tracks to nice dry rocky stuff further west. Tracks we do up there tend to lead to a beautiful swimming hole, lookout or waterfall. Makes the hours of winching and recovery always worth it.
What other toys/hobbies do you put a lot of time into?
I like to make and tweak things. Electronic projects are always on the go as are projects with my bike. Got the thundercat to smash through the surf when I need a break as well as single skiing. Also have just adopted dirt track vintage sidecar racing which is verging on insane.
What is it about the auszookers that brings you back for more?
Quite a few knowledgeable members on here which are great to have technical conversations with. The abundance of parts and members willing to lend a hand is pretty awesome too!
What about the auszookers forum would you like to see changed?
Not much really. Apart from the few windgers and hot heads around it functions quite well.
So if there is just one bit of advice you would give someone just starting out with Suzuki 4wds what would it be and why?
Just drive and don’t get too caught up with all the extreme modifications flashed in front of you.
The old rig!
Now for the million dollar question, who do you select to be the next Z.O.O.M. & why?
Hahaha it’s a free country and to try and get some more insight in forum members all over the place by vote goes down south to Gwagensteve. Gbanger has a dam heap of knowledge and is quite willing to share. His posts are generally quite concise and are typically backed up by previous experience and technical content. Not everyone’s cup of tea but then again it is a forum. The Gwagen mobile is a bit of a beast. Very capable rig, built for a purpose.
