[kemp02]

im looking at buying a holden drover (as i find it hard to find a sierra down my way) and was wondering if its all roughly similiar? like does most sierra gear go into the drover?

[Bruce]

yep 100% except for the square head lights, maybe the odd Holden badge and or sticker. And it will be a NT

[BlueSuzy]

Nt 1.3

[christover1]

Better, softer springs on Drovers, in my experiences.
Which is very limited

[kemp02]

awesome, i hate to sound like a noob, but what does nt stand for?

[christover1]

kemp02 wrote:

awesome, i hate to sound like a noob, but what does nt stand for?

Narrow Track

WT is Widetrack after about 88 I think

[kemp02]

ah ok as in shorter wheel base yer? and as a new comer to 4wding it wont make much of a difference for me really will it?

[fordem]

No - as in narrower track - wheel base is front-to-back, track is side-to-side.

[Gwagensteve]

Hi Kemp,

It's a bit hard to answer whether being narrow track will make much difference for you. I'll outline the pros and cons which might help you make a decision.

Suzuki increased the track width of the sierra in order to improve its stability. It was made as narrow as it was originally to fit into the Japanese light car class. It is still possible to buy narrow track Jimny's in Japan that fit into the light car class. WT sierras are about 85mm wider in track width

There are basically no mechanical differences between the wide and narrow track cars, except the axles. However, the chassis is different - the springs were moved wider apart for the WT car to increase roll stiffness and therefore improve stability. Springs and shocks etc are all interchangeable, they are just in different positions en each version.

WT pros:

Wide Track sierras are more stable, both on and off road.
The US market basically only received wide track sierras. That means that the cheapest (and best) aftermarket axle products exist only for WT axles.
It's slightly easier to fit larger tyres to the WT sierras because the tyres are a bit further away from the chassis.
WT's are all newer (88.5-95)

WT cons:

Ugly dashboard. The NT dash is much nicer.
The wider spring spacing means the tyres hit the springs when steering, so whilst WT is better than NT for fitting larger tyres, steering lock often has to be limited to prevent the tyres hitting the springs.


NT Pros:

Transfer case mounted handbrake is an advantage In my opinion ( WT is on the rear wheels)
Narrow spring spacing
Obviously you can find them.
Pretty dash

NT cons:
Older
Less stable
No/few axle upgrade parts

To be clear - ALL mechanical and body parts except axle shafts, tie rod/drag link, rear drum brake components due to the handbrake, and drive shaft flanges are interchangeable between models.

The drover is just a NT sierra with square headlights and some trim differences.

Many members on here have started with a NT sierra/drover and have subsequently fitted WT axles to gain their advantages. This job involves some fabrication, but results in the best combination - the width of the WT car with the narrow spring spacing of the NT car.

I don't know how you plan on using your car, or how mechanical you are so I just thought I'd spell out all the major differences. Sorry if this is too much information or isn't relevant. In all honestly, unless you are planning on driving more difficult terrain or doing some more major modifications to run larger tyres, there's little difference in either car. I'd say buy the car in best condition rather than a specific model.

Steve.

[kemp02]

thank you very much steve that spelled it out quite nicely for me, thank you all for your help

[sideways]

Just to clarify the above, NTs aren't tippy or unstable. I have a NT and I've never thought "damn, I wish I had WT diffs!". In fact, there's a few places I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten if I had WT diffs.

Still, NT chassis with WT diffs is the hot set up for proper wheeling IMO.

[Gwagensteve]

I do understand your point sideways. For our conditions, it can be argued that NT is more capable because they ride on the inside edges of everyone else's ruts, however, I ran both NT and WT axles with no other changes and I can assure you WT feels much more stable and confidence inspiring. I think that's a bit location specific though - our massive ruts demand lots of stability because sooner or later you have to cross them and end up on a funky angle.

As a just "driving down the road" thing, there's little difference - you'd have to be driving like a tool to roll either car. I've had three hiluxes (all pre-IFS) and I don't think a NT sierra is any less stable than a hilux.

My car seems to fall over regardless of how wide it gets so I might not be one to talk - it might be more the driver than the car

Steve

[sideways]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I do understand your point sideways. For our conditions, it can be argued that NT is more capable because they ride on the inside edges of everyone else's ruts, however, I ran both NT and WT axles with no other changes and I can assure you WT feels much more stable and confidence inspiring. I think that's a bit location specific though - our massive ruts demand lots of stability because sooner or later you have to cross them and end up on a funky angle.

As a just "driving down the road" thing, there's little difference - you'd have to be driving like a tool to roll either car. I've had three hiluxes (all pre-IFS) and I don't think a NT sierra is any less stable than a hilux.

My car seems to fall over regardless of how wide it gets so I might not be one to talk - it might be more the driver than the car

Steve

Inversely to your terrain, NT kinda sucks here. With all of our sand tracks I often find myself with one wheel up on the soft centre of the track. It's not limiting, just bloody annoying. You also pick up all the sticks that other vehicles don't touch. Other than that, I quite like my NT.

[ajsr]

just run one of each diff type its much cooler an mucks with peoples minds

[Scrawny]

ajsr wrote:

just run one of each diff type its much cooler an mucks with peoples minds

But you'd have to change the badge then