[the_WIZARD]

hey guys im running a 1993 sierra stock as a rock..... i was at our local 4x4 track at (Sydney) and was struggling to get over a few rocky/sandy/muddy obstacles due to my low stock clearance and what are basically bob Jane all rounder tyres... i essentially needed 20mins to do what is a 1 min obstacle in my mates rig!



to remedy this i was considering new rubber with deeper tread to assist with sandy muddy tracks and rock ledges, as well as toying with the idea of bigger rubber because i dont have the cash or time for a spring lift and/or spoa at the moment and will need new tyres soonish...

would it be worth while getting some stock sized rubber in an A/T tread considering most my driving is 75% on road

or

going a bigger size in anticipation for a lift, for the 30% off road driving that i do, seeing as i am only young and just getting into it. and dont have the cash to buy tyres willy nilly like some of the posters on this forum you know who you are!!... and if so what sort of size will i be looking at using

just so you guys know my mate that i go wheeling with is driving a 2" lifted hilux with 31 A/T's and he can tackle them with no dramas where as i am puckering with the idea of getting hung up or bogged or dropping a wheel in some of those dicky situations i get myself into...

[BlueSuzy]

GET RID OF THE 4x4 TRACK NAME. IT IS A FORBIDDEN AREA.

Cant drive it? go around it, or learn how she drives.

Bigger tyres will be better, but a locker will fix alot of things. Whats your budget?

[whincup]

for a stock sierra, you can fit 235/75R15. quite a few muddies come in that tread pattern.

[lump_a_charcoal]

the_WIZARD wrote:

hey guys im running a 1993 sierra stock as a rock..... i was at our local 4x4 track at Menai (Sydney) and was struggling to get over a few rocky/sandy/muddy obstacles due to my low stock clearance and what are basically bob Jane all rounder tyres... i essentially needed 20mins to do what is a 1 min obstacle in my mates rig!



to remedy this i was considering new rubber with deeper tread to assist with sandy muddy tracks and rock ledges, as well as toying with the idea of bigger rubber because i dont have the cash or time for a spring lift and/or spoa at the moment and will need new tyres soonish...

would it be worth while getting some stock sized rubber in an A/T tread considering most my driving is 75% on road

or

going a bigger size in anticipation for a lift, for the 30% off road driving that i do, seeing as i am only young and just getting into it. and dont have the cash to buy tyres willy nilly like some of the posters on this forum you know who you are!!... and if so what sort of size will i be looking at using

just so you guys know my mate that i go wheeling with is driving a 2" lifted hilux with 31 A/T's and he can tackle them with no dramas where as i am puckering with the idea of getting hung up or bogged or dropping a wheel in some of those dicky situations i get myself into...

.

If you want to go into closed land, then go ahead, but don't advertise it on the net.

We got Laurie almost to the end of Wheeny Creek in a stock Sierra, but he knows how to wheel the crap out of it, by picking the correct lines.

Just learn, and try new approaches, some may work better.


Also, keep out of that place you mentioned above!

[lordfury007]

Firstly, whats the problem you're seeing with the car? is it bottoming out when you're going over lumps or into holes, are you lifting a wheel or two off the ground and losing traction? or are you sinking into the sand/mud?

Can't imagine its the rampover/entry/departure angle when compared with a 2" lifted lux, nor getting bogged, so i'm guessing you're probably lifting a wheel off the ground and losing power?

If thats the fault, the best solution is some kind of lockers.

For the future though, Save yourself some money by planning and pricing what you want to do with your car, and come up with a rough timeline of when its going to happen.

Before you go buy a suspension lift, plan out what weight will be in the car when you've 'finished' modifying it, otherwise you'll be forking out extra money to keep re-jigging the suspension when you've added a long range fuel tank, bullbar, rear bar, rock sliders, dropped in a 1.6 litre engine... etc etc... (or your suspension will end up too stiff/soft)

If you're not going to be spending much money on it in the short term, don't go getting tyres that will scrub a lot, when you're not getting the suspension lift for another 2 years, because you'll damage your car or tyres in the meantime. (plus bigger tyres = more strain on the drivetrain = higher chance of things breaking/wearing down)

One of the 4x4 mags proved its actually slightly cheaper in the long run to have 2 sets of tyres... a Hard rubber, slow wearing HT tyre, and a softer rubber, more grippier but faster wearing AT or MT tyre.

[the_WIZARD]

thanks guys for all the input note taken on the track(it has been removed from the initial post)... wasnt aware it was fully closed, though i had my suspicions, growing up in the area constantly seeing 4x4's and trail bikes in there just assumed it was open land ready for the wheeling

as far as budget goes i don't have a lot saved yet but in the 700 mark for a decent set of rubber

[lump_a_charcoal]

If you want to enquire about legal access, contact the NSW Suzuki 4wd club.

Good rubber will make a world of difference.

[the_WIZARD]

and in response lord fury re: traction issues its a little of lifting weight off a wheel slightly then loosing all grip and forward drive as well as getting front two up to a ledge and not having grip/traction to drive up it.....

so a mix of issues that i believe stem to lack of traction..... if i recall correctly the rubber on it is bridgestone sp-405 all season in a 205/70 r15 so i think i need new rubber they look old as shit~

[the_WIZARD]

and lump a charcoal thanks for that advice looking them up now.... ive done a small amount of 4x4ing previously and a bit of touring but keen on taking my zook out to some challenging tracks like the aforementioned area but not keen on breaking the law, it ruins the fun for everyone and i dont wanna be that guy and im gonna say with the collective experience of being in a club will help me pick better lines

[shep]

here is how i did it.

1 buy stock sierra and thrash it half to death.
2 fit 30x9.5 MTRs and continue thrashing it.
3 do a 50mm body lift to stop the tyres scrubbing
4 decide that there is room for bigger tyres, so fit 32's
5 realise that 32's + stock gearing = crap.
6 fit 1.0 transcase and get a bit of wheeling capability back
7 fit spring lift to stop 32's scrubbing.
8 decide that if a 1.0 transcase is a good thing then 6.5 gears will be better.
9 fit 6.5s and put diff locks in both diffs and be happy for a week or so
10 fit aircon
11 fit 1.6
12 swap tyres to 31's extreme's
13 thrash it some more and then realise that there isn't much more ya can do to it
so then buy a LWB and start again.

[lordfury007]

the_WIZARD wrote:

and in response lord fury re: traction issues its a little of lifting weight off a wheel slightly then loosing all grip and forward drive as well as getting front two up to a ledge and not having grip/traction to drive up it.....

Lockers will fix the first problem up quicker than new tyres and a suspension lift combined - thats what they are designed to do.

Lockers will also probably help a lot with the second issue, although new tyres will probably assist.

A suspension lift probably won't help at all

You could try entering it slightly faster (more momentum) if its safe to do so, or choose a better line if there is one. Once you get to know your car well, you'll know the easiest way through tracks

[BlueSuzy]

shep wrote:

here is how i did it.

1 buy stock sierra and thrash it half to death.
2 fit 30x9.5 MTRs and continue thrashing it.
3 do a 50mm body lift to stop the tyres scrubbing
4 decide that there is room for bigger tyres, so fit 32's
5 realise that 32's + stock gearing = crap.
6 fit 1.0 transcase and get a bit of wheeling capability back
7 fit spring lift to stop 32's scrubbing.
8 decide that if a 1.0 transcase is a good thing then 6.5 gears will be better.
9 fit 6.5s and put diff locks in both diffs and be happy for a week or so
10 fit aircon
11 fit 1.6
12 swap tyres to 31's extreme's
13 thrash it some more and then realise that there isn't much more ya can do to it
so then buy a LWB and start again.

[shep]

BlueSuzy wrote:

shep wrote:

here is how i did it.

1 buy stock sierra and thrash it half to death.
2 fit 30x9.5 MTRs and continue thrashing it.
3 do a 50mm body lift to stop the tyres scrubbing
4 decide that there is room for bigger tyres, so fit 32's
5 realise that 32's + stock gearing = crap.
6 fit 1.0 transcase and get a bit of wheeling capability back
7 fit spring lift to stop 32's scrubbing.
8 decide that if a 1.0 transcase is a good thing then 6.5 gears will be better.
9 fit 6.5s and put diff locks in both diffs and be happy for a week or so
10 fit aircon
11 fit 1.6
12 swap tyres to 31's extreme's
13 thrash it some more and then realise that there isn't much more ya can do to it
so then buy a LWB and start again.

and then after the second week of ownership i painted it in
glow in the dark paint and my life was complete.

[303zuke]

lordfury007 wrote:

Lockers will fix the first problem up quicker than new tyres and a suspension lift combined - thats what they are designed to do.

Lockers will also probably help a lot with the second issue, although new tyres will probably assist.

A suspension lift probably won't help at all

You could try entering it slightly faster (more momentum) if its safe to do so, or choose a better line if there is one. Once you get to know your car well, you'll know the easiest way through tracks

Of all of these suggestions, I'd work on the last one FIRST and consider the first ones LAST. Lockers and speed won't make you a better driver, but a better driver can get the most out of them. Learning more about how to approach various obstacles and what are conservative mods to improve your vehicle are two very good reasons to follow Lump_a-Charcoal's advice and consider joining a club for their Driver Training and the opportunity to see how other people have modified their vehicles. It doesn't take much to make a stock Suzi a weapon off-road.

[the_WIZARD]

i tried signing up to that suzi club lump-a-charcoal and i had trouble with my email address being blocked?? this seems strange as i hadnt heard of them before..... anyways

the information you guys posted is valuable i shall try and learn my car a bit better perhaps in a more suitable environment as i said i am fairly new to 4x4ing and i suppose driving in general as i am only on my green p's but am keen to learn!!

thanks heaps everyone for your input!

[the_WIZARD]

ive had a closer look at my suspension bushes and they look extremely worn as well as the fact my car wobbles when you hit a pothole at speed and i am not sure if my shockies are actually working.. is there a way i can test this out??... could this also be a contributing factor in not "flexing enough" in certain off road situations resulting in loss of grip diagonally across the car or is my brain trying too hard to understand what is going on??

[shakes]

Loss of grip diagonally across your car would most probably be open diff's.

Learn to drive within what you have and you will end a better driver for it, and be able to hang shit on your mates that your stock car goes further than theirs. I've witnessed first hand a stock sierra on road tires drive 90% of one of victoria's better known hard tracks.

If you are desperate to keep up, buy some second wheels and tires for the weekends, do a little massaging with a BFH or grinder to make them fit, weld the rear diff and deal with that on a daily basis. As for spring lifts, most sierra driver's are tight asses so there are various proven cheap spring and shock combo's in a few threads around the place.

Enjoy