Offroad mods advice

[stevo1986]

Hi all I'm new to the surf scene had it nearly 8 months now I'm confident in it, it's time for some off roading mods so and advice on mods and cheapest places to get mods would be appreciated Cheers

[Calos]

There are a million mods you can do, but quite possibley the most important is tyres, without at least all terrain/mud tyres you won't get far in mud etc.

Body/ susspention lift; you will have more clearance and not bog down so easy.

After that, well have a look at the offroad mods section, plenty to read there.

cal

[bullet513]

One of the first things I done was remove the side steps and tow bar( if you have these fitted get them off ASAP as the tow bar will act as a pole and the side steps will at best get bent, then some good quality mud tyres and a 2" suspension lift followed by a 2" body lift, roughtrax is one of the best places to get after market Parts. If your looking to at in water then a snorkel would be a good idea, safari are supposed to be the best but are a lot of money, there are some cheap copies on eBay etc. I found an aftermarket coolant temp gauge very hand to keep a close eye on what's going on under the bonnet as I'm sure your aware these. Ads can suffer from alsorts of over heating problems. I've now removed the air on and used the air on fan as an additional aid to keep it cool when stuck in the mud and giving it the beans to get out again. If your liking at doing some really heavy duty Off roaring the a winch and winch bumper would be helpful, some rock slider to protect your sills wouldn't go a miss and some sort of tubular rear bumper, I also found that a skid plate underneath is handy as the cross member for the gearbox can act as a poke aswell, the list goes on but this gives you some ideas to start with, tosh is on here will be building some bumpers and rock sliders etc, very good prices and quality. Tony n is the man for working on surfs but is in Basingstoke.

Other than that just have fun and start small and work your way up and always go with someone else incase you get stuck

[silva surfa]

heres mine when i first got it,and a one of how it is today

[stevo1986]

I'm not one to mess around so I've done a 2" suspension lift and fitted 31" bf Goodrich mud terrains on aftermarket rims and removed anti roll bars an has made a hell of a difference. Where is best place for bumpers etc think that is next to get ordered.until I make the spacers for body lift. Thanks for the advice lads

[BEAST]

My old truck had 5" lift, 33" bfg muds, sidesteps and swaybars removed. Next mods were going to be winch then rear difflock.

If i had just bought one and had the money. Id go for a difflock 1st, winch, manual lockers, 4" lift and 33inch bfg muds. Then id start on trail armour as then whens id start going more difficult places.

[TonyN]

If you want to keep the excellent daily drivablilty of a Surf, don't get to carried away.

Decent All Terrain tyres like BFG's and some uprated rear coils and you will easily do 90% of any offroading you are likely to come across in the UK, and still have a car that gets decent MPG and you can drive across the country in comfort.

If its a 2nd car or toy then you can get a bit more silly and start thinking about M/T's, bigger tyres and more lift.

[Tjillard]

mine is currently standard. I was going to do a 2" body lift and fit some 33" tyres. will this really mess up the drivability of the car? it's my 2nd car so just wanted it to look better and go off road better. as long as it's still ok to drive then i'm happy.

not bought any parts or done any of the work yet. just after opinions.

[stevo1986]

If you want to keep the excellent daily drivablilty of a Surf, don't get to carried away.

Decent All Terrain tyres like BFG's and some uprated rear coils and you will easily do 90% of any offroading you are likely to come across in the UK, and still have a car that gets decent MPG and you can drive across the country in comfort.

If its a 2nd car or toy then you can get a bit more silly and start thinking about M/T's, bigger tyres and more lift.

How much of a lift ? I've done the 2" one upto now but I think bj spacers and spring spacers are next until I do the body lift so overall it should be around 5/6 lift is that enough.? Also what size tyres would you advise? 33" or 35"

[Balllsy]

From what I've read and heared 33" is big enough, when you get to 35s you need to alter ratios in gearbox etc.

No doubt one of the pros will confirm this.

Also it would need more lift for 35s and you will need spacers on 33s unless you have deep dish wheels with a decent offset like 32.

HTH

[TonyN]

I wouldn't go bigger than 33's if you want keep any sort of MPG and reliabilty, and unless you spend lots of money on a proper 4" suspension lift, trying to run 35's will eat all your steering and front suspension components in short order, getting enough lift to run 33's pushes the front suspensions limits even with all the tricks of ball joint spacers and diff drops.

Even 33's will significantly lower top speed on any sort on hill and lower mpg, even on a 3.0 let alone a 2.4, unless you fit lower diff ratios.

I'm not on a downer on big trucks, my 3.0 2nd Gen has been on 33's for years, and now 35's and its fantastic offroad, but its taken money and time to get it set up properly, and not need TRE's, ball joints, CV gaiters and new tyres every time you go for a MOT. It dosn't fit in the garage, car parks, and no one can get in and out of it easily, so don't do it just cos it looks cool, I rarely use it now apart from actual offroad trips, and have much more enjoyable time driving a nearly stock 3rd Gen so make sure its what you want.

Go ahead and do it, and enjoy it, but don't let anyone tell you it'll be the same truck it was on 31" tyres to drive daily to work or to the shops, it won't be.

If you go for 33's on a budget, get the smallest back spaced wheels possible, something like -30ish or less, 2" body lift, then diff drop kit and manual hubs for the front, and try not give it more than 1 1/2" of lift on the front, fit ball joint spacers if you need to eek out a little more. Uprated torsion are nice if you can afford them, a jacked up front can stress the stock t/bars sometimes and make it feel choppy. A steering stabiliser is nice to. Get the most expensive tyres you can afford, my truck never let me down anywhere offroad for years on a set of 33" BF Goodrich All Terrains, and were far quieter, and nicer to drive daily and tow trailers with than Mud Terrains, especially in the wet and mine have around 40k miles on them now.

The best way is a 4" suspension lift like the superlift kit on my truck, and a small body lift, but most people baulk at paying for it, but its the only way long term you'll keep hold of tyres for years and keep the front geometry completely stock for reliabilty.



(or for an easier life, buy my truck off me... )

[stevo1986]

I wouldn't go bigger than 33's if you want keep any sort of MPG and reliabilty, and unless you spend lots of money on a proper 4" suspension lift, trying to run 35's will eat all your steering and front suspension components in short order, getting enough lift to run 33's pushes the front suspensions limits even with all the tricks of ball joint spacers and diff drops.

Even 33's will significantly lower top speed on any sort on hill and lower mpg, even on a 3.0 let alone a 2.4, unless you fit lower diff ratios.

I'm not on a downer on big trucks, my 3.0 2nd Gen has been on 33's for years, and now 35's and its fantastic offroad, but its taken money and time to get it set up properly, and not need TRE's, ball joints, CV gaiters and new tyres every time you go for a MOT. It dosn't fit in the garage, car parks, and no one can get in and out of it easily, so don't do it just cos it looks cool, I rarely use it now apart from actual offroad trips, and have much more enjoyable time driving a nearly stock 3rd Gen so make sure its what you want.

Go ahead and do it, and enjoy it, but don't let anyone tell you it'll be the same truck it was on 31" tyres to drive daily to work or to the shops, it won't be.

If you go for 33's on a budget, get the smallest back spaced wheels possible, something like -30ish or less, 2" body lift, then diff drop kit and manual hubs for the front, and try not give it more than 1 1/2" of lift on the front, fit ball joint spacers if you need to eek out a little more. Uprated torsion are nice if you can afford them, a jacked up front can stress the stock t/bars sometimes and make it feel choppy. A steering stabiliser is nice to. Get the most expensive tyres you can afford, my truck never let me down anywhere offroad for years on a set of 33" BF Goodrich All Terrains, and were far quieter, and nicer to drive daily and tow trailers with than Mud Terrains, especially in the wet and mine have around 40k miles on them now.

The best way is a 4" suspension lift like the superlift kit on my truck, and a small body lift, but most people baulk at paying for it, but its the only way long term you'll keep hold of tyres for years and keep the front geometry completely stock for reliabilty.



(or for an easier life, buy my truck off me... )

How much would you want for your truck ? Thanks alot for the use of your expertise Tony. I think I'm going to fit bj spacers and keep the 1 1/2" torsion bar tweek. Keep the back as is with roughtrax 2"+ springs and maybe 30/50 spring spacers what size would u advise? Also to cope with front lift how much of an extension would the shocks need? With that I will drop the diff 1". And run like that with 31" bf mud terrains I already have fitted. That sound sensible?

[stevo1986]

Have done abit more research now and think the plan is sound. So wheels in motion hope all goes well sure I'll be after more advice very soon ha ha

[TonyN]

OK cool.

If you're keeping 31's you wouldn't want to go to big anyway, it'll just look odd and you'll then want to buy 33's anyway.

[stevo1986]

OK cool.

If you're keeping 31's you wouldn't want to go to big anyway, it'll just look odd and you'll then want to buy 33's anyway.

33's will be part of the plan but will do all mods first and make sure all work and geometry is 100% right etc. then fit the 33's. Will surely be in touch with problems or after advice. Thanks for your knowledge