04 extra cab upgrade time - suggestions please

[kamipalms]

Hi all,
Time has come to spend a bit on my much loved Hilux.
I've owned it from 2 years old and it's my daily driver /work vehicle.

At the moment it's pretty much stock with a steel bull bar , suspension lift and 265/75 tyres on 16x7 rims.

First up , ive just ordered a 1" body lift just for a little extra clearance on the front wheels followed by a set of factory style flares.

The steel bull bar will remain but a fair bit of cutting and re shaping will happen to fill in the extra gap around the headlights , grill , etc created by the body lift.

From there , wheels are next which is where I'm after advice.
At present the 265/75/16's are a good size and just clear the front end on full lock without the body lift.
I'm looking at going to possibly 285/75/16's which are 33mm taller than the 265's but I'm concerned it may be too much "over gearing" for the standard V6 / 5 speed / diff ratio combo.
Next option is going back to 15" and fitting a set of 32x11.5/15's which are only 10mm taller than the 265's but I'm unsure if there are any problems fitting 15" rims ....
I have no issues with the 265's except they are not wide enough for my liking.

Following wheels and tyres , front seats will be the next target.
I'm looking at possibly Skyline or WRX seats if they are not too difficult to fit/modify .

Along with these upgrades , new front shocks and CV's ( just started to make a little noise in 4x4) will be fitted and a general overhaul for everything else as needed.
My 12 year old Hilux has never let me down and I have no intention moving it on.
Its done just over 250k and the stock V6 is still looking good even though it's a bit under powered and when the time comes for engine work , a 4 litre V8 will take its place .

Jay

[john253a]

Vr/vs commodore seats bolt in very easy and so do gemin seat, I had gemin in another car and now vs in current

Wheels 285/75r16 on -22 wheels is what I have on my soild axel

On your car you won't be able to legally run 33", new ncop laws say 2" above standard with engineers approval, so 31's if you want to be legal

You could get an ifs width soild axel housing from snake racing for $850 and do a soild axel swap with crossover steering (under 2k if you can weld)

[kamipalms]

Great , thanks for the info.
In regards to tyre size/legality , the factory tyre size is a 205R16C - the problem here is this particular tyre size has no aspect/profile height .
205 being the width , R16 being the rim size and C being the load rating so, if we are legally allowed a 2 inch diameter increase and the 205R16C has no profile height/diameter/aspect , what is still classed as legal ?

[06xtracab]

205R16 = 225/75R16

Use this to calculate measurements.

Also, Redbook state vehicle dimensions that may also assist.
eg: http://www.redbook.com.au/cars/research ... ITM-277820

[kamipalms]

Thanks for that
Turns out , the 265/75's on the car are already illegal as the 205R16C's are 705mm and the 265's are 804mm - almost 4 inches difference or , 2 inches over leagal size.
Replacing the warn 265's or fitting the 285's (834mm) isn't going to make it any difference. ...

The only legal oversize tyre is a 245/70/16 and this is smaller than the 31x10.5/15

[john253a]

A 205r16c is in fact 205/82r16 the closest tyre to it is 205/80r16
So you have what is very close to 29"

Now under ncop11 4.2.10
205 starting width max allowance is 1.5x =307 so either 295/305
With a max rim size of 10" 65-80 series or 11" below 60

Section needs 4.2.11 allows a 50mm increase in rim width
Factory was p10, 0 and -6 offset so you can max -30 wheels witch isn't very common so many choose -22
Maxing out the 50mm width increase

Now I can't remember the sections (it's in 14 somewhere) for tyre size increase but your allows 2" without engineeres, so factory is 29" alowing you to go to 31"
But with engineeres it's still 2" over stock or 2" over stock for axel used
So even with engineeres 33" is not legal without fitting LC of patrol axels



Your 265/75r16 are 31.6", 2.6" or 66mm over stock, not a tyre I've ever herd of people getting Hasseled in and is a good and cheap size when replacing, compaired to other sizes, next cheapest size would be 31x10.5x15 witch is really a 30.6" tyre
They do make other sizes like 265/70r16, 30.6" but price normally go up for that tyre same as 275/70r16, 31.1"

[kamipalms]

Thank you for taking the time to write up.
After speaking to an engineer , a LC certificate is $3k and no guarantee it will be accepted.

His suggestion was go to the 285/75/16's as the current 265's are already illegal but keep the car neat and tidy without making things obvious and I shouldn't have any trouble.

I have been running 265's for the last 4 years and haven't been picked up on it yet.

So , I'll go for the factory type fender flares , 1 inch body lift and 16x8 white steel wheels to match the car colour.
Bull bar will get a make over to take up the extra gap created by the body lift , I'll extend the internal rubber chassis/body/wheel arch covers and I should probably look at mud flaps too.

[john253a]

Did you engineer also tell you, you can't get 33's passed anymore, all you can do is 2" over stock without engineering it as an ICV

I got rwc with 285/75r16
Rwc place said there a 32 and factory was 30" so I said nothing
Also never been pulled over and Hasseled, but doesn't mean I won't
I also have a soild axel, so clearance could be a little different to ifs, but I have herd of many with 2" lift on ifs and 33's clearing and I also have herd of some scribing

There are pros and cons to body lift,
Pro centre of gravity is lower then same lift in suspension
Pro cv and Uni angles are factory so should last longer
Con less wheel travel for same lift in suspenshion,

When I first had the 285/75r16 on, I only had a 2" TDog lift, car drove fine, but as soon as I went off road the tyres would hit the firewall In the front when under flex,
First upgrade was full 3" efs and 2" extended shackles, drop pitman arm, adjustable torque rod, caster shims and extended brake lines, so it then had 4" of lift and I still scrub in the same spot but only when turning under flex,
I could have just moved front diff fowards 32mm but deceided to bite the bullet and do it probley
So I added 2" drop hangers, pushed front diff fowards 32mm added crossover/high steer, I can now turn under full lock under full flex no issues at all,


With 5" lift and 285's (7" total lift) I've done 20k in last 8-9 months like that with no question ever being asked, even my crossover steer was looked at and nothing said,
The key is for it all to look in proportion, witch mine does until I pull up next to a stock one, but when I'm next to a LC I sit lower them, and I'm also under 2.05m in total height so parking isn't a problem

[kamipalms]

Decided to go with the 32x11.5 r15's on zero offset rims over the 285's simply for clearance on full lock.
1 inch body lift went in over the weekend along with lowering the rear.
I had raised the rear previously by adding extra leaves to the springs which gave me 3.5" of extra lift as I was carying a fair bit of weight on a daily basis.

As it stands now , 1" body lift , 1.5 " lift on front suspension and 2.5" lift on the rear which comes back down 1/2" when I load my daily work gear on again.

Bullbar changes are under way to close the gap around the front created by the body lift and factory type flares are on their way .
Once the flares are on I'll order the wheels followed by new CV's ,wheel bearings, disc's, drums, pads and shocks along with a new security system and gps tracker.

[kamipalms]

Edit
Double post

[kamipalms]

32's are on and I'm very happy.
5th gear at 100 kmh is very touch and go with the 3.4L V6 and anything below 100kmh in 5th gear is out of the question .
No problems with clearance using the 1" body lift and 1.5" lift on the front suspension. I could have gone 285's /33's which I'll probably look at after the V8 conversion as I think they would be too much for the V6 with stock gearing.

Approval for the 4.3L Toyota V8 has come in so now it's time to hunt down an engine

[kamipalms]

If anyone knows about radiators this will be my next hurdle.

The stock 3.4L V6 radiator is 14.3 litres ( taking the radiator core as one large volume ) and the stock radiator for the 4.3L V8 is only 8.37 litres - almost 6 litres smaller.
I can go another litre or 2 bigger if need be and I will have to change over to thermo fans pushing from the outside as there wont be enough room for a stock viscous fan or internal sucking thermos.

[familyjulez]

Have you started the v8 conversion?