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Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:51 pm
by pietpetoors
It is almost time for her next birthday , so I decided to spoil her. I have not spent much on this old lady the past 6 years, so now is the time.
We changed the existing rock sliders to have an extra pipe. Got lots of complaints that skoonma can't get in because she could not step on da pipes. Got away with this excuse not to let her go with us for a while, but it was time to give in. We also added an extra plate at the bottom to prevent stone from damaging the underside of the doors.
Then I had a new bumper built to accommodate our new
bumper lights. And this time I went for the smaller, light weight
25watt LED Spots. I connected the bumper lights to be permanently on when the vehicle is switched on, ie. used as DRL. I suspect that they might be too bright for night driving, but will test them tonight. If that is the case I will have to wire them such as to not work when dims are switched on.
Last (for now), but not least. I eventually parted from the old AirFlow snorkel which I fitted about 5 or 6 years ago and fitted one of our super strong Badger brand snorkels. This move left me truck with some scars, a hole or two in the fender, but our brand's connection between the snorkel and the air box is far superior to that of the old snorkel, so I am very glad I did it.
Next week Tuesday she will go for some new rubber. The make and model will be revealed next week. I am rather excited about this. I fitted Good Year Wranglers a while ago to get of the road noise. The road noise is gone, but I now get punctures like crazy. I do not even trust it to drive a normal, well maintained gravel road. So there is no ways I can keep them Wranglers.
After that she will get new front ball joints and Mikem torsion bars. She is squeaking like an Isuzu, so I must make a plan with those ball joints. I already have the Mikem leave springs at the back and decided that while they have to strip it to replace the ball joints, they might as well install Mikem torsion bars, so that the front and rear suspension are the same.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:57 pm
by CasKru
Lyk al te grand.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:16 pm
by 4x4BEES
Dit lyk awesome Pieter
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:08 pm
by chopper
Very spoggerig
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:09 pm
by Mossienel
Lyk netjies.
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Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:18 pm
by Froll
Looking good.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:20 pm
by Bugzy
Baie nice Pieter, dit is bietjie windgat
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:49 pm
by george
Netjies
Dit gaan jammer wees as daai squeaks weg gaan wees.Gewoonlik hoor ons jou al 'n blok weg
Sal interessant wees om te sien wat maak daai spots maak
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:16 pm
by grobbepj
Jislaaik. Baie spoggerig!!!!
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:42 pm
by zepplin
The only thing missing now Pieter is a SAS!!
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:21 pm
by Mud Dog
Looking great Pieter!
The squeak is more likely to be coming from the control arm bushes than from the ball-joints.
Used to have a Mazda B2000 that used to squeak like that, replaced the bushes to find that they weren't really worn, just dry .... the new ones started squeaking after about 18 months or so. Solved the problem by drilling, tapping the bush sleeves and fitting grease nipples.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:07 pm
by ROOFER
grobbepj wrote:Jislaaik. Baie spoggerig!!!!
Ek saam stem :!: :!:
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:53 am
by Thunder02
Looking great,i see how you have overcome the aerial problem,great idea
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:17 pm
by pietpetoors
i see how you have overcome the aerial problem
You can actually get from a spare shop a special aerial which works on an angle.
It is just with our spare shop you need to order almost everything and I did not have the tie to wait. So I took the standard straight aerial and changed it into an angled one.
But just ask your spare shop, you do get a special angled on that will work better.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:07 pm
by JohanM
Pieter dit lyk nou baie netjies.
Het jy toe daai ligte getoets vir hoe skerp hulle is in die aand ???
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:43 am
by Donkey
Looks really awesome Pieter. Wow! I love the rock sliders and the front bar.
I just don't believe you gave into the pressure with your mom in law
, I have a beer crate if a step is needed for my mom
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:22 am
by Pumba
Baie nice Pieter
Lyk nou sommer grand
Ek laaik daai liggies op die bumper... wonder of ek did in my ARB sal kan inbou
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:40 pm
by pietpetoors
So yesterday we got rid of the softy tyres and replaced it with something which you can trust on a gravel road and in the boendoes.
The friendly staff at Supa Quick, Blue Route in Tokai was the guys who fitted it.
Everything went smoothly. I must say I was impressed with their balancing machine, is amazing to see how easy balancing became with such state of the art equipment. Also the wheel alignment guy, he got it right, spot on, the first time where most other places normally battle to do the wheel alignment due to the ball joint spacers. They are just around the corner from Toyota in Tokai, behind the Midas. 021-712-5100 and Werner is the guy to speak to. (No, I do not know if it is the Werner from the infamous FNB ads).
This time I went for the
Cooper ST Maxx. They are
MUCH quieter than the old ST I previously used. I took the old ST off because I got fedup with the noise, but these are almost as quiet as the Wranglers I had on.
Guess now we will very quickly have to find an excuse to go to a mountain trail somewhere so that we can see if the grip is as good as the old ST was.
I am sure with the 3-ply Armor-Tek sidewalls they will be just as robust as my previous Coopers. They also have this nice "rut guard rib" which apparently help to deflect objects and provide for increased abrasion resistance in tough, uneven terrain and makes it looks more bold and robust.
- The place
- cooper-st-maxx (3).JPG (130.43 KiB) Viewed 10464 times
- Before
- cooper-st-maxx (2).JPG (135.79 KiB) Viewed 10464 times
- During
- cooper-st-maxx (7).JPG (157 KiB) Viewed 10464 times
- After
- cooper-st-maxx (14).JPG (150.29 KiB) Viewed 10464 times
- After 2
- cooper-st-maxx (16).JPG (133.68 KiB) Viewed 10464 times
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:43 pm
by Thunder02
Lekker, and how does she drive
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:45 pm
by pietpetoors
Oh ja, Those bumper lights are too bright to use at night. Last night everybody flashed me and George was driving in front of me and he also said they too bright. So one will have to use them for DRL during the day and at night they must either be off or with your brights. They are too bright for dims and to weak for spotlights. To give you an idea, they are brighter than the bakkie's standard dims. But because they do not have a deflector, the light irritate oncoming traffic.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:45 pm
by pietpetoors
Lekker, and how does she drive
Like a dream
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:57 pm
by Oupa Stig
En ek dog die Coopers is soos BF's, mud of AT. Nie geweet jy kry allerhande ander weergawes nie.
So wat sal die verskil wees tussen jou ST Max en my AT3? Want die oi wat myne opgesit het het my nie eens laat weet daar's amder opsies nie.
Nie dat ek kla nie, ek ry meestal teer, en hierdie AT's voel beter as enigiets anders wat ek vantevore op gehad het.
En jy moet nou maak soos ek gemaak het en daai groen jam tussen die tread gaan afskrop, dit laat jou taaiers oud lyk....
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 3:10 pm
by pietpetoors
Jy kry verskillende modelle vir verskillende toepassings. Gaan loer onder
http://www.coopertyres.co.za/ProductCategory/1/4x4
Jou A/T is geskik vir dit wat jy doen, meer teer as grond.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 3:10 pm
by Toppie4x4
Hi Pieter, het jy die suspension lift gedoen op die hilux??
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 3:17 pm
by pietpetoors
Lank gelede ja, het voor ball joint spacers ingesit en agter
50mm langer shackles van Mikem wat 25mm lift gee.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 3:19 pm
by Toppie4x4
Beoog ook om dit te doen, het jy die gewone standaard 15" bande opgesit of bietjie groter gegaan?
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:18 pm
by Family_Dog
Shot Pieter, the Coopers are great tyres!!
-F_D
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:07 pm
by pietpetoors
Ek het die 15" rims gehou, maar 31" bande opgesit.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:06 pm
by Family_Dog
Yep, that is my mix too, on all my vehicles. it's a good combo.
-F_D
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:26 pm
by Donkey
Coopers are my first love, had to try Maxxis when I was in the market and they were having issues of importing. Truck looks awesome, Pieter
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:37 pm
by JohanM
Pieter baie nice daai bande wat jy op het. Moet ons nou bietjie op hoogte hou van die verrigting van daai bande. Sal dit my nuwe stel wil maak as my BF's klaar is.
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 4:28 pm
by ThysdJ
pietpetoors wrote: I fitted Good Year Wranglers a while ago to get of the road noise. The road noise is gone, but I now get punctures like crazy. I do not even trust it to drive a normal, well maintained gravel road. So there is no ways I can keep them Wranglers.
So it wasn't just me who experienced this... phew what a relief...
Are the Coopers reasonably priced? They do look the part...
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:14 pm
by pietpetoors
You must phone around because all dealers can make their price and Cooper SA does not have a fixed suggested retail price.
The place where I fitted charged R3420.00 each , incl fitment and balancing, etc
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:18 pm
by pietpetoors
Today I fitted some special, customized
Escape Gear seat covers.
- Escape Gear
- Seat covers
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 11:53 pm
by ROOFER
Looking very snazzy Pieter
Re: Some upgrades to old Groenie
Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 3:57 am
by stumps
Dit lyk great en is iets wat ek regtig nodig het. Mmmmmmmmm.
:idea::idea:"MAMMA ................. Ek weet my versjaarsdag is verby maaaaaaaaar............."