Mj Triton Modifications For Basic Off-road Usage - Inherited one from my grandad. Thanks pops!  

Page 1 of 2
Jump to page
lil_bobby_260
  • lil_bobby_260
  • Jesus loves you. I think your an ass.
  • Member No.: 125,208
  • Joined: 29-June 08
  • Posts: 5,113
  • From: Bellmere
Post #1 post 21st November 2010 - 01:20 AM
Ok so i have inherited a 95 model MJ triton, dual cab.
It has a 2.5L 4D56T Turbo diesel, runs leaf spring live axle rear and torsion bar IFS. Not great for offroad, more for load carrying i guess, but hey its what i got and it was a free truck so im gonna run with it for a while.
The truck sits pretty high as it was a roo hunting vehicle - rear has some heavy duty springs to cope with weight of a few roos etc. Made the back sit fairly high, so ive rotated the front torsion bars to bring the front up to the same height. Gives ok clearance.
Im going to run a set of pajero wheels or sunraysias and some 31" AT tyres - wont be seeing a lot of mud.
.
MY QUESTIONS ARE -
Is it worth running a boost controller to up the boost pressure? Im not sure what they run standard, or what they can cope with. The engine has done 166,000 and doesnt miss a beat. Well looked after vehicle service wise etc.
Is there a benefit with running a small top/front mount intercooler, on either standard or increased boost?
Is there a benefit with running a larger diameter exhaust, and an aftermarket air filter such as a K&N?
Are there any other basic modifications i can do to increase power output or ground clearance?
Looking underneath the truck, it seems like a body lift would be a fairly simple mod if i were to run 1" milled spacers and a longer bolt or whatever it is that mounts the cab to the chassis. Is it as simple as it looks? I dont want to be extending wiring or brake lines etc, but an extra inch would help a lot with tyre clearance.
.
Im well aware of the benefits the engine/exhaust modifications have on petrol engines, but am not sure how well diesel motors react to the same modifications.
Thanks Guys

--------------------
Helping smart-arses look like dumb-arses since August '85
Me on TripleJ and smashin it!
72 Ford Galaxie (557 stroker in build)
73 XB Falcon (351/toploader/9")
80 CM Chrysler (265/4spd)
94 XG Falcon Ute (4.0/5spd)
93 EB Fairmont (302/BTR)
WANTED: poor condition 2nd hand alloy wheels and tyres.
Want some alloys repaired and refinished? PM me
DJE06
Post #2

exhaust for sure probably 2.5 inch turbo back. you can increase the boost a couple of psi but y ou gotta be careful how far you go. you wont need a body lift if your running 31s. Not alot you can do about ground clearance except run 33s in which case you may need a body lift. and be careful how far youve wound your torsion bars up cuz they change your cv angle and if the angle is to high youll more than likely snap them on a regular basis

lil_bobby_260
Post #3

QUOTE (DJE06 @ Nov 21 2010, 08:53 AM) *
exhaust for sure probably 2.5 inch turbo back. you can increase the boost a couple of psi but y ou gotta be careful how far you go. you wont need a body lift if your running 31s. Not alot you can do about ground clearance except run 33s in which case you may need a body lift. and be careful how far youve wound your torsion bars up cuz they change your cv angle and if the angle is to high youll more than likely snap them on a regular basis


Ok so ill look at getting an exhaust done then. Im going to fit a boost guage just to see what its running at, and maybe just increase it by 15-20%.
Ive wound the torsion bars up to the point where the front sits level with the rear - it did have some hot rod style rake going on. Ill double check the CV angle to make sure its not too full on.
I was thinking a body lift as there isnt a huge amount of clearance between guard and tyre even with stockos on it.
No thoughts on the intercooler? I have one here i can use, is why i was thinking of doing it, and can do the pipework myself.

Silver Surfer
Post #4

QUOTE
Is it worth running a boost controller to up the boost pressure? Im not sure what they run standard, or what they can cope with. The engine has done 166,000 and doesnt miss a beat. Well looked after vehicle service wise etc.

Personally I wouldn't waste your money here

QUOTE
Is there a benefit with running a small top/front mount intercooler, on either standard or increased boost?

Standard cooler will be fine.

QUOTE
Is there a benefit with running a larger diameter exhaust, and an aftermarket air filter such as a K&N?

Go a 2.5"

QUOTE
Are there any other basic modifications i can do to increase power output or ground clearance?

Power you could get a power chip, as for ground clearance if you have already wound your torsion bars up and there is lift in the back you could go a body lift but that will only give your body more clearance and allow you to run bigger wheels, bigger wheels is the only way to lift the diff.

QUOTE
Looking underneath the truck, it seems like a body lift would be a fairly simple mod if i were to run 1" milled spacers and a longer bolt or whatever it is that mounts the cab to the chassis. Is it as simple as it looks? I dont want to be extending wiring or brake lines etc, but an extra inch would help a lot with tyre clearance.

Most places sell a 2" or 3" body lift, depending on the car you may need brake extensions, need to remove the lower part of the radiator shroud/lower radiator. you may also and most probably need to cut out the floor pan around the gear stick.

lil_bobby_260
Post #5

Cheers silver surfer for the info.
A boost controller and boost guage and intercooler i already have, so it wouldnt be an expense.
MJ tritons dont actually run a cooler, so 'standard cooler' = no cooler.
A 1 or 2" body lift for these apparently doesnt require any modifications to wiring or brake lines, there is enough length in them to cover it, and the kits can be bought for $200 (spacers and bolts). I would need to have a closer look around the radiator etc to see if what you mentioned would be an issue. The purpose of the lift would be to fit 31" tyres (thus giving that diff clearance etc) with no fear of them touching the guards - triton guards arent that spacious.
ALso - DJE06 i checked my CVs and they are sittinging normally. I think that the torsion bars had actually been wound down, so that when the car had heaps of weight in the back it sat level. Ive wound it back up to standard height, really.

lil_bobby_260
Post #6

Reminds me, if anyone in the brissy/northside area has a set of wheels/tyres that are more capable off-road than my monster 205's on 16x6" rims, let me know what youve got and what you'd want for them!

lil_bobby_260
Post #7



Tritons first outing.
All ive done so far is fit 31 des. duellers on 15x7 sunnys. Obviously a huge difference over standard boots.
Needs body lift for sure - front tyres scrub over anything requiring any flexibility.
Big drop in top end power with the 31s - exhaust and boost lift for sure are on the cards.

b.t.h
Post #8

bloody hell rob, whats the car count up to now? haha

lil_bobby_260
Post #9

25 or so in total?
At the moment i have the triton, an EF falcon, and XB falcon, a 72 Galaxie, an XF panelvan, and a 99 excel. Each one serves a purpose lol

frenchman
Post #10

Nice truck!

To answer a few of your questions:

1. Never seen anyone running a boost controller with the 4d56t at all. Reasons being due to the fact that they don't handle that extra bit of boost and for the effort required the gain is negligible. This is what I'm led to believe from a few paj owners with the same powerplant.

2. As for the intercooler issue, in a few of the pajero's run the top mount intercooler. It comes as standard on some of the na to ng (i think?) with the 4d56t enigine. Power output is definitely noticeable. I don't have figures on this however.

3. Can't comment on the exhaust issue. Most (owners) favour to run a snorkel set up instead of a filter.

4. You'll be pushed for the extra gains in power output of the engine. However there are a few Philippines websites that have all the info on improving the engine.

5. 1" lift will go fine without extended brake lines or any other mods. Just bear in mind that the mounts for the bullbar / bumper are connected to the chassis. So if you go for anything bigger than a 1" lift there will be a noticeable gap between the bullbar and body.

Hope that helps
:ph34r:

lil_bobby_260
Post #11

Im lead to believe the effort required to fit a boost controller is... all of about 5 minutes? Not a lot of effort. I wouldve thought that a boost lift would be more noticeable than just fitting a cooler, and that the cooler really would just be a good supporting mod for a higher boost, to bring the inlet temps back down to standard.
Ive been told a 2.5" exh. will really wake it up, and help it respond to the boost lift and cooler fitment really well, with better torque and top end power, so that is coming up soon.
Ive got a 2" lift for it, again - no other mods neccessary except for extending the filler pipe, and yes the noticeable gap between buulbar and body. Looking at trying to make brackets which will lift the bar and maintain its mounted strength and rigidity, we'll see how we go. Biggest problem is that the headlights will be firing at the top bars of the bullbar til something is sorted.

Big_Black_Pontiac
Post #12

the only real way to find out if any of the engine improvement stuff works is to actually do it, so go for it. if ur gonna drive it around a lot as in daily driver ide keep a set of standard wheels for that only bolt on the big ones if ur gonna go out 4x4ing. when i put my big tyres on it fucked my fuel economy so i put my standard alloys back on untill i need 2 actually use them.

lil_bobby_260
Post #13

Hmm thats not a bad idea BBP, and will save wearing out big rubber too.
Just finished doing my 2" body lift - no dramas at all. Had to use a pair of pliers to flex the bottom of the radiator shroud outwards a little for fan clearance, but that is it. Will post before/after pics soon. Brake lines, radiator hoses etc are all sweet, fuel filler hose is fine too. Nothing is kinked/stretched so im pretty happy.
The two shifters are the only issue that has occured - 2nd, 4th and reverse on the main shifter and 2WD for the secondary wouldnt engage properly so i had to elongate the hole reawards by about 5mm and drill new holes for the seal plate, but thats all.
Has given much better wheel-to-arch clearance, which was the aim of the game.
Raising the bullbar 2" doesnt look like it will be a big issue - simply a matter of removing it, and re-drilling the mounting holes on the bullbar 2" lower.

siksuzi
Post #14

QUOTE (Silver Surfer @ Nov 21 2010, 03:22 PM) *
Personally I wouldn't waste your money here


Standard cooler will be fine.


Go a 2.5"


Power you could get a power chip, as for ground clearance if you have already wound your torsion bars up and there is lift in the back you could go a body lift but that will only give your body more clearance and allow you to run bigger wheels, bigger wheels is the only way to lift the diff.


Most places sell a 2" or 3" body lift, depending on the car you may need brake extensions, need to remove the lower part of the radiator shroud/lower radiator. you may also and most probably need to cut out the floor pan around the gear stick.


ahahahahahahahahahahah yeah, chip it :bowrofl: its a mechanical fuel pump, not a modern DiD motor

OP do yourself a favour, sign up to outers or the pajero club of victoria for info regarding power upgrades, lift etc

lil_bobby_260
Post #15

Yeah shes very basic engine wise. Not very bloody high tech!
I picked up a turbosmart boost Tee and turbosmart boost guage. Thing runs 10PSI stock, and has a mechanical relief valve on the manifold which opens at 12-13 psi. Ive got it sealed closed, and have run the vehicle as high as 15psi. We'll see how it goes. With a 2.5" system and a small FMIC i expect it will make somewhat of a difference. Will only be upping the boost past standard when the offroad situation calls for it, ie big ass hill looming up in front etc. DOnt want to tempt fate too much.

lil_bobby_260
Post #16


Truck - $1000
31" Bridgestone A/T's on sunnies - $400
2"Body lift for tyre clearance - $180
Out-performing Hilux's and TD Surfs with 33" muddies, 4.0L Jeeps and Suzuki sierras in a budget turbo diesel triton?
Priceless.

Big_Black_Pontiac
Post #17

thats the way!

lil_bobby_260
Post #18

Raised the bullbar on its brackets (plates and new holes) to suit the body lift. Is completely reversable too - can remove the body lift and drop the bullbar in an hour or less if necessary.

Big_Black_Pontiac
Post #19

looks the goods now. u should whack it up on the members rides, i just put my triton there. no doubt someone will find something to bag out about it tho lol

lil_bobby_260
Post #20

Haha yeah i just posted in your members rides topic actually. I think im a fair bit better at physics, mathematics, and COMMON SENSE than about 99% of those on this site.
It was actually seeing your truck with a body lift that allowed me to finally decide to put a body lift in mine - as our trucks run basically the same chassis. So thanks for that! I wasnt quite sure until i read about you doing it etc.

Big_Black_Pontiac
Post #21

yeah i saw that! i can see both sides and theres always gonna be difference of opinions no matter what but like i said it does what i want it to do so far, i didnt have 2 spend thousands on a suspension lift which u cant get anyways
seems ive started a war i might just get the mods to close it cause its kinda boring now lol

lil_bobby_260
Post #22






OK so the latest round of mods are -
Wheel arch flexi flares! $18/m from clark rubber, thanks for coming. Keeps the tyres from flicking so much crap up the side of the car, and also keeps the po-po's at bay.
Also, after wandering into TJM and ARB and even checking Ebay, i decided i was not going to pay $400+ for a snorkel.
What i did was grab a hole saw and cut a hole through my inner and outer guard, then go and see my trusty mate Andy at Carline Mufflers in Caboolture, and hit him up to make the induction pipe out of exhaust tube. Used 2.5" for a few reasons. A) its the same diameter as all the other intake piping in the car. :( minimizes size of hole in the car and C) minimizes the impact on vision of the A-pillar section.
Used a 90deg mandrel bend, welded to a pipe section bent to suit. The snorkel head (couldnt find one in a wreckers) was $60 odd, brand new from Opposite Lock, also in Caboolture, who were very helpful. Painted it black and used the mounting points for the radio antenna to hold it in place. Looks the goods, works well. And er... sounds good too!

Big_Black_Pontiac
Post #23

looks like a completely different rig now, those 28s were tiny!

lil_bobby_260
Post #24

I know man they were ridiculous... The 2" body lift and fitting of 31's is the best modification ive done to it as far as improving the trucks ability goes. I think it should be just about any 4wd'ers first step. Cheap, and huge performance gain.

lil_bobby_260
Post #25


OK so removing the front swaybar is by far the best bang-for-buck gain you can get. Partly because it doesnt cost anything, and also because it allows each side's control arm to move completely independent of the other.
I can drive it straight up onto that brickwork no hassle at all, and even sat a tyre in the garden there after this pic and drove onto it too, so managed to lift the front right 55cm with the other three still flat on the ground - any more than that and the front left would start to spin, but it was wet grass too. Very impressed.
Now i just need to free up a little bit of flex at the rear by removing the HD load carrying leafs and super restrictive bump-stops, and looking into fitting some extended shackles. Not exactly allowed, but the truck is always kept nice and clean and doesnt look like a dodgy old rig so it doesnt attract any attention from Mr Plod.

lil_bobby_260
Post #26



Running new wheels and tyres. Patrol rims, 16" (x7?) painted them myself in black gloss two pack.
Tyres are 265/75R16 Dunlop Rover M/T's. (32x10.5)
Will be testing them out on sunday!

The Spud King
Post #27

looks 100x better now than when u 1st got it mate

BlownVT
Post #28

top effort mate i have a stock turbo diesel 95 model triton {luxury edition lol}and will be doing the same mods soon. any tips you can forward onto me bout your mods would be appreciated


 
lil_bobby_260
Post #29

Any tips? umm... no not really man, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need more detailed information.
I had actually looked into running the factory flare kit like your triton has but too expensive to buy, and i kinda like the look of the flexi-flares.
Only other real mods on my list are drop shackles, an exhaust system, and water/methanol injection.

Xer0
Post #30

I'm just starting to Mod my MJ turbo diesel, some very decent information here appreciate it.

Are you selling the 31's ? if so PM me.

lil_bobby_260
Post #31

fattass
Post #32

Very nice work mate.
you've done an awesome job of it aye

minirobbie
Post #33

mate had one of these used it as a chase car in off road buggy racing , defo get a body lift they need it , 33s fit great when you do. be carful increasing the boost .. i did it gave me alot better top end i also had a pajero top mount intercooler tho on mine with a small fan on it, for when the going was slow, but watch your manifold gaskets , they have a bad habit of blowing the gasket around number 1 cylinder and also the little one that has the 2 bolts in it on the outlet of the turbo, the factory wastegate isnt real happy with too much extra boost and i have been told to use a turbo off a 2.8l td as they are better and from wat they said a straight forward fit.
drove mind with a 8x5 caged trailer with a industrial sewing machine all the way to taree innsw with 1 1/5 tanks diesel , loaded it with furniture in the tray n trailer for the trip home n it still only used a tank and a half of diesel .

minirobbie
Post #34

QUOTE (lil_bobby_260 @ Jan 28 2011, 08:31 PM) *
Any tips? umm... no not really man, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need more detailed information.
I had actually looked into running the factory flare kit like your triton has but too expensive to buy, and i kinda like the look of the flexi-flares.
Only other real mods on my list are drop shackles, an exhaust system, and water/methanol injection.


if you want flares get hold of a just 4x4s mag there is a guy there that advertises flare kits for them in fiberglass i think from memory was $440 a set i cant remeber mite have been cheaper . .bloody nice flare kit too

lil_bobby_260
Post #35

minirobbie its got a 2" body lift in it, and they are 32" MT's on it and even with the torsion bars up fairly high they still scrub occasionally. I have doubts about 33" tyres.
Im just running flexi flares as the tyres dont really protrude, and they do a good job of keeping it a bit cleaner when i take it out.
Im looking at doing a similar thing with the intercooler, just to drop the inlet temps a bit.
Havent boosted it, no real need to i guess. Goes ok.

  • Member Login

    If you have a BoostCruising account enter your user name and password into the yellow box.

    Alternatively, you can quickly login with Facebook.

    If you don't have an account create one below.

    Create Account
  • Login with Facebook

    Login using your Facebook account!

Page 1 of 2
Jump to page
THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN ARCHIVED
7 User(s) are reading this topic (7 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
Loading...
x