AT2013 - 9-11 March 2013 - X-Treme!

[Greg]

The question is what to take as spare what is going to break I am not sure jumping didn't break anything and taking through deep water did not break what is going to break ????????

I'm no vitara expert, but I expect that front axles and front diff would be the first bits to go.

[gwagensteve]

Full lock, full droop and bind the tyre against a bank=bang - CV. Even more likely if you are in reverse.

Diff will most likely fail on a bounce, but I've seen housings fail quite easily. A club member broke a housing left foot braking a 1.6 auto over a fallen log, with an open front diff. They really don't like being torqued up.

Honestly, you need a steel diff as a starting point. A steel front axlehousing is a bonus but not 100% required.

Look at the RHS CV conversion as per Christovers thread. It's common for the RHS CV to fall out of the diff - it's only a press fit - if you have long struts. This is a pain to fix, especially if it's not picked up quickly. With the conversion in place, RHS and LHS driveshaft/CV's are the same and easy to replace.

You need to consider you're as wide as a big car to you can't always take the lines a sierra can. This sometimes commits you to sitting down in the ruts and pushing the car through. That's hard on the car.

Steve.

[christover1]

Took me a while to learn to stop driving Sierra lines, and learn the Vitara lines.
Long time habits are hard to break.
Still learning in reality.

As a temporary fix for front diff you could strap it down well,
and limit droop to minimum, and adjust steering stops to avoid sharp turns.
And/or convert to a Sierra 3rd.

Strangely enough some people don't break alloy diffs doing hard stuff,
but some break doing easy stuff.

I'd never put too much faith in the alloy diffs.

[gwagensteve]

I'd be surprised if almost anyone has taken out a CV with stock front struts and no strut spacers. In my opinion it's the extended droop that kills them. They can handle to torque fine, they just fall apart when normal working angles are exceeded.

Steve.

[dank]

I'll have a chat to a mate up Narby way who grew up around there. He knows where all the hard stuff is.

[gwagensteve]

Choice.

Steve.

[michaelpiranha]

Steel diff hunting I shall go

[michaelpiranha]

I'd be surprised if almost anyone has taken out a CV with stock front struts and no strut spacers. In my opinion it's the extended droop that kills them. They can handle to torque fine, they just fall apart when normal working angles are exceeded.

Steve.

It has no spacer that I now of. And just a ome lift kit if that helps

[sierrajim]

Narelle and I will grab a cabin Mr President.

I think I must still be drunk from last night, haven't logged on for a couple of weeks and seem to be reading about a Vitara coming on AT13?????

[Greg]

Hi Folks,

I just called the Warburton Caravan Park. They have 4 standard rooms available (no ensuite).

The cabins are $60 for twin share (30 each), $90 for four (22.50 each). It's extra money if you want bedding supplied.

I havent booked any yet. How many people are we accomodating?

http://www.warburtoncaravanpark.com.au/pricing.asp

Given I am a man of luxury and need an ensuite, I just booked a room at the Motel accross the road with Jim + Narelle.

http://warburtonmotel.com.au/

They have rooms starting at $110 twin share ($55 each) per night.

I'm happy to call and book the cabins once we have some numbers down.