TJ: O/S - Desert Driving
 

G'day,

Thought I would post some pictures of my '05 TJ. It is a work in progess, which is different to what you need in Oz. It is to be used for desert driving in Dubai, UAE. I am now lucky enough for this to be my second car, so I can start changing things that would be otherwise uncomfortable as a daily driver.

Up till today, I only had on 31" Yokohama tyres.

These pics show where I am at now. It has a 3" terraflex lift, with OME shocks and a Rancho steering stabiliser. Tyres are 33 x 12.5 Intercos on 15 x 10 inch GT rims.

I have removed some of the plastic guards, and made a rear bumper. Light upgrades include a pair of Delta replacement headlights, and a pair of Lightforce 170s.

Next on the list will be removal/replacement of the wheel flares, as the front ones are rubbing on the wheels under bump when turned.

I am also going to replace the trailing arms with fabricated tube ones, as well as a new spare wheel carrier and fabbed steel front bumper.

More lights for night driving, I already have some more 170s and a pair of square Hellas to add. Not sure if this will require an upgraded alternator. Will need to investigate.

I will then be looking into stage II, which is releasing some more ponies. Along with this will be improved cooling, due to ambient temps of over 50 degrees in summer. After that it will only need to be fixing stuff that breaks in the axles/transmission area, maybe beefy axles, but generally due to the slippery nature of sand this may not be a problem.

Most of our driving is done at high RPM and higher speeds (momentum needed to climb bigger dunes). I find the 33 inch tyres to be perfect on the standard diff ratios, and measured 120 kph at 2500 rpm in 6th gear (using GPS). I had no problems holding that speed, whereas on a different thread here I have seen people complaining about the std ratios.

Another thing that is different, here everyone runs much lower pressure in the sand. I normally run from 6-10 psi, where most posts I have seen are around 16psi. The worst about this is the tyre often rotates on the rim, giving vibration problems on the way home from a drive. I guess the only way to fix this is beadlockers, which unfortunately are illegal here.

Since I need to pump up bigger 33" tyres, I am also looking into either twin 12V compressors with tank, or an endless air style compressor & tank.

I will be coming home to Oz in April 08, so a chance to pick up any parts that are not available here.

Cheers,

Mick

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4589/dscn0551ta6.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5608/dscn0550hb5.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8262/dscn0549gg2.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7544/dscn0546xa9.jpg

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8607/dscn0542gd6.jpg

Tjs in sand:) , so when you putting the LS1 in it?

AKO, what are the Delta replacements lights like compared to the OEM headlights?

I wish. If I do that it becomes a trailer Queen. You cannot change number of cylinders and get rego. Not unless you know someone very powerful. I don't, I am a mere pleb.

I really like them. The standards one suck :monkey: ass. I also have 4 lightforce but the delta are much better than stock. I got the here for approx 150 AU$. I was thinking about upgrading the loom as well, I think Mr GoJeep has just added a write up for this.

Cheers,

Mick