Patrol Y62/Infinity QX 80 vs Patrol vs Y61

[Oshkosh-P]

Hello,

so since after months and months looking for a Patrol Y61 with Automatik (very rare in Germany) and without too many miles on it, i am warming up to the idea of a Y62, since the US HD trucks like Ram/Ford 2500 will mos likely be too limitet bei their size and the Land Cruiser 200 ist simply crazy expensive.

Now usually independant suspension on luxury Suvs is not that tough and of course the axles on the Y61 are amoung the best, so i guess i have to face a serious downgrade in that regard.

But is the frame at least similiar in strenght to the Y61? And the big gas engines similiar in durability compared to the (ultra rare) gas engines of the Y61?

Kind regards,

marcus

 

[Sooper Camper]

The Y62 world spec differentials are on par with a Y61 in terms of spline count and ring gear diameter; front is a little smaller. CVs aren't the strongest, but they are easy to change (I changed a rear without even removing the wheel or jacking the vehicle up).
The fully independent suspension layout actually works VERY good for the way most of these vehicles will be used. There are endless videos on Youtube of bogans getting after it in nasty, thong slapping Y62s pulling huge caravans and doing silly off road tracks; go watch some and compare with your planned usage. It's an extremely capable setup, and cycles around 10" of wheel travel, which is on par with most stock or near stock solid axle vehicles out of the gate. If you look at most military vehicles, they have all gone to fully independent suspension for a reason... In what limited use I've put mine through off road, the stability is superior to solid axle vehicles in most scenarios. Off camber especially, the driving behavior is outstanding (comparing to the GX470/Prado variant I had previously).
The frame on the Y62 variants is stout, I would rate it on par with something like an F150 (which is basically class leading 1/2 ton, comparable with 3/4+ ton trucks from the early 2000s).
The VK56VD is a very well designed engine, makes good power, and I would consider reliable for a modern engine.
There are a couple issues to watch for, but I would not call them common:
- High Pressure Fuel Pump lifter bucket: can wear through and fail; it's a $30 part that takes <1 hr to change with hand tools if you're worried.
- Timing chain oiling squirters sometimes were not installed properly, leading to oiling issues and timing chain interference (vehicles in the affected early production range almost certainly would have presented by now)
- Intake valve carbon build up: it is a direct injection engine, and they almost all build up carbon on the intake valves. If you're in Germany, I'm sure you have heard or experienced this, since German cars were more or less first to market with this tech.
- In the US, many Titan and Armada owners experience a failure on cylinder 7 (rear most, driver side). The rings were not seated properly and scour the bore, developing a knock. This seems to be US issue only from 17-19 or so; when I asked on the Aussie groups if anyone experienced the issue it is non-existent and they'd never heard of it.

The QX infinity variants will all be based on the US spec variant, from what I've read and seen. It has significantly smaller differentials and shorter shocks; it's a luxury variant that is not focused on hard use or capability like the true Y62 is. It's worth finding one to test out, IMO it's a very great, and very under-rated platform.

 

[Oshkosh-P]

Thank you for this detailed answer! I always wonder why the ******** the same vehicle gets different hardware depending on the country. I can get different interior, i can get different engine options, but frames, axles, diffs, .... where is the real benefit here? Are those smaller diffs really that much cheaper? i doubt it. I heard for example that the Ford Ranger in Europe has a much weaker frame compared to the US version, which has basically a F-150 frame, so massive for a vehicle that size.

Ok but it appears that in this case we are actually in luck over here in Europe, but what are CVs? I have seen that article on the 6x6 Y62 Patrol, which has stronger suspension arms (yellow), but i guess those wont be legal here anyways.

In general i agree with the point about IS, there are Tank Tractors from the UDSSR (MAZ 537), that where fully IS since the 60's with giant tires to tow Tanks through muddy roads who are still working. However in many cases an IS replacing a solide axle resultet in a much weaker setup, then again the modern day Silverado HDs also feature a solid one.

Well going to look for Y62 too i guess, unfortunatly much rarer compared to the Infinitys (which are unfortunatly hard to look at before the facelift in 2019)