NPS 300 Crewcab questions

[JohnRogers]

Gday Overlanders,
I have recently purchased a 2010 NPS 300 Crewcab 4x4 with the view to setting it up as a capable long distance tourer, I have a Rubicon with all the fruit as my weekend warrior, but as a long range remote tourer it is far from ideal. As such i want set up this truck however i need it as a big ute still for work purposes so will run a slide on camper such as Carry-me camper or similar. I have spoken with the fella from Goanna tracks with regard to Supersingles and have been doing research regarding suspension. I read mixed reviews regarding Parabolics and have seen the youtube vids from SSA. I plan on building a new tray as the 2.3m x 3.6m currently on there is enormous and impractical offroad. So i guess what im looking for is some advice regarding making this truck ride nice enough to keep family happy on long runs and be as capable as possible to get to the good spots. Ive got a reflash organised which will sort out future EGR and DPF issues along with a healthy boost in output.
So please give me the good oil to save me wasting time and cash. Meanwhile ill keep reading the endless threads and try to absorb as much as i can.

Thanks in advance
John

 

[steve66]

Hi John, Welcome to the journey!

There are many opinions around on suspension/wheel choices for these trucks. I went with the ATW springs and Alloys and very happy so far. The comments from SSA about parabolics refer to OEM versions and can't be translated to the aftermarket ones like ATW, also be careful with wheel choices, when I spoke with Mr Goanna Tracks about his they didn't come with any approval for fitment to these trucks, he said he wasn't going to spend the $$$ needed, not sure if that's changed but his site still says' fit at own risk' or such words, although I know some people have had them individually approved with a friendly engineer.

Just one of the countless decisions you will have to make with this project.

Cheers Steve

 

[Cuddy]

Hi John , I am currently setting up my 2013 nps and have all the same questions. When I spoke to Kim Bolton regarding his wheel and tyre combo he was waiting for approval from the heavy vehicle regulators to have the setup certified, within the next few weeks he hoped. I think I will go this option for wheels and tyres, as I think from a bit of reasearch that they will be a bit better in the sand and mud. Happy to hear anyone else's opinions of this, also interested to hear if anyone has the SSA suspension upgrade and how it performs compared to standard.
Cheers Brent

 

[JohnRogers]

I read one of the threads on here regarding flipping rear shackles to underside of hangers like normal vehicles using longer leaves, this gave a significantly softer ride with greater articulation. Has anyone else done this? Im keen on SSA kit as its very cost effective. Front springs longer leaves more camber giving softer ride and clearance for 37" super singles were about $450 each half the price of an oem spring. Ive never owned Parabolics but have heard and read of many breakages and only one manufacturer in OZ would make remote dramas harder to repair.

 

[JohnRogers]

Im currently fighting with a hunting at idle, I believe it is the suction control valve but will hook up to diagnostic gear at Injection shop to test before i start throwing parts at it.
I have 2 of these trucks one I am selling to fund the camper build. Its up on Gumtree if anyone is looking for a Truck.

 

[Bris31]

I read one of the threads on here regarding flipping rear shackles to underside of hangers like normal vehicles using longer leaves, this gave a significantly softer ride with greater articulation. Has anyone else done this? Im keen on SSA kit as its very cost effective. Front springs longer leaves more camber giving softer ride and clearance for 37" super singles were about $450 each half the price of an oem spring. Ive never owned Parabolics but have heard and read of many breakages and only one manufacturer in OZ would make remote dramas harder to repair.

Many on this forum have replaced their stock front leaf springs with longer version. In my case, it did make the ride much softer (along with BFGoodrich tires 315/75R16 with Alan's rim). Beside SSA there are other players in this work like Carrolls, Dobinson, (etc?). I went with Carrolls in Brisbane (they have shop at Sydney & Melbourne as well). With Carrolls bump stop gap is about 40mm and so far haven't noticed any bottom out on rough tracks. Hope this will help.

And welcome to the forum and wish you good luck with your build

 

[steve66]

That's good news Cuddy, I was keen on Kym's setup initially but the non approval was a deal breaker.

As per lots of choices with these trucks, it all a compromise.

Cheers Steve

 

[JohnRogers]

Has anyone got an off the shelf suspension setup thats proved itself or is it just a case of getting your frankestien on and experiment?? Ill build the new tray using kinetic mounts however i plan to mount towbar and rear winch, so can i hard mount at rear of tray as towbar and winch plate will be tying the rails together anyway? Or am I missing something?

 

[gait]

not sure what sort of proof is required!

is from Europe via Morocco and Kyrgizstan/Tibet to Aus, then recent Aus trips, sufficient? ATW parabolics +SRW with Toyos.

First shocks lasted about 3,000 km. Second (Monroe) shocks the rest of the way to Aus. Current look like lasting well after corrugations and desert. The Konis (softer compression harder rebound) added an extra bit of comfort. Recently replaced worn rubber bushes with polyurethane/greased - stopped the squeak.

I only have experience of the one setup so difficult to compare. Modifying anything and building one-offs can be fraught.

Don't know about winch. We don't have one. Wouldn't have been much use the time we fell off the road.

Really all depends what one is trying to achieve and where one wants to go.

 

[SkiFreak]

Ill build the new tray using kinetic mounts however i plan to mount towbar and rear winch, so can i hard mount at rear of tray as towbar and winch plate will be tying the rails together anyway? Or am I missing something?

The towbar should definitely be mounted to the chassis rails, as should be any winch.

 

[JohnRogers]

Front and rear winches is just piece of mind as ive often been stuck pushing the boundaries of my vehicles abilities, also prevented several rollovers with clever placements of a line pull. Im also very aware that not many vehicles out there are going to be able to snatch out up to 6 ton of truck. I guess you answered my question about the suspension proving itself with your comment about shock failures, the Konis sound good as the rebound is currently savage. As far as what im trying to achieve? Well id like to make the truck as off road capable as possible whilst still being a comfortable touring vehicle for a family of 4, so we can go just about anywhere camping, prospecting, hunting etc and when Trump and the Korean fat kid start world war 3 over who's the biggest ******** hole with the smallest ******** it'll be my bugout/apocalypse bus.

 

[JohnRogers]

The towbar should definitely be mounted to the chassis rails, as should be any winch.

Ill re word that, The tow bar and winch plate will be chassis mounted so should i hard mount the tray at the rear and spring mount the remaining 4 mounts or just use 6 springmounts?? My thinking is if the rails are tied by towbar they cant move so mounting the tray the same will make no difference.

 

[JohnRogers]

Has anyone developed lockers for an Isuzu NPS

 

[SkiFreak]

...so should i hard mount the tray at the rear and spring mount the remaining 4 mounts or just use 6 springmounts??

I am not an engineer, but considered the same questions you are asking. I chose not to hard mount the subframe at any point.
Arguably ATW has mounted the most bodies to this size/type of truck and they too do not hard mount the subframe. Take from that what you will.

Has anyone developed lockers for an Isuzu NPS

Alan has stated that he has the capacity to build a locker for an NPS, but that he would need a standard diff centre as a master to work from.
I suggest you PM him for more details.

 

[JohnRogers]

Excuse my ignorance but who is Alan?? I see reference to him in many posts but still am none the wiser.