NPS 300 Crewcab questions

[gait]

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.

the ladder chassis is narrow due to the dual rear wheels. Also not very deep. It twists. If its like the Fuso its less deep at the front and rear, the rails are tapered. A bit chicken and egg, and not well worded, but a very stiff constraint (towbar) will stress the chassis, and I doubt it would ever be capable of constraining it.

similarly, constraining the box to the chassis (or the chassis to the box) with two fixed mounts. The chassis will twist, the mounts will twist, something has to give.

with no load and stiff suspension the chassis twists lots. Add load, the suspension begins to work, the chassis doesn't twist as much. Add softer suspension with more movement the chassis doesn't have to twist as much. Its all relative. And then of course it all changes when hurtling along a corrugated, potholed, track at high speed.

occasionally I hear my spring mounts reseat after the chassis has twisted one way and the momentum in the body has caused a bit of compression in the springs. Last time was down sand dunes too fast (walking pace) ..... smaller vehicles coming up had created deep scallops as they spun wheels and bounced side to side - just the wrong frequency for us.

 

[SkiFreak]

Excuse my ignorance but who is Alan??

To see any of Alan's posts, go into Advanced Search and search for "alan" as the username.
To send him a PM, go to your inbox and in the My Messages box, select Send New Message. In the Recipients box, type alan. It's the first one in the list.

 

[JohnRogers]

Cheers Im not real flash with the interweb machine

 

[steve66]

John, ATW also offer a front locker for the NPS, it's a Qualife ATB from England, I paid $2800 fitted. Just another option for you.

Cheers Steve

 

[SkiFreak]

ATW also offer a front locker for the NPS

I did not know that... I thought they only did an ATB diff for the Canter. You learn something new every day!
I have one in the cupboard, which will get fitted at some future date.

Just a quick clarification.
The ATB diff centre is not actually a locker.
Auto torque biasing and locking diffs each have their own pluses and minuses, so you need to choose based on your intended use.

 

[steve66]

Hi Owen, As far as I'm aware they have always had both, well the few years they have been selling them, haven't used mine in anger yet but have only read good reports about them, have also met some people who have successfully fitted Detroit lockers to the front of NPS so a few options, I thought the ATB was a clear winner over a 'normal' locker but that's a discussion for another day/thread

Cheers Steve

 

[Cuddy]

Hey John, I checked out you ad on gumtree. Does that truck have a seperate air con unit for the rear seats?? If so can you tell me where you got it? I am worried the standard air con might struggle to keep the kids in the back cool when we are up north in high temps.
Cheers

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Owen, As far as I'm aware they have always had both, well the few years they have been selling them, haven't used mine in anger yet but have only read good reports about them, have also met some people who have successfully fitted Detroit lockers to the front of NPS so a few options, I thought the ATB was a clear winner over a 'normal' locker but that's a discussion for another day/thread

Cheers Steve

After ATW got the first batch ATB Canter diffs they were so good and the customer feedback was so encouraging that we immediately set the wheels in motion to be able to supply NPS units as well. I did the initial research into the compatability of various NPS models,axle spline counts, etc. It's probably worth mentioning that ATW always had the option of developing an air locker but with all the positives of the ATB units it was a no brainer to stay with that format.

The NPS unit is quite a bit bigger than the Canter but the results are the same.

 

[JohnRogers]

Hey John, I checked out you ad on gumtree. Does that truck have a seperate air con unit for the rear seats?? If so can you tell me where you got it? I am worried the standard air con might struggle to keep the kids in the back cool when we are up north in high temps.
Cheers

Yes mate it is fitted with rear air package works bloody well too, it runs its own condenser and evaporator but shares a compressor, im not sure if it is an upgraded unit or the stock unit. The kit is built by a company in Vic called AIR2000 i spoke to them last week with regard to a fan speed controller on my second truck thats faulty. Both my trucks have the kit fitted. They were installed by Alaskan Air in Adelaide prior to delivery to original owner by North East Isuzu.

 

[Cuddy]

Thanks very much John spoke with them today sounds like it will solve the problem.
Installation sounds time consuming but I'll c how we go
Cheers

 

[JohnRogers]

The fella i spoke to at ALASKAN AIR said he still has nightmares about the kits he says they are a bastard to fit, he also thought the fit and finish of the kit wasn't A-grade yet these have survived 180000km of the desert roads throughout the cooper basin having done countless laps of the Strezlecki track, Adventure way, Birdsville track, etc and still in one piece and functioning as designed.

 

[JohnRogers]

So been on the phone quite a bit this week with regard to suspension,wheels etc and the pricing is dramatically different. ATW parabolic kit with powerdown shocks is around the $8800 mark and SSA's conventional leaf pack kit with sachs heavy duty shocks is just on $3000 both kits come with all new pins, bushes and U-bolts etc. Goannatracks wheels and tyres are $1050 a corner or $6300 for 6 (37" 1950kg rated tyres) or ATW's wheels are between $8-9k for a set of 6 depending on tyre option chosen. Kym has compliance for canters and isuzu NPS by november. I also got a price for ATW's fold down rear wheel carrier winch tow bar fitted with 17500lb warn around $6500. So now its just decision time.

 

[SkiFreak]

Another decision to throw into the mix is whether you want alloy or steel rims.
The steel rims are probably more robust but there are significant weight savings if you go down the alloy route.

I started out with the ATW Gen1 steel rims but later changed to their alloy rims, which saved me about 80kg for 6 wheels.

 

[SkiFreak]

I also got a price for ATW's fold down rear wheel carrier winch tow bar fitted with 17500lb warn around $6500.

Are you sure it's a Warn winch? As far as I know, Warn do not make a 17,500kg winch.
ATW have directly imported Runva winches for many years, so my guess is that is what they are supplying. The Runva winches are quite reasonable; I have them fitted to my truck.

 

[Cuddy]

Kyms wheels will still have some added costs, apart from the purchase price. I think Once his set up is certified you will have to pay him a $650 fee for the compliance paperwork and tyre placard.It can be then inspected by an engineer to be legal. You will also need to recalibrate the speedo and fit front flares. I think atw covers all of this in their price (Not the engineer inspection, another 3-600 bucks I have been told)