freeze
Adventurer
Hi Expo!
I haven't been on forums for quite sometime so hope I remember how this all works.
I've been pretty heavy in the Toyota 4WD side and still very much at home with Toyota's. I've had the mis-fortune of putting a dent in the C Pillar of my 4th Gen 4Runner and insurance was very helpful with compensation. We've had a few G-Wagen's come through the shop and looking underneath has really shown how much though has gone into the platform... plus some persuasion from a client of ours... I made the leap.
This is the lineage of Toyota's
Photo by Addison R
Photo by Big Mike
Stock and well cared for 2004 AMG G55 with 130,000KM in a province next to ours was found after looking at 4 other not so good examples.
Fresh from picking it up in Saskatchewan. Factory stance.
With the 4WD's I had in the past, I put them together so they could crawl rocks, burn gravel, float through snow and still go around a corner on the street. Thankfully we're a distributor for Ohlins here in Alberta and a dealer for Viking, ORC, G-Raid, AFN and Front Runner so it'll make this go fairly smooth. First on the upgrade path was to outfit with good suspension and fit my current wheel and tire set up, Second is to build rock sliders with kick outs, and finally fit bumpers and winch. Thankfully insurance payout and selling parts off the 4Runner it will cover the entire cost of the G-Wagen and upgrades.
Let's get started... ok first something we did for another G-Wagen:
Just a few upgrades and we're almost there.
And a bit of shake down with smallish rocks and steel shale climbs. So far it feels more planted than the Tacoma and 4Runner.
These are my thoughts so far... This 4WD is a joy to drive even if it's a solid axle. I'm used to long travel but the Ohlins/Thor combo is working well over the rough in a hurry. I'll most likely take the shock apart and deal with the slow high speed dampening to smooth out the street. High velocity dampening is perfect. However, once bumpers, winch and rear tire carrier go on, the street high speed might be perfect. I'd like to run a heavier rear coil to deal with additional weight in the future. Currently the rear coil can carry itself properly without weight (zero cargo) + Tent/Rack. With a fridge, tools and gear it's sagging. When the bumper is added with the spare 35" tire it's going to really sag out. Need to find a rear coil to carry the weight and be long enough it doesn't pop out at full droop.
Climbing over smallish rocks and steep climbs the slightly longer wheel base than the 4Runner feels really good and going back to solid axle has been excellent. Really missing sliders and skid plating to really get things going. Next year it has to be dialled for Moab and Rubicon.
I haven't been on forums for quite sometime so hope I remember how this all works.
I've been pretty heavy in the Toyota 4WD side and still very much at home with Toyota's. I've had the mis-fortune of putting a dent in the C Pillar of my 4th Gen 4Runner and insurance was very helpful with compensation. We've had a few G-Wagen's come through the shop and looking underneath has really shown how much though has gone into the platform... plus some persuasion from a client of ours... I made the leap.
This is the lineage of Toyota's
Photo by Addison R
Photo by Big Mike
Stock and well cared for 2004 AMG G55 with 130,000KM in a province next to ours was found after looking at 4 other not so good examples.
Fresh from picking it up in Saskatchewan. Factory stance.
With the 4WD's I had in the past, I put them together so they could crawl rocks, burn gravel, float through snow and still go around a corner on the street. Thankfully we're a distributor for Ohlins here in Alberta and a dealer for Viking, ORC, G-Raid, AFN and Front Runner so it'll make this go fairly smooth. First on the upgrade path was to outfit with good suspension and fit my current wheel and tire set up, Second is to build rock sliders with kick outs, and finally fit bumpers and winch. Thankfully insurance payout and selling parts off the 4Runner it will cover the entire cost of the G-Wagen and upgrades.
Let's get started... ok first something we did for another G-Wagen:
Just a few upgrades and we're almost there.
These are my thoughts so far... This 4WD is a joy to drive even if it's a solid axle. I'm used to long travel but the Ohlins/Thor combo is working well over the rough in a hurry. I'll most likely take the shock apart and deal with the slow high speed dampening to smooth out the street. High velocity dampening is perfect. However, once bumpers, winch and rear tire carrier go on, the street high speed might be perfect. I'd like to run a heavier rear coil to deal with additional weight in the future. Currently the rear coil can carry itself properly without weight (zero cargo) + Tent/Rack. With a fridge, tools and gear it's sagging. When the bumper is added with the spare 35" tire it's going to really sag out. Need to find a rear coil to carry the weight and be long enough it doesn't pop out at full droop.
Climbing over smallish rocks and steep climbs the slightly longer wheel base than the 4Runner feels really good and going back to solid axle has been excellent. Really missing sliders and skid plating to really get things going. Next year it has to be dialled for Moab and Rubicon.
