T5 4motion, Just how capable are they as a 4WD

[winchmeup]

What lift kit did you get? did you just throw the King springs in??
I'm worried that If I put the longer springs in then the cars ride will get even harsher that it is currently.
However I'd love another 30mm of lift for safety when on the beach.

Also does turning traction control off in the sand help? I get the feeling it jamms on the brakes sometimes when i get some slip making the situation worse. Does turning it off also turn off the Haldex unit???

The lift kit was in it from new. The dealer did up a demo version. I think they are king springs. The ride is ridiculously hard. You can jump up and down on a corner of the car and the only thing that moves is the tyres. This often leaves a wheel in the air when going up an incline at an angled approach. The good thing is it doesnt have any body roll on corners so you dont get that sea sick feeling like some 4wds. I would love to get softer springs but cant afford it a the moment so will wait and may even go airbag option. I would love to know what the idea spring rate is for offroad if i go the respring route. I really want to get a wish list complete before i spend anymore so i dont waste any money.

[winchmeup]

Hi again winchmeup, I made a typo It is TRAKKA - not Trekka sorry. The Electronic diff lock EDL as described by V Dub - I think you will discover will be Traction Control done through the A B S, In my opinion it should read EDL effect, may be it's all to do with the translation from German. The L S D in the front someone said they read about was probably mine it is a much modified Fantom-Grip it took 3/4s of a year to get the closest size - then with machining to it and the T5 hardened Diff-Gears a lot of proto -type work & i still don't know how long the Hemispherical Hi-tec nylon thrust will last. The only real answer to gearing IS Peter Seikel's.

Your set up keeps impressing. Unfortunately way out of my abilities.
Do you know how or who to talk to to get to the traction control via the ABS?

[T5 Double off road]

The Traction Control System I'm sure is the EDL Factory fitted to 2wd models - the early 4wd models didn't get it but I think later it became optional extra on ordering from Factory - Retro fitting ask someone like Miro (forum member).

[BertieT5]

Right well i spent lots of time 4wdriving on the south coast of WA between christmas and new year and have made a few discoveries.

The rear wheels almost never kick in.....like even when bogged they wouldnt spin (made digging out easier!! ) I just emailed Guy the haldex man about the Mod to make it kick in sooner. It would be awesome to have an over ride option when you get your self into bother!

Dropping the tyre pressure down from 42 to 15-17 PSI made the care extremely capable even in soft sand.
Even with the 245/70 R16 tyres the loss of extra clearane you gain with the bigger tyres is offset when the tyre pressure drops but not as much as you think.

Hmm i nearly burnt my clutch out trying to get off the beach. clearance was too low. might get it checked out.
Having a low range would be nice.... maybe the seikel 1st and 2nd gear set would have helped crawl out of the trouble I was in and avoided the clutch punishement.

maxx traxx or Treds are brilliant! made recovery much easier.

Running with traction control off only helped a little. Was far more important to let the tyres right down in the soft stuff.

The stiffness of the springs of the car is not as noticeable when the tyres are let down, but sux over corrugated dirt roads at speed. So maybe the king spring and some different shocks is a feasable option, just need to regulate tyre pressure for the conditions more often.

Having a good ARB compressor was awesome. made pumpting up so damn easy!! was doing this a few times a day.

The car is clearly far more capable than anyone could believe and was getting lots of questions and a lot of looks! I thought i would get hung up a number ot times with the LWB (poor ramp over angle) but made it over heaps of stuff without hitting.

But i still wish I had the EDL!

Overall my trip highlighted a few lackings of the van but it is far closer in capability the the delica i used to have than I or my girlfriend imagined. I would however like to lift her and maybe look at a haldex mod to make her that much better off road.

Cheers

[winchmeup]

Thanks for putting such a detailed description of your trip. Certainly glad to hear that the van worked so well.
The corrugations really rattle my van also. For xmas santa bought me two sets of auto deflaters. so i have set them to 18psi for sand and 30psi for the corrugations. I found on the last trip that going from 35psi to 28psi made a massive difference on the rough stuff.
As i mentioned befor ethe raised springs i have are heaps stiffer than orriginal and make the ride worse.

I have noticed that a lot of the 4wds we have in at work use a much softer spring that mine. even the ones with raised suspension. Does anyone know what the ideal spring rate is? I think softer would be much better for comfort and also when the track is very rough. At the moment i would constntly have wheels in the air as the suspension will not allow a wheel to rise up over a bump. The only downside i could see is it may become a bit floaty.

I'm interested to see how you get on with the halidex guy.

regards Steve

[BertieT5]

OK well there is a performace Haldex controller group buy on at the moment so I'm thinking I'll get involved

Group Buy HPA Competition Haldex Controller

Hopefully it does some good! Should save well over $500 compared to buying local.

[Transporter]

OK well there is a performace Haldex controller group buy on at the moment so I'm thinking I'll get involved

Group Buy HPA Competition Haldex Controller

Hopefully it does some good! Should save well over $500 compared to buying local.

What year is yours? I don't think that there is anything like that for the early T5's.

[BertieT5]

mine is a December 2008. Do you have doubts??

[winchmeup]

I'm waiting with bated breath to see how it performs Bertie. Any idea how far off it is?

[BertieT5]

It has arrived already ( a few days ago) however I'm on a minesite (fly home tonight YAY!!!) but wont get a chance to install until after 18th of Feb, due to a bali holiday.
sorry it isnt sooner. I will take pics as we go, doing a little how to and try and give a good ride report.