4WD MODIFICATIONS – POWERTRAIN

Boys love to play around, don’t they? They buy a perfectly good vehicle and can’t help wanting to ‘tweak’ it.

Many new 4WDs have electric cooling system fans, but nearly all older-generation 4WDs are fitted with thermal clutch cooling system fans. These are not everlasting items, so will need periodic maintenance or replacement.

RYCO Filters was recognised again as one of the Australia’s most innovative companies in the latest instalment of the Australian Financial Review’s (AFR) BOSS Magazine awards.

Correctly designed and fitted engine air intake filters ensure the cleanest possible air flows into the engine. It is imperative that this charge air has the least amount of particles possible. Contamination can cause increased engine wear, a reduction in engine performance and vehicle downtime. 

A diesel particulate filter (DPF) is part of a diesel 4WD’s exhaust system. We all know about DPF regeneration cycles, but what’s not widely understood is that deeper cleaning is periodically necessary for all DPFs.

In extreme-modification situations it’s often advisable to re-ratio final drive gearing. However, this degree of modification needs to be carried out with great care.

The Donaldson PowerCore 4×4 Air Cleaner Housing plus Filter Kit for diesel Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series engines is said to deliver quality, reliable filtration, with three times more effective filtration area than the OEM panel filter. 

Older diesel powered 4WDs have a great deal of appeal for serious bush travellers. Pre-emissions engines have no electronics, no computers and no exhaust emissions after-treatment components.

There are two approaches to improving 4WD engine performance: ‘hotting up’ the existing engine or repowering the vehicle. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages

We’ve been asked many times what’s the best oil type to run in new and older model 4WDs and it’s not easy to come up with a straightforward answer. First, here’s some background into all the confusing acronyms that surround the oil business.

This device alters accelerator response without touching fuel injection computer ‘mapping’.

There’s a current craze for fitting a plain or oily-foam ‘sock’ over a snorkel. It may seem like a good way of keeping your air cleaner element dust-free, but it isn’t.

Portal hubs feature on many high ground clearance military-type machines, including the Mercedes-Benz Unimog. You can have these fitted to your LandCruiser ute, but they’re not cheap.

The Multidrive Tru Tracker rear track correction system for the V8-powered LC79 and 78 Series widens the track of the rear axle so that it matches the front.

This Dana 60 axle variant is the solution to the Toyota 70 Series’ narrow-rear-axle-track problem, as well as a way to increase rear axle load capacity.

The USA’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA) concluded a series of scientific tests on a wide variety of devices and additives that are claimed to improve fuel economy. Of the hundreds tested, very few actually reduced fuel consumption.

We’ve used various types of water separators in all our 4WD vehicles and the latest we’ve bought is the best so far.

Constant hikes in the price of fuel have spurred many petrol-fuelled 4WD owners to look for ways to reduce their bills. LPG used to be the best option.

The Treasury modelling for Australia’s fuel future is heavily based on biodiesel, not natural gas or LPG.

Introducing Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) into the intake air of a diesel engine isn’t a new idea, but electronically-controlled systems for doing this ‘fumigation’ job claim much.