Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

So yesterday we headed out to De Wildt to see what my new tjor can do. In the group we had two new shape Hilux bakkies (one D4D, one V6) and a Subaru Forrester - the old station wagon type nogal! There was also a large brannewyn brigade with anything from a Hyundai Tucson to a heavily modded LR Defender 110.

Compared to my previous 4x4's (both Mitsu's with solid rear axles) the Gen 3 tends to "roll" quicker and more violently in cross axle situations as a result of the limited rear articulation. Once I almost got in trouble as it rocked over much sooner than expected and I almost clipped the side of a donga. However, this was nowhere near as much of a drawback as I expected - as long as I anticipated the need and engaged the MK (moffieknoppie, i.e. rear diff lock) in good time the Paj went just about everywhere I expected it to. Even up the first serious obstacle (a badly rutted gravel hill), where the Landy with suspension worth more than my whole car had to take several stabs (admittedly without rear diff lock). To proove a point I also went up several tricky obstacles without rear difflock, putting to good use the experience I gained with my Gen 1 which had no difflock Think it through, choose your line carefully, a little more momentum than you'd use otherwise and there you go ....

I'd say the Paj outperformed the Hiluxes in most tricky situations. Climbing "Gert se klip" was almost a non-event, as the pliable suspension ironed out the rocks, and the strong torque from as low as 500RPM (I guess) hauled the big car up the rock face with the minimum of drama. The diesel Hilux seemed to struggled a bit here (petrol version was just fine). On tight breakovers the bakkies got "hung up" and bent their ex-Excaliburs, while the Paj just cruised over. A very good looking Jeep Sahara also beached at the crest, and the only car that did this better was a Fortuna with trick suspension. Rock crawling was great, and for once I prefered my manual transmission over my old Colt's auto box. I felt low range could have been a bit lower still, probably a side effect or the slightly larger tyres I have on compared to standard. The little bit of sand on the trail was no real test, but no reason to fear any shortcomming there. Ground clearance was plenty enough, with only a few minor touches along the way.

All things considered I have to say I am massively impressed with my "new" car - very capable and extremely comfortable off road - heated seats are heavenly when the outside temp is a measily 7 degrees Can't to take my next walk on the wild side .....

I regret that I couldn't make it. Had some homely duties that had to be attended to.

The Pajero's are great period. I would love to fit a Difflock to mine, as I noticed that the TC does not like loose rocks and mud very much. Learned that twice this past weekend.

Other than that she's perfect.

Ps. We don't believe without any pictures.

Scubadude wrote:Compared to my previous 4x4's (both Mitsu's with solid rear axles) the Gen 3 tends to "roll" quicker and more violently in cross axle situations as a result of the limited rear articulation. Once I almost got in trouble as it rocked over much sooner than expected and I almost clipped the side of a donga.

Interesting observation. I think the total flex of the Gen 3 is about equal to that achieved by the Gen 1 or Gen 2, but it achieves it in a different way: The Gen 3 has better flex from the front suspension than the older, torsion bar sprung Pajeros, but worse flex from the rear. This should mean that the Gen 3 is better balanced in axle twisters than the Gen 1 or Gen 2 (because flex is better balanced between front and rear), but a Gen 3 will definitely handle differently under such conditions than a Gen 1 or 2.

Something to look at is to disconnect the Gen 3's front anti-roll bar when playing in the rough stuff. This is very easy to do if the front wheels are steered fully. All that is required is a No 17 spanner and an Allen key (can't remember what size). The vehicle has to be on flat terrain to disconnect or reconnect easily. Disconnect both sides and see if you can tie the anti-roll bar up out of the way somehow. Disconnecting the anti-roll bar increases the flexibility of the front suspension greatly in axle twisters and further improves the balance in flex between front and rear. A long time ago I did some tests to determine what the effect of disconnecting the anti-roll bar was: it improves flex by around 14%.

Raait hiesie ewwieduns

Last pic shows where I am dangerously close to the donga wall, hence front wheels pointed the wrong way.

Aahhh, they are so pretty at those angles....