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QUICK DRIVE: TJM NAVARA ST-X
Decent flex in the rear.
exercise ruins ride comfort and 4WD ability, with a reduced
sidewall height unable to deflect bumps, a decrease in footprint
length when airing down off-road and an increase in the risk of
tyre/wheel separation in a tight turn. The other bugbear is there
are precious few Light Truck tyre options available to replace the
passenger car rubber that comes from the manufacturer stock
standard and therefore greater puncture potential or tyre failure
under heavy loads is likely.
Despite that impediment (oh and over-inflation before I
corrected that), the bitumen manners were good, and I took the
liberty of doing a mini Moose test at speed and found its swerve
and recover/stability control manners were still good despite
having a roof rack and tent upstairs.
Once at Mundaring I found a nice little diagonal opportunity
on a dirt mound and put the back axle to the test with a big old
stretch moment to see what sort of elasticity the spring/shock
combo could muster. Well bugger me, there was a great big
yawning moment as the wheel dropped out from under the guard
18s look good but
and revealed the coil and axle in the same are crap off road.
sort of fashion you’d expect from the back
end of a Patrol. That’s good because it keeps
wheels planted on the ground and forward (or
reverse) motion preserved before you have to
trouble either traction control or the diff-lock.
The Navara’s suspension is what TJM
call their XGS4000 series, and it’s a complete
replacement kit for the front struts and coils,
and in the rear, the coils and shocks get to make way for the
new gear. To get the maximum effect out of the rear end, TJM
recommend replacing the Panhard rod with an adjustable one.
There was an inspiring moment or two at a granite outcrop
on the track where I decided to take on a traverse that really
didn’t exist with lots of steps and awkward changes of direction
necessary to get onto each section.
With low range first gear locked in and a bit of two-foot
driving, right foot barely on the accelerator and left foot caressing