Jackaroo - Strong enough to modify or not?

Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Location: Sunny Coast, Queensland

So the story is that a mate of mine has a Jackaroo, not sure what year but the one with the 3.5 litre V6 motor (is that enough to determine model?).

Anyway he came wheeling with us last weekend and whilst the Jackaroo is stock as a rock, it aquited itself pretty well. Well enough for him to think about some mods but he's not sure the driveline is up to it. Basically he wants to put in front and rear lockers, snorkel and a winch bar with winch. Also a 2 inch suspension lift would be on the cards as would a decent set of muddies.

Before the weekend drive he was thinking of unloading the Jack-a-rooter and getting a GQ patrol to modify but he's now thinking of modding it.

The question I have for you Holden/Isuzu guys is (assuming that you can actually get ARB lockers for jack-a-rooters) is the driveline tough enough to be modded and hold together with semi-hard wheeling (not extreme stuff just decent bush track type driving)?

Any thoughts and advice?

Cheers
Simo

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:45 pm

go for it

though the 98/99 model can't get a front diff locker, the diff casing is too small apparently

they can get a maximum of 2"lift unless you want to fork out big dollars for a calmini or snakeracing diff drop
but the reason behind this is because the torsion bars are wound up further as stock, so stock standard you have more clearance than every other IFS with the same size tyres

you can got to 265/75R16's (2" larger) as the maximum without scrubbing
auto's are fine, get a transmission radiator though to make sure you don't go cooking it

enjoy the fuel guzzling of the 3.5L though armsup

Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Location: Sunny Coast, Queensland

Thanks for your response Chikoroll, much appreciated. But this has to be the deadest part of the OL forum.

Anyone else read the GM/Isuzu threads??? C'Mon guys, any more experience modifying Jackarooters out there Twisted Evil

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:52 pm

Might need to look up some yanky sites under "Izuzu Troopers" I think they are a bit soft for serious hardcore stuff, looking under my wifes jack then under my old 40 you realise how soft they are. But dont get me wrong I love the Jack but it does have limitations when up against modded Nissans and Toyotas.

BJ

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:56 am

if you're looking for jackaroo stuff, there is only 1 place to go
http://forum.australia4wd.com/index.php?showforum=18

i pretty much tell everyone to go there :p we have an army of about 20 of us

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:10 pm

chikoroll_ wrote:

if you're looking for jackaroo stuff, there is only 1 place to go
http://forum.australia4wd.com/index.php?showforum=18

i pretty much tell everyone to go there :p we have an army of about 20 of us

Ditto great info for us strange Jack owners Twisted Evil

BJ

Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Location: Sunny Coast, Queensland

Thanks for the advice guys. My mate actually joined OL today and called me up to say he had seen this post and your responses. He's followed your link to the other site and is now a happy little (twisted) Jack-a-rooter owner. Looking forward to when he mods the truck to see how she goes. Pretty impressive in stock for I might add.

Cheers
Simo

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:05 pm

muhahaah soon we will take over the world...1 wombat hole at a time Twisted Evil

Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Location: Sunny Coast, Queensland

chikoroll_ wrote:

muhahaah soon we will take over the world...1 wombat hole at a time Twisted Evil

Yeah right #Rofl

. I reckon you guys will be fringe dwellers like Range Rover Owners #Rofl

In fact maybe worse, like Lada Niva owners Shocked

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:04 pm

lol as long as one of has a winch and a snatchstrap, we will be fine Razz

hmm wonder which is better the Pajero or the Jackaroo....

Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Location: Sunny Coast, Queensland

chikoroll_ wrote:

lol as long as one of has a winch and a snatchstrap, we will be fine Razz

hmm wonder which is better the Pajero or the Jackaroo....

Easy, The Jackarooter is far superior to the Poojero that's for sure Very Happy

Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Location: Traralgon Vic Aust.

The Jack is far better then a Poojabba!!!
My '03 has 2+" of lift, no rear sway bar and 32x11.5x15 Pro Comp Muds on 15x8 Rockcrawler Ds. No scrubbing on the body. These things are one of the most under rated 4x4s around.

Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Location: Newcastle, NSW

DAZZ wrote:

The Jack is far better then a Poojabba!!!

Booo!

Look at the poll, we're winning Very Happy

1MadEngineer's comments about the huge rear axles had me interested though.

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:51 pm

i might have to go for a poser shot after christmas...can't now cuz i got tinsel all over the car Embarassed

Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Location: In The Good Country

Is the Jack tough enough for those mods? Hmmmm, let me think, how many Safari's and off road rallies have been won in a Jackeroo? I've lost count.

Get on to Bruce Garland in Sydney if you can. He's modded and raced Jacks to victory more than I can remember. All V6's too.
He's got some off road camper and caravan shop in Sydney somwhere.

The Jacks, Fronty's, Rodeo's and MU's have Dana Spicer sourced diffs, some have a Dana 44 in the rear, the drivelines inherit their strength from their big brother Isuzu trucks, etc etc.

Only prob with Isuzu 4wd's is ground cleance in comparison to some others but a 2" lift with 32 or 33" tyres and lockers will make it very capable machine.

Chickoroll I'm pretty sure ARB do make an air locker for the Jack front diffs which are the same as the Rodeo, and Rainsey on here has a front air locker in his Rodeo.

cheers

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 3:57 pm

the 98/99 have a smaller front diff housing, can't fit the locker in it or something on those lines

later and earlier models have bigger diffs, but they also lost clearance that the 98/99 had

Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Location: In The Good Country

Jack Clearance? What clearance lol?
I was under my wifes aunties 01 SE td Jack two days ago to measure up for sliders.
I had to get off my floor creeper to get under it properly! Shocked

Mind you its got some cheap arse looking (OEM) alu sidesteps hanging down a country mile but some parts of the undercarriage hang lower than a stock height Rodeo!

So even the RD94(1) locker wont fit a 98-99 even though their website says its for all IFS diffs?

They mention something about an unidentified 3rd member with a different bolt pattern on the ring gear for some 96-98 models but can be changed with an earlier or later model one for locker fitment BUT...........
they dont say if its the front or rear diff ring gear Rolling Eyes

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:34 pm

lol that's exactly my point, the newer ones have rubbish clearance

Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Location: melbourne

Simo63 wrote:

Basically he wants to put in front and rear lockers, snorkel and a winch bar with winch. Also a 2 inch suspension lift would be on the cards as would a decent set of muddies.

Simo

Yes Yes and Yes etc.. I'm with Dazz, the old jack is VERY underated. off road racing pedigree speaks volumes.

Lockers - yes some can't get em in the front, but rear is no dramas, but standard rear LSD is usually very good, i'd say hold off till he does other mods + good rubber first.

Snorkel, Airtek is my favorite, but others are available.

Arb steel winch bar is nice, mines got one with a warn xp9000 and plasma rope.

Lift, yes 2 inch is real easy with many different full kits available. Front does become a little limiting but you can do balljoint flips etc. Rear has excellent artic for a stock setup.

Rubber is easy, you can go with 15 inch rims, but on the stock rims 265/75/16 are real nice giving another inch and a half or so of lift. Ive run this size in goodyear MTR's in the past and aired down to 18 or so was real happy with its grip.

All up unless you really abuse them they are a great machine. My current jack was a vic police search and rescue vehicle, enough said i reckon.

cheers Brad.

Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Location: australia, nsw

YES!!!!!! go for it
we had a jackaroo all we did was put some silverstone all terrains on it
2" mandrel bent exhaust and 2" lift and it wen pretty much every where but if u puts some lockers it should keep up with most of the big boys

Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Location: Sydney

I helped a mate mod his 02 V6 Jack over xmas. We did 2" lift, Ball Joint Flip, F & R Lockers, 32" mudders on 15 X 8 rims with a toyota offset, Sliders & rear Bar.

Hear are some issues we faced
1. To get the front diff centre out we had to remove the whole diff assembly which means taking out the front suspension. Not hard just time consuming.
2. Both diffs are shim diffs so have a handfull of spare carrier bearings before you start. We wasted one on the front and two on the back before we got them right.
3. The RD 85 only fits diffs with a carrier bearing size of 96.84 mm. The later model Jacks have a carrier bearing of 97.84 mm. The ARB book says that the RD 85 only fits non LSD diffs. This is INCORRECT! After consulting an arb engineer in Melbourne we found the only issue is the size of the carrier bearing. We fitted ours to a LSD diff with open sunwheels from a 99 model.
4. Should have fitted 33's, the 32's don't even come close to scrubbing
5. Steering arms bend real easy, currently having some made from 4140.

We finished it just before new year and spent two weeks exploring Tassie. On the west coast we did, Pieman heads (both routes), Clunies, Lake Cumberland, Balfour, Mt Balfour, Sandy Cape and a few other tracks that will remain unamed. Since then we have done a couple of other tracks near Sydney that will also remain unamed.

All up the Jack was great and handled anything we threw at it. The auto got hot once in the sand dunes but that was all. Lake Cumberland and some of the tracks around Sydney gave the sliders a workout. more height would be good. I'd say it'd be as good as a 4runner modded to the same specs. Maybe not as much sill clearance but it doesn't have the transfer hanging way down like the toyota.

Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Location: Brisbane

so how are the new steering arms holding up? who made these?

I had a mate with a jackaroo a year back and the steering arms were like they were made of plastic, it seemed to be the only thing letting him down but it was a BIG letdown! They kept bending at the threading right near the tapper

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:44 pm

hmm
stock standard, '98 onwards Diesels have 1" less clearance than Petrols

Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Location: IN THE SHED

put a 2inch body lift in it also and 33s are no probs Wink

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:47 pm

GOT MUD wrote:

put a 2inch body lift in it also and 33s are no probs Wink

you don't need a 2" body lift for 33's, just for the mud that goes around the tyres Razz

Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Location: Sydney

Any ideas on a legal body lift with airbags?

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:15 pm

LS wrote:

Any ideas on a legal body lift with airbags?

insurance will be void because there is no way to judge whether the airbags will be affected- as with any SRS air bag vehicle