Easily LED

WE’VE CARRIED A FEW STORIES OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS from the build of our D-Max –which, it won’t have escaped your notice, is a project that was carried out some time ago now. So, while we’ve still got a few of the modifications to look at, it’s very much a case of running reports now too.

There have been very few issues with the vehicle, which is a testament to how well it was planned and put together in the first place. But the changes to its original spec have found one or two ways to make things interesting.

Most recently, it copped an advisory on an upper wishbone bush that was starting to break up. These wishbones are part of the Pedders Extreme suspension kit, whose combination of control and ride quality continues to impress us every time we drive the truck; there are hundreds of them on vehicles in the UK and ours is the first ever to have done a bush, which we like to think is because we’re trying harder than anyone else but really it’s just the luck of the draw. The bushes are OE-spec; we got hold of a replacement set from SuperPro and so, while getting the old ones out was more than a five-minute job, it should now be set for life. Even with the editor behind the wheel.

to make it home, by the altogether unlikely method of the editor driving very gently, and all was soon put right. It’s an ill wind that blows no good, too, and by the magic of lock nuts the anti-roll bar won’t be doing that again.

Interestingly, about a week after the project was initially completed and the D-Max hit the road for the first time in its GO2 guise, the rear anti-roll bar did the same thing. No fouling this time, just some rather alarming banging noises, and here too a set of lock nuts was the answer to keeping it in place. We should clearly have taken that as a warning and done the front one at the same time, but you live and learn. Well, we live and you learn – if you’re planning to lift a D-Max, we’d recommend securing the anti-roll bars as part of the job as they don’t seem to like staying put at their new resting angle.

One other issue which we thought was going to be a recurring one but which, fingers crossed, is now sorted for good was that for a long while, adjusting the handbrake felt like it was going to become a job from the painting the Forth Bridge school. As in, the moment you’re finished, it’s time start doing it again. Obviously, with all the heavy-duty equipment we’ve bolted to it our D-Max is a weighty old lump, and two or three times we’ve found ourselves needing to use ever more travel on the lever to keep it still – until finally, there’s none left and it needs to be adjusted back. During that period, leaving it in gear becomes the norm – it’s something we do all the time anyway, but it’s not nice to be feeling like the clutch is all you’ve got between you and disaster.

Elsewhere, the 285/75R16 General Grabber X3s we managed to fit under the D-Max’s wheelarches continue to wear very well indeed. They’re not unduly noisy on the road and they grip superbly in every kind of off-road environment we’ve experienced aboard the vehicle. This doesn’t include bottomless mud, because we’re looking after this one, but we know from experience that aired down to 15psi or so, these tyres can keep a heavy truck moving in the sort of conditions that would make a hippo want to go home.

One other item we’ll mention this month is the Lazer light bar that Isuzu fitted during our truck’s lengthy gestation in the company’s UK technical centre. This is the one accessory we use most often (tyres apart, you could say, on the basis that we use those every time we turn a wheel) and it is, in every sense of the word, brilliant. The amount of light it throws ahead of the vehicle is extraordinary –we’re not fans of off-roading in the dark, but when dusk is falling and you’re still out on the lanes it’s an absolute joy to hit main beam and see everything in front of you light up like day.

The Lazer unit is e-marked, making it legal for use on the road, and here too the effect is magnificent. The only problem is that when someone appears coming the other way and you flick it back to dip, there’s a huge difference for your eyes to adjust to and of course they need to do it fast. You get used to it, but if you’re not prepared it’s pretty alarming first time it happens. A small price to pay, though, for the superb performance the unit provides.

Perhaps inevitably, it was indeed the editor who was behind the wheel when the D-Max hit us with a bit of a freak one. We were out laning in Wales when the front antiroll bar worked loose on one side and fouled the driveshaft, ripping a hole in its rubber gaiter and announcing itself by dragging at the steering on left lock while also making a horrible clacking noise. This happened on a fast A-road, just to make things doubly exciting. Happily, no big-time damage was done (except to our day on the lanes, which was annoying as we were on the way to Lower Claerwen at the time and nobody ever wants to miss out on that). We were able to miss out on that). We were able

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