Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [35K Kms Crossed]

[Iron Rock]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Viswanath there are plenty of alarm options available, however i am not sure if any of that can stop stealing a tyre, you could have sensors and all that and everything will have its limitations. You cant put a sensor everywhere!

I would rather go for a gps tracker which has geo fence, ignition, movement, speed etc alerts - check out

https://gpstracker.net.in/OrderNow.html

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Finally finding some time to post about my thoughts around bumper installation. The core need necessitates from having a winch, i have been missing a functional winch at the farm and this can be used for different purposes even beyond pulling out vehicles -- hmm then i think to have a winch you need a solid mounting on the chassis and all that needs to be properly engineered - need something bulletproof!

Since i will need a solid mounting point why not go for a good off-road bumper(which comes with a winch mount) that also improves approach angles. Now that the need for bumper and winch is established , i had to think of weight, a typical bumper and winch (decent quality ) adds about 90-120 kgs on the front. Obviously the coils upfront would start sagging over a period of time as they will need to bear the entire brunt of the weight upfront.

Err , so the winch needs a mounting, mounting would gel well with a bumper and to take care of the extra weight a suspension upgrade is the need - if anybody needs more convincing they can give me a call, lol.

So thats how started the enterprise star ship plans, I really wanted to go with some proven kit, no point experimenting !
With the winch there are many options - i didnt need a big budget one which spools fast and all the shebang, needed something that has a decent reputation, has to be synthetic rope, should be water resistant but doesnt need to operate underwater and should pull 9500lbs minimum - i aint participating in competitions - at best i will be a solo off-roader who gets stuck somewhere that no one will ever know.
I looked up tmax, milemarker, comeup and warn - settled for tmax as the pricing was good and reviews were fairly decent, they are also official suppliers to TJM australia - so that way have a decent reputation if not the best !

So i picked up this - 12500lbs with synthetic rope










As for the bumper My choices were Ironman, ARB and Hamer really - I liked the Hamer design and the fact that i dont have to pay the brands premium. I went for the Hamer - about 6mm mounts and 3mm thick bumper.







The installation process starts with removal of the existing fibre bumper and the mount behind







Plonk in the new mount







Winch bolted to the mount





Plastic fenders need cutting





Main bumper to be mounted





And finally the look after attaching the side two covers and under body plate



​

All of the above procured from Pavan bhai (Jeepkart) - his professionalism and service were impeccable, very strongly recommended for all 4x4 accessories and tyres.

In my next post ill share all details on the suspension upgrade!

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

The suspension went in first and the bumper second, but i am posting this the other way around - both were done on the same day. When it comes to suspension big money is involved, specially for a full set up.

Aaasuzu Vcross comes with front double wish bone (standard coil and shock) and a rear leaf with a shock. Full suspension kits from Iron Man, ARB are good but very expensive - you end up actually paying brand premium + customs. Anyways i am personally of the opinion that changing leaf spring to something else is only going to give marginal advantage and going to composite leaf could be a better proposition in the future. So i decided i only wanted to upgrade the coil and springs and for the leaf i will make do with double shackles.

Which then meant my choices were limited to Ironman, Old Man Emu and Profender. Outside contender was racoon jump. Amidst this Old man Emu is a premium ARB offering and usually the more expensive amidst this - there were other more expensive options, but no point investing on those for the what my usage need be.

However in india surprisingly i found old man emu cheaper! Quality wise they are very very well known and made in Aussie stuff. Profender was also an option but i couldnt find any local review in India for the monotube, while a rebuildable monotube sounds promising, lack of data made me skip it. Also i wanted to coil and shock matched by the same vendor - so they dont conflict each other.

So finally after reading plenty of reviews and taking opinions of people in the know - i went for Old Man Emu(comes with 2 inch lift(approx), inherent, without spacers).

It was a fairly easy and fast process at the rear as the its just the strut



At the front however since the coil and strut is paired, its a fairly labour intensive process removing the upper arm etc , also pairing the strut to the coil takes time and manual effort









Finally replaced the OEM shackle with this double shackle and kept the same leafs (will monitor how this set up goes)







​

The entire process ended importantly with a wheel alignment, lifting and suspension changes will always screw up the camber/castor settings in a vehicle, especially in vcross , these settings are tricky and limited to an extent - so make sure you get this done with an absolute expert.

Once again all of the stuff was purchased from Pavan bhai (Jeepkart) - every product matched with the product code and load rating that i had specified (Old Man Emu comes with two options) - the front coil(which take the weight) I went for a higher rating to take on the load of the winch and bumper.

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Also did the sliders from Hamer - similar quality , simple as a pimple tube design , exactly as i wanted.



World famous in SantaCruz - Pavan bhai Jeepkart store





Then finally went hunting!









​

 

[viswanath]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Thanks..Iron Rock..I always thought alarms would discourage someone to steal or vandalize for some extent which catches the attention of surrounding people.

Thanks I will check GPS tracker

 

[WeCross]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Since i will need a solid mounting point why not go for a good off-road bumper(which comes with a winch mount) that also improves approach angles. Now that the need for bumper and winch is established , i had to think of weight.....Err , so the winch needs a mounting, mounting would gel well with a bumper and to take care of the extra weight a suspension upgrade is the need

Well, what else can I say but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjlGu5l1_IY
I have more questions but for now let me drool at the pics.

 

[viswanath]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Review: Remapped 165bhp - [8K Kms Crossed]

Hi Friend, just eagerly waiting for your feedback after remap !

Hi Iron Rock !

Can you please share your contact so that we can discuss offline on Cruise control and Petes remap

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Review: Remapped 165bhp - [8K Kms Crossed]

Well, what else can I say but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjlGu5l1_IY
I have more questions but for now let me drool at the pics.

Hi Iron Rock !

Can you please share your contact so that we can discuss offline on Cruise control and Petes remap

Sirji, i sent you a pm separately with my coordinates.

 

[viswanath]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Review: Remapped 165bhp - [8K Kms Crossed]

Sirji, i sent you a pm separately with my coordinates.

nope did not receive PM, please check and resend

 

[sirakit]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165 BHP - [9K Kms Crossed]

That would be awesome, but the indian dmax doesnt have the wiring harness on the steering - how would you solve that ? Please share details, i think 12-15k INR or under will be good price

I spent years of research. and now I have all the needs for unlocking cruise control function.

Tried MY12,13,14,15 It work flawlessly. Will upload the video to youtube soon.

 

[viswanath]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165 BHP - [9K Kms Crossed]

I spent years of research. and now I have all the needs for unlocking cruise control function.

Tried MY12,13,14,15 It work flawlessly. Will upload the video to youtube soon.
View attachment 233866

Hello Sirakit,

It is interesting to know the factory cruise could be unlocked , could you please let know what additional stuff we need to achieve this unimaginable till now.
I have ordered cruise kit and hope to receive this week and had plans to retrofit, should I hold back. Let know

 

[sirakit]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165 BHP - [9K Kms Crossed]

Hello Sirakit,

It is interesting to know the factory cruise could be unlocked , could you please let know what additional stuff we need to achieve this unimaginable till now.
I have ordered cruise kit and hope to receive this week and had plans to retrofit, should I hold back. Let know

It involve some variable in ECU that you can't just dump it form OBD port.

 

[bigdrive]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Dear fellow truckers,
I am a new kid on the block and have recently booked vcross and waiting for its arrival. I have been reading lot of information on various forums and Facebook posts, however I could not gather all information with clear details and pricing of preferred modifications required to turn this beast into a successful long distance family tourer with some adventure. I have listed down few modifications I think are necessary
1. Safety
a. Tyres : I intended to keep the stock alloys and get safer upsize AT tyres, so what is the safest upsize AT tyres we can fit without lift, no wheel size changes and no wheel spacers. I have seen many fitting 265/70/R16 or higher which are tend to be heavier than stock so I would think that it put lot of stress on breaks due to heavy tyres. Please suggest good AT tyres with strong sidewall (puncture proof) with your experience and contacts (preferably in Hyderabad).
b. Canopy: I have a pet so I would be going for full canopy (like carryboy series 7), please suggest best deal I can get in india with contact (preferable in Hyderabad). I am planning to install dual battery for AC in Canopy and solar panel for charging. Please share your experience if you had this type of setup with some pointers.
c. Suspension: I am planning to install airbag with stock leaf spring with high performance shock (like old man foam cell, etc..) at the rear and compatible air shocks at the front. This should improve the ride quality substantially over the stock setup which is critical for long family drives. Please share your experiences and pointers.
2. Others
a. nudge guard, side steps, door visors and rear bumpers, auxiliary lights and some general stuff which I am not very picky but appreciate if you can provide a contact where I can get all at one go in India (Hyderabad of course :-)).
b. Head Unit (music system): I am more of a DIY guy so planning to build a carpc with some integrated sensors useful for safety but the challenge is with the offline GPS maps. So if you have a preferred head unit system with good india maps, please share. I will keep posting on my progress if I decide to go with DIY.

Sorry for the long list of items, I have to close on this in next 10 days and prepare to budget before my beast arrive. If you have electrical wiring blue print of vcross please share as it will be useful for my DIY speaker and LED installs.
Thank you and happy driving.

 

[Vin_Cruzer]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Hello Sir, Greetings !

Can you please share the Led bulb size for Low beam, High Beam and Fog lamp? I have read a lot of positive reviews regarding upgrades to Led bulbs and from the beam patterns as per your post, i believe its a worthy upgrade.
I have booked my IV-Cross two days ago and is due for delivery in second week of November. I wish to upgrade the lights on the very first day itself.

Regards

 

[viswanath]

Re: Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Ownership Review: Remapped 165BHP [10K Kms Crossed]

Congratulations! Let know once you receive. Experts will revert and help answer your queries. I could assist you with audio connection harness details though you could refer my post earlier for the same. You could pick any audio system with remote control output or if you need OEM style, head to AliExpress/Alibaba and make a choice from cheap radios to expensive android ones.