Yet another modded Bolero!

josepeter · 4th January 2009, 13:03

Agree Krish3, Bolero 4X4s have capability off-road, but may not be the first choice when it comes to extreme off-roading.

SWB 4x4 Jeeps are way much cheaper and really shine under those circumstances.

Having your daily runabout and only car as an extreme off-roader may not be the best idea though!

rjstyles69 · 28th January 2009, 19:53

josepeter nice initial ownership and buying experience report man. One of the best looking Bolero's I have seen off-late, who did the mods in Kerala for you.

BTW where did you pick up those Hella's from : KL = Kerala or KL = Kuala Lumpur ? If in Kerala where there coz I would like to pick up a set too.

josepeter · 28th January 2009, 20:20

@rjstyles - the front grill and smoked lamps was done by one of my friends who runs a customizing shop in Cochin, his shop is on the Seaport-Airport road. The rest were done piecemeal in Chennai.

BTW : KL stood for Kuala Lampur.

shankar.balan · 29th January 2009, 07:35

beautifully done up bolero but personally I preferred the traditional front radiator grille - that has a more jeepy look about it. why not add on a Mahindra heavy duty tow hook at the rear - all you need to do is to slice off a portion of the rear step, add a simple bracket and bolt it on to the steel frame beneath. then it will really look like it means business! (can be achieved at a cost of about 3 grand MAX.
cheers

neoranjit · 29th January 2009, 08:33

cool looking jeep indeed. A head turner for sure. Cool work Jose

spawnofsatan · 29th January 2009, 09:43

This Bolero looks great, I agree you should widen the fender flares, would look better.

For second I thought it was a merc g class!!!

Torqy · 29th January 2009, 12:53

@josepeter, you have one of the best yet subtle looking Boleros i've seen. I love that clean, mesh grill. Recently i got a quote from Kitup (Coimbatore) for 3300/- for that.
Is that worth it? Is there any place in Bangalore where i can get it done?

Red Liner · 29th January 2009, 13:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by josepeter

@rjstyles - the front grill and smoked lamps was done by one of my friends who runs a customizing shop in Cochin, his shop is on the Seaport-Airport road. The rest were done piecemeal in Chennai.

BTW : KL stood for Kuala Lampur.

Jose, can you give me the name of the shop in K'Lumpur? I have folks coming down and I should be able to squeeze a quick favor!

And I have already written to you about the other mods...will be good if we can catch up...maybe I can help you with that swb jeep dream of yours in exchange

josepeter · 29th January 2009, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Jose, can you give me the name of the shop in K'Lumpur? I have folks coming down and I should be able to squeeze a quick favor!

And I have already written to you about the other mods...will be good if we can catch up...maybe I can help you with that swb jeep dream of yours in exchange

Hey Bro! The shop is called Brothers ( they have a chain).

The biggest branch and main Branch is at Kelana Jaya Near Giant Shopping Complex. Or the other branch is at Batu Caves also near Giant Shopping Mall.

You may not get Rallye 2000s ( they are out of production) but may find better ones.

I shall PM you on the other mods. Sure; we can catch up.

josepeter · 29th January 2009, 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torqy

@josepeter, you have one of the best yet subtle looking Boleros i've seen. I love that clean, mesh grill. Recently i got a quote from Kitup (Coimbatore) for 3300/- for that.
Is that worth it? Is there any place in Bangalore where i can get it done?

Hey, I have no experience with Kitup, The price seems to be a little on the steep side. Depends on the mesh they would use; if it is Stainless steel it would be great!

Mine got done @ approx Rs 300 for the mesh ( Aluminium) and Rs 700 for fiberwork and painting. I did spend time looking around for the mesh and giving ideas to the fiberglass expert and 2 days at the workshop. You could save all the trouble and time and buy a ready made one.

Red Liner · 29th January 2009, 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by josepeter

Hey, I have no experience with Kitup, The price seems to be a little on the steep side. Depends on the mesh they would use; if it is Stainless steel it would be great!

Mine got done @ approx Rs 300 for the mesh ( Aluminium) and Rs 700 for fiberwork and painting. I did spend time looking around for the mesh and giving ideas to the fiberglass expert and 2 days at the workshop. You could save all the trouble and time and buy a ready made one.

OR take you to cochin and have it done and do an immediate fitment

abhik · 29th January 2009, 18:24

By Far the best looking Bolero I have seen...Good Going Dude!

josepeter · 29th January 2009, 18:27

@ Redliner - How did I miss your signature ? Yezdi 350!!! it just brought back memories of the lovely time ( the noise is still in my ears) I had with one of my friends ride. In fact there was a pettikada aashan in Cochin who did Yezdi 350s only ( was always too drunk to do anything else).

BTW: Would have loved to have a weekend trip to Cochin; but have to wait; the little one is just 10 days old..have to wait

jgsolo27 · 29th January 2009, 22:10

Beautiful! But I am not satisfied with the PICs. I need to see your beauty directly and am coming to Chennai. Preferably in my Bolero if it's bagged by that time.

Red Liner · 3rd February 2009, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by josepeter

I had done quite a bit of research on tyre upsizing and sampled out a few probables. The stock size is 215/75-15 and comes

with appolo tyres; I didnt care too much for them, the faster I could rip them off the better.

16 v/s 15 debate.

It would have been all too easy to go for the 16s, they look better of course. But Bolero has a bit of an issue here, the

wheel clearence especially at the rear is very little; the 16s would have to go in with very low profile, a maximum of 65;

not good for your spine though!

I found a very useful tire comparison site which took in all factors like highway performance, noise, off-road ability etc.

and my choice would have to be between BFG ATKO, Pirelli Scorpion ( their choice) and Yoko Geolandars.

The safe upsize in 15 was 235/70-15; but I couldn't find any in the 70 profile, the shop had the Yokos in stock; but they

were 75 profile; the tyrewalla insisted that he had put the size on boleros before and I took the chance and decided on them.

The raised white letters must have clinched the deal!

On the drive back to Chennai, my sisters family accompanied us till Salem, with 5 adults and 3 kids the back tyre was scraping against the wheel arches quite regularly on uneven roads. 235/75/15 is not a safe upsize, I would need to modify the rear leaf to get rid of this.

Jose, have you done anything about your tyres? From my calculations you have strayed just 4.26% out of the recommended league from the stock. People recommend between 3-4%, so you have not done anything abjectly wrong. However your tyre diameter has gone up by almost 30mm because of the upsize.

So even though you kept your side-wall % the same, simply because you increased the width of the tyre by 20 mm (which is again within the safe limits prescribed even by TBHP!) - your sidewall has increased exponentially.

Putting another leaf will stiffen your ride a bit more, increase your vehicle height at the rear and you will thus have a lot more body roll in the corners. A better option is probably just hammering away and re-smoothening the wheel arches and increase the height thereby. Otherwise, after the extra leaf, you might need to go in for good rear anti roll sway bar as well. However, I think that is something we need irrespective of changing our tyre sizes.

Its either 235/70/R15 or 225/75/R15. Both of these give you a change of overall tyre diameter to just 6mm. Safest and best looking - as you pointed out much earlier is 235/70/R15. That way you keep safety + looks in the same picture.

Thank you for writing in your clear feedback on these things mate. It really does help a lot of people who come around. Please do let us all know how you have gone about to fix the issue around your upsize.

How is the tyre wear so far on those Yoko's? How many kms have they done? I did see your message of having done 15k so far on them. Let us know.

4th January 2009, 13:03	#46
josepeter BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 416 Thanked: 565 Times	Agree Krish3, Bolero 4X4s have capability off-road, but may not be the first choice when it comes to extreme off-roading. SWB 4x4 Jeeps are way much cheaper and really shine under those circumstances. Having your daily runabout and only car as an extreme off-roader may not be the best idea though! Last edited by josepeter : 4th January 2009 at 13:06.
	() Thanks

28th January 2009, 19:53	#47
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 4,343 Thanked: 842 Times View My Garage	josepeter nice initial ownership and buying experience report man. One of the best looking Bolero's I have seen off-late, who did the mods in Kerala for you. BTW where did you pick up those Hella's from : KL = Kerala or KL = Kuala Lumpur ? If in Kerala where there coz I would like to pick up a set too.
	() Thanks

28th January 2009, 20:20	#48
josepeter BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 416 Thanked: 565 Times	@rjstyles - the front grill and smoked lamps was done by one of my friends who runs a customizing shop in Cochin, his shop is on the Seaport-Airport road. The rest were done piecemeal in Chennai. BTW : KL stood for Kuala Lampur.
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 07:35	#49
shankar.balan BANNED Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11,368 Thanked: 23,142 Times View My Garage Infractions: 0/2 (8)	beautifully done up bolero but personally I preferred the traditional front radiator grille - that has a more jeepy look about it. why not add on a Mahindra heavy duty tow hook at the rear - all you need to do is to slice off a portion of the rear step, add a simple bracket and bolt it on to the steel frame beneath. then it will really look like it means business! (can be achieved at a cost of about 3 grand MAX. cheers Last edited by shankar.balan : 29th January 2009 at 07:37.
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 08:33	#50
neoranjit BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 588 Thanked: 195 Times View My Garage	cool looking jeep indeed. A head turner for sure. Cool work Jose
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 09:43	#51
spawnofsatan BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los angeles/Mumbai Posts: 708 Thanked: 93 Times View My Garage	This Bolero looks great, I agree you should widen the fender flares, would look better. For second I thought it was a merc g class!!!
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 12:53	#52
Torqy BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 966 Thanked: 244 Times	@josepeter, you have one of the best yet subtle looking Boleros i've seen. I love that clean, mesh grill. Recently i got a quote from Kitup (Coimbatore) for 3300/- for that. Is that worth it? Is there any place in Bangalore where i can get it done?
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 18:24	#57
abhik BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 848 Thanked: 12 Times View My Garage	By Far the best looking Bolero I have seen...Good Going Dude!
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 18:27	#58
josepeter BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 416 Thanked: 565 Times	@ Redliner - How did I miss your signature ? Yezdi 350!!! it just brought back memories of the lovely time ( the noise is still in my ears) I had with one of my friends ride. In fact there was a pettikada aashan in Cochin who did Yezdi 350s only ( was always too drunk to do anything else). BTW: Would have loved to have a weekend trip to Cochin; but have to wait; the little one is just 10 days old..have to wait
	() Thanks

29th January 2009, 22:10	#59
jgsolo27 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Pondicherry Posts: 71 Thanked: 14 Times	Beauty Beautiful! But I am not satisfied with the PICs. I need to see your beauty directly and am coming to Chennai. Preferably in my Bolero if it's bagged by that time.
	() Thanks