[PhantomLord]

Unboxing: Unboxing video I found online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XyunkEcsIE

Wheel Inside:



Rear Wheel:


End Cap: I had to grind the end cap and bolts again a bit for clearance.



Tucked In ?




Front Wheel:





Front Cup: Remember BS4 front hub small difference ? Cup from BS6 was loose, had to expand the mouth for tight fit.



Front Inside:



ET38 Gap: I was doubtful of front fit because ET and measurement I made was pretty close, at the end I got lucky, there is about 5mm gap between hub arm and wheel. Since stock wheel ET is not clear this is about the max you can go, may be ET40 will fit.

[PhantomLord]

Chassis Badge: I had some confusion on GK21 weight, chassis number badge shows below details.



Weight in Manual:



Stock Wheel + Ceat(245/70R16) Weight: 29KG



Black Rhino and RT+(245/75R16) Weight: 34KG




Measured Weight: Weight measured on weigh bridge with roof rack, RT+, spare stock wheel and 3/4 tank fuel. With spare RT+ it should be ~2.3T. 335Kg Payload is confusing now, no hefty 4 passengers ? Luggage ? Roof Load ? Towing capacity ?

For now I will simply assume it's old school G with GVW as 2800Kg.




Arai Stock Dimensions:




Rear Fender Height with RT+: 885mm



Under Chassis: Approximate, I have removed Axle guard, since it was more of hindrance.

[PhantomLord]

Green Gurkha + Evening Sun = Rainbow



Front (MB on plate )









Just Right ?

[ValuableRecluse]

PhantomLord! This really is an amazing thread, with sharp well exposed photographs which undoubtedly will be invaluable to future Gurkha owners.

Engine guards do reduce ground clearance but are invaluable on an IFS vehicle doing trail driving. My Ironman Engine and gearbox guard hang lower than the stock guard on my Fortuner. So has made bone jarring contact several times even when a stock Fortuner ahead of me has cleared the offending rock easily. Fortunately its thick gauge steel has only a few scratch marks to show for all my enthusiastic driving.

Better engine guards could be you're next project for your Gurkha?

Cheers and happy motoring!

[PhantomLord]

Originally Posted by ValuableRecluse

Engine guards do reduce ground clearance but are invaluable on an IFS vehicle doing trail driving.

Agree, there is a reason Force Motors added this as afterthought. Most of the test drive complaints here (who are used to DI's) was guard rubbing on simple trails. So local dealer has removed it and they are planning a replacement, will see what they come up with. Engine oil pan is well above the front axle, steering rack and control arm mount which are likely to take it if Gurkha lands on belly. This needs proper design extended from front guard.

Roof Light: Roof light is Rigid Industries Dually D2 with Orange lens. Its more than decade old and still lights up mountain.



Switch:




Cover: Wanted car cover so contacted Coverwell Nexus from Delhi, they obliged but had trouble getting access to Gurkha 21, spoke to Mr.Rajan from Force Motors, finally Mr.Nitesh was able assist Coverwell Nexus managed to get the cover. It needs to be bit longer(6") if you have roof rack.

[wheeledwanderer]

Lovely thread, plethora of information. Was happy to see weighing receipt from my hometown Virajpet! Safe Miles in the new Gurkha. Next time when I come to Virajpet and I see your Gurkha around, shall come and connect!

[Turbolove]

The blackrhino wheels look amazing. Would you be able to share their cost ?

[PhantomLord]

Wheel Bolt: Wheel bolt for official alloy and steel wheel is different, alloy bolts look aftermarket and is designed for lug centric wheels. I lucked out on wheel bolt, the stock steel wheel bolt was exact match for bolt seat in BR wheel. I had to buy 3 extra wheel bolts for spare wheel which had different seat cup.

Bolts: Sliver is Stock


Difference: When bolted to BR wheel


Bolt Socket: BR looks designed for 17mm wheel bolt, Gurkhas 19mm is bit tight, it is better to use bolt socket with plastic sleeve else its easy to damage bolt hole edges.



Hub Seal: I felt front hub seal had inadequate protection, I had 2 extra seals and there was enough gap for one more so inserted it in reverse to reduce dust gap. By putting seal in reverse the lip does on run on retainer, keeping drag stock. If you have re-built differentials you would have come across newer dust cap designs having lesser gap.

Stock:



Double Seal:



Outside Dirt Gap: Left is stock (pic from Manuuj's post), right is double seal after 300Kms.


Gear Oil Change: Changed GB oil after wheel upgrade, magnetic drain bolt did have some metal shavings. Oil at the bottom looked like engine oil since it was parked for a week.



Axle Guard: Components above Axle Guard, you can see oil pan is out of danger, Steering rack & Axle needs some protection.



DAWG:

[PhantomLord]

Originally Posted by wheeledwanderer

Next time when I come to Virajpet and I see your Gurkha around, shall come and connect!

Sure :-)

Originally Posted by Turbolove

The blackrhino wheels look amazing. Would you be able to share their cost ?

You can get it from UK or US, I used my personal contacts to get it from UK. I also had checked with dgtwheels.com directly, was told they can ship to India. Best would be to contact alloys importer in your city to avoid customs hassle.

[FloatingCanvas]

Originally Posted by PhantomLord

Just Right ?

Attachment 2271972

Phantomlord, yes, it's just right. Like every single aspect of your ride, review and renovations.

Thank you for sharing a detailed journal of your journey with your majestic ride. Even though a significant part of the technical details went over/under/through my head, I couldn't skip even a single line.

Terrific choice of wheels. Could you post a small clip of them in motion? Curious as to how the wheels might look with the protruding bolt-like things.

[PhantomLord]

Originally Posted by FloatingCanvas

Could you post a small clip of them in motion? Curious as to how the wheels might look with the protruding bolt-like things.

For that I need some shooting gear, will try. I have not done justice shooting the wheel checkout the stream here https://www.flickr.com/photos/tswall...n/photostream/

In Stock form its not blingy, the look comes from sturdy single disc like structure. Once it pickup dust or mud, it looks mostly black.

Those protruding headless bolts are removable, customizing choice are unlimited from disco lights to MadMax style spikes.



Plastic bolt cover is held well with 2 long bolts, it can be wrapped or customized to large aluminum plate to look more military



Fog Lamps:
Stock Fog Lamp are poor, you can just change bulb to OSRAM H8/H11 for excellent lighting.

[Manuuj]

In complete awe of your review! It is absolutely superb and made for an amazing read!

Your knowledge of the hubs and all the mechanicals is astounding. I could barely understand everything even though it was so well explained which is a reflection of my poor grasp of technical and mechanical things. I love your Alloys and the way they stick to the line of the fender.

Stock alloy wheel ET is +12.

I had thought that my Zero offset alloys would offer a similar stance, but was wrong ofcourse. Am a big fan of the 245/75/16 tyre size for the Gurkha. I think that is the most suitable and proportional size. The same Radar Renegade RT plus are doing duty on Asterix too as you mentioned in your review as well. What side did you keep showing outside? Skulls or Daggers?

Look forward to regular updates on DAWG!

[PhantomLord]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Your knowledge of the hubs and all the mechanicals is astounding.

It's never ending learning, there was a problem with my rear hub cut, result could have been catastrophic, will update once I have implemented new solution .

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Stock alloy wheel ET is +12.

I had thought that my Zero offset alloys would offer a similar stance, but was wrong ofcourse. Am a big fan of the 245/75/16 tyre size for the Gurkha. I think that is the most suitable and proportional size. The same Radar Renegade RT plus are doing duty on Asterix too as you mentioned in your review as well.

Yeah I read ET +12 from your post, was not sure about complete specification like J etc with no marking on the wheel. Main point is we need to know the max wheel can go in or protrude out. So that you can plan on target ET for wheel, in my case I was lucky for ET to have matched so well, i,e 5mm gap to hub arm and on outside match the mud flap end(See last picture in post #18).

With what I am seeing, it gives us Wheel specification 8J + 245/75/16 is the max Gurkha wheel well can take in terms of width and ET +38 makes it sit just right.

Now you can play around wheel fit calculator to verify how your chosen wheel fits. Below is compare on ET +38 vs ET +12

Originally Posted by Manuuj

What side did you keep showing outside? Skulls or Daggers?

Skull, post #16

[Guru_Shikhar]

What a good review and mods!!!

Congratulations on your new possession. I think Team bhp will be a bible for future Gurkha owners with purchase and mod information details available at a glance in these threads; Manuuj’s thread and this one.

The tyres look lovely and well proportionate.

Please keep posting the updates and share costs if possible. These two threads will be responsible to help Force Motors dell this one good product more.

Cheers.

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by PhantomLord

It's never ending learning..
Yeah I read ET +12 from your post, was not sure about complete specification like J etc with no marking on the wheel.

As far as i have gathered the stock Neo alloy wheels are +12 offset, 6.5 J, 160x5 PCD with a CB of 115.

I am surprised that FM went with these specs. 6.5J is way too narrow for a 245 mm width tyre and 115 CB is wholly unsuitable for a 108.5 mm Hub Center Diameter.

But then I'm no engineer and they have many.