whats better d22 or d40 off road

Nissan Navara Forum

Help Support Nissan Navara Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
What type of off-road?

You can get the 22 higher easier so that's more likely better in the bush, but I'd say the d40 for beach.

Think the d22 has a shorter wheel base too. Don't quote me on that tho.

Not 100% what's got a better front suspension set up. For off road.
 
I do a bit of everything it has suprisingly got me thru some tough tracks just stock but is gonna cost a fortune to get it were I want it just not sure if I wanna spend it on my 22 or upgrade to the 40
 
I had this in mind back at the start of '09 when purchasing my new toy.

Yeah the D40 was a lot more comfortable and plush inside and came along with more goodies.....there were a few influencing factors to my eventual decision....

I personally don't like lots of plastic dials because they eventually break with enough use, and as for electronic locking hubs, well I prefer manual & mechanical only because they're easier to work on yourself and probably not nearly as expensive if they let go.
The other big thing for me was that the D22 felt more like a ruggered 4be that could handle a bit of rough handling and take on some decent tracks (with an approrpiate set up of course) where as my thoughts on the D40 was that it was a bit of a poser and not really a bush basher as such. Its big, its heavy and not quite as nimble and was another $12k on top of what the D22 was costing.

So, i went with the D22 because my main intention was to turn it in to a toy (outside of warranty) and I have never looked back or regretted that decision. One thing I will say is that the factory rear shocks are kidney bruisers so a suspension upgrade will be required if you intend on doing anything rough
 
I think that if your looking at touring either car will be great. If you want to go hardcore, go buy a coil sprung truck. Navaras 22 or 40 are never going to be rock crawlers, unless you sink a small fortune into them or you hit everything at lightning speed:):)
As tourers and maybe a bit more, they are great cars!!!!
GO THE NAVS!!!!!!
 
And the rampover and clearance boy!!!

That was driver.

The D40 is a better platform to start with if you intend on upgrading or modifying for offroad. Although upgades are more expensive than D22. It has a much wider wheel track, makin it a much more stable platform. The D22 is limited by it's torsion bars. Depending on how far and how much you want to spend you can do the standard suspension upgrade, too a Calmini drop kit, then add a Titan swap or go the full hog and SAS (which yes can be done to a D22).
It all comes down to personal choise what best suits you. Do you research, figure out you want or best suits you. Cause if you ask other people you'll get a hundres different answers.

But don't let peopke tell you that Navaras are not a capable 4wd. Cause they are just narrow minded.
 
Last edited:
It's quite an unfair comparison in that video. The Hilux has a wheelbase of around 2640mm and the Navara about 3200mm. The Lux was noticeably lifted and the Navara not - so there was already a considerable difference in rampover between the two. We won't go into the power differences (60.7kW in the Lux compared to 126kW in the Navara) or the level of comfort (concrete slab with indicators in the Lux, vs almost car-like in the Navara).

The D40 is a more expensive platform than the D22. That means it is not the same - for the extra coin you get coil front suspension, better interior (including far better seats) and in reality the D40 is only 100mm longer than the D22 - and the current version D22 actually sits (stock) lower than the D40, so rampover between the two vehicles is almost identical. It just costs more to do stuff to the D40.

So, D22 or D40? Depends on your needs. Do you want something that's stable for towing with the occasional off-road use? Either will do the job, the D40 will do it easier because it has more power (stock) but you can increase the power in the D22 with some (relatively) minor modifications.

The D22 will be more acceptable as a "rough play" toy because of the reduced cost - not as much at stake, so you don't mind if it gets a ding from a rock or a tree trunk. When you've poured nearly $80K into a STX550 ($65K plus canopy 4K, bar $3K, winch $1K, lights $1K, suspension $2K+, dual battery $1K, radio etc) you're understandably reluctant to just throw the car into a ditch filled with muddy water without checking it for IEDs and the like first.

Your choice is personal to you. If you have the coin to choose either, then take both for a drive. You'll discover that while the D22 doesn't have as many beans up top, it gets to the beans it has way more smoothly than the D40 thanks to a lower reliance on boost to provide power (which is what causes the lag in the D40). You'll also discover that the D40 tows better, especially on hills, and on long-haul trips there's nothing like the comfort in the D40.

Your passengers are also a consideration - the D22's cabin is 175mm shorter than the D40 and while a small amount of this difference is up front, most of it is taken out of the rear seats, so if you've got teenage kids (or getting that way in size) the D22 won't be as suitable, especially for any longer trips.
 
since we have both in the family i will try to make a fair comparison
firstly the d22 in 2002 costed me the same amount of money i would have to pay today for a d40 v6 new, and back then money was far more harder to gather than now so its not a price comparison to me
in the d22 i have used it to tend my fields i got from my father at weekends (i work in a siemens factory but i have some olive oil trees and produce my own wine) and i have loaded the truck up to 1500 kgs on stock suspension without a problem, never had clearance problem and i just hate new cars electronics, i mean bluetooth or auto wipers and auto lights are useless to me, i have them in my daily driver and hate them
in the our 2009 d40 (my brothers) which is the 140kw version it clearly has more power, better seats as stated and coil overs are just better than torsions bars, but in work might want to do it had limitations from the front stock bumper, its just too low ! we havent really loaded it as far as our d22 but does well obviously but we both hate this "upgrade" of the 4wd being on a silly button, why did they remove the stick for the love of god.... we are on our second 4wd switches.... also we had a bearing problem, unlike the old fashioned d22 pushed one which are far more reliable and do the exact same work so they are better, its those upgrades that make the d40 look "little"
i cant compare the cabin space mine is a king cab my brothers is double.
on the upside the d40 can get a suspension lift much cheaper with front coil spacers and extended shacles, the d22 would need a torsion bar otherwise you will wound it up and destroy it in 2-3 years.
overall we love both and we will keep both for many many years (we still have our dad 1985 4wd nissan 720 around 600,000 kms on the clock running like new ;) )
far better trucks than a hilux or a isuzu or a ford-mazda..... the 2005- l200 is just laughable i liked the 1997-2004 model far more
 
and what i am trying to say in images, i would never take our d40 up there in case we are bumper short, i just have no problem to get my hands dirty and then worrying not to do any damage, i just wash it after ;) the only time we took the d40 to work, we were trying to clean our hands with soap and water 20 minutes and he had second clean clothes to change before we get in...
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0004.jpg
    DSC_0004.jpg
    27.6 KB
  • P1010014.jpg
    P1010014.jpg
    19.8 KB
Hands down if you get the high right on the d40 it will pump the hilux and d22 ive owend all 3 and the way the d40 puts its power down is not normal even off road its confortable lol as you can see in the video the guy driving is a duck the car is only 10% rest is up to the driver so i say haters piss off dont but a nav go buy ur self a 200 series than maybe you will he happy
 

Latest posts

Back
Top