discomikey

I'm a big believer in do it properly. Take as much time as you want to take on a project. If there's no rush why rush it?

I'll be going with a series 88" tub and couple of roofs plus as much as I can fit on my trailer! either be in a red disco 2 or a red disco 4. come say hello!

The ideal is to use any existing outriggers from the chassis, although if i rember right, Land cruisers are distinctly lacking in substantial outriggers that span towards the sills. with regards to mounting the rock sliders, the material used on the inside face of the slider is doing basically nothing, other than supplying a clamping surface for the bolt setup used. something like in this picture would be easily as effective and much simpler. you don't need the whole one piece plate , although it is acting like a spreader in torsion on the main chassis rail. The best thing to do is align the "outriggers" on your rock sliders with any crossmembers that run underneath between the two rails. This will help, as long as the crossmember is relatively deep, or shaped so that it stiffens the rails in torsion. This method only works if there are captive nuts inside the chassis to pick up on, or in the most ideal situation, the chassis should contain crush tubes. This method wouldn't work bolted all the way through without crush tubes. Also note the depth of the mounting outriggers on the plate. The lower face is pretty much in line with the bottom of the chassis, and the upper face is pretty much in line with the top of the chassis. this stops the rock slider locally buckling the side face of the chassis. Without a solid outrigger on the chassis to pick up on, I would strongly recommend tying this back up to the strong areas of the sill, with spreader plates. But if the body is rubber mounted, so must these ties be. They will still work to an extent in reducing chassis stress whilst retaining the body/chassis NVH isolation and reducing likelyhood of fatigue.

I don't like to put down other poeples work but that is shocking stuff. Like you say, what if they fell off on the motorway? The design, although not 100% ideal, isn't the issue. You should be fine just welding it back together as it was, so any improvements from there is only a bonus. Tying it back up to where the side steps mount is a very sensible idea, just make sure if this is on the body, that you consider the fact the body is rubber mounted. you may end up putting a fatigue force on the side step mounting location.

Nearly "finished" then! Looking very smart!

It entirely depends on available geometry. however the roll stiffness lost by using 1, 2, 3 or 4 link makes for an extremely floppy ride. Each and every setup, can be done correctly but you have to think about the whole chassis system not just links!!!! not only that but the roll stiffness relationship between axles has a direct effect on the understeer/oversteer characteristics of the car. Hence why when (for example) JLR fitted the heavy duty tow pack rear springs to certain cars they stipulate the rear anti roll bar must be removed. Ross is already looking into what anti roll bar setup is required to retain a normal ride characteristic with a less stiff front end, but this is something that can (without pages and pages of maths) be done by trial and error. This then reduces flex again so some form of disconnect is likely required. Connecting your axles directly to, or very close to the chassis rails is the ideal, Fitting a single link to the centre of a crossmember that spans the gap means it has to be exceedingly stiff in both vertical and fore/aft bending cases. Creating the need for a very large and unwieldy crossmember, not to mention the weight. If you then consider wheel strike situations, the nature of this system will try and pull the whole axle around the centre joint, to one side or the other, putting a massive strain on the panhard rod and its mountings (which I have seen snap on standard setups). Using links which run back to the chassis rail. it all acts much more in unison. while one link is acting in compression, the above mentioned pull force at the wheel is being reacted by the other link in tension, meaning the only forces the panhard rod has do deal with are what is is designed for. Pure lateral force. not the much more extra lateral force created by a swinging moment. you should see how much a diff nose moves under power/braking! its incredible!!! radius arms do wrap. a lot, stiffer bushes will help but increase roll stiffness. the ability for these bushes to flex is what allows a radius arm setup to actually cross axle. if these bushes were solid, in theorey, there would be infinity roll stiffness, and zero axle wrap. JLR spent a lot of time working out the best compromise. edit... I use the term JLR out of habit, although this dates back to Land Rover/BL days...

When I next get my hands on a D2 bare chassis I plan to profile it and remodel it on CAD. Bits will then be available in as big or small sections as required. But thats realistically a while off

Big vote for Oxford machines. Mines a migmaker 330-1 absolute stonker!

I own a 4 post ramp.. work run 3 or 4 off 2 post ramp and a 4 post ramp.. for me it isvery job dependant. If you work on a SWB series, you'll need a 4 post ramp. Can't get a 2 post ramp on the chassis. If you're working on transverse engined cars a lot, 2 post ramps are ideal. Ask anyone who has done transverse engined timing belts on a 4 post ramp! The best compromise is probably a 4 post ramp with a wheel free system as You'd manage a timing belt job much easier and have the added safety of a 4 post ramp

cover up.. How dare you This one isn't for sale its a repair for someone else. on the plus side.. just for a larf... this is an 06 plate Mitsubushi Shogun Sport.. and they say Land Rover's rot! the other side needed the same and an additional 2 sections cutting out and pidgeoning in

Hi all.. I just asked this question on a carefully chosen LR FB page.. trying to avoid the kneejerk reaction answer of Buzzweld, even stating that I do not want that coating (without slagging the company off) Knew I should have asked here (a sensible place).. So do any of you guys know of a decent hard wearing chassis black paint. One that can be applied to a slightly crusty chassis with a fairly decent prep.. I don' expect it to last forever but more than 3 months would be ideal.

Thanks for the link @Bowie69 i'm more than happy to offer advice/what went well and not so well if anyone needs it

no 3 mudmonkey

the idea is great - innovative from experience in this area. Keep things dead simple. complexity normally ends up biting you in the proverbial when you are rushing to get back out on stage in 40°+ heat. Mount the gearbox and transfer box to one bolt in crossmember and then build yourself a specific gearbox adaptor for your chosen jack. Japanese pickups use this arrangement and I can easily do a clutch replacement in 3 hours start to finish. work to ensure access. Access is the key. Commonise bolt sizes wherever possible too! Also check your specific competition regulations because 9/10 times quarter turn fasteners holding floor and transmission tunnel panels are not allowed. if you can make the transmission removable without having to remove tunnel paneling then life becomes much easier.

a cv joint must be run at an angle otherwise they seize up over time. similar to UJ's they dont like being run dead straight

The main advantage of an ATB diff is not low speed technical off road driving where lockers or spools are the most effective but high speed off road where grip characteristics are improved and therefore the vehicles become more predictable on cornering. I've run an ATB rear on road, off road and high speed and they are definitely advantageous. They are better slow off road than an open diff if you left foot brake to aid it bias. It acts like an open diff with no preload.

Purely NVH, same reason all newer JLR products have 3 mounts. The idea is (in the off road guise) to find a bush which is very supple in rocking, but fairly stiff in vertical load. Something the Discovery 2 chassis end radius arm bush is very good at. 4 mounts is more mounts but more doesn't necessarily mean better. It depends on failure mode. A D2 radius arm bush or similar is captive whereas the bobbin type mounts in failure shear off and leave no mechanical connection to the chassis

Regarding pointing the diff pinion straight at the transfer box output, that's not neciserially a good idea. The straight UJ at the diff end effectively running a constant velocity V.S. a large angle ~12-15°+ (which is therefore running a non constant velocity) at the transfer box end can cause the prop to "slap" the centre diff on overrun at higher speeds. This sounds like a terribly rough bearing inside the T box! Horrible You're better off trying to equalise angles than at both ends and phase the It's to suit. If you keep the prop straight at one end and want all the angle to happen at the other end that needs to be a double Cardon joint that runs at effectively a constant velocity

Recently with work I commissioned some Lexan curved windows (ploycarbonate basically) To which they applied a scratch resistant coating. We used a company called Plastic Mouldings Ltd, in scotland. Tooling isn't particularly cheap, but with this sort of stuff it never is. But their service is pretty good.

I think this subject is very much down to what suits you.. I don't use enough to warrant a rental bottle of argoshield from Engweld or somewhere similar, I run a Hobbyweld bottle which comes filled to the 150bar not 300 bar, i would jump straight to Albee or similar but the fact that my local supplier will deliver and collect bottles for free and works on a monthly account so i can actually have an extra bottle and as long as it is returned before the month is up, i only pay the gas, as the deposit is taken and then recredited before i get the bill. So the gas itself is far from economical but when i need gas i get it same day, just from a phone call while i'm still at work, so when i arrive home that evening im ready to go. I'm toying with the idea of purchasing my own AC/DC pulse TIG as I have recently started at work, Gas usage is much higher on this so I may have to conisder moving to rental bottles to make this more economical.

even if you repair it as practise, you wont really waste anything other than a bit of time and a small amount of cash!

Hi, have you done this yet? I'd like to offer my 2p. Your welder is capable of this work. Whack it up to full power and just make sure it's prepped well and keep to the front of the puddle. Watch It dig! There's no need to overcomplicate this. If you are at all unsure then take it to a professional welders. An axle falling off is far from ideal but you know that. Happy welding.

Ross, regardless if they are solid models or not, on Catia its pretty simple to get it moving as it would in real life. if you want to throw me the model ill happily constrain it and set the pivots for you.

you might be surprised to know its not overkill, with damper hoops as tall as those in a high speed off road environment fatigue can be a big issue, adding stiffeners such as crosses greatly reduces chance of failure, and the added stiffness of such beefy crosses makes the chassis as a whole so much stiffer, as the front around the engine bay is always more lacking in stiffness than the occupant cell and back end. Looking like its nearly finished.. So, Ill see you at KoW then Steve?

get rid of 3mm thickness on the crossmember plates.. remember, its only as strong as what its mounted to anyway. 3mm S355 is more than plenty. the box section used seems alright, what thickness is it? depending on loading and where mud can get easily, there should be a big scope for the removal of material within the box while still retaining strength.