Daan
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Posts posted by Daan
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Am I right in thinking this would also reduce the chance of bending the track rod, since the damper is likely to be exerting a force against one wheel or another from a mid-point rather than potentially down the drag link and then across the entire length of the track rod?
I doubt it. I have only ever managed to bend it by hitting something.
Daan
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Prt works well to get your vehicle out. But then you face the challenge of getting the prt out of the ground- oh deary me. In the end we just had a strap attached to it, drive over it after recovery and pull it out.
I wouldn't buy it again.
Daan
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Am I missing something here - my only purpose for fitting a steering damper to the 109 way back when was to stop the wheel kicking round off-road as it resisted sharp movements, once you were moving it made naff all difference... now the PAS takes a lot of the kick out, however now I (once again) need to fit a damper because my caster is slightly below-par which makes it a bit skittish and a damper should help calm it down a tad.
All this gubbins about wheels and rocks and stuff, as I've experienced it when a wheel gets to a rock the tendency is for it to bump up against it and pull the wheel to that side. Here's the science bit as I see it: As the opposite wheel is still progressing along nicely, the action of the diff is such that the wheel going over an obstacle has to travel further (up, over, down) than it's opposite (which just has to go along) so if the wheels have a similar level of grip you'll end up turning in the direction of the obstacle. I can't back that up with pie-charts though...
Al, perhaps some trials in the field would help gather data - know anyone with a working truck?
The pas does do a lot in damping it, So I dont think the damper makes such a big difference. The only people I have seen playing with this are the comp safari boys, running 2 dampers on the steering. Whether their purpose was to provide more damping or protect the steering box, I dont know.
My setup is slightly different than most, since my damper is on the trackrod rather than the draglink. It is similar to a rangerover, but the damper is above the draglink, rather than being at te same level. Reason for this is that the reaction forces and play in the system is the same for both wheels.
I use a genuine parts disco damper, which works very well with this setup, only remove the outer cover, otherwise it fills up with mud and you will be left with only one direction you can steer in (gues how I know!)
daan
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wrong forum for this question.
Daan
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The last one HFH mentioned, the sureseal, is very good and simple, I have used these throughout the car.
daan
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Dave,
Congrats with your Dibnah style winch. Another point I ould like to add: You really should add a slider joint in the driveshaft if there isn't one in there already. I have had many occasions wereby the movement off the engine backward and forward caused the shaft to get disengaged from a UJ, leaving me with no drive and lost components.
Adrian is also well aware of this, it has been the only real downside of the pto setup. I have rotated the PTO as well, which makes the routing of the shaft much better. The other thing I did was locking the slipclutch solid. THis has made it pull just about anything, but as a result I shared a key in the bottom sprocket. this is easily replaced though.
Daan
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peterborough galvanizers did a very nice job on my chassis and other parts; this unfortunately cannot be said of their forklift driver which then threw the lot against a concrete post and bended some bits.
Daan
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I tried them once, I found them cutting very quick and easily, but they lasted seconds really. I didn't buy them again as a result.
daan
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Oh, and I use a PTO winch, none of this 'electric teethbrush that you forgot to charge up last night' sensations.
Daan
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It might also have something to do with you not abusing your equipment
Tony. 
Proper care of the rope should avoid cuts in all but the most unfortunate circumstances IMHO.
Plasma (to use a generic term, other brands are available
) has great advantages but it's main disadvantage is durability. One should therefore be a little more careful with letting it rub against anything other than a fairlead. Even then, be sure to inspect your fairlead regularly as they do scuff up relatively easily.It is easy to say the bigger the rope the bigger safety margin one has if it gets damaged, but where do you stop? I think a better approach is to treat the rope with respect and not let it cut into the ground or rub against rocks etc. Sure in the heat of competition you may say the bigger rope gives you more leeway, but sooner or later that approach will end in tears when even a nice fat rope lets go through abuse / misuse.
As a wise man once said, "To finish first, first you have to finish"
I bought 2 ropes of ruftraks in 2003. Both 9.5 mm dia. Thats all i have used until today. Events: tough trucks trophy (2x), RFC, argyl and several pay and play days. If you look after it it will last a long time.
I respool it between stages and wash it after every event.
daan
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I thought bullbars were banned by all insurers ages ago. I know my insurer has. I do remember the A-bar still being legal though.
As Brittain being difficult for modded vehicles: well, if youre planning to stay in Europe, brittain is the best place of them all. You try modding a vehicle in holland and get it legal-forget it. chassis mods are not permitted unless you are an approved company to do modifications to road vehicles. Germany is even worse (you cant even change the tyre size without approval of the tuv)and just about every other eu country wont allow you to play with your car. We have the SVA now, but looking at corrodes fingers attempt at getting his hybrid legal, it means jack by the sounds of it.
Daan
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Thanks for your replys, will certainly keep jez' offer in mind.
Daan
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Its a 200 litre one.
Daan
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there is a boc sticker on it I believe. do you mean the numbers engraved on the bottle? I havent really looked at it.
Daan
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Lads,
I have a question for the welding stig or anyone else who has experience in the subject: I bought a mig welder some time ago, complete with a 200 litre bottle of gas. Off course, the gas has run out and now it needs a refill. Where can I take it for a refill, without anyone getting exited about me signing hire contracts and the like. I think i would be able to last a year with a bottle with the amount of welding i do and i am not keen on paying rent for something I dont use a lot.
Daan
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In my humble experience, the smaller aftermarket airfilters are less effective, ie more dirt in the engine.
I would go for the biggest paper filter you can fit.
The position in front of the windscreen would get knocked of in the jungle, for sure.
Daan
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My version:
I did this during the original build of my hybrid, back in 2001. The caliper is an AP racing caliper of a jaguar XJ220 (it has jaguar racing cast into it).
The disc is vauxhall Astra.
If I had the option of buying it at the time, I would have gone for that.
Daan
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valve clearances will have to be adjusted back to standard
i'm guessing that the higher compression ratio might make it pink a bit more so u might have to retard the timing abit, more of a trial and error thing imo
I doubt that very much, I have done this, and with euro95 unleaded, i never could get it to pink, I could retard it sofar that it would backfire. If you had enough material on the head, you could skim to 10:1 without to many problems I reckon (no prove for this though).
Daan
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Articulation of a de dion would still be limited by the allowable angle of the u-joints on the drive shafts.
Yes, but the fact that the axle acts as a live axle means there is a lot of camberchange which reduces the angles of the joints. I personally dont see much benefit to get more than 13 inch myself, but thats personal preference.
Daan
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Youre having a live axle after all!
I reckon that you really want the front and rear flex evenly, so In my mind this setup would be less desirable because of stability.
If I were you, I would build your car with de dion axles; I think that is the best solution because it will combine the advantages of both live and indi suspension.
Daan
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Right then, the lowered roof.
I did replace the standard s3 roof with a modified defender 90 flat roof. There are a couple of reasons for using a 90 roof:
First of all the absence of the ribs makes it 20 mm lower to begin with. Secondly, in order to have enough headroom, I effectively needed to move the slope of the roof forward, so that your head is exactly at the highest point. Since a 90 roof is 4 in longer, you achieve this by shortening the roof at the front by 4 inches. You need a flat roof without alpine windows, since the cut would go straight through these.
The conversion is pretty straightforward, but as usual, takes more time than you thought at the start. Basically cut off the gutter and remove the gutterlip from the gutter. Create a new lip on the bottom of the roof (just fold over the edges of the roof using a plank of wood and a plastic hammer). The area around the rear door is a bit harder to achieve, but can be done by cutting a bit of wood in the right shape and folding around this.
The front of the roof is created by folding the roof round to create a channel which bolts onto the s3 roof. Once this is done, you can rivet the old raingutter back on.
In the latest reincarnation I cut the raingutter lip away, and fitted some alu box section instead, these are my tree bars. I think they are pretty nicely integrated this way.
The endresult is 80 mm lower than standard, which is good for fitting in the garage. My main reason for doing it originally was clearance to trees in the jungle. It worked very well for this. I still have to add the external roll cage, which is waiting for a new tube to be bended(It got mashed when i rolled it).
To add more headclearance, I removed all the internal channels, especially around the drivers head, and to add strength back in, the roof is tied to the rollcage in a couple of places. The weight of the roof reduced by 10 kg (compared to the s3 roof). I also added lexan windows for weightsaving reasons.
I hope the pictures make things a bit more clear, I can imagine the above story doesnt make sence without them..
It clears the garage lovely!
Daan
endresult:
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I reckon horni and dolly are up against each other in terms of letting their fanasys run wild. Thank god they are only fantasizing about roll cages...
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Si, as I understand it a higher roll centre will reduce the effect of torque on the axle trying to lift a wheel during acceleration and bring the roll centre closer to the vehicles CoG meaning you'll have less weight transfer over rough ground which'll help stability. A lower roll centre should have its pivot point near to the centre of the axle meaning the vehicle should have less steering effect during articulation and there should be less resistance to articulation meaning better stability. As most of the effects seem to be dependent on stability at speed I tend not to be too sure about the relevant effects on a low speed vehicle. Is what I'm saying OK or am I talking gibberish?
I personally dont think the roll centre height has an effect on drive torque. But a higher roll centre gives us better stability, allowing us to fit softer springs which improve travel and have better weight distribution over our four wheels on uneven ground.
A low roll centre is more for f1 boys, (on road level or below). The trade off is that these cars have a very high rollstiffness, achieved by stif springs and anti roll bars. I think the whole story about roll steering or resistance to articulation is largely a case of bad design, or people lifting a car sky high without looking at geometry. And even if all this has an effect: does it make a blinding bit of difference? I dont think it does myself.
I have been involved in Rallycars and their suspension quite a bit, and always the endresult of lots of testing was: a higher rollcentre improves the car, in terms of handling and grip.
My 2p worth on suspension.
Coming back to the toyota conversion: I had and still have the same plan, interesting to see how you get on, it look well engineered.
Daan
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Tony. 
) has great advantages but it's main disadvantage is durability. One should therefore be a little more careful with letting it rub against anything other than a fairlead. Even then, be sure to inspect your fairlead regularly as they do scuff up relatively easily.
Weather at Billing?/Billing reviews
in International Forum
Posted
Am I reading the right forum? Are landrover owners worried about mud? Are we going there for traders or do we have friends we can speak to or even better meet new people? Boys , give me a break, I had a great time, bought loads of bits and pieces and saw loads of interesting things.
Dont park at billing, park outside and walk in
Wristband?
Daan