Snagger

Hi everyone. I have a 109 on 1-ton chassis and shackles with TIC HD parabolics. The braking system is the late dual circuit, servo assisted type. The dampers are Procomp ES9000s. The vehicle is used as a daily commuter and also for trips, with a high gross weight and relatively high CoG. I'd like to fit later axles for a variety of reasons, principally better brakes, greater steering lock, CV jointed swivels and wider track. I have already secured a Discovery 200Tdi front axle in great condition, and plan to fit a Defender's disc braked rear Salisbury axle. As far as I can see, the rear axle looks pretty simple, just needing the leaf spring seats welding on and either a bracket welded to the axle for the 109 damper configuration, or the use of the coiler's upper damper mounts bolted through new bolt holes (with spacer tubes) in the chassis rails (advice on which would be best would be appreciated). The front axle looks far more complicated, with the issue of the diff housing being very close to the right side spring and clearance issues between the track rod and the springs and dampers. There is also the issue of setting the castor angle. I have found one existing thread on here regarding the conversion, and it gave me a few ideas, but it's a long-dead thread and there was no follow up as to how well the vehicles were performing. I was wondering if anyone one could please give me advice on the following: 1) How do you set the castor angle accurately to the required 3 degrees? 2) Is it necessary to have thick spring seats, or can the correct castor angle and track rod clearance be achieved with relatively standard thickness seats? 3) Does fitting the dampers inverted to clear the track rod, as done on the black Air-portable (Mechano's?), cause any problems for the dampers, or do I need to fabricate brackets to mount the dampers above the track rod axis? 4) I was planning to use a TD5 Discovery front prop shaft so that the rear end would have a double-cardan joint - can this be done without much hassle? 5) Has anyone any ideas on how to fit the axle donor's anti-sway bars too, as the 109 suffers significant roll on corners, especially when heavily laden?

Hi guys. I'm new to this forum, so don't pounce! I have been running a 200Tdi in my 109 for nearly a year and it has not yet harmed the transmission in any apparent way. This includes a 2,500 mile trip to do the Alps this summer, where the vehicle had to run down the auto-routes at 70mph with a 3.5T gross weight and all the drag of the kit on the roof, as well as dragging that weight up to 10,500' to the Sommelier glacier, and several hundred miles off road. The only mods to the transmission were the Rocky Mountain overdrive and transfer box bottom plate, and the only trouble on the transmission was that the oil turned a bit darker, like caramelised sugar. That is due to the heat from working so hard at high weight behind a Tdi and using cheap Comma mineral oil. Other oil changes where the vehicle hasn't been worked unusually hard produce normal looking waste oil. As for fitting the engine without the turbo, using the intercooler would not only have no positive influence, since the induction air is already at ambient temperature, but would actually slightly restrict the air, marginally hampering performance.