De Ranged

No haven't looked at any other options yet, curious as to how they are controling the ram, you can use a power steering box valve setup to control one (Ram assist) and it very common on pirate4x4 but if you don't have it you'd need an orbital steering box or similar havn't rung him yet about that station wagon but will be today (thank you for the number), was hoping to get a local one but missed out on it.... it would have been really good it was a Dormar model with the pop up roof in really good condition

The choice of what I do will depend on what the certifier is allowed to do.... the easiest for me would be the surf box and cut it into the chassis on the mount but this would mean a whole new column and I suspect beyound what he can allow, so I'm considering fitting a hilux power steer box that would mount on the chassis and work on the push pull bar up the side of the chassis as I think I could fit this into the current system but I haven't looked too closely yet

It depends on the suspension, if you do a self leveling suspension then no wont be able to do that I have two trailers one with self leveling leaf springs (a pivot mount between ends of both springs) and a fixed suspension trailer. the fixed trailer is easy to steer stand on the draw bar with one foot and push it sideways it lifts the back wheels up and pivots easily the other one lol the old yank and drag to turn it

Gidday Doing some research for the legal side of a new project I'm looking at building up a 109 Slla into a tow wagon/camper, I'm putting together the application for approval of the modifications, one of the mods I want to do is power steering, the certifier I'm dealing with is in the process of gaining approval to be allowed to approve steering mods so I'm providing him with alot more detail than I normally do, part of this is detailing standard steering I still have standard steering on my Slll what I'd like to know is.... is this the same on the Slla At this stage I'm planing on using either a hilux or a surf power steering box, but this will depend alot on what he is able to work through

IFS is the future but not untill a major manufacture builds something reliably worthwhile and this isn't going to happen in the near future as there isn't a demand that warrants the increased cost of design and building, currently over here the only setup that is worth using off road is the Mitzi Pajero front end From an offroad performance stand point the bonus's for IFS are, tunable camber (keep the tyre surface flat for better grip this in reality is marginal as we run lower tyre pressure to gain bigger contact patches and the lower pressure will allow this anyway), lower unsprung weight (allows the wheel to stay in contact with the ground when going faster), diff height can be raised (depends on the CV angles), better packaging (the fixed diff head allows you to package the motor better for a potential gain in CoG) The flip side, expense (more moving parts the higher the expense), complexity, strength (due to the fact the first buyer of a 4wd now buying it as family mover there is no gain to the manufactures to "overbuild" they build to the intended use and it just isn't up to abusive 4wd'n) now for the fun stuff... a low roll centre height( I know some of you will say that IFS is more stable on a sideling and a lifted "cranked" up suspension is but this is due to increased preload on the spring costing articulation, IFS because it works across the vehicle has to have a low Roll center to make it ride comfortably or as you get body roll the "feel" of the vehicle changes because the roll centre height changes, on a beam axle truck you can make the roll centre high and the suspension will resist body roll for a more stable feel because the only time the roll centre changes is under brakes or acceleration If you want a better question why not ask what traction control is going to do to 4wding

I wouldn't use tractor links they flog out the balljoints then you'll end up with slop that rattles and bang's..... don't know your road going rules but we (NZ) have to have teflon or fiber reinforced plastic lined balljoints for suspension mount or crush tubed rubber Yes that is a three link as for the geometry that is personal choice (how much Anti dive/Anti squat, Understeer/Oversteer, Roll center height) Go onto Pirate4x4 and search "3link calculator" it is an open source spreedsheet for calculating the suspension, where it says Anti squat on a front axle that is brake antidive

You don't need a "spline cutter" I'm guessing you don't intend to cut into something thats been treated / hardened so you can get a cutter off the shelf to match your needs you might have to build an arbor depending on your mill setup.. http://tradetools.co.nz/category/KAH What I'm talking about as a spline cutter is a carbide tipped tool holder so I can cut axle splines, these dog splines are the same profile just bigger I use "TP" series tips that are triangular.... yea I know true splines aren't shaped like that, they have curves in them, but its as close as I can get on a budget

Never thought of that one lol more than one way to skin a cat I need a new spline cutter for doing axle work, so this is a good enough excuse

Machined up a new extension shaft (from some random bar stock I picked up in a closing down sale) being that its an unknown grade of steel and it machined easily I decided to machine up a 4130 "plug" to be a tolerance fit onto the gearbox shaft where the end roller bearing ran and an interference fit into the extension shaft, yea well.... looks like it'll be third times the charm LOL I'm blaming my inside caliper, I'm guessing I must have caught it as I was bringing it out the end result is I'm 0.1mm too big LOL so I'm going to machine out the 4130 and make another... I've also coughed up for some telescopic gauges I've still got to build a new spline cutter too, the depth of the dog splines is beyond my current tooling hopefully something worth a pic of soon

I would say no. I'd have to cad up the side movement of the axle due to suspension bush compression, remember it isn't just the compression of the bush on the "A" arm its also the compression of the other suspension arms also at around 30degrees of rotation you are close to the top part of the rotational circle so sideways movement will be greater it wouldn't surprise me to find your looking at 15mm+ of movement to either side.... on the jap trucks I build that is around 3/4 of a steering wheel rotation! now add to this the twist of the axle on the suspension bushing being that this has only a single point of contact the axle can rotate on it, the big mounts on the radius arms have 10mm of rubber around the pin then there is the movement on the chassis bushes so lets assume 20mm of twist steering.... would only be a few degree's but would make for a vague feel to the steering I would recommend both halves of the "A" arm

I've never play'd with any stuff other than Jap axles and the one set of rover axles on my toy but from the pirate threads people seem concerned with welding to the head casting, looking at the chip pattern it almost looks like cast iron this doesn't make sense as the axle tubes are welded on just curious Oh and I'd suggest a double clamp on each axle tube since you have a big enough bed, Iv'e found I get between 2-3 degrees of warp from the weld shrinkage, I now use a jig made of a piece of foot deep "I" beam and pre tension Like the trick of machining the edge off the ring gear, might have to copy that for the next one I do cheers

In the case of the Mu he was doing spring bushes every yr and the panhard bushes every 6 months... but the pay off was well worth it, 4" lift and a solid axle and it handled better than when it had the IFS with the sway bar removed and no lift... it did take a bit of tuning tho lol

To me that kart track isn't the best test track, it'll be too smooth, my test track is a loop of road on the edge of town that has next to no traffic, full speed straights with bumps and wopdedos, corners with bumps on both sides, basicly really bad road (probably why its got next to no traffic lol) and the best part it has big grass verges with no drains so I have run out room if I end up off the road, I know I shouldn't use public road but I want a road test that is as close to worst case as I can and its very good at showing up handling issues With the centred axle from this system you will have bump steer due to the x-over steering, start off on a straight with a bump on one side, if your happy you will want to test it with bumps in corners, you'll have body roll plus suspension movement Also you'll want to test out caster change, because the front mounted a arm under suspension movement rotates the axle, the wopdedo's (straight road with an up and down roll) will travel the suspension both ways and can be very scary with some trucks.... Good luck

Another way of dealing with the bump steer is to add a panhard bar lol I know it does fight the leaf springs but it works, I did this with an Izuzu Mu that I SAS'd with hilux rear leaf springs.... panhard bar stopped the bump steer

LOL there are some models and in some cases yrs that are just lemons, and this apply to all manufactures, most of the popular faults have after market fix's quite often for cheaper than servicing an ongoing problem, I'm not that familiar with the late model Rover stuff but from talk when I did full in work for an audi dealer there is a coil spring kit for that model rangie that removes the problem? Oh and just to prove that even the above examples have issues, the hilux 2lt motor has a hot spot in the head between 3 and 4 the fix is a bigger exhust and/or an alloy rad then they go forever if you don't from 250k on your lucky

Good point Bill I didn't think about the angle limits of the ball joints if this is extreme flex As for the reduction in "rear steer" LOL play around on triarged 4 link calculator and you will see that the couple of inches of separation has indeed changed understeer... by a fraction of a degree lol like I said unless you were a race car driver on a track with perfect traction the gain is so minimal as to be undetectable, I'd say worthwhile if your into competition trials or rock crawling this may give you the fraction of an inch better tracking to avoid a peg for a club runner lol na Arghhh now Bill you are into a whole different thread worth of debate as too how much anti dive is good and personal opinion lol mine is that alot of AD is bad, I like enough that there is some gain from "weight transfer" but not enough that if you slide a wheel, loose that extra brake force and there is a big change in in the height of the vehicle.... handling of the vehicle is more important than maximising one performance, where that cut off is depends on driver skill terrain speed, CoG height, spring rates etc As for my description that the angle of the links is AD that is over simplified, it is the instant centre versus the wheel base and CoG Opps I forgot to add that the orange paint does change all this and make it worth while (not as good as yellow tho lol)

If you can't clock it then build some 10mm steel rib's that run between the fairlead plate and main chassis of the winch then slot the mounting holes a bit so you can mount it hard up against the ribs, this way your forces are into the ribs and the mounts are just stopping it from rotating lol more than one way to skin a cat

The only real bonus with this system up front is caster... a radius arm locks the axle in as you extend the suspension you loose caster (steering gets nervous and worst case death wobble) this system keep caster constant meaning handling stays constant on rough roads As for loss of anti dive Bill, that is easy to tune on a link setup, to simplify things its the angle down from the chassis mounts to the axle mounts, steeper the angle more antidive under brakes... to say how much antidive this system has is impossible to see in this photo as the axle is flexed, you need to see it at rest, at a guess I'd say that the truck is lifted with the short links there would be a resumble amount of angle so I'd say its not going to be too bad for AD looking at the mounting points if its not lifted I'd say it would be a drop in AD on a standard height truck The drive shaft is a big issue and I'd guess has been replaced with a extended slip joint Over all not worth it, if your going to all the trouble do it properly lift the pan hard link up (better roll resistance) do a three link (means you can leave your steering standard with out bump steer) make your links longer (yes they have to be larger but you get less roll of the pinion due to suspension travel) and decent separation of the links at the axle (stronger) and play around with a link calculator to place your top link on the chassis (so you still get Anti dive) As for all this single shear carp about the rear end LOL what is standard.... one single shear joint... this system has two so is more than likely stronger, would I bother with it no... does the rear standard joint brake? the change in geometry is so slight you'd have to be a race car driver to notice the difference so there is nothing really gained other than a lighter wallet

Can you rotate the winch 90degrees so the mounts are on the back and mount to the fairlead plate this will solve the extra leverage issue

Thanks for the replies, I'm under she isn't lol, that was pretty much my plan a seat base that can be pinned up above the stove sink level to make the bed right across Sorry you guys are right 109 The LVVTA doesn't concern me, I've run a 4wd custom shop for a few yrs I know the cert system well, thats why I want some suggestions or examples For example if I add a the swing out shelves for the stove etc these are effecting the body structure so will require cert same with "windoors" or one of my ideas another door on passanger side to access the back, even things like mounts for water tanks if they are welded to the chassis are cert issues But each time I add or change things like this I have another $550 cert fee, so I want to try and sort all these ideas and get one cert I have no issues doing any of these things lol other than a broken back As for motor choice if you have a look in the Mod section you'll see a build thread for a toy of mine,these bits are going to be spare, yes it is old but its such a simple setup parts are cheap as chips for a 2.8 diesel (can get an extra motor for $150) as for the Slll gearbox and overdrive, I have em and they are stronger than the Sll box and the overdrive will help if I'm not towing The choice of diffs and 31"s (similar to worn 750 sats) when its towing (most of its intended use) I'll be towing the "Toy" on a trailer, that is a bit of an ask so I want the gear reduction to bring up the revs and take the strain off the gearbox... I don't mind the shorter legs legal max speed for towing is 90km/h

Didn't know that one, the dyna we have here (had one as a firewood truck) had a 8" diff and was a 3.9 ratio originally... I've noticed you guys get alot more options on utes and light trucks than the rest of the world.... I've got a 74 valiant ranger ute in my shed that was imported from aus, never released here... how about the the saffari ute, we only have em as SWB or LWB suv Anyway back on topic, I think the 5.29 will be it as its easily available from trailgear and yukon etc for both the 8" high pinion and the 9.5" cruiser (80 series diffs) I remember some of them making a 5.7 but I don't think they do any longer as the pirate comments were pretty brutal about it failing

Looks like I may have sold my car.... got a S2a 110 that I'm considering, yea I know not the nicest thing on road or off (old man used to have one yrs ago) It's just that in NZ we have vintage reg, 1/3rd of normal reg and so long as I don't change the chassis too much I can still improve a few things... got an Nissan LD28 diesel in my toy that will hopefully be getting swopped out soon so that plus a turbo would make a resumble setup as a tow wagon/camper The catch is for our legal side of mods we have to pay to get the mods approved so I'd like to plan out any extra mods to turn this into a camper so I only pay once You guys know of any good build threads for this sort of thing... I've never built a camper before... I'd like to get some ideas so I can plan this basic idea SIIa 110 LD28 with a turbo from a jap 2.7-2.8 on a log manifold SIII 4 speed with overdrive Range Rover Classic Axles and 4.7 diffs with 31" tyres (should make it resumbly good for towing) New car seats up front and seatbelts Not certain about the camper bit Thinking about an awning on the passanger side, possibly one of those roll out house ones because they go cheap, thinking about a swing out bench with the cooker and another with a basin... if I'm crafty I could set it up so when swung in they could be accessed from inside by lifting up some covers Bed inside big enough for two Thinking about a shower outside in awning but make a water heater off the turbo manifold Small fridge Any suggestions

A double carden joint takes out the fast slow motion caused by the elliptical rotation of a UJ... this is normally not an issue unless your drive shaft is at a good amount of angle... at 3" of lift I'd run a single UJ I have to use single UJ drive shafts with some of the young lads trucks as they seem to think tall is good.... it does wear out the UJ faster and in theory wear out your tyres and drive line due to the pulsing, but I've yet to see indications of this... wear from the offroad use is way worse I would suggest you get your drive shaft balanced since your going to be lengthing it

Odd that aus/nz there is no difference in the diff ratio's between auto and manual both come out with 4.1's LOL nothing wrong with the landy as a daily... last time I had one as a daily in the yr I had it I think it did almost 30k in that yr.... the only issue I had with her was an easy solve, I did get the odd laugh from people who saw my answer to the gearbox noise.... my work hard hat and muffs lol seriously I'm on the verg of getting another series 2 as a new daily

I have no experience with later model rover stuff but to consider rebuilding a gearbox every yr LOL I would consider that a failed build idea Anyway your standard diff ratios are 4.1 for 80 series stuff.... I have heard talk that the manual euro release came out with 3.7's just seems a little odd to me.... first off thats a 10% taller gearing, that is enough to take it out of the rev range second toyota have a proven 3.9 so why reinvent the wheel ??