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axle Q's


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No body? not lr parts i know but come on

Calm down mate! Try leaving more than half an hour between asking the question and reminding people to reply... ;)

That's a hell of an open ended question but I'll have a crack.

Whats a good upgrade to what? (i.e. what are you upgrading?).

What you consider an upgrade some others might consider a downgrade... You need to be specific about what you want and why. One person might be looking for extra track width for a less tippy vehicle on sideslopes or whatever, and someone else might want the exact opposite so they can fit through trees better etc.

You might want to change your gear ratios (maybe to match an engine swap or to accomodate larger tyres), add lockers, change to/from CV joints, increase strength, improve clearance by shaving, running a smaller diff, fitting portals or fitting a beefier axle so you can run larger tyres. You might want to reduce your unsprung weight, convert your suspension set-up, change your brakes (some do it by swapping in equivalent axles with different brakes) etc etc...

So. Q: What is a good upgrade? A: What are you looking for?

If it works fine and you're not breaking parts, the best 'upgrade' is to leave the cash in your wallet.

Hope it gives you some thinking fodder. Specific axles can only really be discussed once the aim of the exercise is known.

Cheers, Al.

:)

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Landcruiser 80 series.

pros..........

Strong.

Cheap. (£350 pair, including calipers etc.)

Discs all round.

Diffs on the correct side.

Diff rotation correct.

Locking diffs, electric so easy to control.

cons..........

Can be hard to come by.

Need a total mounting conversion from spring seats to ball joint tapers to prop flanges.

Just for good measure, they aren't portal so you won't fall over. :P

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Its not a simple answer here.

ANY upgrade involves work, some is nuts and bolts maybe upgrading from std shafts to HD shafts, then again you may have to change other bits like diffs to 24 spline over 10, then again chnage open diffs to lockers of some type, all of this is within the std casing.

Once you move out of the std casing and look at options then your into modifications and prob fabrications, can you make weld up mounts chop casing shorten then you have to go wheel hunting for the right backspace / offset or make your own by cutting and shutting rims, or move brake brackets about etc etc

If you even do swap the axles and do whatever mods that doesn't end there, many of these "Upgraded"axles have weak links, so your into to upgrading the internals of these then. Buy any USA 4x4 mag and look (and dribble) at the range of exotic upgrades for Danas etc

The Q you need to answer are :

1. How deep are your pockets, just how much £ are you prepared to spend

2. Can you fabricate / modify / weld up a major component part safely ?

3. Why and what are the issues with what you have now ?

4. What exactly is the application and what are you looking to achive ?

5. Insurers - internal mods = OK, axle swaps they may / may not like / rate £ on premium

HTH

Nige

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Yeh sorry all it was late ;)

ok, a very open question i know,was after info.

My 100" hybrid thingy keeps changing.

I like the thing that Lewis / dirty diesel and the spidertrax's man is doing with the front end etc intergrating the bars into the cage and losing the front bodwork etc.

Dolly's fibreglass bonnet and inner wings are another geat idea.

So what i was thinking before seeing all this lovely tube work was that i've tried to make the front suspension more flexi in the workshop but bodging a 3 link up. But i rather like the 4 link / fox air shoxs things going on.Lighter and stronger with more flex.

So back to the axle Q's i think i'm better off making the truck lighter ala lewis etc and leaving the RRC axles on there for now.

The man with the 100" defener says he 's using a kit from Jez? is that Dolly?

Can you do the front end aswell?

if the 100" had a centrally mounted truck cab,with a behind axle engine / gearbox set up and a tube front and rear cage/ bodyworkthen that would be light enough No?

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theres always going to be an issue running big tyres with rover axles but that again depends on the terrain, the way drive, how much horsepower and torque you are dumping and your definition of "big" tyres

49"? 40's?

bang per buck I think Nicks got it down pat - great solution IMO

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I see, there nice these yoto ones.

As for the way of the "sticky tungsten" yes i can weld. would like to get the suspension done properly,ie the geometry, 3 link /4 link W.H.Y. I could burn in some lo hi's or the odd reel of A18 but i'm not a very good fabricator.

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Time and space really TBH. It takes alot of time to amass the knowlege that you lot have to get these things done, where to get the bits,who to talk to etc etc etc.

We've got a 1800 sqare foot workshop which is slowly filling up under 4" s/s tubing that is being knocked up for a job.

nd so theres no space / time to sort it

Plus when i get my head into something like this the wife doesn't see me for days and a forget to answer the phone / email and to order materials etc!

better off paying for other peoples skills,and earn your/my money how i do best, thats what i do in business so why would it be any different

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ahh airtights no good - how can you tell if they are still good to eat :lol:

suggest regular QA checks with random testing :)

I think the fabbings well within your capabilities - you've got all the glueing facilities so that leaves a bit of tech and some suppliers to find, theres plenty of people to ask on here if you get stuck and its going to be a heap faster at your place than if you farm it out - grab a pair of axles and year zero them (unless they are patrol axles?!?!) - it will fall into place from there. give the gig a set amount of time per day (saves grief from the wife) and stick to it

......famous last words.. Im sure I have a home somewhere thats not full of machine tools :(

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The turnover high so we only leave them over x mas for the new years blues session!

Ok, i'll get the chassis and axles in and de bracket them,unless ther are some other more suitable ones knocking around ;)

Could do with a heads up on the joints,tabs etc and is milner off road the place for the air shock?

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Could do with a heads up on the joints,tabs etc and is milner off road the place for the air shock?

Milners supply Fox Airshox, call them, ask to speak to Andy, and describe your intended usage. He's a very honest and knowledgable bloke who will tell you straight. Personally Airshox dont tick all the boxes for my usage, and theres a lot more to it than just bolting them on, I.E. rates, ride height, chassis height, free length, etc

My advice - do the links and axle mounting first, then figure out what spring and damper arrangement you want (Airshox, coilovers, spring and damper, etc) mount them, and then once that is done then figure out your tubework/bodywork.

Final bit of advice, build at full bump

Dont be afraid to f*ck it up, at the end of the day its just metal, everything can be rescued :)

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