Unimog Axles

[dollythelw]

that largely depends on the type of front suspension setup you want to run, theres no mods required for the back end though

[jules]

Standard front hocky sticks was the plan but will they handle the extra load of the leverage from the portal and the extra unspung weight.

I'm not into loads of travel I prefure to keep it simple as I have no fabrication intrest and I don't have the time or the tools.

I am a little woried about weather I will have the money more and more things will need fabrication to deal with the stronger setup.

If I do it, I will need it to be the strongest most practical as I only want to do it once. (if that makes scense)

[dollythelw]

theres two ways of dealing with the panhard rod;

The first way uses the standard rover setup at the chassis end (the casting that bolts to the chassis and ties into the PAS box), for reference this is the way Andy T from Rufftraks has his setup

The benefit of this is simplicity, no chassis mods are required,

The drawback (IMO) is its sucks in terms of strength and full compression of the front would see the panhard rod having a squabble with a variety of big metal things

The second way is my preferred way with a coiler, we brace the area around the PAS box and fit a heavily webbed panhard mount to the chassis behind the PAS box,

The benefits are; everything clears, its massively strong, you can switch between stock and volvo easily,

The drawbacks are; you end up with some added steel, you need two panhard rods (one for the volvo setup and a standard one to use with a stock rover setup)

The D2 PAS box is possibly the strongest Rover PAS box (as the undercut on the sector shaft isnt present) however they still arent up there in terms of mega strength, you can help the box out buy running a high flow pump and ram assist, the other option is Toy box or Dans fave the G merc breezeblock (hate to say it but its pretty tasty)

Depending on who does it and how the Volvos are fitted the standard hockey sticks are more than capable of surviving portals

[jules]

This is do-able with some ease

what are the costs and what needs changing on the axel..

PM me with the costs remeber I don't like fabing stuff so I need to buy it pre built.

I'm a driver not a mechanic which has it problems I can bolt stuff on but not make it.

[bill van snorkle]

This is a stub axle, its the output shaft from the lower section of a 303 axle, except this is a new design to bring the WMS inboard by 1/2" per side, its cast in 4340 and designed to accept our CTIS kit,

The new stubs are cast with a Landrover stud pattern and a 5 on 5 1/2 stud pattern, so your wheel choice is greater, if you want to retain the Volvo 8 stud pattern then an adaptor is also available.

I don't know why, but for some reason I thought Portal Tech were fitting Landey type full floating spindles and hubs to Volvo portal boxes in order to facilitate the disc conversion. Now that I see the new stub shaft I understand how it comes together.

Bill.

[dirtydiesel]

So the field is still open to portal trucks

Oh yes!

iii) Bespoke Portal Tek Generation 3 axles, rated to 500hp plus and 44" plus, any width you like, ford 9", Rover, or Toyota Diff, 300m halfshafts more bling than any one human is capable of looking at in a single glance without going blind

Standard front hocky sticks was the plan but will they handle the extra load of the leverage from the portal and the extra unspung weight.

I'm not into loads of travel I prefure to keep it simple as I have no fabrication intrest and I don't have the time or the tools.

I am a little woried about weather I will have the money more and more things will need fabrication to deal with the stronger setup.

If I do it, I will need it to be the strongest most practical as I only want to do it once. (if that makes scense)

Standard front radius arms are more than strong enough to take the punishment, but i couldn't possibly have the same confidance about the after-market arms.

[simon_s]

How about:

The three peaks, midsummer madness, argyl forest challenge, awdc challenge series, midland of road club challenge series, the muddy truckers even challenge south west are now letting portals compete.

In fact i think that brian hartly is the only event oganiser that has upheld the supposed portal ban.

So when i've finshed my G the only event on the calender that i won't be able to do is the bulldog which to be fair i am not all that worried about anyway, seeing as the kerbs in asda pose a similar challenge

I think all the CoR events have been put on hold for next year anyway....

[dollythelw]

Bill - Ive been working with Rob on these for the best part of a year, the initial designs were to use a landy stub and full floater (why does that word make me smile ) but we found the Stefa seal on the output shaft was prone to leaking, a lot of fiddling concluded that the additional moment was causing deflection so the first incarnation was binned.

The second generation was a radical machining job to the stock stub axle (same sort of thing as the Finns and the Russians) but this was discounted on the basis that it was a lot of work and the supply of genuine stubs wasnt as reliable as needed to supply the demand.

The third generation was a machined top hat but as Im sure RPR knows this is cool for ones or twos production wise but sucked in terms of cost and still involved re-working stock volvo stubs...

Which brings us to the fourth generation - everything new, no messing about, all the wishlists we (Rob, Kari, Russ, Sean, Andy etc etc etc) wanted as racers ticked off - I dont do this for a living so Ive no interest in making stuff that I dont want/need for my truck but it does free up the relationship between making a profit and making parts which do the job perfectly, theres a lot more toys yet to come

Jules - Im with Dan, aftermarket radius arms wouldnt be my choice, stick with stock cast arms, if you want to come and nose around petal come up over the weekend, have a cuppa and we can have a chat, its always good to watch Jon being flung about by a grinder anyway

Dan - does that make you an ASDA kerb crawler????

[dirtydiesel]

Dan - does that make you an ASDA kerb crawler????

As good as asda's kerbs are, i prefere morrisons, they keep the trees and bushes trimmed which means my bling alloys and gleaming paintwork stay as they are.

[dollythelw]

thought for a mo you were MILF hunting

[istruggle2gate11]

thought for a mo you were MILF hunting

What at Morrisons?

Much higher class (read nicer cars) at Sainsburys or Waitrose!

[northernchris]

What at Morrisons?

Much higher class (read nicer cars) at Sainsburys or Waitrose!

[jules]

So I need some Volvo Axles then

And where do they hide out....

What happens to the props??

The rear will fit straight on ??

The front only needs beefing up the streering gear and the panard rod mount. Yes or no.

So my lockers and diffs are still of use or are they now scrap (be it very expensive scrap)

I can't see my mate thats a parts manager for a volvo dealer being of any use here.

[geoffbeaumont]

I can't see my mate thats a parts manager for a volvo dealer being of any use here.

Probably not - Volvo cars and Volvo trucks are separate companies and have been for quite a while...

[jules]

Probably not - Volvo cars and Volvo trucks are separate companies and have been for quite a while...

Forgot to put after that coment

And where the hell do I find a set of axles from

[dollythelw]

Jules;

If volvo is the way you want to go - yes you do need a set of axles

where do they hang out - good question, I buy mine from Sweden and Finland not necessarily any cheaper than anyone else can though

Wide angle props are a good move, front prop will end up being a custom job - Burgess are the guys to make them, fast and good value for money

Fortifying the steering mount and making a panhard mount - yes, but come and see how its done first

If you use volvo axles all your rover parts are redundant, lockers, halfshafts etc - but if you want to be able to swap between rover and volvo for different comps then keep the rover stuff in a shed

Volvo truck and Bus are the people for spares in the UK, personally I dont use them, I think they are half a chromosome away from leaches, Alan was quoted £4000+ for a CV joint, a halfshaft and a rubber boot

like I said Jules I dont do this for a living, if I can help I will, but I have a lot of cars to build in the next 10 months so my suggestion is come and have a look and see exactly what you are getting yourself into?

[RPR]

Jules,

There may be something useful in here:

My C303 Conversion Write Up

For axles, Nigel, Gon2far Suspensions, was selling them. His website has been TU for some time, but his number is 07812 717 550. If that doesn't produce PM me and I may have an email address for him. Fridge may also know his whereabouts these days.

You will want a disc brake set up whichever way you go. The drums on most Volvo axles are out of round - mine couldn't even be turned down - and it's not worth or necessarily feasible to get new or reconditioned ones.

No need for any other lockers - they come with vacuum operated lockers.

I'm happy to help if I can, but I think you will get better advice, or at least more informed and detailed advice, from Jez

You'll love them!

[jules]

I will take you up on that invite are you around sat

[dollythelw]

Yep, will be flat out on a little project but you're welcome to pop round before 4pm

[FridgeFreezer]

For axles, Nigel, Gon2far Suspensions, was selling them. His website has been TU for some time, but his number is 07812 717 550. If that doesn't produce PM me and I may have an email address for him. Fridge may also know his whereabouts these days.

Nigel was selling them from a bloke who is now at www.volvoc303.co.uk but word is supplies are running low.

Gon2Far isn't TU, there are changes afoot which will aparrently be mentioned in the LR mags next month. TBH there's no point contacting Nigel or Gon2Far for portal bits these days as far as I can tell.

Jules - any chance you can bring those bits and bobs up if you're coming up on Saturday - I will be in the lab covered in sh*te if the last few weekends are anything to go by

[geoffbeaumont]

Nigel was selling them from a bloke who is now at www.volvoc303.co.uk but word is supplies are running low.

I'm guessing there's a blatantly obvious answer to this, but... If you can buy a C303 off this guy for around 3.5k, complete with portals and lockers all round, why bother fitting the axles to a land rover? Fit a winch to the C303 and off you go. Is it just because they're not land rovers, or are they too big for UK winch challenges? Some other reason?

[dollythelw]

good question

[filthy boy]

good question

To which there is no good answer.

Except in a Land Rover you get waved at by other like minded folk as you drive around. Driving round in a C303 you would wait a long time to pass a fellow "enthusiast" so you might feel lonely and like Billy no-mates.

Is that a good reason to drive a Land Rover?

FB

[geoffbeaumont]

To which there is no good answer.

Except in a Land Rover you get waved at by other like minded folk as you drive around. Driving round in a C303 you would wait a long time to pass a fellow "enthusiast" so you might feel lonely and like Billy no-mates.

Is that a good reason to drive a Land Rover?

FB

I'd wave to one of those

[RPR]

good question

Size per se isn't really a key factor 101" wheelbase as I recall (pics show). Leaf springs SOA at the front and a pretty good approach angle, spring under at the back. The departure angle is therefore a real issue.

But it's easy to bobtail as per the pics below of my mate Keith's 303 below. Bobtailed and coil sprung the rear end. Also replaced the underpowered Volvo straight six petrol with a Nissan or Toy turbo diesel. Pretty much the most capable truck I have ever seen in the jungle - and that was even before he bobtailed it! I would love a 303 with a diesel conversion

What I would really like is the Swedish Army version TGB1111 - cmes with all the goodies, better departure angle already and a built in folding cage (recoiless rifle optional):

and what you could do with it:

Nice!