Problems, ideas, solutions.

[Cooler]

Alright guys,
Needing some good advice which I get from here quite a bit. I have recently been overhauling my truck as I'm off work awaiting an operation. i bought a 4-5" lift kit for it and started about 2-3 weeks ago. the front end has now been stripped and rebuilt completely. i have even gone as far as wire brushing, sanding and repainting everything. got all new ball joints, track rod ends, steering box, bearings and anti roll links. I have modified the four inch kit too by strengthening the lower wishbone brackets, and welding a ten inch plate under the top wish bones for the ball joint which now basically means i have all my old flex that i used to have but with 5" lift. i used the rear shocks from the kit too as my shock mounts have been welded higher from my original design. so unloaded my 35" tyre will now disappear into the wheel arch and drop a fair way down past the point of lower wish bone being parrallel. The only thing i need to do to finish the front end is to move my exhaust as it is 3 1/4 straight through and stainless. If anyone has a better place to put the exhaust any ideas welcome.

Now it comes to the back end. Problems problems problems. I stripped it down this morning and cleaned it ready to rebuild and see what the lift kit can do to find that the shock mounts have rusted and split, and the panhard rod crossmember has rusted and started to split away from the chassis. Now, normal cutting and replacing with strong grade steel can cure all this but a friend told me i should alter the setup. He said that the five link suspension setup on the surfs is really good except for the fact that the top control arms when pushed past the point will snap or break. So this got me thinking, i would like to lose my panhard rod and try to make some form of A-frame rear setup. Has anyone fabricated a short a frame using the existing top link mounts. I have had a look and the geometry is fine and it would be really strong because it would be wide. and it would work around the fuel tank. Im trying to work out what to do as this all boils down to all the welding that needs doing. if i A-frame it then ill weld stronger higher shock mounts to house coilovers and lose the springs.

Any ideas guys would be much appreciated. Also how do i upload pictures?

Oh one other thing, my pump was turned down when the new head gasket was put on, where is the screw to turn it back up?

cheers.

sorry for the rant

[sjoe]

hi
i fitted a rough country 5" lift to my kzn130 about 6 months ago with the front diff being dropped so low from the chassis rails the prop wanted to run straight through the exhaust, so i have ran my exhaust just outside of the drivers side chassis rail and kicked it out just in front of the rear wheel, i have given the truck a fair kicking off road since and have had no problems with the exhaust and passed the mot fine.

i think you can just about see the exhaust in that picture


as far as rear suspension as you are going to have the welder out anyway have you thought about running a 2 or 3 link setup and fabricating a cross-member so you can run stupidly long control arms for better articulation?
i know the fuel tank could be in the way but there has to be a way around that.
i think trail-link do an off the shelf kit but i see no reason it could not be fabricated


look in the FAQ section for info on posting pics, would be good to see your creation

[Cooler]

The exhaust looks like a good position. I was thinking about a three or four link setup but ill have to move my tank to the rear then and that means moving the air tank somewhere else then. If I move the tank I think a longer a frame would be good. Im just not getting why you need a really long armed a frame if you are not jumping the truck. I mean other than bouncing the entire axle moves very little up and down movement. To axle twist one wheel goes up whilst the other goes down but centre movement is minimal. That is why I was thinking of making a shorter a frame which will be much stronger than a long one but will still give around 12" give or take of bounce. Then the articulation can be to the limit of arch or ball joint. My design would also pass the springs too so if it works well could be used on standard trucks to remove panhard.

To be honest I was very disappointed with the rust and splits on the chassis but its not like I need the truck right away. I wont be driving for a month or so yet, so I may as well tinker with ideas and get it all completely done.

[wishbone]

I've never heard of anyone bending the upper arms on the rear suspension - I'd assume the bumpstops were missing if that has happened?

If you're determined to change out the rear then maybe a leaf conversion would work well for you. You can buy kits from the US to do it and it seems a lot easier than designing a new suspension.

There's a program avaialable on the yotatech site to calculate your rear setup if you decide to make your own.

[Cooler]

Dont suppose youd have a link for it would you. I have a hatred for leaf springs. No offence to anyone but they are just to antiquated for me

[wishbone]

Just realised the calculator was on pirate 4x4 not yotatech - have a search there.

Rob.

[Cooler]

Well fair play there is all the information you ever need on pirate 4x4, all tye manuals and walkthroughs. Been reading it for hours. Im seriously thinking about moving the fuel tank to the rear, does anyone know where to get a tank from. The truck has a bodylift so would tuck very nicely up underneath if I can source a tank to fit.

[sjoe]

i know it might be a bit of a dodge, but i like recycling parts and happen to have a mk3 supra tank in my workshop, i will offer it up on my truck if thats something you might consider?

[Cooler]

I love to recycle too. I am definitely up for ideas. I have the back end completely stripped at the moment. So going to decide what to do over the next couple of days. It needs to be welded and brought up to scratch first. The hardest part was removing my exhaust which is huge built by gwyn lewis. Going to start her tomorrow with just the down pipe and one box on her to get all the air out of my power steering system and brake line. How many litres is the tank? Is it quite shallow.

[sjoe]

i will try to offer it up tomorrow and get a picture if it seems good, i think its around 80L but not sure.
its quite shallow as it sits under the spare wheel well on the supra

[Cooler]

Well the lift kits is on completely now and to be fair im not that impressed. The rear springs that came with the kits are far too soft and are no where near as strong or tall as the landcruiser ones I had on originally. Think im going to opt for some plus 3 or 4" lancruiser ones or give the guy from milners a ring again and just get the coilovers. Also the control arms that are sent with the lift kit are too thick so wont flex especially when the eyelets for the bushes are way smaller than standard. So I thing a 3 link setup is definitely coming. The front now sits when its at ride heoght on top on the sills running 35's which to be fair now look reall small under the truck. Rear height is around 3" lower so a fair angle. I usually make my trucks slightly higher at the back because of load and its where mpst of the work is done off road.

On a good note though I have sorted out my air con to run just air to a truck air tank with a relief valve set at 140psi. However the idler arm from my aircon is missing. If anyone is breaking a truck let ke know as ill have it off you.

Oh, one last thing. Does anyone have any experience with votex exhausts. I have been told they really work well on turbo diesels especially bigger ones.

[wishbone]

What lift kit did you buy ?

Control arms are not meant to flex ?

Rob.

[Cooler]

I bought the rough country 4-5 inch kit. I have changed and welded thenfront end for mor flex. The rear control arms on the toyota top link do twist a bit with the movement. They dont bend but tist with the axle. These new ones wont twist at all and because they are now thicker they wont twist at all. Especially with the bushes and eyelets being a lot smaller. No room for bust twisting. I think im going to three link it for now off the side of the left hand chassis rail and get longer links. But I suppose I should go out and try thr kit first. I have olser pictures of my rear end flexing like mad. I used to keep up with the big boys so to speak on axle twisters with no lockers. I just dont want to be disappointed.

[wishbone]

You can use the old upper arms and then drop the rear of the tank to give clearance - I used 10mm thick nuts as spacers and longer bolts.

Rob.

[Cooler]

Well to be fair im going to change it all now. Hopefully got the bloke from milners ringing me back about coilovers for the rear and just lokking for three longer links to make a three point linkage to pick the back up. The only good thing about the new top link is that they are longer so they make the prop and diff line up almost perfect at the ride height. They also have the bar at the top of the eyelets so they can go a lot further down than the normal ones as they pass the tank. I dont want to drop my fuel tank any more as its one of the only things that really low anyway. Being right in front of tye axle its in the firing line. Eventually I want to move the tank to the rear, but for now as im going to lose the top links for a single centre bar im goint to tuck the tank up 2" back into its groove in the bodywork.

I wouldnt normally spend so much time mucking around. But when off work I just get so bored and have to tinker around.I have loads of greenlaning to do and catch up with as well as being part of mid wales 4x4 response hopefully.