iwan's hdj81

[Iwan]

Im going to be doing some more work to the 81 tomorow. As the new front coils are sided.. lhs and rhs, is it sided from where you sit in the truck or from looking at the front?? Interested in which one? Just a pain if i get them the wrong way round! Cheers all!

 

[Gav Peter]

Fraid I cant be reliable here as when I fitted my lift kit, I was trying to fit the rear springs to the front for the first 10 hours

 

[Chris]

From where you sit
Usually labelled DS and PS
Longer spring generally on driver side for uk vehicle

 

[Iwan]

Fraid I cant be reliable here as when I fitted my lift kit, I was trying to fit the rear springs to the front for the first 10 hours 

Hey cheers Gav!! I'll keep my eye out for that one!!!

 

[Iwan]

From where you sit
Usually labelled DS and PS
Longer spring generally on driver side for uk vehicle

Thanks Chris.. I will have a careful look before fitting, if I recall one is slightly taller.. may weigh them and see any difference.

Will add some pics of the progress tomorow. .

 

[Chris]

L=PS and R=DS

Weighing them won't tell you anything about the spring rates though. Typically good springs are set up to take into account road camber, main occupant and fuel tank. Stuff like that so they aren't necessarily different lengths. But if they are then they're usually handed as described.

What make are they?

 

[Gav Peter]

TJM Chris

View attachment 16803
Received my lift kit yesterday..

View attachment 16804
It's the TJM kit I mentioned above, it was bought and never fitted..

View attachment 16805
I like the quality of the adjustable panard rods.

View attachment 16806
The guy bought 5" lift for the front and 4" for the back.. I have some 30mm spring spacers on their way. I believe these springs are progressive, what does that mean?
It has the set of extended nitro shocks and a rather large foam cell steering damper. Unfortunately the steering damper fitting kit is missing, but my mate Ian is able to make them up on his lathe...

I have recorded the original heights, so am looking forward what the result will be when all is fitted...

Aint life good!

 

[Chris]

Ahh yes. I remember now. You can see the height difference on the left pair for sure.

 

[Iwan]

Ahh yes. I remember now. You can see the height difference on the left pair for sure.

Thanks for the confirmation mate! The rears were also handed. Guessing the left is firmer to cope with the fuel tank..

 

[Iwan]

I had a very good go with it today! Think it was 12 to 4.30 with help.. thankfully..
View attachment 17053
Nice to see the axle back on, with a bit of mellow yellow!!!
View attachment 17054
As the front is still low.. nice rise! Thinking wheel spacers??

Adjusted the panard rod with the tyres and weight on used a spirit level off the tyres and measured back to the body.
Happy with the under seal work, a good contrast with the yellow!!

Thinking that the tyres look a bit small!!

All in all a good mission and am happy.. nearly 1/2 way but looking at the bits of rust on the front end.. thinking to get it 3m'ed! Will prolong the job but make the truck last longer!

So on with the front!!

 

[Iwan]

Happy to say I've been busy with the 81.. have put another 5 litres of treatment to the underside.


Have got a set of Karl Webster's castor correction plates on.. first sight.. thinking that the castor is sorted.. certainly havent got negative castor.. thanks Karl




Have removed the plastic wheel arch trims.. really dont like them. I have the truck booked in for a bit of a tidy up at the paint shop. So the arch attachment holes will all get filled and sorted.

Look s a lot different compared to picking it up a few months ago.

The adjustable panard rod on the front was a bit of a fiddle to set up...

Getting quite pleased with the effort and result.. was quite late.. so no test drive today. .

 

[clivehorridge]

How much do the wheels protrude from the body line Iwan, with the arches off?

My truck didn't have arches when I bought it, and having fitted 10" wide steels with zero offset, I had about 60-70mm of protrusion.

Drove it for about a year like that, but the truck used to get so sh!tty especially offroad, I fitted arches.

Couldnt see see out of the side windows at all after going through any mud, and there were clumps of turf and all sorts on the roof

 

[Iwan]

Hi Clive. . With the offset on these wheels the tyres dont protrude too much. Maybe 1/2" or so. In the past I've been unlucky with the wheel arch trims. . Normally loose 75 per cent driving narrow off roading trails. . The front drivers was damaged from the accident it had prior to buying it.. plus there's rust issues behind them.

My 60 series is just as you say can only see thru the windscreen with large clumps of mud on the roof.. not the safest drive like that!!

 

[clivehorridge]

Agreed, they're vulnerable to damage and loss. They also fill up with crud which attacks the bodywork.

My truck had a head start not having them fitted for the first 16 years of its life

 

[Iwan]

front bumper build

As the weather is not good for steel frame groundwork. I thought I'd have a shot at the front bumper on the 81.

Found this length of 6 x 4 box and just long enough. Daisy says hi by the way!

Aimed to drop it down a bit and taper to the ends.

Have modified the original bumper sleaves with the recovery eyes. So will bolt on and off.

Have curved the front face.

Progress so far. Im very pleased with the result really. Aimed for it to be minimalist and as quick as possible. .

Haven't decided yet whether to have a winch... been told that these go anywhere! !!

 

[Jente]

Kind of missed your thread so far, but I catched up!

That's proper steel on your front bumper mate! Hoping to see the result in April.

 

[clivehorridge]

Haven't decided yet whether to have a winch... been told that these go anywhere! !!

Lookin' good Iwan!

Yep, they go just about anywhere, but sometimes that's into places they can't get out of!

Good reason to have a winch on the back, front winches pull you further into the shite!

 

[Iwan]

Kind of missed your thread so far, but I catched up!

That's proper steel on your front bumper mate! Hoping to see the result in April.

Thanks mate! Its a bit of a mix of what's laying around the yard and following the design of what was on Matts 70.

I wanted to build it heavy as one of my neighbours drives like a maniac in his mitsubishi warrior . He nearly wrote off my van a couple of months ago! So best to be prepared with this one!!

Looking forward to see you guys in April again!

 

[Iwan]

Lookin' good Iwan!

Yep, they go just about anywhere, but sometimes that's into places they can't get out of!

Good reason to have a winch on the back, front winches pull you further into the shite!

Cheers Clive. . Its happening quite well.. its not intended to be an arb style etc and I'm not much of a welder tbh.. sometimes to have a go and see what the result is. .

I agree with you about the principle of driving in and to be able to get back out. Rear winch appeals to me. Often have gone off road with solo vehicle and got into trouble.. definitely to be able to pull backwards would have solved many of the stuck scenarios! Also thinking deep snow drifts very handy a rear winch for that.

 

[Jente]

About a rear winch: Not to forget towing cars behind you when you make them go into placed that were not intended for cars in the first place

Seem to remember a certain trail on the way the get grocery's last year