LJ70 Build Thread!

[Chas]

where did you score the decals for the switches?
i would take 5 sheets if you want to supply them to me.
looking good.cheers

They come from X Eng for the Carling Contura Switches;
http://www.x-eng.co.uk/X-Switch.asp?MID=4
Scroll down to the bottom of the page above

 

[Ben]

where did you score the decals for the switches?
i would take 5 sheets if you want to supply them to me.
looking good.cheers

They come from X Eng for the Carling Contura Switches;
http://www.x-eng.co.uk/X-Switch.asp?MID=4
Scroll down to the bottom of the page above

almost right!

X-ENG sell them, but they get them from mud-stuff. it says mud stuff on the bottom of the sheet.

http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/shop/15_carli ... ccessories

 

[Roger Fairclough]

where did you score the decals for the switches?
i would take 5 sheets if you want to supply them to me.

looking good.

cheers

You could try:-

Vehicle Wiring Products, Ilkeston, Derbyshire------www.vehicleproducts.co. ... ucts.co.uk

It's their ref.SYM and costs £1.62 per sheet.

They do export.

Roger

 

[Roger Fairclough]

That didn't work too well, so lets try again.

www.vehicleproducts.co.uk

[email protected]

Roger

 

[Crushers]

thanks guys, appreciate it.

 

[Ben]

been working in a factory this week doing some welding, and managed to acquire myself a piece of steel that will be perfect for my front recovery points that ive been planning.

hoping to make a start on them next week, after ive made the new steering guard.

decided to use an old diston tool box that ive had for years, to replace my other bigger box, as this one will fit inside the big drawer.

cant fit as many tools in it so had to go through it and be very selective.

at least thats one less thing to fly around in the event of a roll over.

id like to put the spare back on the back door, but i remember that the door wouldnt quite open all the way with a 35" tyre on before, and that would mean i wouldnt be able to open my drawer fully.

im not a huge fan of swing away spare wheel carriers, as it means having to first release the catch on the that, then swing it out of the way, before you can open the door.

could stick the spare on the roof rack that im planning on building, but dont really want to make the truck anymore top heavy.

anyway................................trucks all fuelled up with veg oil ready for tomorrows laning trip to the Peak district!

 

[Chris]

Sorry did someone say swing out wheel carrier

Ben, my feelings exactly, but tell you what, with this pin design that I came up with, it's not an issue. It's so quick it's not a hindrance at all! And I am going to mod it so that I can have a table or something when it's open. If nothing else, just a hook for a rubbish bag. Oh no, it's not just a wheel carrier you know

Chris

 

[Ben]

maybe i could build a swingout wheel carrier then, if its as simple as pulling one bolt up to open it.

how do you propose to keep it open?

wont be quite as easy for me to make one though, as i dont have a lathe in my workshop.

maybe some kind person could turn me up the pivot bit for beer tokens.

 

[Chris]

I didn't actually make that bit Ben. I bought it. Although I reckon with a bit of time I could make one. You know, like a decade or something.

It stays open on the flat. What more do you want?

Actually I shall be putting a small pin in there somewhere for when I park on a slope. Or string to the door handle?


Chris

 

[hairyguy4]

i saw somewhere on mud where someone had used a tailgate strut to keep it open, looked quite good

 

[Ben]

so after yesterdays laning trip to the Peak district ive a few issues that need sorting.

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=13835

a few pics of yesterday first.

it was coming down these rock steps that i landed very hard on the back bumper, with so much force that it badly damaged the rear quarter panel.

to prevent this from happening again, the bumper is coming off and getting [strike:331hvz7i]cut up[/strike:331hvz7i] modified. im going to cut it so that the sides slope at an angle so that if i land on rocks again i will slip off them rather than landing on them square on.

so as i wrote in the trip report:-

"at the end of the last lane, went to unlock the free wheeling hubs and all the nuts and cone washers were loose.

and the hub was very hot. so we jacked it up until the wheel came off the ground and then gave the wheel a wobble.

the bearing was so loose/non existent that the wheel would move 2.5"s!

so out came the tools, and in the snow and rain we stripped the free wheeling hub off, and tightened the bearing up as much as possible."

so the wheel bearings are totally shot on the front near side, huge dent in rear quarter, rear bumper needs modifying, and the brakes dont look great either so going to replace all of them.

so lots to do over the next week.

made a start tonight.

got the wheel off.

followed by the hub.

the shaft doesnt look damaged, so im hoping its ok.

got the remains of the bearings out.

decided to remove the disc so i can take the hub to work and use the parts washer to get all the grease off.

got the bumper off.

was very lucky not to have damaged the rear light.

gave everything a rinse with the pressure washer. not very clear in the pics how bad the dent is.

so the rear bumper. looking for some input here please!

my mate thinks i should cut right from the corner to the opposite corner. marked below as a green line.

but im thinking of coming down a little bit first, shown as a red line on the pic above and below.

my thinking is that when in deep ruts or tight against a bank, it would be better to have a few inches of bumper resting on the bank, rather than a pointed wedge shape that might dig in.

the idea is though, to cut the bumper corners at an angle so if im dropping off rock steps again and land hard on the bumper, if its angled it will have less surface area to hit, and be more likely to slip off. thats my theory anyway.

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Personally Id put an angle all the way round the bottom edge of the bumper and I agree red line will look and work best.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

I would make the cut halfway between green and red. This way you keep more strength with enough slope to slide off rocks. I would also reduce the length of the side piece by half.

Roger

 

[LeCruiser]

Watching this as I haven't made mine yet looking forward to seeing mark2 bumper

 

[Ben]

Personally Id put an angle all the way round the bottom edge of the bumper and I agree red line will look and work best.

thanks but the trouble is it cant go all the way around, because in the middle is the chassis cross member which the bumper fits tightly over.

thats the thing with how ive designed the bumper, it doesnt loose any ground clearance at all, or departure angle.

i guess i could taper it in towards the middle.

I would make the cut halfway between green and red. This way you keep more strength with enough slope to slide off rocks. I would also reduce the length of the side piece by half.

Roger

interesting ideas Roger, thanks i hadnt thought of either of those.

i quite like having long sides on it though, not sure it would look as good if the sides were cut in half.

Watching this as I haven't made mine yet looking forward to seeing mark2 bumper

thanks, shouldnt be too different to this one, just a few angles for slipping and sliding off rocks better!

 

[Chris]

Ben to prevent this on mine, I made some brackets very similar to this that hold the leading edges away from the bodywork. They took a hit at the weekend ans survived.
I put the arm in the middle rather than at one edge though.

Chris

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben.

The main reason your bumper sidepiece bent upwards was the distance from the end of it to a bumper mounting point. The further this is, the stronger, and heavier, the bumper needs to be to resist any bending force.Having a sidepiece will protect the corners, but only if it will resist deformation. Your choices are to beef up the bumper to take any amount of abuse, or slim it down and shorten it to slide of the rocks you encounter.The shortening bit is a paradox in itself. Do you build a bumper that sticks out and invites trouble from the rocks or do you slim it down so that it doesn't hit the rocks because it's not sticking out!

My own experience dictates the latter, as I have found that a wide stance from my wheel spacers and big off-set wheels, keeps my bodywork away from the sides, and in so doing, protects them.

Roger

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

i thought the bumper would be strong enough as the box section its made from is 6mm thick, but obviously not.

put the bumper on hold today, while i concentrated on a few of the other jobs.

ive been busy at work today welding, plasma cutting and mag drilling a load of big heavy steel I beams for a big extension were doing, so thought while id got the mag drill setup id make my front recovery points.

so this is the 12mm thick 4" angle that i cut out of the side of a factory last week.

and this is what im replacing.

marked the steel and centre punched my holes.

fired the mag drill up.

few seconds later, and i mean seconds!

cut the angle on the cut off saw.

brought them home and cut the corners off with the grinder.

then rounded them over with a flap wheel disc in the 9" grinder.

i never liked how on the standard recovery points the D shackle would rattle around and would always hang upside down.

new one bolted on.

pleased with those, just need to get them painted now.

my brake discs are shot and the pads arnt great either, especially the side with the knackered wheel bearings.

so i looked at replacing them, and found that the vented discs and pads for sale are a lot cheaper than the solid discs and pads that ive currently got fitted.

so then i thought i could upgrade to vented discs. so i wondered if i could use the almost brand new vented callipers off the 4-runner.

took the off side calliper off and tried bolting the 4-runner one on. the bolt holes lined up but it wouldnt quite go on, which is what i suspected because the 4-runner uses 300mm brake discs and the 70's run 310mm discs.

i had my mate drop me off the 4-runner hubs, so i could remove one of the discs and see if it would fit the 70 hub, but it wont and cant easily be modified to fit.

so looks like im going to have to stick with my un-vented discs for a while until i find some vented callipers, maybe off a 3litre 70.

borrowed a tool from work to push the dent out on the rear quarter.

i found this attachment the most suitable.

worked well, managed to push a lot of the dent out.

just need a few kilos of filler now.

had a delivery today.

pleased to see some of the bearings are Koyo the same as the genuine ones, but not all of them.

there all made in Japan though, so at least there not cheap Chinese crap.

also got a big 54mm hub socket.

its got a 1/2" drive on it so i can use it on my torque wrench.

wasnt able to clean the hub at work using the parts washer. so brought it home and found petrol and an old tooth brush and old rag soon had all the horrible burnt grease, and swarf removed.

hopefully get a bit more done tomorrow.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben.

If you put a suitable spring on the shackle pin, it wont rattle at all.

Roger

 

[Sam]

Ben... do you sleep?