LJ70 Build Thread!

[sae70]

Have you had the Caster, Camber and toe checked to see how far out of tolerance they are Ben?

An increase in ride height will affect the caster angle, but the camber and tracking will not be changed.

Roger

OH, but of course I only suggest this as it would be good practice to have a reference point before fitting any correction bushes and may even throw up a big difference between sides that may account for the occasional violent shimmy/shake that Ben is experiencing, maybe due to a slightly bent radius arm or a miss shaped mounting causing a resonance at a certain speed/steering angle like a tank slapper on a motorbike

When I had the lift done on Fiery I had her checked on a Talon alignment rig

With interesting before and after results

Worth a punt, IMHO

 

[jeepmadmike]

Time to bend the hockey sticks....

I'm very tempted to do that, but it's a bit of a iffy area, that said they should be steel and I'm sure that a little heat and a press

Devon 4x4 are a nightmare to deal with even face to face- I've called while passing a couple of times and left empty handed because of their desire to rip me off even looked a nearly new navara they had just before I bought one- they want £1500 more than I could buy a new one for mrs buck said its got Nissan seat covers I laughed out load and Said its ok I'll buy a new one....

 

[Ben]

very interesting Steven.

i need to find myself a place that has one of those Talon alignment rig's

ive had trouble in the past trying to get the tracking done with 31" mud tyres, as the tracking gauge's at my local places wouldnt fit over tyres that big, so i know ive got no chance on the tyres im running now. but that talon one doesnt look like its affected by tyre size as it only goes on the wheel rim.

Time to bend the hockey sticks....

I'm very tempted to do that, but it's a bit of a iffy area, that said they should be steel and I'm sure that a little heat and a press

Devon 4x4 are a nightmare to deal with even face to face- I've called while passing a couple of times and left empty handed because of their desire to rip me off even looked a nearly new navara they had just before I bought one- they want £1500 more than I could buy a new one for mrs buck said its got Nissan seat covers I laughed out load and Said its ok I'll buy a new one....

yes ive considered that before, i did have some pics some where of where other people have done it.

yes D44 are a nightmare to deal with!

i know some people dont like milner, but there prices arnt extortionate and the service is always excellent. they always despatch the items the day i order them and there always with me the next day!

i just wish other 4x4 companies were the same!

 

[Ben]

did a little bit more on my truck tonight!

trying to get it ready for a laning trip to North Wales this weekend!

so i did an hours work on my truck, and then an hours work on my project!

i wanted to get the back bumper fitted.

measured and marked where the 4 holes needed to be for the extra bolts im fitting.

centre punched them and then drilled them all, and then bolted the bumper on.

my temperature gauge/controller finally arrived from Hong Kong.

trouble is all the instructions are in Chinese!

will need to borrow and photocopy the instructions that came with my mates one, as his are in English!

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Take it to your nearest Chinese take away.

Roger

 

[Chas]

I've got the same one Ben I can scan the instructions and email them if you give me your address.

 

[sae70]

Or FAX it to Graham

very interesting Steven.

i need to find myself a place that has one of those Talon alignment rig's

Talon is just the machines manufacturers name for that one The key thing that you're after Ben is a 4 wheel Lazer alignment. The company I use near me is called SuperTyres and is part of the ProTyre group. Hardy Tyres up by you in Telford are part of the same group and may well have one. If not, I've been using my local Formula1 Tyres of late and they put my Passat on their Talon after I had the new tyres fitted just before Christmas. There's a good scattering of F1 centres around you as well

 

[Ben]

I've got the same one Ben I can scan the instructions and email them if you give me your address.

that would be great thanks Chas.

will PM you me email address.

Or FAX it to Graham

very interesting Steven.

i need to find myself a place that has one of those Talon alignment rig's

Talon is just the machines manufacturers name for that one The key thing that you're after Ben is a 4 wheel Lazer alignment. The company I use near me is called SuperTyres and is part of the ProTyre group. Hardy Tyres up by you in Telford are part of the same group and may well have one. If not, I've been using my local Formula1 Tyres of late and they put my Passat on their Talon after I had the new tyres fitted just before Christmas. There's a good scattering of F1 centres around you as well

thanks Steven, i will see if i can find some where. im working at a factory just round the corner from Hardy tyres today, so i will call in and ask them.

 

[Ben]

good call on Hardys Steven, thanks.

just phoned them and its booked in for tomorrow morning!

they use a John Bean 4 wheel alignment setup which uses cameras. they said it measures castor, camber and tracking.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

I used one at Southam Tyres. You should finish up with a printed read out. I will be interested in the results.

Roger

 

[Ben]

well if i dont get a printed read out, i will take a pic of the results on the machine.

im going to get it tracked tomorrow and then see how it drives over the next week.

the results on the machine will tell me how much i need to adjust the castor by, which will be useful as the ironman bushes have 4 different positions.

http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/polyuret ... ducts.html

so in a week or so fit the castor correction bushes, and then get the tracking checked and re-adjusted if necessary.

then i will see how it drives, and decide whether to pay the £160 +import tax/duty for the tough dog return to centre steering damper.

 

[wobbly]

Dont you just love the Chinese!

The name of your temp gauge is Willy

Sorry, schoolboy humour.....

Pete

 

[Ben]

Dont you just love the Chinese!

The name of your temp gauge is Willy

Sorry, schoolboy humour.....

Pete

i never spotted that.

 

[Ben]

so time for an update...........................

im very pleased with how the improved rear bumper has come out.

need to adjust the exhaust as im not happy with it not being centred in the hole in the bumper.

stuck my other set of wheels on as i think im going to need them for the laning trip tomorrow as some of the lanes are extreme!

used my little makita impact driver. certainly made things a lot quicker, but i really need to buy a proper impact wrench.

stuck the damaged wheel and new wheel in the back of the truck ready to get changed.

temp guage fitting.

tested it works.

removed the clock surround.

checked the gauge would fit where i intended to fit it.

brought the surround into the workshop and got it on the bench.

marked what i needed to cut out.

cut it using a jigsaw, hack saw blade and then finished it off with a file.

gauge fitted perfectly.

surround back in place, and i marked where i needed to trim the metal dash.

gauge fitted perfectly.

connected the sensor to one of the bolts that hold the rocker cover on.

knew i wouldnt have time to wire it up properly before this weekends laning trip, so i rigged up a temporary power supply.

my next trip out in the truck was a 20 mile drive. for the first 10 miles it was mainly slow B roads and the temp gauge stayed around about 70 degrees.

the standard gauge was sitting about halfway.

i then did 5 miles on fast A roads and i was working the engine very hard. i noticed that the temp was rising steadily, atleast it was on the digital gauge.

by the time the digital gauge got up to the low 90's.

the other gauge had only just started to rise.

so effectively the engine needs to rise 30+ degrees before the needle on the standard gauge starts to move above halfway!

so at this point i switched the electric fan on and the temp dropped right down!

need to work out what temp to have the gauge set to turn my fan on and off at.

i took the truck to have the tracking done. this is the results before any adjustments were made. i dont really understand it though unfortunately.

the thing i need to know is, how much the castor is out by and how many degrees i need to adjust it by with the new bushes.

they didnt manage to adjust the tracking because one of the track rod ends is seized.

so i havnt paid them, as what they have said is if i can un-seize the track rod end, fit the castor correction bushes and then bring it back for them to adjust the tracking and check the castor for me.

 

[sae70]

It dosn't look to me from that screen shot like they measured your castor Ben

 

[Ben]

really Steven? thats not good.

this is a video to show the steering wheel shake problem im experiencing!



i was driving in the dark last night and was behind a van. i could see my lights reflecting on the van and they looked like strobe lights that truck was shaking that violently!

i really hope the castor correction bushes and new steering damper fix the problem.

all the wheel bearings and kinpin bearings are now perfect with no moment at all. tracking is slightly out but not too bad. wheels have all been balanced, well as best they can considering there like tractor tyres.

i did wonder if the shocks could be knackered, but i wouldnt have thought it would cause this.

 

[Ben]

video doesnt seem to work very well using photobucket.

going to stick it on youtube.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

First of all they have based the findings on the 80 series. This wont affect the findings, but it might affect the conclusions.

The first result is the caster. It should be 4 deg 5 minutes +/- 1 degree i.e. 3 deg. 5" to 5 deg. 5". A figure of 0 degrees indicates no steering self centering and a general sloppiness in the feel. American fighters are designed to be seriously unstable in flight and require a sophisticated computer to correct the problems. You have an unstable motor, but no computer. The 3rd row indicates a toe in of -0.04 deg. This is spot on and does not require changing.

When they do a re-test, get them to input the data for the LJ70.

From this data, you need the adjustable caster correction bushes, although from a personal viewpoint, I don't like the design.

Roger

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Stevens right, they haven't measured the caster. I, incorrectly, took the zero reading as actual measured reading without seeing that there isn't a white line on the dials to indicate that a reading had been taken. I suggest you go back, tell them to input the correct data and do it again.

How fast were you going, and what tyres did you have fitted? If you had those seriously aggressive muds on, are they re-moulds?

You need to eliminate the known problem of the caster angle. Get the test redone and hopefully standard correction bushes will do the job. I would then test drive it. If problem with shake is still there, borrow some standard wheels and tyres and try again. My bet is that new bushes and standard tyres will cure the problem.

Roger

 

[Ben]

thanks Roger.

the CC bushes that are on there way to me have got 4 settings. 1 is standard and the other 3 settings adjust the castor.

what temp do you think i should set the temp gauge to switch my fan on at?