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Project 80: Codename Grey Ghost
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Dropped the fuel tank today to get to the two damn bolts holding the LSV on. Actually pretty easy. Tank in good condition and floor pan even better. Gave it a bit of a brush down and some rust eater just in case. Then changed the rear calipers for the ones from Dan. All went very well today. No pics, sorry. Nothing to see. This is really just a record of the build for me I guess.
Popped the new heated mirrors in today. Not wired in, just swapped glass with some short tails ready to connect once we have a warmer day for feeding wires. The new convex ones certainly fit better than the flat ones I ordered the first time. 
Dropped the front prop this morning I am just not happy about prop angles and with having just put a new transfer box in, I am not keen to shag that up somehow. Going to look at possible additional correction on the radius arms. UJs are not designed to work with different entry and exit angles to the prop. A double joint would be a good mod if I could find one. IIRC the Colorado has a double Cardon - yes? No? Maybe?
Going to wire in the new spots this afternoon, but only once I get up to the unit. It's freezing out there today
Dropped the front prop this morning I am just not happy about prop angles and with having just put a new transfer box in, I am not keen to shag that up somehow. Going to look at possible additional correction on the radius arms. UJs are not designed to work with different entry and exit angles to the prop. A double joint would be a good mod if I could find one. IIRC the Colorado has a double Cardon - yes? No? Maybe?
Going to wire in the new spots this afternoon, but only once I get up to the unit. It's freezing out there today
Cheers Andy. I wonder if there might be an option there although dropping the rear of the arm isn't rocket salad.
Yes Chas they are. There is a post on heated mirrors from Chapel Gate already running but I got the same ones as Stu I think. You have to buy left and right individually and I needed the convex ones. You cannot fit flat ones as the backing is contoured. I tried to solder the connections on but it was like welding Teflon so I put crimped spades on in the end.
Here's what I got Chas. They aren't a perfect fit in the old housing but not bad. On each one there is a very small gap in one of the corners. I just used a heat gun to very carefully warm it all up and gradually peeled back the surround. No need to take the whole mechanism to bits.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390936362278?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Yes Chas they are. There is a post on heated mirrors from Chapel Gate already running but I got the same ones as Stu I think. You have to buy left and right individually and I needed the convex ones. You cannot fit flat ones as the backing is contoured. I tried to solder the connections on but it was like welding Teflon so I put crimped spades on in the end.
Here's what I got Chas. They aren't a perfect fit in the old housing but not bad. On each one there is a very small gap in one of the corners. I just used a heat gun to very carefully warm it all up and gradually peeled back the surround. No need to take the whole mechanism to bits.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390936362278?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
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I'd love to get my hands on a handed pair of them, I don't have electric mirrors at all on my truck, but heated mirrors would be a great asset in the winter...
Scott
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2010
- Messages
- 1,046
8 years ago I had a double carden front prop custom made for my LR Discovery, after the OME lift caused the transfer box end UJ to wear out every 1000 miles. I think it was the propshaft clinic that made it, (I can check if you need me to).
It has larger than standard UJ's and has worked perfectly with no trouble since it was bolted in place, I just grease it regularly.
May be worth an enquiry to see if it's a viable option.
Thanks Scott. I'll file that one away for later use should the correction not go to plan. But I think it will. I lay under there for some time on Sunday staring at it. After I dropped the prop the car is smooth, all the noises have gone, it feels as though there isn't that conflict going on anymore. The prop angle going into the front diff is virtually straight. But the angle coming down from the T box certainly isn't so one UJ is doing nothing effectively and the other is doing all the speeding up and slowing down each revolution. There's no counter cycle at the other end. Looking at the CC plates there is loads of room to reposition the holes and bring the axle back round.
Hey there are even pictures today.
First job was to replace the clutch slave cylinder. Why? Hmm, well just being thorough I guess. I still had a noise in neutral with the clutch up and engine running which went as soon as you touched the clutch. looking at the system, I figured swapping it out would make sense. Bought a Milner's unit. Looked very nice, well made and finished and cheap too. Oh, hang on. Inside the connection port for the fluid there was a small brass cone / gland seal like you have on brakes. As the connection is a banjo fitting this didn't seem right. First job was to get that out. Wasn't hard. Old unit was showing internal wear and such. But the internal return spring was much bigger than the Milner one. I thought about putting the new internals into the old cylinder until I found they were totally different bore sizes. So new cylinder and piston but used the old and better looking actuator rod. Bled with the vacuum bleeder in seconds. Clutch much improved I have to say and the jingling noise has gone.
Next job was castor correction. I'd had some more plates made up to play with but it soon became apparent that there is only so much castor you can correct with plates and it wasn't going to be enough. I had been drawing this out al week and was sure it was the answer, but no.
So I started to make some drop brackets for the rear mounting point. After a wiggle or too it was clear that this would give me the diff angle I wanted. I made a card template like Ben would have done, drew 4 plates out on a sheet of steel and cut them with least number of cuts and wastage. I milled them all to the same dimensions just they looked half proper, stack drilled them and set about welding them in place. I am not a very good vertical welder but I did lots of prep, had the plates clamped well in place and gave it a go. I will still weld a little internal support in here but it went dark.
Bolt alignment is spot on and I'm happy that I got a good weld on there. Some bits don't look as good as others, but it's a long seam and I have no doubts about it being strong enough and I'll weld the ends over tomorrow with some plate to make it a box.
OK so what are the results? Well I am pleased to say that the diff pinion is now around 0.5 degree forward angle and the T box around 2.0 degree back angle so things are much much closer. I took the prop, split it and set it in perfect phase. I didn't get as far as Tesco before I turned round. There was some pretty serious vibration. I know it sound a bit contrary, but power delivery felt much smoother and certainly castor in terms of steering feel was heaps better. It is pretty certainly the prop. Now general consensus on the front prop was that one one had one aligned perfectly back to front on their 80. And the green one which I know is factory fresh, is opff set too. So tomorrow it's out with the spanners and I'll reset it. I don't get how that works if I am honest but there is very strong evidence on the net that offset props are an accepted set up. Go figure. It's going to be a boring morning I feel. But at least my prop angles look normal.
I decided when drilling the bolt holes to remove the 18mm forward set I'd put on to stop the tyres rubbing on the old suspension. Great move that was. Guess what, yep they rub in reverse on full lock again. Progress. Not.
First job was to replace the clutch slave cylinder. Why? Hmm, well just being thorough I guess. I still had a noise in neutral with the clutch up and engine running which went as soon as you touched the clutch. looking at the system, I figured swapping it out would make sense. Bought a Milner's unit. Looked very nice, well made and finished and cheap too. Oh, hang on. Inside the connection port for the fluid there was a small brass cone / gland seal like you have on brakes. As the connection is a banjo fitting this didn't seem right. First job was to get that out. Wasn't hard. Old unit was showing internal wear and such. But the internal return spring was much bigger than the Milner one. I thought about putting the new internals into the old cylinder until I found they were totally different bore sizes. So new cylinder and piston but used the old and better looking actuator rod. Bled with the vacuum bleeder in seconds. Clutch much improved I have to say and the jingling noise has gone.
Next job was castor correction. I'd had some more plates made up to play with but it soon became apparent that there is only so much castor you can correct with plates and it wasn't going to be enough. I had been drawing this out al week and was sure it was the answer, but no.
So I started to make some drop brackets for the rear mounting point. After a wiggle or too it was clear that this would give me the diff angle I wanted. I made a card template like Ben would have done, drew 4 plates out on a sheet of steel and cut them with least number of cuts and wastage. I milled them all to the same dimensions just they looked half proper, stack drilled them and set about welding them in place. I am not a very good vertical welder but I did lots of prep, had the plates clamped well in place and gave it a go. I will still weld a little internal support in here but it went dark.
Bolt alignment is spot on and I'm happy that I got a good weld on there. Some bits don't look as good as others, but it's a long seam and I have no doubts about it being strong enough and I'll weld the ends over tomorrow with some plate to make it a box.
OK so what are the results? Well I am pleased to say that the diff pinion is now around 0.5 degree forward angle and the T box around 2.0 degree back angle so things are much much closer. I took the prop, split it and set it in perfect phase. I didn't get as far as Tesco before I turned round. There was some pretty serious vibration. I know it sound a bit contrary, but power delivery felt much smoother and certainly castor in terms of steering feel was heaps better. It is pretty certainly the prop. Now general consensus on the front prop was that one one had one aligned perfectly back to front on their 80. And the green one which I know is factory fresh, is opff set too. So tomorrow it's out with the spanners and I'll reset it. I don't get how that works if I am honest but there is very strong evidence on the net that offset props are an accepted set up. Go figure. It's going to be a boring morning I feel. But at least my prop angles look normal.
I decided when drilling the bolt holes to remove the 18mm forward set I'd put on to stop the tyres rubbing on the old suspension. Great move that was. Guess what, yep they rub in reverse on full lock again. Progress. Not.
I think so Ben. It drove OK ish with the prop as it was but not quite right. With the prop off it was very smooth but didn't have that 4x4 grip. Now the diff angle is right, sensible call it what you will, it can only be the prop phasing that is wrong. I set it to zero off set on purpose because it's the obvious start point. Funny thing is though that there doesn't seem to be a position at which you can set the splines to 45 degrees. I might try rotating the splines exactly 180 degrees first just to see if it's a balance thing. I can put the whole truck on stands and have the wheels off the ground if needs be and stick it in gear.
Well, I have spent the day fiddling with the props and the slip joint with the wheels in the air on stands. It seems as though the noise is actually coming from the new transfer box. On power it's now pretty quiet and smooth but let off and there's an horrid clattering noise from the centre diff. Dunno what that's all about. Prop phasing now seems pretty good and angles look good. It's drivable but I hate noises. Oh, the clutch is sweet now. Now noises from that. If I turn the T box front flange by hand it's smooth but if I stop and go backwards there is a definite resistance and you can feel a sort of clonk before it moves and takes up the backlash. It does it in both directions almost like it's overcoming a detent.
Never rains, but torrentially pisses down.
Never rains, but torrentially pisses down.
I have to ask myself sometimes why I bother. It's all ripples in the pond. You change one thing and you need to compensate, that solution then leads to another fix and before you know it, you can't remember where you started from. It's all very well saying, ahh, I'll put a small lift on and then put the seats down and put some boxes in the boot with kit in. Then you want some tyres. Then a roof tent. Then a water tank. Then bigger suspension. Then a bigger tent and more fuel capacity. Before you know it you're up shit creek again.
Don't know what's wrong with the transfer box but I doubt it's something that's simple to put right. I can't even think what would cause an effect like that
Don't know what's wrong with the transfer box but I doubt it's something that's simple to put right. I can't even think what would cause an effect like that
