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Balmer

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Posts posted by Balmer

  1. Somone on here reccomended designing a bracket that raises the axle side of the bar instead of dropping the frame side. In theroy this would raise the roll center and make it more stable. I may try to do that one day.

    Ya, it's a better way to go. I'm finishing off my long arm rear 5-link this week and I'll be doing a bracket to raise the trac bar at the axle. I can't figure out how to post pics on here (which is why my build thread is dormant) so I'll provide a link to a different forum with my build after the bracket is done.

  2. I picked up my axle housing, ring & pinion, 3rd member & bearings, Aussie locker, steering rods & joints, knuckles and caliper mounts tonight! Now all I need to complete my seriously upgraded D44 is axle bearings and 5:13 R&P. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow. I hope to have the axle assembled, minus the gears, by Christmas. Then it's on to fabbing up some radius arms, I'm pretty sure it's the cheapest way to go and it gives me an excuse to buy a welder and a few metal tools. I'd like to shake the rust off the ol' fabbing skills anyway.

  3. I just found out that I need to replace the right rear frame section on my Pathy, and read some pretty discouraging posts. Then I remembered my dear old Land Rover (SeriesII 88"), and am now determined to save my Pathfinder. I am happy to have found this thread now, as I believe you guys are on the right track here. first of all, let me say that I am not here to shower the Landy with praise, or to put down the Pathy, the Nissan is by far the better on-road vehicle and the rest is like comparing apples to oranges. I will say, however, that Land Rover dealers have a better attitude toward helping their customers with problems. Land Rover dealers know, confess, admit, provide help for, AND MAKE MONEY FROM problems related to the REALLY crappy box frames that they put under their older vehicles. Check out the sites of places like Atlantic British and Rovers North. You can buy any piece of the frame (or a whole new frame {$2000.00}---for an early 1960's vehicle). The attitude is typically British and is this:

    "Oh, the rear crossmember has rusted itself to pieces? Well, old boy, modern science HAS found the cause of this malady. You've simply neglected to spray enough no.2 fuel-oil mixed with your used engine oil onto the bloody thing. You ARE changing your oil every 5,000 miles aren't you? well then what are you doing with it, saving it up for your Guy Fawkes bonfire? Anyhow, not to worry, we have a nice new one for you on the shelf. Just cut the old one off and weld the new one on. Use the cab mounts and what's left of the frame as your jig. There's a good chap!"

    Nissan dealer's attitude:

    "Ah, rusty frame? Yes, frame rusts, so sorry, go away!"

    Anyhow, treating the inside of the box frame has been done by Land Rover owners for years. Reading your posts about this gives me new faith, especially now that I am in the Nissan camp. I have used POR 15, I love it, but I think that I will go with the enivironmentally-friendly fish-oil stuff. Reason being that POR-15, while it will be more permanent than oil, does not spead like oil. It only coats the area where you put it. Oil spreads (to some extent, anyhow) to areas that you might not have hit. Landy owners often use the jet nozzles from oil furnaces (get the ones with the biggest orifices and widest spread patterns) on the end of the frame-sprayers. The use of phosphoric acid prior to the rinse-out may get rid of some of the really bad rust, and drying with heated air or with nitrogen (available in cylinders from your local welding supply) between the rinse and the oiling will help.

    Thanks all for being here,

    Bill

     

     

    Fine chap this Bill fellow.

  4. Number 1: A Dana 30 front out of a Cherokee would be a reverse rotation front axle. If the shaft breaks the wheel does not fall off! Only if you break the outer stub shaft will it do that, also good luck on that, I run 37" tires on a locked and chromoed D30. Having said all of that, yes I would still go for the D44 as it can be built stronger and has the capability of using Locking hubs. The 30 can get locking hubs but they are extremely expensive. Also saying that the D30 is only good for stock tires shows your ignorance in the Dana 30!

     

    Simon

     

    I have to agree that the D30 is a WAY under-rated axle. I've seen guys run hard with 35"s on them for several seasons with no breakage (open diff). As noted, the D44 is a better choice, but if a guy had a D30 sitting in front of him it would potentially be an axle worth building.

  5. Umm I would replace all the front end components (you owe that much to your pathy if it survived that @!*%!) and get an alignment.

     

     

    Agreed! I wheel my rig pretty damn hard and I'm just pulling all my IFS out for my SAS project. I've found that virtually EVERY steering component is bent, buckled and broken. The steering on these rigs is weak at best. Repace everything (with upgraded parts if you plan on abusing it again) and get an alignment or you're wasting your time and money.

  6. Ya, clearly it's a better arm, and there are other, custom arms available too. The thing is, any aftermarket radius arm set-up I've found since starting this thread is between $600.00 - $700.00 CAD. For that kind of cash I think I'd whole whole hog and do a custom 3 link. Since I'm going cheap for now I'm going to stick with the F-150's personally. Have you checked into other arms? How much longer is the XJ long arm, generally speaking? Do you think the geometry is better over the stock Ford arms?

  7. Most Jeep XJ or TJ or ZJ long arms are typically a radius arm type set up. The upper arm is attached to the lower arm making it a radius arm setup. Thats the reason I don't use long arms on my Jeeps! Because as the suspension drops the knuckles do not retain their caster and when the tire turns it puts unusual force on the ball joints and tie rod ends! Hence people blame axle strength when the actual problem is they have no idea about suspension and steering geometry! If you are using a 4 or 5 link long arm then go for it! You will still need to make some custom brackets for the frame! Keep in mind that every suspension kit is developed for each individual vehicle, in other words, wheel base, track width and center of gravity! You will need to calculate these before you start, otherwise you might have some very bad on road experiences, such as severe brake dive bump steer and major roll on acceleration! If you need help PM me, I can help you wit the link set up! To help you look at a couple of link programs! I use a program called link-calc don't know if it's still around though. Good luck!

     

    Ya, I know that mounting the upper link to the lower effectively makes it a radius arm. I just figured the XJ set-up might be the best possible radius arm to go with. I have a set of radius arms from a '79 F-150 that will work. I'm trying to keep things as cheap as is reasonable. Lots of guys have done radius arm suspensions on 'Finders without too many issues. I know that ultimately, linked is the way to go and I would love to do that but I fear the cost involved. I've checked into the Poly Performance universal link kits - that's what I'd love to hook up but $$$$! Even just Johnny joints alone are very expensive, so I'm not sure I'd save much by fabbing my own link set-up. If you have a program I could play with I would be very appreciative! I plan on doing a long arm version of the 5 link rear, but it's a pretty cheap one - you can get the link from my SAS thread - so it would be great for that! What do you think, are there any other approaches I could take with a link system that would save money?

  8. Hey everyone, this is basically a break away from my SAS thread. I'm getting a built waggy D44 front for my SAS and it has brackets welded on for an XJ long arm set-up already. I'm thinking if I can make it work without spending a fortune I'd rather go that way than radius arms. Has anyone done this mod yet? Heard of it being done? I'm planning on using frame brackets rather than adapting the XJ cross member since the 'Finder is full frame. Hopefully buying the arms only will save me some $$$ over buying the whole kit. Any input is appreciated!

  9. ***Reality check***

     

    Ok, so funds are not what I'd hoped what they would be at this point and my time is a whole lot more limited than I really wanted. That being the case, I've had to curtail my SAS project somewhat. Although my rig won't be as capable as I'd wished, the project will be more in line with what many of you are doing or plan to do, so that's a bonus in itself. I'm likely to get more feedback given the scope of my build now and I think others will get more relevant info from the thread so what the hell!

     

    Here's the new deal:

     

    - I'm keeping my engine, trans, and T-case stock

     

    - The rear axle (H233b, with disk brakes) is being re-geared - I have yet to commit to a ratio but I'm thinking 5:14's or 5:38's

     

    - I'll likely upgrade to cro-mo rear shafts once SteeevO start making them

     

    - Rear Detroit locker

     

    - Rear long-arm 5-link set-up see: http://nissannut.com/projects/long_arm/

     

    - Front D44 from a Wagoneer (comes with Aussie locker, brand new cro-mo shafts, super joints and GM high steer knuckles)

     

    - The front axle has 4:10's so it will have to be re-geared to match the rear

     

    - DOM steering upgrade for SAS see http://nissannut.com/projects/DOM_Steering_SAS/

     

    - I was going to go with an F-150 radius arm set-up (I already have the arms) but the axle I'm getting already has the brackets for XJ links welded on, so if I can afford it I'll go with that set-up instead

     

    It's late and I'm tired so I've probably forgotten a bunch of stuff but I'll add more later. Has anyone else adapted an XJ long-arm kit??? Any input on this project is appreciated!

  10. So the front driveshaft crosses? I'm confused to say the least. :scratchhead:

     

    From the way everything looks from the cab, the t-case is positioned the same. My conclusion would be the t-case in the Safari differs greatly from the R50...

     

    I don't get it. :(

     

     

    Buddy... The way things look "in the cab" have NOTHING to do with what's being discussed here. Look UNDER your vehicle. The transfer case front drive shaft output is on the DRIVER'S side. Therefore, any axle you put in the front for a SAS must be a DRIVER'S side drop ie. the differential housing itself must be on the driver's side of the vehicle. Your comment about the "drive shaft crossing" is right, that's what would happen if you tried to install an axle with the diff on the wrong side... which WOULD NOT WORK!!! the T-case output must match the axle, so if you install an axle with a passenger side drop you have to swap to a T-case that ALSO has a passenger side output. get it?

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