Solid Axle Swap!!!

less typing more SASing

Haha it gets like that sometimes. Havnt done a whole lot this weekend, been at work for most of it. I managed to get the wheel bearings greased up last night. Man that was a dirty job. The hubs will most likely go on tomorrow arvo. I will be ordering some new rims today. Looking at 16 x 8 -22 offset black sunnys to clear the brake calipers

Well I bolted up the hubs last night and ordered some new rims with a neg 20 offset should pick them up this arvo, hopefully this will clear the brake caliper otherwise Ill have to go to neg 30 or 40 which I dont really want to do. Other option is to go to a 17" rim but that means new tires.....

I need to sort out the panhard rod mount which I have been putting off for a while.

Been pretty slack the last few days, havnt made much progress. One of the hubs is bolted up for the final time. Im leaving the other one off until Im 100% certain the rims I have ordered will clear the brakes. 16 x 8 -20 sunny's



I had to cut some of the passengers side radius bracket down to clear the coil spring



And had to get the brake lines modified as they didn't come with banjo fittings

Made some progress this morning, braided brakelines are bolted up



Locker is wired up and put in an extended diff breather

I have narrowed my choice of draglink down to 2 designs

Option 1:3/4" heim with a 5/8" misalignment spacer at both ends using a 1" x 0.25" DOM piping. Only issue with this design is that im not sure if the misalignment provided by a 5/8" spacer will be enough to stop binding at full droop. From my research a 5/8" spacer will allow 27 - 30 degrees of movement. I need to use a 5/8" spacer as the hole in the pitman arm is a 14.2 - 16mm taper. It can be easily drilled out to 5/8" which is 15.875mm



Option 2
Use the provided balljoint. I will need to make a bung for the end of the tubing as its a weird thread 11/16 - 18TPI. After some more research I found this be a common size of balljoint used on Fords in the 70's and 80's. A tap for this size was about $90, other option would be to have a machinist make me a bung.





Im leaning towards option 1. It is alot easier but if the 3/4" heims bind I will have to go up to a 7/8" heim to get the required misalignment.

Few pics of the Panhard bracket I made. Pretty much some scrap RHS with a 3.2mm wall drilled a 19mm hole, welded in a 8.8 bolt as much as I could and a washer for spacing and some extra strength. It slots nicely inbetween the radius arm brackes and clears everything. I burned it in this arvo but forgot to get pics of it. Ill post more tomorrow

getting there now mate, good stuff.

I know, your all waiting for the FLEX pictures

Radius arm bracket burnt in and painted


Bolted the other hub up and connected the brake line, its actually starting to look like a 4WD again




Going to cut the railway sleeper hi steer down. Should be able to make a double shear with the tie rod and drag link to finish it all off quiet nicely. Heims should be here tomorrow for the drag link.

Getting so very complete!!!

Looking the goods now mate not long to go!!

Made some more progress over the last 2 days

3/4" Heim with 5/8"misalignment spacer, need to shave the spacer down slightly on both ends so it clears the chassis rails.


Seems to be lining up ok


Ive cut the railway sleeper to length and notched out a bit for the drag link to flex, need to cut a little more off tomorrow to clear at full steering lock and drill a 3/4" hole for the bolt to go through.




In the last pic you can see the heim joints slightly touch. Ive worked out I need to make a small spacer 19mm ID and 25mmOD to get the correct clearance. Im going to find a washer which is 25mmOD and drill it out to19mmID. Still need to get a longer 3/4"HT bolt for the steering,the current one is no too short

Also bleed the brakes last night

Great progress. Will be quite the monster when done.

Flex shots already man! Come on!!

Well its been a few days since I last posted here. Draglink, Tie rod and "railway sleeper" have been off for painting. Just waiting for them to come back on monday. This afternoon im going to tighten all of the bolts up and adjust the coilovers to lower the front a little. last lot of testing had the front sitting 1050 from bottom of rim to top of flares. Ideally I want to get this down to 950 - 1000mm.

Im hoping my rims arrive sometime this week, once they are done it will need a wheel alignment and Im hoping it will be driveable. With any build there will always be a few niggles that need to be sorted out.

I still need to sort out the gearbox cross member and get a driveshaft made up to suit the travel. This can wait till the navs back on the road.

Will post pics in the comming days, stay tuned!

Is this thing sitting on its wheels yet?

Nope, been f*#ked around with rims. everything else is done though. Im hoping monday next week but who knows.......

Had some good luck today. Got the rims on the tires, they clear the guards! All I need to do tomorrow is to tighten up all of the bolts, bleed the brakes and but the wheels on.

In subsequent days I will need to charge the shocks and get a wheel alignment but that can wait. Will post pics up tomorrow

Cant wait!!