Builds Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction

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A good big bite today...



I think this is the most complete the front end has been so far. I was able to tack weld the upper mount scoop in place. I made the lower air damn that bolts to the lower radiator mounts. I mounted the headlight adjusters in the FJ40 grille. The headlights where mounted in the new adjusters. I test fit the bezel. Finished off the upper brace on the passenger side.

Once I had all that done I decided to assemble the front end and see how things looked. I even moved the tires around to see how the clearance is looking everywhere. I think you can see why I had to remove the 'corner' in the grill for tire clearance with the big 40s! This is at full bump, but without the axle articulated. I still have some room to work with and that is a good thing.....

Some misc pics.









 
Some metal origami today.







There was a big hole on the sides of the radiator where fresh air could bypass the radiator ( on both sides ). I folded up a piece of metal that would fill up most of that space. This bracket will also help brace the upper radiator mount. I will add a section of bulb seal to help close things up along the back of the bracket to the radiator tank.

Just another detail....
 
Mieser said:
I had a little bout of airflow OCD....



I made a small scoop to direct the air flowing coming from the hood gap into the radiator. It should also prevent the re-circulation of hot air from under the engine compartment in this area. I also added the outer holes into the upper radiator mount for a little more flow since the scoop didn't get in the way...





Click to expand...


Your work is awesome, you asked for opinions, so here is mine. Not trying to cast a stone, as your skilz are amazing.

I like your idea of a scoop; however, don't care for seeing the punched piece through the opening. Do you really need that much structure to hold the radiator? Could you leave the scoop and delete most of the punched section, just leaving the ends for structure? As this rig will likely be moving at slower speeds on trails, the more open area, the better -- plus I like seeing through that section and seeing the expanded metal matching the lower section.
retro-front-grill.webp
 
2fpower said:
Your work is awesome, you asked for opinions, so here is mine. Not trying to cast a stone, as your skilz are amazing.

I like your idea of a scoop; however, don't care for seeing the punched piece through the opening. Do you really need that much structure to hold the radiator? Could you leave the scoop and delete most of the punched section, just leaving the ends for structure? As this rig will likely be moving at slower speeds on trails, the more open area, the better -- plus I like seeing through that section and seeing the expanded metal matching the lower section. View attachment 1396795
Click to expand...

I think once all the brackets are painted black most of the visual issues will go away. In my opinion the upper radiator mount does need the extra support. I wouldn't feel good removing the middle of the bracket. I could add in the expanded metal in that area if the look is annoying without it.

Thanks for the input. Sometimes I feel like I am just talking to myself.
 
Mieser said:
Sometimes I feel like I am just talking to myself.
Click to expand...

I feel like that sometime... Found out not to be concerned unless your split personality answers.
 
Something new....



I am trying something a bit different on mounting a hydro assist ram. The 80-series chassis has a factory steering stabilizer that is mounted with a metal tapered bushing at the pitman arm TRE. After doing a bit of digging around I found an AFCO GM(?) TRE that would screw right into the PSC 1.5" cylinder with the 5/8-18 treads. That side will need a jam nut also, but that is easy off the shelf...

The hard part was trying to figure out something for the cylinder shaft that was also 5/8-18, but male RH threads. I looked high and low for a female TRE that would fit that without any luck. I also looked for a very large diameter TRE that I could make a RH-LH adapter without any luck. In the end, I decided that I had enough space to use a short factory 5/8-18 tie rod adjuster. This allowed me to convert from RH male threads to LH female threads to use the matching LH version of the same AFCO TRE I found for the fixed end of the cylinder. The tie rod adjuster will also allow me to fine tune the position of the piston vs throw of the system.

To get everything to fit together I needed to slightly expand the taper in the Toyota TRE with a 1.5" per foot reamer. It really didn't need much

I had the most issues getting the old drag link off the vehicle and apart! It was slightly damaged in the roll that totaled the vehicle so I couldn't use it for setup. I have a new heavy duty unit on the way from FROR. I need that to get though mockup. I can tinker with a few things but will be in a holding pattern to the new drag link shows up.

Some misc pics....



The stock bent drag link....opps....



Not to self. Use some anti-seize on the TREs when assembling things. The knuckle side of the drag link was STUCK. I had to weld on some box tubing to help hold it in the vise. Without it things just spun.



I needed a small cheater to get the TRE on the knuckle side moving....



Running the tapered reamer into the factory toyota pitman side TRE. It was actually pretty close from the factory. It took maybe 10 minutes to get the right fit. I will make a spare and throw it in the parts bag.



New AFCO TRE in the new reamed hole in the Toyota pitman TRE.
 
i did not see, is this full hydro or hydro assist? I like the plan to push on the drag link side; however, I thought that was taboo to work on that side instead of the tie rod side.
 
2fpower said:
i did not see, is this full hydro or hydro assist? I like the plan to push on the drag link side; however, I thought that was taboo to work on that side instead of the tie rod side.
Click to expand...

I am just doing assist with the 1.5" diameter, 5/8 shaft, ram. I like having the road feel with the steering box.

Taboo. I like like ruffling feathers. While it could be 'better' in some ways to have the ram on the tie-rod, I just didn't want to try and package that on an 80-series front axle. With the tie-rod behind the axle, over the radius arms, and under the diff, the packaging would be a nightmare.

As long as everything stops at the same time internally, or the ram stops 1st really, everything should be fine. If the ram can push/pull on the steering box sector shaft once it is on the internal stops that is bad. If the ram can pull/push on the steering arms with the knuckles on the stops....that is bad. I will build an internal spacer/stop in the ram if needed to match things.
 
I never liked that the steering damper is offset on the side of the TRE. You don't get a direct line of force applied through the drag link. It always seems to be pushing/twisting the TRE ball joibt off to one side (hope that makes sense).
I think having a ram on it would put more twisting force onto the TRE joint and putting strain on the ball joint.

No idea if that creates a problem, just my 0.02 plus taxes
 
mudgudgeon said:
I never liked that the steering damper is offset on the side of the TRE. You don't get a direct line of force applied through the drag link. It always seems to be pushing/twisting the TRE ball joibt off to one side (hope that makes sense).
I think having a ram on it would put more twisting force onto the TRE joint and putting strain on the ball joint.

No idea if that creates a problem, just my 0.02 plus taxes
Click to expand...

It's not ideal, but functionally it isn't any different from other mounting options. All the common mounting systems typically have a swivel function that has to be offset slightly from the centerline of the relay rod. There really isn't a way to have everything be perfectly in-line that I have seen yet. This issue is pretty common with T-linkage steering systems that are pretty common place in vehicle design.

The perfect way to do it would be to mount the ram on its own position to one of the steering arms....either another hole in the pitman arm....or another steering arm location.
 
Mieser said:
It's not ideal, but functionally it isn't any different from other mounting options. All the common mounting systems typically have a swivel function that has to be offset slightly from the centerline of the relay rod. There really isn't a way to have everything be perfectly in-line that I have seen yet. This issue is pretty common with T-linkage steering systems that are pretty common place in vehicle design.

The perfect way to do it would be to mount the ram on its own position to one of the steering arms....either another hole in the pitman arm....or another steering arm location.
Click to expand...

The only one I really liked was someone made a push pull system, but that was full hydro. I did mine on the back side of the axle on the tie rod side, directly above the rod.

left turn.webp
 
2fpower said:
The only one I really liked was someone made a push pull system, but that was full hydro. I did mine on the back side of the axle on the tie rod side, directly above the rod.

View attachment 1397466
Click to expand...

Interesting. Did you lower the front bumpstops? I don't remember having that much room over the front axle at full bump.
 
I wonder how that TRE is going to hold up with the force of the ram combined with the force of the steering box.
 
So, where is the ram going to attach? Draglink on the Pittman arm TRE right?

That TRE should hold up fine. The problem is going to be the the amount of force that goes through the Draglink to the Passenger side TRE (and the corresponding TRE for the Tie Rod). Make the steering linkage bomb proof, or you'll bend them. By connecting the ram closer to the driver side TRE on the Tie rod, you distribute the forces. You'll push and pull on the Passenger side from both directions and take a lot of stress off the system as a whole.

I am most certainly not going to tell you it won't work. Ned Bacon ran that setup on his Killer Bee for a while, but switched the ram location for more reliability. Just something to think about.
 
The steering links are going to be 1.25 dia DOM, 1/4" wall, steel tubing. The passenger side drag link TRE will be the high wear point most likely. I will be throwing a spare in the parts bag for sure.

I will be taking some extra time to set everything up. I'll start with the stock power steering pump pressure and see what that does. I can tune that up or down pretty easy. My benchmark is that I want to be able to turn the tires when aired down and the front locker engaged on a higher traction surface with the engine at an idle. It will be interesting to see if that is possible. This car should be a lot lighter than most 80-series also on the front end with the all aluminum engine that has been moved back in the chassis.
 
Mieser said:
Interesting. Did you lower the front bumpstops? I don't remember having that much room over the front axle at full bump.
Click to expand...

Had to get rid of the anti-roll bar. Otherwise fit fine. I copied @Wrench setup.
 
2fpower said:
Had to get rid of the anti-roll bar. Otherwise fit fine. I copied @Wrench setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm going to keep going down the path I am, but I will give it a look just to check. I don't remember there being that much space on mine with all the other mods.....Engine swap, etc.
 
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