Builds fj60 going to EV FJ45

[workingdog]

Okay, separated the motors to see what that did, and the one thing I didn't happened. The front motor is not turning!! So, that's not good. When we debugged the motors recently, they were coupled, and we just assumed they were both turning. But, the front/slave motor isn't. So ... the confusion continues. Put a request to get motor guy on the phone and see what's wrong.

 

[workingdog]

While I'm waiting on call back from motor guy, back to the suspension.

I swapped over to 14" coil overs, but think I cant' make much use of the. I had thought that I'd be able to stuff the upper link mounts on the axle up into the frame a little, there's nothing in the way, but you can see in the picture, I'm short of the frame and the panhard bar is hitting the differential. Pictures show where the upper link tower sits, contact of panhard bar with differential. I'm going to get the bar rebent, but i'll only get another 1/2" out of it. and how much is left on the coilovers. The point of the exercise was to see if the towers need to be taller, but I don't think they do. Unless someone has a brilliant idea to get 2 more inches of up travel. move the panhard forward at the frame to move it away from the diff more? Move the panhard axis at the frame up (which would take it out of parallel with the drag link).

 

[workingdog]

Okay, moved the panhard bracket forward an inch. Made all the difference. There's no more up than that.

So, right now, there's nothing left on the shock. how much do I have to move the tower up so that it doesn't bottom out at full articulation. The bump stop (not in the picture, but the landing pad is), will be stopping up travel, but at full articulation, the outboard end will still move up? how much? 1"? 2"?

 

[DangerNoodle]

Okay, moved the panhard bracket forward an inch. Made all the difference. There's no more up than that.

So, right now, there's nothing left on the shock. how much do I have to move the tower up so that it doesn't bottom out at full articulation. The bump stop (not in the picture, but the landing pad is), will be stopping up travel, but at full articulation, the outboard end will still move up? how much? 1"? 2"?

View attachment 2832931

The shock should bottom with the main external bumpstop.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, this is making my head hurt.

Here's the front at full articulation and the shock bottomed out. Notice the bump stop (pipe) is 1.5" above its pad. Also, see how the back of the knuckle has moved up into the coil. And, it looks like 37's will be very close to rubbing the coil. I'll have the tires mounted on the right wheels tomorrow - but only 35's.

So, looking at this, both the axle side coilover mount and the tower should come in a little.

Right now, up travel is 5", down travel 9". I could move the tower up 1.5" (which would allow more up at full articulation) and the bump down .5" and that would make the bump engage before the shock bottoms. However up travel would got down to 4.5" and down travel would 7.5"

If I'm getting this right. So many trade offs.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Okay, this is making my head hurt.

Here's the front at full articulation and the shock bottomed out. Notice the bump stop (pipe) is 1.5" above its pad. Also, see how the back of the knuckle has moved up into the coil. And, it looks like 37's will be very close to rubbing the coil. I'll have the tires mounted on the right wheels tomorrow - but only 35's.

So, looking at this, both the axle side coilover mount and the tower should come in a little.

Right now, up travel is 5", down travel 9". I could move the tower up 1.5" (which would allow more up at full articulation) and the bump down .5" and that would make the bump engage before the shock bottoms. However up travel would got down to 4.5" and down travel would 7.5"

If I'm getting this right. So many trade offs.

View attachment 2833613

View attachment 2833612

View attachment 2833615

It's really just a game of balancing everything. If you aren't planning on bombing though the desert at 60+, 4"-5" of uptravel is plenty.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

X2. Always a compromise. The numbers you're talking about make sense to me.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, I'm welding it up - and I'm blaming all you guys if it isn't perfect!!!

 

[DangerNoodle]

Okay, I'm welding it up - and I'm blaming all you guys if it isn't perfect!!!

They make grinders for a reason.

I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[workingdog]

It lives - kind of. Got the NetGain guy on the phone and a few adjustments it was spinning backwards, and a few more and it was spinning forward.



So, now ALL I have to do is get it back into the chassis - still not sure how to do that.

 

[05CTD]

It lives - kind of. Got the NetGain guy on the phone and a few adjustments it was spinning backwards, and a few more and it was spinning forward.



So, now ALL I have to do is get it back into the chassis - still not sure how to do that.

Great news congrats...

 

[workingdog]

Trying wrap up changes to the suspension before putting the drive train back in. The front towers are another 1.5" (from the 4" I already put them up) and about an 1" farther inboard. The rears are about 3/4's inboard of where they were. The lower shock mounts have been swapped over to ones on the long axis which is more appropriate for this setup. Coilovers will go back in (without springs) and I get the tires back tomorrow on the final rims and I'll test for tire rub at full articulation ... please, please, please let there be no rub. I'm tired of tearing apart the suspension.

If that is successful. I'll separate the motors and install the aluminum coupler and run the motor one more time. I'm going to leave the motors out and get the clutch to full function outside the chassis so that I can get the Atlas to spin. I'm going to leave the motors out until my Mag drill comes back from repair and I can drill the holes for the transmission mount in the frame and weld in the sleeves while I have room.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Are your upper rear links on the axle side fully welded already? If not, I'd space them out more to help with body roll.

 

[workingdog]

upper rear links? On top of diff? Not fully welded. I thought I needed to fully triangulate the uppers to eliminate the panhard bar.

 

[DangerNoodle]

upper rear links? On top of diff? Not fully welded. I thought I needed to fully triangulate the uppers to eliminate the panhard bar.

You need to some, but the links that close together will cause a lot of body roll. You should be able to space them 6" - 8" apart to help lower body roll without losing the triangulation, but maintaining a good roll center.

Here is a good video:

 

[workingdog]

ya but ... love that video, and I just went through this my fj40 and I had to untriangulated my lowers to fix really horrible body roll.

On this rig, with the lower links parallel, the front roll center is way out in front of the car, and up near the center of gravity, which isn't very high in this car. Spreading the upper links axle side mounts will move the rear roll center a little farther back, but won't move it up. My understanding is I should be okay. But, I'm open to learning more about it.

 

[workingdog]

Tires are mounted on the old 35's I had. Theses are not the final tires, but they'll work while I'm getting the thing built.
Here's front and rear and rear at full stuff. Didn't need to move the rear towers in. These tires sit farther out than the stock jeep wheels I was using. Should have swapped a while ago. You can see the new lower shock mount in the rear picture.
Put a 3/8" bend in the sway bar arms in the rear to get them a little farther out. But, I think the suspension is pretty close to done. A few more things and it's time to weld it up - yikes. Now, back to getting the motor together again and ready to go back in the chassis.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, time for the drivetrain to go back in. Lots and lots of work to get the temporary cowl out of the way so I could swing it in, in one go, but it all worked out pretty well. Took the final measurements and called Tom Woods - new drivelines showing up on Friday. Now, to swing the cowl back into position, wire it back up, and test it one more time. Turns out Advanced Adapters (via their supplier) sent me the NV4500 with stick, but no tower or selector or whatever is the right term for the thing that goes on top of the transmission the stick screws onto. And that's been hard to find, AA no longer stocks them. But, I finally find the right guy to tell me the right part number and a place in Texas that should have some. So, that's coming this week too. Clutch master and slave cylinders are mounted, so now that it's back in the chassis, I can hook the clutch together.

So, I am really, really close to having the motors connected to the axles. I've got to swap the flange on the rear diff to a 1350. The front will apparently mount okay. Fill the trans and Atlas with fluid, and, with a couple of shifts, I should be able to spin the Atlas output.

Once that happens, and the drivelines arrive and are installed, then there's nothing stopping me from putting tires and wheels and coils on and seeing if it will roll out of the garage. The entire front suspension is only tacked, so I'm going to have to burn a lot more of that in before I try moving even a few feet. And, I'll need someplace to sit so I can operate the thing, and there's no brakes - but who needs brakes!!!

 

[Chuckha62]

Okay, time for the drivetrain to go back in. Lots and lots of work to get the temporary cowl out of the way so I could swing it in, in one go, but it all worked out pretty well. Took the final measurements and called Tom Woods - new drivelines showing up on Friday. Now, to swing the cowl back into position, wire it back up, and test it one more time. Turns out Advanced Adapters (via their supplier) sent me the NV4500 with stick, but no tower or selector or whatever is the right term for the thing that goes on top of the transmission the stick screws onto. And that's been hard to find, AA no longer stocks them. But, I finally find the right guy to tell me the right part number and a place in Texas that should have some. So, that's coming this week too. Clutch master and slave cylinders are mounted, so now that it's back in the chassis, I can hook the clutch together.

So, I am really, really close to having the motors connected to the axles. I've got to swap the flange on the rear diff to a 1350. The front will apparently mount okay. Fill the trans and Atlas with fluid, and, with a couple of shifts, I should be able to spin the Atlas output.

Once that happens, and the drivelines arrive and are installed, then there's nothing stopping me from putting tires and wheels and coils on and seeing if it will roll out of the garage. The entire front suspension is only tacked, so I'm going to have to burn a lot more of that in before I try moving even a few feet. And, I'll need someplace to sit so I can operate the thing, and there's no brakes - but who needs brakes!!!

Holy Cow Peter!

Sorry I've been non-existent. Between my wife's diagnosis and a new job (back up on the hill), my brain has been frapped!

 

[workingdog]

more drama.

After getting everything back together, tried to get it going, and no go, network error. Found a disconnected wire in one of my fancy new water proof connectors. Moving everything in and out yanked on it too hard. So, network is up - but still no joy. More errors on the motors. Connect to the motors and there's an over temp error on motor1. Reading 194 degrees C. So, I must have yanked too hard on that cable too. I'm worried I've broken the connection inside the motor - which is a giant pain in the ass. There is no way I'm taking the drivetrain out again so I can take the motors out and get at the thermistor. So, for now, so I can keep working, I'm just going to plug a thermistor into the wires and duct tape it to the motor. If you see me out and about next year, ask me if I ever got a chance to fix it.