Another 90 joins the pack ...............

[Zedman]

Did you put in a new clutch plate etc ? now would seem like an ideal time and you will never have to worry about it again 'v' taking the engine out to change it at a later date.

New cam belt is only about £8.00 put one on even if the old one looks fine and then you will know exactly when its due to be changed rather than guessing / worrying )

[varleym]

Sound advice as ever Matthew. As a precautionary measure I jacked the chassis up first and set it down on some concrete blocks to take most of the weight and stop any movement. You can just see them under the front crossmember in the first picture.

Just as an aside - I am correct in assuming that once the suspension is fully loaded, the diff should be parallel with the floor (horizontal), aren't I?

Cheers

Mark

[varleym]

Richard - yes, I put a new clutch in and I'll probably end up changing the timing belt as you suggested. Is it literally just a new belt or are there other components of the timing assembly that I should be renewing as a matter of course?

Cheers

Mark

[kingsonlim]

you can get a kit (STC4096) that contains:

- timing belt
- tensioner
- idler
- gasket
- new nuts & bolts

[varleym]

Cheers Kingson - Paddocks as good as anyone?

[kingsonlim]

I got it from Patterson Offroad:

http://www.pattersonoff-road.com/

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Land-Rover-Disc-D ... 1c14c043ba

The seller has also included the timing cover seal which other kit doesn't have.

[varleym]

Ah - just had a look and this one's for a 300 Tdi, mines a 200 Tdi. I assume they're different (I may be wrong).

[nicks90]

Just as an aside - I am correct in assuming that once the suspension is fully loaded, the diff should be parallel with the floor (horizontal), aren't I?

Cheers

Mark

no, the diff nose will point at the output flange of the transfer box.
The geometry is set so that the radius arm mounting points are roughly in line with the output of the transfer box and the diff nose pointing at the same output. That means when the axle cycles up and down when it articulates, it essentially forms an arc and the diff nose continues to point to the same place. Means a standard UJ equipped prop can cope with the angles with no (or little) vibrations.
When you put castor corrected arms or bushes on the front, the diff nose drops slightly. This means it no longer points directly at the output flange from the transfer box and the prop is then not only having to cope with a straight forward change in relative angle - but also a verticle change in height. This will probably cause vibrations and wear the UJs very quickly. You'll find alot of sellers telling you that you must have castor correction with a lift and flog you the arms - knowing that very shortly afterwards you'll be knocking on their door again to buy a stupidly expensive double cardon prop shaft to cope with the vibes......

I would fit the standard arms and get everything bolted together and up and running. If you find the castor angle is too far out with your lift and it affects your steering 'return to centre', then look at either getting rid of the lift or fitting castor corrected arms (and possibly stupidly £££ front prop) or get the swivels clocked to regain the 3 degrees of castor the axle should have.
I am sure matthew has the expertise to chop the ends of your axle off and reweld them with the relevant castor dialled in to cope with the lift you have.

Nick

[davew]

Or alternatively...

The mating faces of the two flanges (transfer box and diff) should be parallel for the propshaft UJs to work at their best. Pointing the diff at the transfer box seems to make sense BUT risks screwing up the phasing of the propshaft resulting in the UJs working unevenly and producing vibration.

The rear axle has the greatest travel which is why the A frame mount and radius arm mounts, in conjunction with the relative lengths of the A frame and radius arms, serve to more or less maintain the same pitch of the diff regardless of it's position. The A frame is deliberately shorter so that as the axle drops the top of the diff is pulled forward counteracting the "arc" effect by tipping the diff nose down.

The front axle in it's standard form does, however, travel in an arc around the radius arms which is why when you lift it without castor correction arms you can induce a vibration from the UJs that are being used outside their design specification as the mating faces are moved further from parallel. The angle of the diff is set so that the faces are parallel at the center of the travel and by lifting it you offset it.

Castor correction is not done to resolve imagined problems with the diff but is there to correct the steering geometry and bring it back in line with the manufacturers design. A side effect is that it also brings the mating faces of the diff/xfer box back into their design parameters. Due to the height difference of a lifted versus standard suspension you should, of course, re-phase and possibly lengthen your propshafts accordingly.

Phasing the propshafts correctly ensures that each UJ moves through the same arc and therefore "shares" the load evenly. A badly phased propshaft will induce vibration, in the worst case the UJ will not move at all in one direction. Screwing with the mating faces by artificially pointing the diff at the transfer box will induce phasing problems.

[davew]

To illustrate the above, this is a flash presentation I put together about 10 years ago to show the relative merits (or not) of extending the rear radius arms without changing the A frame mounting points or length. In particular the experiment was done to see the relative effect on the nose of the diff when you extended the arms and moved their mounting points towards the center of the chassis (as per the "new" Gigglepin arms).

In standard configuration the nose stays more or less parallel to it's original position, by extending the radius the nose moves significantly at the lower extremes of travel.

[kingsonlim]

Ah - just had a look and this one's for a 300 Tdi, mines a 200 Tdi. I assume they're different (I may be wrong).

http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/timing-belt-p-1695.html - will only fit disco 200tdi and not defender's.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Land-Rover-Disc-D ... 19b7766dd1

[Bo]

I always use Dayco as they have a good reputation within the trade, I'd check what make you will be getting before ordering one.

[Matthews]

Dayco or Gates are what I use, saving a fiver on a cheap belt costs a lot more money in the long run when it snaps !!!.
As far as front suspension geometry is concerned unless you are putting a silly lift on it leave everything alone, yes it won't steer quite as well (but big squishy mud tyres screw the handling up more). I've run standard front arms, good quality polybushes and standard propshafts for the last 11 years with no problems (as anyone following me on the road will testify), I change propshaft uj's every 3>4 years, bushes every 6ish years (dependent on how much I've killed them and certain people have been known to use my cast offs as they were better than the cheap new ones they'd just bought) and concentrate on getting the shockers right as this has a much bigger emphasis on handling than castor corrected radius arms, if you want a vehicle to handle like a sports car buy a Ferrari or a Porsche but you won't even be able to get into most trial sites though so buy some walking boots aswell

[nicks90]

Or alternatively...

The mating faces of the two flanges (transfer box and diff) should be parallel for the propshaft UJs to work at their best. Pointing the diff at the transfer box seems to make sense BUT risks screwing up the phasing of the propshaft resulting in the UJs working unevenly and producing vibration.


.

series trucks have parallel diff / tranny angles whereas the coiler axle diff nose points up towards the transfer box. Coiler front props are phased accordingly to account for this. I made the mistake after changing the front UJs of lining them up (hadnt realised they were phased) and it was awful!
I think the reason they did this on coilers was to reduce the overal angle the UJs had to work at, to offset the additional movement the coils give the axle. If you allowed a series axle to drop down as far as a coiler front end the UJ angles would be so great it would bind and snap! By pointing the diff nose up you are effecting reducing the overall angle they need to work at - just out of phase.
ps geek moment - diff mounting face is 12 degrees from vertical to give the correct caster angle of 3 degrees on a defender.


anyway, totally of topic - sorry!
build looks lovely, which i had a nice shiny chassis like that to stick under the discovery.

[Zedman]

Back to the paint theme, what methods do you folks employee for painting a Landy to obtain a 'resonable job' that is going to get dented and scratched as opposed to a normal car / showroom finish.

Wanting to get mine done so if anyone can come up with suggestions that are better than brushing it on or buying aerosols, or you know someone that does cheap paint jobs any info would be appreciated.

Or do you just brush tractor paint on and it gives good results ?