churchill wrote:You can buy 4130/4340 and other similar steels by the meter from 'steel and tube'

Hi mate, long time no hear. I will give them a call tomorrow, didn't realize they did anything other than mild steel!

I have a set of 60s l/c half shafts here. Still in complete diff assembly which i have not yet stripped. Will be available around mid september. $40 if keen Thanks mudlva, I will keep my eyes open, but if I have no luck will grab them off you. Let me know what diameter they are if you get a chance ...

Mehrts wrote:Just out of interest, what are you thinking of doing with them?

I've been doing a bit of blacksmithing lately as a hobby, axles are made of fairly nice medium carbon steel, and I'm wanting to forge some throwing axes. That's why around 30mm or so diameter would be awesome.

mudlva wrote:You after diff axle half shafts or drive shafts

The solid steel shafts that connect the diff head with the rear wheels. I had some Vitara ones with a twist in them, but scrapped them at the time unfortunately.

Hi guys,

I'm after a couple of broken / bent / working rear axle shafts for a non 4wd related project, preferably around 30mm diameter and in the general Auckland area if anybody can help.

Willing to pay double scrap metal price + collect, or a box of whatever you drink.

A bit of work, but the price is pretty good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sRnOU6fAE

I've owned a 1997 V6 2L for about 3 years now and it's been a fantastically reliable car considering that it's got over 220ks on it. Haven't had anything break engine wise, nothing leaks and nothing gets 'used'. It's not very powerful for a V6 2L, but I'm very happy with the performance overall.

What you do comes down to the condition of the hubs, if they are turning smoothly and no obvious problems then I would just fit them. If you want to service them before putting them on you can have a look at this video: m For grease I would use a 'washout resistant' grease, the type they use on ...

oneinkedgeek wrote:Hey churchill, I was out with clay in the weekend and it was seeing both his rear wheels turning in the same direction which made we want one.

I've seen plenty of open diff Vits where both the rear wheels turn in the same direction, happens most days while I drive around

I've had a quick look online and it looks like their are solutions where you download some DPF free firmware to the ECU and replace the DPF with some form of pipe or tube.

The new generation diesel engines are supposed to be awesome, diesels always need to be meticulously maintained anyway. Wish I had the dosh for a nice 07 TD Vitara. As for driving it on dirt/metal roads, whatever you drive will end up with busted headlights, chipped/cracked windscreens and lots and ...

Honestly, you're talking about a 20+ year old car, if you don't HAVE to replace the steel pipe, then don't. Take it off, clean with a wire brush, quick coat of bright zinc spray paint and you're done. Focus on finding the source of the leak and only replace the bits that really need replacing.

When towing with any vehicle the big problem is usually stopping power, depending on the weight of your boat the brakes may not be great if you are on them for long periods going down hills or if you need to stop suddenly. The engine and transmission will really only get a hammering if you are doing ...

Intermittent reverse light tells me that it's probably either the switch on the gearbox (not sure where it is on a auto) or a bad connection somewhere, if the gearbox switch is good, start working your way along the wiring from the reverse lights until you find the problem. Not sure whether reverse ...

If you can machine off a tiny a mount and get the 15" rims to fit it would be a great solution, when I did mine I switched over a set of complete wheel hubs from a 16V here: m Fitted some high performance brake pads and got it certified no problem. Been driving it like this for a few years, the ...

This video has some bits which show how to take the gearbox out, including which things to remove and where. m Putting a new clutch in is pretty trivial, pain in the arse is to take the gearbox out. I don't personally know any tricks to get the clutch to slip less, just nana it home as you suggested ...

Maybe different between the I4 and V6 ? Also probably different between standard and wide-body models ? STRX7 'That guy' may be able to give a bit more information.

Having the free-wheeling hubs locked means the front diff is turning unnecessarily, the only real disadvantage is your fuel consumption will increase.

FWIW I've never heard anyone complain about problems with the auto boxes, the manuals are well known to get quite noisy with age.

'That guy' from te-puke partsworld is on here, I think hes username is STRX7 or something similar.

Diff ratio is the number of gear teeth on the crown gear divided by number of teeth on the pinion gear, so, both are responsible for the 'ratio'. Repairing a broken diff is a challenging job requiring some precision instruments and a bit of experience, so your best bet is to try and source a ...

Yes, I don't know much about jimnys, but for Vitaras they used basically the same suspension setup until the shape changed in 2005. My next one is likely to be a 05 turbo diesel and then drive that long term.

It's too bad they gave in and turned it into a soft roader.

When you say 2nd gen vitaras, do you mean post 2005 ? In 2006 they went from being a chassis + body with Solid rear axle to 'unibody' construction with independent suspension all round. They newer ones are probably much nicer to drive on the road, but I would personally never buy a unibody 4wd ...

I have a diff head from a 2L V6 in the workshop that I can be tempted to part with for the right price.

I haven't seen the ones where the top is shaped like the rubber mount before, seems like a great idea if it stops the squeaks. You would have to make out of polyurethane I would imagine. Unfortunately I think you may be out of luck, best to remove one of the rubbers and use it as a pattern. Post ...

Also, I don't think a 2" body lift is enough to fit 31" wheels without them rubbing on the guards, someone else may be able to confirm or deny.

Whereabouts in the country are you ? Might be easier to pop round to someone's place who has done the lift and have a look. Basically 50mm diameter UHMWPE will work fine to use as lift blocks, other people have used 50mm square steel tube, some rednecks have used blocks of wood. The biggest problem ...

Easy to take the bolts out, a bit harder to get it out of the actual engine bay, it sits under the alternator from memory. Disconnect the +Ve on the battery before taking it out, it has a direct feed back to the battery and will cause all kinds of fires if you accidentally short the wrong terminal ...

It's been known for a while that the only good automotive system made in Europe is diesel engines.

Turbo diesel is unreal in a suzuki. People always bag on stuff they have no experience with x2... http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd78/2meke2/2ct.jpg That is sexy, I just had a mini-diesel-orgasm. My next truck, whatever the brand will be diesel, I drool regularly over the '04 and '05 turbo ...