"bulletproofs" hilux specs and Videos

[nuts]

Fark yea I want to go there when the water level drops

what do you mean when the water level drops
it was low tide

[Bulletproof]

simexs have just released a 35x12.5 2 block which is nearly 36 high and that is my preference at the moment for places like Westport. At Reefton I wouldn't have any thing but BFG and if I didn't have a choice would stick with BFGs as they are a good all round tyre.
Richard

about 3 months ago I was told by a local guy simex were doing a 12.5 twin block,no one seam to know anything about them,tryed a search on the net couldnt find anything,I see they are on there web site now(tyreline.co.nz)so there you go,having said that the 35-12.5-15 tripple block is not on there web site which has been out for several years and they sell them...maybe they are out of stock.


Some front end pic's of bulletproofs lux below.

I took some more photos of the front end for tim so decided to add them here

[IMG]

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm28 ... 6_0329.jpg[/IMG]





Cheers Richard

[Bulletproof]

a

[hosehustler]

Hi Richard
thanks for those pics in my thread as well, they are really helpful!

[Bulletproof]

Heres a video from last xmas showing the rear springs working.

I still had the OME leaf springs in the front at this time and the coils have improved the articulation now .



Cheers Richard

[Bulletproof]

There is currently a thread about gauges. In there I mentioned the need to replace factory hilux gauges .

Here is a reason why . This temperature gauge is not even connected and half the time it looks like this.



I have mounted all the gauges that matter Oil ,Water ,Supercharger boost and pyrometer just off the line of vision so I can see them at a glance . Especially the pyrometer because all my gear changes and driving is governed by the exhaust temperature.




Cheers Richard

[Bulletproof]

Just for Skids entertainment . Haydon Mapp playing near the farm in Pine Valley in 1999

V8s never late , 6 in line waste of time . No lockers it wasn't that good



Cheers Richard

[Bulletproof]

I have received some PMs and phone calls about the air operated transfer case . I did post 3 pics ages ago but they don't seem that clear so here are some more.

It is operated with the same switch on the high-low box lever. Instead of this operating the electric motor on the transfer case it operates a small air solinoid under the console cover.
When engaged there is a red light that glows in the console operated by the original switch on the electric motor

In the photo you will see the light and to the right there is a hole . Down the hole there is the solinoid that can be manually operated with a screw driver.



The Solinoid now operates the dual action air ram on the side of the box. The reason I used a dual action one was so it could be vented back inside the truck so shit couldn't get into the ram. It doesn't need to be as long as the one I have because the travel is only about 30mm. I just happened to get this one cheap.




The base with the three mounting holes is the original motor that is has been stripped and cut away leaving just the switch which activates the warning light and the housing for the shaft that contains the seal. On the end of that I have used a clutch slave cylinder rubber to stop dust getting in.






From the photos you can see I then fabricated a lever to go from the air ram to the shaft out of the transfer case using 2 of the original mounting bolts.



To finish off . A pic of the Hilux back home after another trip without the head light guards




Cheers Richard

[Bulletproof]

Shane has inspired me with X-link thread to do a mod to my panhard rod I have had in mind for a long time. I don't want to side track the X-link thread so will show progress here. I had already bought the pieces so this morning I made a start.

Looking at the panhard rod it gets under stress as the truck articulates and I think it needs a rotating end to relieve the pressure.

I am going to weld a bolt in the end of the panhard rod and then use the same rubber bushes on the radius rods. It will use the same mount on the diff.



Progress So far this morning





Cheers Richard

[91Rangie]

Interesting idea I hope your welding is good if that lets go you will know about

[mudzilla]

Looks good Richard, But I think you might end up with to much play with extra bushes and end up with wheel shimmy/shake. I have had a similar re/think on my front end and have had tight as bushes made up to elimiate shake and let my Panhard rod stay loose by 1 turn of the adjuster tread With the clamp in place so it can rotate as it needs. it has worked so far. Your comments on this idea would be appreciated. Cheers Wayne.

[rokhound]

I like the sound of your idea Wayne. I had 2 lock nuts set to give the panhard 1/2 a thread turn over the rod length.
ANY form of slack or play in the panhard will completely bugger your steering with death wobble.

[NJV6]

Are you guys talking about doing this with adjustable panhards? Otherwise I don't follow......

[Bulletproof]

Looks good Richard, But I think you might end up with to much play with extra bushes and end up with wheel shimmy/shake. I have had a similar re/think on my front end and have had tight as bushes made up to elimiate shake and let my Panhard rod stay loose by 1 turn of the adjuster tread With the clamp in place so it can rotate as it needs. it has worked so far. Your comments on this idea would be appreciated. Cheers Wayne.

Hi Wayne
Thanks for your comments. I cut and rotated the panhard rod awhile ago and it stopped the left hand wheel lifting but there is still a lot of stress built up.

What I am doing now is no risk because it is all new bolt on gear so if what you say is right about wheel shake all I have to do is go back to what I'm running now and carry on experimenting .

There shouldn't be too much side movement because the square plate at the back is a neat fit between the parallel radius rod supports and the pressure on the bushes will be adjustable.

Cheers Richard

[rokhound]

Are you guys talking about doing this with adjustable panhards? Otherwise I don't follow......

I was.
And yeah Richard as you say, nothing ventured nothing gained ( and it is something you can shag about with on the truck eh )

[mudzilla]

Are you guys talking about doing this with adjustable panhards? Otherwise I don't follow......

In my case , Yes , an adjustable Panhard rod.

[mudzilla]

There shouldn't be too much side movement because the square plate at the back is a neat fit between the parallel radius rod supports and the pressure on the bushes will be adjustable.

Cheers Richard[/quote]

Hi Richard, I went back up the page and looked at the photo of where your mounting and refer to the square plate slots in. Looks like a good plan. should take the stress off the mounting bolt to the diff. And if the bushes are tight it shoulnt get the shakes.

[Bulletproof]

A bit more progress today.

Put a little more steel on the mount to strenghten it. Still only tacked



Cut the panhard rod. What many nissan owners don't know is there is a very heavy duty one and the ordinary one.
The heavy panhard has 8mm wall and the other one 4.5mm walls.

Here is a pic of both



Also ordered the the turning to hold the bushes and will get it tomorrow'

Cheer Richard

[Bulletproof]

Picked up my turning today to hold the Radius arm bushes on the panhard rod.



Bushes fitted



All I need to do now is bend the panhard rod to preload the bushes half way through the suspension travel and then Tig weld the turning to the panhard rod.

Cheers Richard

[Jafa]

Looks good Richard, be interesting to see if it makes a noticeable difference.

[Bulletproof]

Got the mount finished today and bolted up to the truck



Tested the up and down flex by hand and it is around 500mm . Might be 600mm which is more than enough so I am quite pleased considering most shocks only move 200-300mm






Tomorrow will bend the panhard rod to preload it in the sitting position and tig weld it up and hopefully go for a test ride.

Cheers Richard

[DaveM]

In a previous post, you mentioned that you have broken the pins on the radius arms, was it you that modded the mount or your mate who had the same problem?
May not have anything to do with it, but a common problem with the safari front end is having the radius arms on to much of an angle which will cause a lot of binding.
A lot of people for lifts over 3" use castor plates or bushes, which is considered to be wrong, as although the castor is corrected, the arms are on too much of an angle to allow good flex, and is why drop boxes and drop arms were developed.
Drop boxes hang lower, but climb over obstacles better than the arms, and aparentely suffer from less "bounce" climbing.

The reason I mention this is, the angle on the radius on the hilux when sitting level looks like a safari with 4-5" lift (with correct angles most sit about level), which would put pressure on the pin bushes which may restrict the travel quite badly, especially when you look at the angle its trying to get on at full droop. I may be wrong, but its just a commonly known problem on a safari, and guys are now developing drop arm/boxes with an eye bushing instead of pin to help that end of the problem.

Dave

[oldblue]

Toyota realised this on there Bundera's [Pin type ] then went to a Bush type on the Prado 70series

[Bulletproof]

In a previous post, you mentioned that you have broken the pins on the radius arms, was it you that modded the mount or your mate who had the same problem?
May not have anything to do with it, but a common problem with the safari front end is having the radius arms on to much of an angle which will cause a lot of binding.
A lot of people for lifts over 3" use castor plates or bushes, which is considered to be wrong, as although the castor is corrected, the arms are on too much of an angle to allow good flex, and is why drop boxes and drop arms were developed.
Drop boxes hang lower, but climb over obstacles better than the arms, and aparentely suffer from less "bounce" climbing.

The reason I mention this is, the angle on the radius on the hilux when sitting level looks like a safari with 4-5" lift (with correct angles most sit about level), which would put pressure on the pin bushes which may restrict the travel quite badly, especially when you look at the angle its trying to get on at full droop. I may be wrong, but its just a commonly known problem on a safari, and guys are now developing drop arm/boxes with an eye bushing instead of pin to help that end of the problem.

Dave

Hi Dave
It wasn't me who broke the radius arm pin. You probably know the truck, it belongs to Kyle Egan from Nelson who has about a 5 inch lift.
Its not a problem with the hilux. Even though the boxes look level in the photos the ring that holds the radius arm on the inside is facing down on the same angle as the radius rod .I mounted every thing up with bushes fitted and then welded them in.

You can see in the photo mine drops along way down and still more to go.I have just fitted the modified panhard rod and jacked up the truck to see how the angle was in relation to the drag link and both ends are near to being on the same plane.




Cheers Richard

[DaveM]

Be interesting to hear the results of the panhard mod, look foward to your next update

[Bulletproof]

Be interesting to hear the results of the panhard mod, look foward to your next update

Been for a few test drives Dave. No problems with handling . I swerved from from one side of the road to the other at 100kph and no wheel shake ,could let go of steering wheel all together with no movement.

Drove down Wairoa river bed over the boulders and every thing seemed normal. Drove up Rowen Coutts loading ramp and nothing obviously wrong. The articulation was still somewhere around 800mm.

Only problem so far was the self locking nut came loose on the mount ,so I have put another nut on to lock it and tomorrow will split pin it as well.




Cheers Richard

[DaveM]

Just out of interest, what length shocks do you run up front?

[Bulletproof]

Just out of interest, what length shocks do you run up front?

They are the monroe gas magnum TDT range-rover shocks. I can remember the number of the shock.

I think the travel is something like 330-585mm but that mighten be right as i'm only going by memory.

Cheers Richard

[lockie]

going back to when you had the leaves in the front were you running cross over steering or push-pull?

[Bulletproof]

going back to when you had the leaves in the front were you running cross over steering or push-pull?

No I just had the factory C arm and drag link. I always intended to, but because I was considering coils never got around to it.

The C arms are suspectable to breakage ( I know of a least 6 that have broken) You need to be careful not to do the springs on the ball joint up too tight even though the WOF inspectors insist on it. The later C arms are a lot stronger than the old ones as well.
Better to go to the cross over.



More testing of the rotating end on the panhard rod today. Certain uneven roads caused a little shimmy on the steering wheel. When I fitted the mount between the radius rod mounts there was about 2-3mm side play and this was the problem. Today I welded the mount to the diff and is now fixed . No adverse steering at all.

Cheers Richard