Ln106 Singlecab Project

[FKDLUX]

Hi Guys
Iv been thinking about this project for some time now and have finally decided to go through with it. As it stands its a 1993 Singlecab Ln106 with Lockright rear diff, 4.88 R&P's, 2inch cab and deck lift, custon front springs with diff moved forward by 40mm, Superior adj. torque rod, 4wd1 adj. dropped draglink, and Arb Bumper with Hs9500 that has been been removed for servicing.

[FKDLUX]

So what I am goning to do do is add a bit off this to it


with some of this


with a couple of other bits and pieces from the landcruiser range and see what happens.

[kaney]

motor out of surf, cab of hilux, and chassie of prado-with manual hubs from hilux?

[FKDLUX]

What iv started doing is to change the surf wiring loom in to my cab and then to tidy up the excess wiring ( electric windows, sunroof etc) and run the factory Ecu for the motor. The question I have is im not using the surf auto. Its down to two gearboxes which I have, a Prado Auto or a Prado Manual. So for either is the loom I have going to work? I have heard conflicting stories of people being able to use the auto loom and have a manual gearbox - simply unpluging all auto related stuff and away you go, some say its not possible that only factory manual surfs can be manual as such. Now with the Prado Auto, it too is an A343 Trans, simply with a differant transfercase so will the Surf wiring I have now run this Box? Im not really leaning toward either box it may just be what is going to be easier to put in the truck is the one I run with.

[FKDLUX]

by kaney on 26 Mar 2009 08:17

motor out of surf, cab of hilux, and chassie of prado-with manual hubs from hilux?

Yes and no
Motor out of surf, but my chassis and cab, with modified Prado suspension is what i have planned. I had looked into my cab onto the prado but it has dead plates and the front diff and motor relationship is differant compared to the hilux ie motor set further back so without modifying prado engine setup or hilux firewall it wasnt going to work. Grafting prado suspension appealed to me more as Hosehustler has done.

[shortylux]

are you going to out the surf or prado coils in the back also? It will be very nice for you having 3 complete vehicle to work from. Easy to see "how its meant to be" as you recreate it on your wagon.

[FKDLUX]

are you going to out the surf or prado coils in the back also?

Yea going to use the Prado stuff as iv already cut all the suspension mounts off the Prado chassis and cleaned them up. I pulled the Prado apart some months ago but have plenty of pics and some mates trucks to look at regarding how the vacum plums in for the 4wd part of the transfercase from the Prado as Im going to use the Prado auto behind the Surf motor ( same box as Madaz used behind his 1uzfe)
Suspension is going to be linked, 3 link front, possibly 3 link rear aswell as all links will be same from front to rear to make it easier for spares. ie lowers the same length from front to back then then the two uppers are the same also. Havent decided on what material to use yet, I have access to steam pipe and hollow bar at work. Something around the 40mm dia. with heavy wall thickness.

It will be very nice for you having 3 complete vehicle to work from. Easy to see "how its meant to be" as you recreate it on your wagon.

Having to surf next to it will help with swaping the looms over, but essentially all of will be a bolt in job apart from indercator plugs, engine mounts and the heater as the holes in the firewall are slighlt differant. will post some more pics up soon.

Stephen

[Jafa]

C'mon man!, gid er done!, gotta be ready for xmas this year!
hey, hanging out for that bit of vid from tailings burn it onto a cd for me aye?

[FKDLUX]

Hey Jafa
all things going to plan Marc and I should have it done this week Simple job I know, take it off camera, burn to disk then ship to Jafa, who would have thought it wold take so long Seriously this week it will be done. Also regarding your front links, they were 6mm wall thickness werent they? I can get my hands on some 4.7mm wall thickness steam pipe easily - do the job ya reckon?

[Jafa]

that should be fine for a bush truck, mines 6mm chromoly, and I bent one but rocks are real hard on links.

[FKDLUX]

Thought i should resurect this thread, been a few years with little progress

The plan was to use prado diffs and thats how I mocked the front end up. Got custom springs made, sorted all the mounts out for the 3 link front end and was about to weld everything in, then was given a V8 Landcruiser front housing so I started again

The V8 diff is the same as an 80 series front housing but 50mm narrower. 40mm differance on the short side, 10mm differance on the long side. The advantage over the prado housing is the strength of the box section rather than the puny tube, plus the bigger cvs. So what this essentially means is the V8 diff is 6inches wider than the original hilux diff, about the same width as a nissan diff. I think 80series are 8inches over a hilux and about 2inches over a Nissan correct me if Im wrong?

I have got some photos of the truck mocked together with the prado suspension parts aswell as being mocked up with the V8 diff and prado springs will try and find them

So started with putting diff beneath the chassis and connect all the bits and pieces together

[FKDLUX]

Im using the prado auto and have to make up a custom crossmember to mount it all as the front links are nearly 1100mm long and the links and gearbox the all finish at the same point . Add the the mix the links are mounted inboard of the chassis Iv come up with this way of mounting it. It took 3 years of thinking



Gusset the side of the chassis to mount the crossmember off as well as the link tabs.



Is rather industrial looking but should suffice. There are a couple of gussets to add but thats basically the drivers side done. The passenger is is worse as it has both links.

[FKDLUX]

Another shot showing the position of the transfercase inbetween the link mounts and also show the greabox crossmember going above the upper link to the chassis.



When i originally mocked it all together i had the diff in the same spot as the leaf sprung front end. But when I cycled the suspension the diff travelled forward on compression as it has to, unlike leaf sprung where it travelled back. After moving the axle back then playing around with the steering box and panhard mount I found even with moving it back, space is at a premium. From memory the diff is 25mm forward compared to factory.



Not alot of room between the panhard mount and the pitman arm. 7-8mm although either one isnt going to move. I cant move the box any further forward as Its quite close the the front cut now.

[FKDLUX]

The panhard mount is a factory V8 landcruiser one ex toyota nz. Looks the part and saves me having to make one. The big advantage is that compared to prado or 80series the panhard is a lot longer as it mounts outside the chassis rails rather than inboard.



The support bar goes across the the other side of the chassis where i will use a piece off an 80series front cut to tie it in to the chassis rail. It does get quite close to the sump but a quick cut and tuck will fix it. Basically the same mod I did to my brothers sump for fitting hi-steer arms without having to drop his perches.

[FKDLUX]

The links themselves are 40mmx20mm hollow bar with a surf trailing arm bush at the chassis end, with a chromoly 3/4x3/4 teflon lined heim at the diff end. The panhard haas a heim and misaligment spacers at the diff end also witha factory bush at the chassis end. The panhard, draglink and tierod are 35mm 4140 solid. I got some taps from the states so they run 80series tie rod ends.

[FKDLUX]

Another pic showing the layout of the front suspension





An 80series front housing is probably more suited as it would give more width on the drivers side but it does work only just. The nut for the lower link only just clears the actuator cover for the electric locking diff head.

[niblik]

is that diff end mount of the control arm sittin low enough compared to the centreline of the diff housing to get enough seperation etc?

also, that bolts oober tight in there dude considerin ya wanna fit a nut and washer on the end.. what about movin the left hand tab in towards the heim a little to create more clearance for your e-locker cover and the nut etc...?

[tomsoffroad]

This could get interesting. Subscribed

[FKDLUX]

is that diff end mount of the control arm sittin low enough compared to the centreline of the diff housing to get enough seperation etc?

Because of the tierod behind the axle and without going to hellfire knuckles and arms the lower links are about 1inch above the centreline of the diff. I wanted to keep the finished ride height as low as possible and didnt want to have short steep links or have a bend in them like some linked 80series trucks have. The upper link has around 8inches of seperation from memory. The biggest thing i took out of jafas build and a couple from the states is the top link needs to be ideally flat or leaning back to the chassis end so thats what iv done. When the prado diff was under it I had based those measurements off the 3 link calculator which come out reasonably good. The v8 front end has same chassis measurents just tweaked the diff end to suit the new housing. Would probably be a good idea to rerun the numbers to see what i get although I dont have much option other than where they are.

also, that bolts oober tight in there dude considerin ya wanna fit a nut and washer on the end.. what about movin the left hand tab in towards the heim a little to create more clearance for your e-locker cover and the nut etc...?

I had based everything on being identical either side but as you have said that tab can come in more, just run a thinner spacer between the link and the tab. Because of the space issue i will probably use a nyloc nut rather than a spring washer and nut setup. I have to machine and rethread 20mm cap bolts to suit the 3/4 heim so i will make the bolt length whatever is needed for that side.



Front on photo showing the intended angle the draglink and panhard will be on.



Intended ride height on the Swampers

[FKDLUX]

This could get interesting. Subscribed

Cheers Tom. Iv got a question for you, when you coiled Andys Hilux for him what was the reason behind adding the swaybar for passing cert? Is it a requirement for coiled vehicles or is it running soft coils so the swaybar aids in onroad handling? I have been thinking about it because i dont have any room for a traditional sway bar because of the way iv mounted my upper link. Have been thinking about something like the yanks use and most speedway cars where a torsen bar is up front and have some arms come back to the diff. Possibly mount betweent the steering box and panhard mount.

Cheers Stephen

[tomsoffroad]

This could get interesting. Subscribed

Cheers Tom. Iv got a question for you, when you coiled Andys Hilux for him what was the reason behind adding the swaybar for passing cert? Is it a requirement for coiled vehicles or is it running soft coils so the swaybar aids in onroad handling? I have been thinking about it because i dont have any room for a traditional sway bar because of the way iv mounted my upper link. Have been thinking about something like the yanks use and most speedway cars where a torsen bar is up front and have some arms come back to the diff. Possibly mount betweent the steering box and panhard mount.

Cheers Stephen

Bang on it got put in purely because the certifier hit a sharp corner at a much faster speed then any sane man would consider
It did make abit of a difference in the handling tho.

I think Muddyplumber (think thats right) has the same set up you speak of on his Vitara. Pretty sure its the same Vitara Im thinking of. I cant see any reason it wouldn't work.

[De-Ranged]

This is getting interesting as tom said "subscribed"

Just a note I'd be looking at remounting the shock tabs? so you can move the bottom links further out at the axle..... this will give the truck more oversteer making it more predictable on road

Cheers Reece

[rokhound]

Have you done any study at all on setting up a linked suspension set up {ie anti squat, IRC, COG or indeed any of the calc's that aid in setting your performance and handling?
(google it)

[FKDLUX]

This is getting interesting as tom said "subscribed"

Just a note I'd be looking at remounting the shock tabs? so you can move the bottom links further out at the axle..... this will give the truck more oversteer making it more predictable on road

Cheers Reece

Hey Reece, I have got the links pinched in at the chassis end, that whats created all the hassle with doing the front end, if I had have just mounted them underneath the chassis it would have been much easier . I would have to measure up but I think the axle end is around 4inches wider than the chassis end so 2 inches each side. Could be more or less been a while since I did it As far as the bottom shock tabs they also act the the steering stops so not a lot of room there. I could quite easily narrow up the mounts eitherside of the heims to create more room. Cheers for the input as both you and Tom have done some cool work.

Cheers Stephen

[FKDLUX]

Have you done any study at all on setting up a linked suspension set up {ie anti squat, IRC, COG or indeed any of the calc's that aid in setting your performance and handling?
(google it)

I had mentioned earlier that when the prado front end was under it I ran all the numbers through the 3 link calculator. I had based the centre of gravity on the top bellhousing bolt, the anti squat with that setup was 103% but i would have to go through my old computer to find the sheet. It sounds like you have some concerns Rokhound? Any input is welcomed as I know you have had linked trucks and used them, this is just my spin on one. With the V8 housing the links on the diff end are and inch higher so are flater than the old calcs, I also raised the top link to keep the same axle seperation, but what the means to the anti squat etc i will have to re run the numbers.

Cheers Stephen

[rokhound]

Just as long as you are happy with the background and study you have done before you get major dollars and time invested.
Not up to me to judge or comment, as long as you are happy with what you have done.

[imsohi]

im subscribed be interesting to see how it pans out for you i set my arms up at 75% best i could get them as i have some info of getting them between 50 and 80% took some thinking tho. what is you castor like? looks like your pinoin is quite steep.

[FKDLUX]

Just as long as you are happy with the background and study you have done before you get major dollars and time invested.
Not up to me to judge or comment, as long as you are happy with what you have done.

Is it prehaps you have concerns about the top link being the same length as the lowers? I know there are basic guidlines to follow for linked suspension, long flat links, good amouts of seperation at the axle end, links the angle out toward the axle from the chassis to reduce axle steer under articulation. Low anti squat for front ends I think 80 to 120%, and generally top links are 75% of lowers. I set the truck up with the idea the links would be the same length so one spare was needed. As I cycled the suspension what this means for the pinion angle is it doesnt change alot through the suspension cycle. Normally as the suspension cycles the pinion angle would face back up toward the gearbox? So if the pinion angle doesnt change alot, neither will the castor but what im asking is how will it affect the handling characteristics when driving?

Cheers Stephen

[tomsoffroad]

I usually work on the 75% of lower link equasion, however the Hilux I've just done the rear on only has 35mm difference. Pinion doesnt change angle at all, even when way past the travel the coilovers allow.
I don't see any real need to get too hung up on those calculators, I just use them as a basic guideline.

[FKDLUX]

im subscribed be interesting to see how it pans out for you i set my arms up at 75% best i could get them as i have some info of getting them between 50 and 80% took some thinking tho. what is you castor like? looks like your pinoin is quite steep.

Yea it took some nutting out to get links that long to clear everything, especially the top link clearing the motor, engine mount and chassis when cycling through.

At the moment the castor is set at the factory angle, where I work we have a fleet of V8 cruisers for work utes. The box section on the housing from factory sits at 7 degrees from underneath so by using an anglemeter I set it my housing same. By using heims on the axle end i have adjustability but its set to the factory angle so there shouldnt be a problem.

With your truck how much travel are you getting out of the front end? I see you extended the prado auto to get a longer driveshaft to help out the loading on your uj's? Im usings stock 1990 80series coils they are longer than the later years at 525mm free height. It gives me around 5inches compression on the spring at ride height and I have nearly 5.5inches up travel so give or take 11inches at the spring once iv captured them top and bottom and they stretch a little. i have 2inches more of down travel before the ujs would bind. As you would know the front driveshafts are quite short with the prado box conversion. If i choose to run a double cardian joint i think I will have an 1inch of tube between the spline and the cardian joint.

Cheers Stephen