Offroad-Express

I have just parted company with my old club truck and am about splash out and buy some new toys for my new baby . I have asked a couple of outfits for prices for an ARB for the front and have gotten two different model #'s back, when I tried checking with the helpful bunch (sarcasm) at ARB they just said pull the diff out to check. only problem is it is my daily driver also so I only want to pull front end apart once. But I have the old rear diff (which I replaced with an LSD unit) that is the same diff code. can I safely presume that the front and rear internals are the same? IE pull old diff head out and have ARB added then just swap out head once compleated or are they different? Also I have been looking at CV alteratives and have been told Longfields, but have also found a Warn Birfield eliminater kit (universals) and a modified unit called a Manfield Birfield, which boast simular results. so has any one had experiance with any of these units? also what Shocks should I buy??? want internally adjustables really (don't want to have to lay down in the mud to change settings, so I have tough dog or ranchos as alternatives thus far. would like to know of any of you running these what they are like and weather they are worth the extra coin over normal gas longer shocks??? also any one know where to get sway bar quick disconect units for 70 series? Man I don't half ask for much do I???? But need to spent my cash before the anti4x4 queen oops i mean my dearly beloved wife "allocates" to other things we "need for the house" honestly who needs a roof?

Im guessing your looking at doing all this to a 70# coz you mentioned 70# down at the bottom of your post?

The ARB you need is the RD33. If your truck is an earlier 70 it'll have the smaller 45mm carrier bearings, there used to be a different ARB RDxx? for the early 70# which has now been discontinued, so you get the later 70# RD33 and upgrade your carrier bearings to the stronger 50mm bearings when you stick it in

Longfields are the way to go, they have a pretty well proven track record, I dont think they list 70# axles but so long as your 70# is pre 1996 or something like that you just stick 40# ones in, pm Suzolla or Jaffa coz they bring them into the country

I had one of those quick disconnect swaybar things and it just got too difficult to remember to put it on and take it off all the time and in the end the pins just got too distorted out of shape to remove...... fortunately around that time the locating brackets on the axle houseing broke and the swaybar fell off and it now lives in the corner of the shed

Thanks I have pm'd Suzolla for a $. as to the sway bar is you truck certed? I am keen to get mine certed and was un sure if I remove sway bar if I will pass (not that it does much now as I already broke the drivers side arm (pushed the washer up the arm) only noticable difference is when I park after turning hard left (ie into a carpark) it tends to sit a little lower on the right but sits on road okay. bit hard to notice extra roll on a the cruiser as it was a whale to start with.... truck is actually a BJ73 MWB 1987 does that change anything? cheers again Stephen

Hi pagar, from another 70# owner/driver. I have owned and driven a 70# for ten years, 3F motor with 35" tyres ARB's front and rear. I have never had any issues with standard CV's. I have a home made sway bar disconnecting link, (The one you have damaged) on the right hand front and wouldn't do without the sway bar on the road. I fitted new Pedder shocks all round and damaged them on the first outing, my advise is to fit good cheaper ones and replace more often. Fit new 4wd disc pads to the front and new shoes to the rear, mine is hard on brakes.
Hide and save some money for further down the track.

I AM A GRANDAD, BUT DON'T TELL ME I DRIVE LIKE ONE,

FITZY.

I have removed the sway bar, I was told some have them, some don't, so I took mine off, and it went through just fine.
I run the 9 way adjustable Tough Dog shocks, and I would not run anything else. When we bought the truck it had Munroe or something similar, and it used to really jump around off road on bumpy/rough tracks, really bloody dangerous too. We fitted the tough Dogs, and it settled down straight away, no more pogoing from bump to bump.
I also reccommend you look into a set of Superior Engineering drop shackles for the rear, you won't regret it, they really help with flex, trust me on that. If you choose to run these, pm me, and I will let you know what shocks to get, as you can't run the ones listed for the Toyota, you gotta run different ones on the back, but they bolt straight on.
Cheers,
Shane

If your going for difflocks youl find sway bars dont seem to matter that much off road. I took mine off and it handles truely terrible on road. the front also twists up into the guards a lot more and youl find you get guard rub even though there seems heaps of clearance. some day ill put mine on again when i absorb more bother.

The sway bar removal also co-incided with fiting some 50mm lift springs, but the body roll difference was so great im convinced the sway bar was doing something.

articulation is friggin cool though! I stacked 3 32 inch tires on the driveway and put a wooden plank up them, and can get one wheel about a metre in the air with the others still on ground.

well its all food for thought, I will price up tough dogs vs. ranco and see where they sit, forgot about drop shackles where did you get yours bj73? keep the ideas coming. I have already added 50mm body lift, 35" Wranglers and 80mm over anti invesion shackles with an extra leaf all round.

Got the drop shackles off a mate, he can still get them, I will find out a price for ya....or you can go direct to their website, http://www.superiorengineering.com.au I think it is, not cheap, but really worth the dosh, trust me.
I found the truck handled better with the Tough Dogs and no swaybar than the Munroe's and no swaybar, probably something to do with the fact the Tough Dogs have a 45mm bore .......yup, they are farkn big....was it you I e-mailed pics to of the drop shackles and protection bars I fitted to the bottom mount of the shocks? You will need the protection bars to sheild the adjusters, a simple part to make and fit too.
A word of advice/warning, the Tough Dogs are not cheap, but they are a really heavy duty, hence stiff (read well dampened) shock, they do not "blow through" their stroke like smaller shocks, and as such provide really good stability and dampening, and they don't fade either, but they tend to transmit all "high speed" bumps straight through when set on the stiffer settings, just like a sports car really, but on the softer settings they provide a lot smoother ride, and do not impede off road flex or performance. Put it this way, on their softest setting, they are still a bit stiffer than a normal off road shock, (yes I did a comparison where I used to work on a ram bench that tested frictional resistance or drag by the amount of power used to move the ram, hence indicating the extra amount of power a hydraulic motor would require to be added to the calculations) and on the stiffest setting, they were nearly locked up, as in I could only just extend and compress by hand, and the ram bench indicated 7x the power needed to move the shock over the softest setting......
I am no 'cruiser expert, I have learnt from listening to others, and I still have a lot to learn yet, I am sure, but the set up I have works for me up here.

yes indeed it was me yes best way to learn is to ask and listen to expereince of others, I will be looking into costs of a couple of options all of which are adjustable 45mm bore shocks, because I have onboard air I will be getting inboard adjuster (lazy aye) will let you know how I get on. Cheers