Chairmen wrote:Hi Chris, Now your talking my language
The funny thing is i have thought this idea up in my head like 20 time's it's so cool someone went through the trouble too build one !!
Could you pm me some pics of this cool little set up with more info
Cheers Clay
I will rattle through my thoughts on a solid axle vitara , most of this I expect you have thought off and considered .
For the record to all that read I have never built a solid axle vitara , so this is all theoretical so to speak . I was going to pick one up and do it to see if a reasonably simple ( yes I know its not a simple job ) kit could be made up . However by the time I got off my but vitaras are now gold plated and getting on a bit .
Bearing size , I do not think you would find much difference in the bearings between a 413 and vitara front hub so the slight increase in weight would not concern me . There was a lwb vitara doing the aussie winch challenges with a samurai front diff , I did not hear that the wheels fell off
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Due to the cost of the steel IFS diff housing I never considered it a viable option ( esp after I sold the one I had ) . So it is either a toyota axle swap or a suzuki front diff .
Pro's of the toyota , wide axle mod is just wider than a standard vitara , strong , big brakes . Con's are - ratio match and wheel bolt pattern make you do both ends , need 5.29 ratio's to match , need new wheels .
Pro's of a suzuki based diff , ratio's easy to match , wheels still fit , lighter than toyota . Con's are - with issue .
A samurai axle with H/Duty axles and cv's should run up to 33's reasonably ok ( just fine with any suzuki based engine ) . In my opinion if you want anything bigger than that tyre size start with a different vehicle or expect major mod's ( and that is not my intention ) .
If I was going to do one I would either widen a samurai housing and run h/duty cv's and custom shafts or the same with a vitara rear diff head housing etc . The issue may be housing space in the front of the vitara .
Suzuki diff info , 413 rear has 26 spline axles and the front has 22( I think ) , the h/duty axles are 26 spline so you need 413/samurai rear side gears . Vitara rear diffs are 26 spline , just the same as the 413/samurai rear . Vitara rear shafts are no bigger than 413/samurai shafts , ie the outer bearing inner dia is the same size . I have built a rear diff with two samurai long sides in a rear vitara diff housing for my 4x4 . This shows the width difference over a standard vitara .
Anyway back to the front .
Its not very exciting
My phone does not like taking pic's in the dark
The l/h side is an abortion here , I would do it differently next time . I would machine the 413 housing at the second joint and not double splice the diff . Also it is probably not a good idea to just weld straight around like I have done (remember this was a quick wack together to try in a non road legal vehicle , but never happened )
The right side is fine , just weld the knuckle straight in
Thats another good thing about suzuki housings over toyota , suzuki are made out of tube and are round , so they are easily sleeved like this . Toyota ( hilux anyway ) housings are made of two half tubes welded together and the few I have cut open are not lined up so you can't press a sleeve in there like I have with these joints .
Oh and here is a pic of the front axle I had made by an engineer to match the rear I made above . Its a 413 housing widened by 140mm per side , running h/duty cv's and custom shafts . these are not bad to have made as they are just a straight piece of material with the splines cut in each end .
If you imagine you can see the V he put in the spacer at one end , top of the clean bit of the diff .
Boss has turned up so time to get to work . Ask any q's and I will get back to you .
Not talked about brakes yet
Cheers
Chris
