Isuzu MU Solid Axle Swap - Day 5 - WOOO! :D

[SupraLux]

Well, day 5 saw me deciding that there was no chance of getting it finished in the timeframe I originally set, since the deadline was over a week past... so I had to find a new mode of transport... enter the mighty mitsi $170 worth of fine early 80's engineering...




So after spending about an hour getting doors to close properly, windows to stay up, exhausts to stop leaking etc it was on to more important things... I removed the axle from the Hilux, pulled the spare housing out from under the MU and swapped them around... then positioned it roughly where it will sit with the springs in (got to get some engineer-quality welding done in the front before I'm keen to put the full weight of the truck on the axle).

The position it is sitting in here is about the lowest the suspension will be able to compress, and at rest I predict it will sit 3-4 inches higher... hmmm... I might have removed the high-speed cornering ability of the truck Damn... oh well, no point putting the 23" chrome spinners and blow-off valve on it now...




The rear spring mount is just a rear mount from the rear of a Hilux. Fortunately the chassis rails are about the right width at the point where the springs end.




And heres the view through where the spring will sit. Once the spring pack is in and the bump stop is on there will be room for about 35-40mm more compression... so this is as low as it goes. On the bright side my 99012 Ranchos will fit in (just) so theres great potential for massive droop - so I may end up running a sqare driveshaft in the front to get the travel I will need.

[DieselBoy]

You make me wish i had done that to my Terrano

[SupraLux]

I considered buying a Terrano for this swap. The only problem is that the front drive is on the wrong side - which I was going to remedy by turning the axle over and spinning both hubs 180 degrees to get them right...

Still, the MU was a cheaper option, and I like the body shape better... although 2 doors is a pain in the proverbial - fortunately my 3yo daughter (who loves 4WDing - or "going for a boing boing" as she calls it) can climb in and buckle herself in now.

Steve

[DieselBoy]

The Mu's definatley got the cool factor over the Terrano
Nissan MK diff and GQ coils, 3link and steering components for the Terrano. Still have to swap diff head right to left.

Good Shiat.
Pete.

[SupraLux]

Briefly considered coils in the MU but theres not a great deal of room and leafs should work well enough.


Time will tell...

[albundy]

Now your talking: solid front axle on the terrano This could very well be a future project for the u-boat. Any idea on what sort of cost for parts and how much labour would be involved. I know the question is out there, but you boys did get me thinking now
albundy

[SupraLux]

Well, parts-wise if you use the common-garden Hilux front axle you can probably start with the following:

$300-400 Hilux front axle, complete hub to hub with no diff (or maybe with one if you are lucky - if not add $100-400 for a diff with the right (or close) ratio. Isuzu uses a 4.5 ratio commonly in their diesel trucks, which is virtually identical to the Hilux non-turbo diesel ratio - god knows what ratios are in Terannos.

$100-$250 Hilux front driveshaft (Solid axle one - DON'T get the IFS one, they have low-angle double cardans) - this can be mod'ed to fit to the T/C output and will handle the high angles you will get.

$400-450 crossover steering arm (its over double this for high steer arms)

$100ish for making up a steering drag link from old toy bits

$380ish for new Hilux rear leaf packs (what I used in the front of the MU since it moves the axle right forward and they are a good overall length)

$? for all the grinding discs you will go through

hour after hour of staring blankly at whatever your hourly rate is

probably 3-4 hours of an engineers time to weld/gusset/strengthen things for you

Probably a lot of other things I haven't thought of... I've put around 20-25 hours in to get to this point... and can see at least that again in the front, then I'm doing the back... you'd want to have a reasonable grasp on power tool use and basic welding (get an engineer to do the structural stuff - makes it easier to get a cert at the end of it and makes you sweat less driving it into a corner at 100km/h once its all done) and not be too worried about chopping up a perfectly good truck before you started - its too late to ask yourself what the hell you are doing once you've cleaned up the chassis rails


Steve

[DieselBoy]

Theres a guy floating around out there on OL thats done a really nice job on his

Some good links:
http://nissan4wheelers.com/eve/ubb.x

d21 fitted with MQ patrol front axle

This post has been edited by sw on Feb 15 2005, 02:05 AM

Attached Image

[albundy]

Now that's what I am TALKING about. That looks bloody awesome not to mention the improved capability on an already capable truck( in the right hands mind you). Might have to put that one down for next years project after a summer of 4wheeling.
Albundy

[SupraLux]

Yeah, that does look very good. The only thing I'd do is put the control arms over the axle instead of under it to get a bit more clearance... oh, and use a toyota axle instead of a nissan one

Its a good tidy looking job tho.

Because of the way the chassis rails come in on the MU it would be difficult to do a good coil conversion without customised control arms, or alternatively mounting the control arms off the bottom of the rails which seemed a bit dodgy when I looked at it, and would seriously affect ground clearance mid way down the truck where its needed.

Steve

[DieselBoy]

Loking at that pic, thats what he's done.
The Radious arms are taked on to the bottom of the chassis rails.
The radious arms them selves look like they have been doctored, as mine are straight and those have some kind of bend in the middle.

Would be an interesting and involved project that one!!

At least with the Mu you are leave's all round now, would be a bit strange with leaves in the front and coils in the rear.

Seems the majority of the rock crawling club vehicles in the states run leaves all round.

Some have the leaves upside down, with one end and the center fixed to the chassis and the other end anchored to the diff. I've only seen it in a video, would love to see a good photo of how they have done that.
It almost looks like they have cut the pack in half and mounted the mid point to the chassis and the end to the diff, but i can't see how that would work really. Maybe it would??
Who knows.

Some more inspiration for ya Al!!
May you be one of the first to attempt it in NZ!!!!!

[SupraLux]

You are refering to a 'buggy leaf' setup - heres a pic of it being used on a Hilux... quite common but I'm not going there on the MU - I want something that at least stands a chance of being legal for road use

I'll make myself some fancy twisty shackles maybe, but later... I just want to get it mobile for now.

Steve

[DieselBoy]

Similar to that from what i could see on the Vid, but pretty sure it was mounted on to the diff and the whole pack was upside down.
I will have to have a look on the Pirate site and see what i can find.
I saw it on the Vid Pirates of the Rubicon. Crap vid but interesting non the less

[1UZFJ40]

theres a pretty good description with photos of that type of suspension here
htpp://medusa.ih8mud.com/cruiser/FJ45/S ... rings.html

he calls it 1/4 elliptical
jack rice spends a fair bit of time nutting all sorts of cruiser mods out and is pretty approachable too, only too keen to help.