[dhwanit]

Sorry... the great BSNL connection at home gave way yesterday afternoon. Never came back all day today. So I'm actually at a friend's place posting the rest of the pics!

Continuing from the muddy spot... still me maneuvering my jeep


Followed by Vijay



And then by Shahnawaz



Some more pictures as the shrubbery and grasslands give way to more dense jungle flora. With the windows open, the jeep pushes through the dense forest only to whip back and hit the occupants.










And then the first sign of Trouble (notice the capital T)

[c10]

Great pictures Vijay, Khan, dhwanit..!!

Missed it this time.. Well, i can't crib coz i was part of the last OTR where i had the maximum fun.. Yes, Pic reveal this was more challenging..!!

Will try to join on the next OTR.. Guess there was plans made for the next OTR during one of the Pit Stop's while coming back to bangalore.. What guys???

[sudev]

Ah from the looks of the last picture the leaf spring mounting of rear left gave way. The tyre is going out of alignment. A simple broken leaf spring would have been manageable. Is that the capital T?

[dhwanit]

We need to pick a name for the three hour extravaganza we spent at the trouble spot numero uno (with six more to come along the way). I really liked the catchy name someone came up with over there -- "OTR Garage". When we stopped all the vehicles at the clearing, it was only the birds and crickets that we could hear. The clock showed 10:00am. Little did we know at that time that it would be around 1:00pm before we left this spot!

Pre-diagnosis, Shahnawaz whips out his high-lift jack (I cannot stress how important this was during our OTR. We sure should have multiple high lift jacks for such incidents)



Here is the problem evident in full glory



Tried to rev the vehicle in reverse and apply human force to move it to a more level ground but to no effect


Reinforcement to pull it into the clearing and open the OTR garage





Off comes the wheel, Shuvo (hope I spelt your name right) working away at the spanner


Shahnawaz with the high-lift jack again


The wheel is off


Damage assessment. The hydraulic jacks start making their way out of the other vehicles


The axle has slipped back by over 5 inches on the top leaf spring!


Time to place the hydraulic jack (along with the high-lift already lifting the vehicle)


The other 4x4s hang around in the shade


Two jacks and going strong. Only one wheel has come off yet.



Now the gypsy is resting on three jacks. The first high-lift jack on the passenger side rear chassis member, the first hydraulic jack near the driver side rear chassis member, and the third (not visible) right under the rear differential. Oh yes, there were also three tyres that came out. Two from the gypsy and the third spare from my jeep that were strategically placed under the chassis (barely visible in the pic below, near the driver door-less "door")


The fourth jack coming up just below the dislocated axle


The axle is held in place with the leafs by two upside down U clamps. That means four nuts holding the U clamps in place firmly on the leaf with a bit that fits through all the leafs holding everything in place. During the nefarious climb up flitting from boulder to boulder, it looks like one of the U clamps broke, ending up with only three nuts holding the axle in place putting tremendous strain on the lone nut held clamp. Compounding the problem was that the gypsy's GC was increased, meaning a solid metal piece was placed between the axle and the leaf (not so in stock). Due to the overly bumpy nature of the ride up, with one U clamp nut being sheared off, the half-inch metal piece used to raise the height just slipped out and fell off!

After a lot of contemplation, we used a tow hook from Vijay's jeep and placed it between the axle and leaf to provide the needed half inch height. Without this, the tightening of the clamp bolts just wouldn't have worked. We just got extremely lucky as I was carrying nuts in my jeep that exactly fitted one of the U clamps whose nut was missing. I can thank my 235 spare tyre that wouldn't fit on the tailgate. Thus I was carrying the spare in the rear passenger cabin and the nuts were in my toolbox

More to come...

[Jaggu]

oh man seems like the whole mount gave haath! and that too while at OT boy oh boy, happy jacking up

oh wow the post got updated, thats the U clamp that have come off

[DirtyDan]

Nasty situation. To prevent this in the future...heavier U-bolts or more of them per spring if there is room???? This may entail fabrication of a plate to hold the springs to bolt into, 'ay?

[vikram_d]

I dont know much about 4x4's. Talking from my mechanical background. How about drilling two holes through the mount and through the leaf spring and running two high tensile bolts through those holes. This will clamp the mount and leaf springs together and prevent the mount from moving back the way it did.

Disclaimer: Like I said I dont know much about 4x4's but I think this solution might work.

[Jaggu]

Maybe a thicker and longer U clamp set up from a bigger vehicle is a better idea in this moded jeep?

One more must carry part for you guys i think

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

I dont know much about 4x4's. Talking from my mechanical background. How about drilling two holes through the mount and through the leaf spring and running two high tensile bolts through those holes. This will clamp the mount and leaf springs together and prevent the mount from moving back the way it did.

Disclaimer: Like I said I dont know much about 4x4's but I think this solution might work.

Thats how it is in all the vehicles with leaf springs. here the bolt was missing which was the main culprit.

[Alfa_Kilo]

How does adding a plate increase GC, as the leaves pass under the axle in the gypsy? There is locating pin in pad welded on the axle which engages the hole in the main leaf.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by star_aqua

Thats how it is in all the vehicles with leaf springs. here the bolt was missing which was the main culprit.

Originally Posted by Alfa_Kilo

There is locating pin in pad welded on the axle which engages the hole in the main leaf.

So there was something missing. I had my doubts but like I mentioned earlier I do not know too much about 4x4's.

Khan saab, time to get things set right.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by star_aqua

Thats how it is in all the vehicles with leaf springs. here the bolt was missing which was the main culprit.

Originally Posted by Alfa_Kilo

...There is locating pin in pad welded on the axle which engages the hole in the main leaf.

Originally Posted by vikram_d

So there was something missing. I had my doubts ...

Yes. the bolt was missing which would have engaged the hole in the pad. See the picture below.


Just see the leaf springs in the picture below

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

.... To prevent this in the future...heavier U-bolts or more of them per spring if there is room????....

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Maybe a thicker and longer U clamp set up from a bigger vehicle is a better idea in this moded jeep? One more must carry part for you guys i think

It was more of a freakish, one off incident. What compounded the problem was that one thread portion of the U clamp had sheared off and the bolt went missing, the threads were nearly gone and wouldn't hold long, And yes, the pin in the pad setup was also missing and the metal block (a custom part in Mukund's Gypsy) between the leaf/axle went missing.

Obviously carrying spares is important but one can't carry each and every part. More important I realize is that one should have all the tools and nuts & bolts. Apart from that all fellow participants should stand by each other and pitch in -- as happened on this OTR. NO ONE complained on why it is taking so long or that we are delayed etc.. (and this problem had to be addressed some 7-8 times in this OTR and every subsequent time it took 20-30 minutes). All of us started together and came back together.

That spirit & camaraderie can potentially overcome seemingly unsurmountable problems.

[DKG]

The gentleman in the red t-shirt shouldn't be sitting in line of the tow line. He risks getting seriously injured if the rope snaps or worse the shackle breaks from the hook.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by DKG

The gentleman in the red t-shirt shouldn't be sitting in line of the tow line. He risks getting seriously injured if the rope snaps or worse the shackle breaks from the hook.

You are 100% correct and that is an example of an oversight.

Cheers,

[condor]

Khan saab, one question : once you were back on regular roads, couldn't you find a mechanic / MASS to put in a new clamp ? Since there were 3 other vehicles, it shouldnt have been too difficult for one vehicle to recce for spares / service.