[Carspook]

Can't wait to see this when it is done

[sreejeshmp]

Today we successfully installed the strut with bolero springs and its little stiffer than I expected . My trusted mechanic Shajiettan (he is my school senior ) told let's finish the rear with same settings and after test drive will check the stiffness and decide.



Heated the last ring of bolero springs and reduced the diameter to fit onto fortuner strut.











Welded the balance rod mounts and positioned steering rack. hopefully tomorrow we will finish the front suspension and steering rack mounting.

[sreejeshmp]

Front suspension, steering rack and balance rode fitting is done, cross checked the spacing between every moving parts and steering geometry, seems its works as planned.



While checking the rear diffs , found the pinion rotation is not smoth as it should be so we opened the diff case and cleaned it properly and lubricated .

Dana30 crown and pinion 43/10 ratio and 27 spline Axle.









Tomorrow will start assembling diff , axles and hub.

[sreejeshmp]

IRS setting started today , I was lucky enough to get the thar crde front lower arm mounts with the cross member which makes the fitting easier than front setting.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by sreejeshmp

Heated the last ring of bolero springs and reduced the diameter to fit onto fortuner strut

Do you want to risk the heated spring? That welded portion will be super brittle now since its properties would have been changed. It will have lost its ductility and elasticity and its brittleness would have increased by many folds.

Do you want to take the effort and make a custom new spring?

[sreejeshmp]

Rear lower arm front mounting brackets are fabricated and spot welded , lowered the chassis to set the upper arm position and fabricated upper arm brackets.







Meanwhile I put the hood back and found it need to be modified to accommodate the tyre travel. So thinking to integrate the fender on to hood as one piece.




I already lowered the hood and rear tub by around 3" while building it with solid axles and leaf springs.

[sreejeshmp]

Today we fit the rear steering rack. While checking the wheel travel found there is some difference in front and rear travel length and Axle angle , then we kept the chassis in parallel to ground by spirit level and fount rear wheel is in air by 1.5" , cross checked the front upper and lower arm bolt bracket eye to eye length and found same 1.5" difference, so tomorrow will remove the upper arm bracket and lower the upper part of chassis by cutting 1.75" and redo the upper arm bracket.

[fawad0222]

Hey Sreejeshmp, are you an automobile engineer or have a natural inclination towards it. I wish i could atleast learn enough to never worry about being left stranded on road driving an old car or maintain it skillfully without thinking too much about availability of spares.. All the best!!

[sreejeshmp]

Originally Posted by fawad0222

Hey Sreejeshmp, are you an automobile engineer or have a natural inclination towards it. I wish i could atleast learn enough to never worry about being left stranded on road driving an old car or maintain it skillfully without thinking too much about availability of spares.. All the best!!

No , I am An IT engineer and worked as a mobile phone Game developer

Removed the upper arm brackets and lowered the chassis top portion by 1.75" and patched .










While planning the rear strut upper mount with Seamless pipe I found it will disturb the tub fittings because the tub is fabricated on roll cage and the flore is aluminum sheet.Modifying the tub is difficult and time consuming , so I was thinking for an alternative for strut upper mount then found old bolero front lowerarm chassis bracket in my scrap collection and decided to fit it upside down with bolero lowerarm as strut spring upper mounting brackets.




Fixed the rear balane rod too.

.

[sreejeshmp]

Fabricated the rear strut mount and loaded the spring ,made the suspension smother than front because there is no weight on the rear tub except the battery and Fuel tank.








This cross member needs modification to accolade the rear drive shaft.



Cut the old GB crossmember mounting brackets and rised it to get max Breakover Angle.

[sreejeshmp]

Suspension work is done and crosschecked all the fabricated mounts then full welded with supports for more strength.

Started the mechanical work by Servicing and fitting of break calipers .







Planned the gearbox for front and rear steering with 1:2 and 1:1 out put . Rear disengage mechanism is complicated to do so decided to take it out side from Steering GB and seperate shifter mechanism which can be fit inside the driver cabin.

[CJP]

Sreejesh, I am following your build, can't wait to see how this comes out. Couple of questions: Typically rear wheel steering angle is limited by the speed of the vehicle, in some implementations 5 degrees above 35kmph etc.. also, noticed in other implementations that during sharp turns at lower speeds e.g. tight turns in a parking lot - the rear wheels turn in the opposite directions to the front.

How are you planning to implement these aspects? I kind of deciphered your drawings (and I could be completely wrong here) that the rear wheel steering is almost parallel to the front - i.e., the rear follows the front on a 1:1 basis. And linear velocity of the vehicle is not a limiting factor.

Interestingly, the driver can manually engage the rear wheel steering at will, that probably gives the driver an option to engage rear wheel steering as required - which may then not warrant additional work required to manage this through mechanical or hydraulic means.

is that understanding kind of in the right direction?

PS : Kudos on taking up this extreme challenge. Also using just bare bones tools and fixtures, Hats off

[sreejeshmp]

Today we managed to put the old body back to the chassis , tub need modification to accommodate BW TC which is now rised 1.5". Tomorrow will cut the hood and fit fender on to hood.

Regarding rear steer I am still learning how to improve the current design. As of now I think a 1:1 towards rear and 1:2 towards front will work, as this vehicle is only for speed track with very limited distance run and lots of turns, artificial pits I hope this set up will work if not will redo the Steering GB But till then it's just a wild guss.











See the difference in GC of dana 44 solid Axle with 31" and dana 30 IFS with 29" tyres .

[sreejeshmp]

Body work continues, this time I am more relaxed and free because my patchworker Bijuettan understands what exactly I mean .













Got the gears from scrap dealer for steering gearbox, the owner knows me so I have the freedom to search his shop for what I want .

[sreejeshmp]

Body works continues.

Welded the fender with hood and made it opening together for easy access to the suspension and engine bay in case of emergency maintenance.











Changed the Fuel tank to a smaller one (Ape Auto) for space and easy fitting, re arranged the battery bracket position and moved diesel filter and electronic FP to rear



Added support pipes to the roll cage for better protection because I am not sure how this jeep is going to behave



Fabricated covering for rear , opening type middle portion in case of emergency maintenance.