It is not going to be with me foir much longer as it is being donated to charity at the end of the Mongol Rally (see www.rustyrhinos.com for details of that/ So thought I would post a few farewell pics.
Anyway - here is what I have done to the little beasty to give it a slightly better chance of completing the event!
As we bought it:
Added some driving lights (cheapo ebay find)
Thought it would be a good idea to raise it a little to give it a better chance on the bumpy stuff. Turned out to be a right pain in the ass to be honest. The kits you buy to lift them, without alteration, are pretty dangerous really. First off, the obvious thing is that by raising a vehicle it is going to affect the handling. I didnt think it would be that bad considering its so rubbish in the first place. But oh was I wrong! Lifting the leaf springs had the affect of tilting the axle. It was all over the place - found every rut in the road. A simple solutionw as to fit some shims where the leafs are bolted to the axle. Had to get some botls welded up as the stadnard ones were not long enough, but solved the handling problem.
The lift kit:
The alteration shims:
One of the many attempts to get the right bolts:
Simple shock relocation bits:
Lift kit all in place:
Hardcore fitting in the rain
Due to the amout of sandy and dusty tracks we will be going on, there is a high chance that stuff will get sucked in. A simple solution is to raise the air intake so it is out of the way of the majority of it. It has also had the effect of improving power as the standard air feed is almost comical where it is palced (tight to the side of the battery with no cold feed whatsover)
Looked at the price of snorkels and thought it was a bit excessive so set about making one myself.
Take one surplus bull bar (not quite sure how it was aquired or what it is for).....
.....bolt it on
....and finish with a plant pot
Going to be going thorugh some hot climates and the SJ is know for its tendencies to overheat so thought an additional rad fan would be useful. A roadside find (literally) came in very handy. Smeed a pretty huge fan, who knows what it came off. Sawed it in half and bolted it in place with random fittings I had laying about.
Engine bay ready to go. Tool box bolted to wing and various spare parts and tools strapped in place to save space inside the car.
Kept on wacking the exhaust on things...
So lobbed it off....seems much more sensible!
Ans finally what all 4X4 vehicles of the off-road variety should be about....having fun and trying the very best to get stuck in a variety of different ways!
Mongolia here we come! Setting off this Saturday (21st July)
Anyway - here is what I have done to the little beasty to give it a slightly better chance of completing the event!
As we bought it:
Added some driving lights (cheapo ebay find)
Thought it would be a good idea to raise it a little to give it a better chance on the bumpy stuff. Turned out to be a right pain in the ass to be honest. The kits you buy to lift them, without alteration, are pretty dangerous really. First off, the obvious thing is that by raising a vehicle it is going to affect the handling. I didnt think it would be that bad considering its so rubbish in the first place. But oh was I wrong! Lifting the leaf springs had the affect of tilting the axle. It was all over the place - found every rut in the road. A simple solutionw as to fit some shims where the leafs are bolted to the axle. Had to get some botls welded up as the stadnard ones were not long enough, but solved the handling problem.
The lift kit:
The alteration shims:
One of the many attempts to get the right bolts:
Simple shock relocation bits:
Lift kit all in place:
Hardcore fitting in the rain
Due to the amout of sandy and dusty tracks we will be going on, there is a high chance that stuff will get sucked in. A simple solution is to raise the air intake so it is out of the way of the majority of it. It has also had the effect of improving power as the standard air feed is almost comical where it is palced (tight to the side of the battery with no cold feed whatsover)
Looked at the price of snorkels and thought it was a bit excessive so set about making one myself.
Take one surplus bull bar (not quite sure how it was aquired or what it is for).....
.....bolt it on
....and finish with a plant pot
Going to be going thorugh some hot climates and the SJ is know for its tendencies to overheat so thought an additional rad fan would be useful. A roadside find (literally) came in very handy. Smeed a pretty huge fan, who knows what it came off. Sawed it in half and bolted it in place with random fittings I had laying about.
Engine bay ready to go. Tool box bolted to wing and various spare parts and tools strapped in place to save space inside the car.
Kept on wacking the exhaust on things...
So lobbed it off....seems much more sensible!
Ans finally what all 4X4 vehicles of the off-road variety should be about....having fun and trying the very best to get stuck in a variety of different ways!
Mongolia here we come! Setting off this Saturday (21st July)
Will be posting on our website from our mobiles where possible which willbe cool.