hi steer kit for lifted trucks, something in the pipeline

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vilguy said:
theres also alot of issues kicking about at the minute with regard to the use of stainless in critical components with regard to stress corrosion cracking in chloride atmospheres. The amount of grief this has caused me at Sellafield is untrue!!!!
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I won't uses stainless fixings in suspension. Years ago I used to restore and modify Triumphs. I always used standard bolts on the suspension.
I'd done a suspension rebuild on a regular customers Spitfire. I used poly bushes and new standard grade bolts.
I got a call from this guy, most upset that his pride and joy had just broken a lower wishbone bolt. He'd had it recovered to his house so I went over for a look.
On inspection I noticed that all the lower wishbone bolts had been switched for stainless bolts. I asked why and who had changed the bolts.
He said, a mate of his thought it would look better, so they changed them between them.
I suggested that the bolts are the wrong grade for suspension and offered to put the correct bolts back in.
The local body shop then had the task of fixing the body damage!!
Like I said. I'd avoid stainless in suspension.
 
Ok guys proper advise there regarding stainless steel in suspension use thanks I will avoid using stainless then and stick with the mild steel.

With regards to heat treatment level I was going to chat with the guys about this next week but your right a bend would be better than a snap in a failure situation and ultimately safer as a level of control could still remain
 
They are made lol... Getting flats machined on tomorrow for a spanner to go onto, and if the weather says ok will be going on this weekend with the lift kit and tyres.
I couldn't get the spares to fail catastrophically with a 25 ton press so I think the will be ok but vehicle trial is next.
Thanks for asking by the way 😀
 
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I was talking to a trade customer of mine about these at the LR show the other week. They'd looked at something similar when they fitted my lift kit early this year as an alternative to cutting the inner wings etc.
They did some digging into the legalities of it, and were concerned that as it changes the fundamental design of the front steering/suspension interlink it wouldn't be legal as it wouldn't meet EU type approval which pretty much everything has to meet now.

Obviously if it turns out its legal then they've maybe missed a trick, but I guess things are open to people's interpretations
 
It's a bit of a gray area. I have spoke tonal couple of mot testers and the say that as long as the part is fit for use and is of solid construction then there will be no test issues, however they could fall into construction and use some where, there are taper kits on the market for lowered cars that are fine but nothing is E marked with no mention of type approval. With out sounding bitchy as this is not the case your lift kits could present similar issues, as it could be classed as a suspension modification outside manufacturers limits. I think that most aftermarket parts could be scrutinised especially those from small independent companies
 
Yeah, just that with these they change the functional design of the suspension link away from an approved and safety tested design, where as with the lift kit the suspension design and construction remains standard, it just moves the body up.

True test of this wouldn't be to speak to an MOT tester, it would be to go to your local VOSA testing station and have a proper inspector assess them.

"Fit for use and of solid construction" is again open to very varied opinion, as there are no test certificates in existence to show that they are fit for use and of solid construction
 
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I'd have to agree with Pete. You say you lift the body up - but the steering rack is fixed to the body and therefore the car will not have been designed and tested to the lower travel that the steering will be subjected to - nore crash tested with modified inner wings if they need to be cut.

I'm not knocking or praising either - just sayin.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I'd have to agree with Pete. You say you lift the body up - but the steering rack is fixed to the body and therefore the car will not have been designed and tested to the lower travel that the steering will be subjected to - nore crash tested with modified inner wings if they need to be cut.

I'm not knocking or praising either - just sayin.
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I think the modification game is all open to personal interpretation, I personally would rather risk the steering spacers than cut into a monocoque chassis. Others may disagree with my choices or prefer to take there own route.
For the time being I'm going to fit these to my car and see how things go after the testing I have done I'm confident in them,

Part of the fun of being an offroader and landrover owner is seeing what we can come up with to improve our trucks
 
Will be interesting to see how things go, as personally, I don't want to start cutting about into structural areas & moving pipes etc.

Something I've thought about is, has anyone thought about manufacturing a mcpherson strut longer at the base, so it keeps the steering bracket at the correct alignment? Ok, it would probably work out more expensive than the current spacers, but it's just another thought.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I'd have to agree with Pete. You say you lift the body up - but the steering rack is fixed to the body and therefore the car will not have been designed and tested to the lower travel that the steering will be subjected to - nore crash tested with modified inner wings if they need to be cut.

I'm not knocking or praising either - just sayin.
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Think you'll find pretty much anything other than standard falls into that category? That's one reason Brussels doesn't like us
 
Diesel Do said:
I get the theory, obviously got a matching taper to go into the strut and the ball joint screws into the top? How do you hold the ball joint to do it up tight enough or are you changing the joint?
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You dont.

Design fail.

Also, since this is obviously not going to have the nylon insert of the original nut, it is going to required a dose of threadlock to prevent it unscrewing. This part will be held tightly to the steering arm on the front strut (assuming the taper is correct - see below) but there is nothing to stop the balljoint rotating and unscrewing itself from the bottom of it, except maybe a blob of loctite.

I really hope he has the tapers - both the upper male taper and the lower female one - at exactly the correct angle. People seem to forget that it is the friction of the taper that holds the joint together, NOT the threads, which are just to keep the joint under compression. If they are machined with straight holes or a straight shaft below the threads then that is going to be a problem. A big problem.

Also, once these have been on for a year or three, how would one change the balljoint? good luck unscrewing that from the taper of the balljoint, which will spin very freely when worn enough to require changing. If its held on with loctite, there is literally no way to unscrew it.
 
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dave21478 said:
You dont.

Design fail.

Also, since this is obviously not going to have the nylon insert of the original nut, it is going to required a dose of threadlock to prevent it unscrewing. This part will be held tightly to the steering arm on the front strut (assuming the taper is correct - see below) but there is nothing to stop the balljoint rotating and unscrewing itself from the bottom of it, except maybe a blob of loctite.

I really hope he has the tapers - both the upper male taper and the lower female one - at exactly the correct angle. People seem to forget that it is the friction of the taper that holds the joint together, NOT the threads, which are just to keep the joint under compression. If they are machined with straight holes or a straight shaft below the threads then that is going to be a problem. A big problem.

Also, once these have been on for a year or three, how would one change the balljoint? good luck unscrewing that from the taper of the balljoint, which will spin very freely when worn enough to require changing. If its held on with loctite, there is literally no way to unscrew it.
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The tapers I have machined on to the spacer match a standard ball joint perfectly, to tighten and undo again there is an hole machined through the center to allow an allen key to still be used to stop the ball joint spinning.
 
In that case well done. The first two thirds of this thread were full of an awful lot of "ifs buts and maybes" and not much knowledge....looks like things have progressed a fair amount.

Make sure they are threadlocked though.
 
I would still have concerns about a locking method though bud... A standard TRE either has a castellated nut or a nylock on it........

Much as I like the idea and I would prefer this to cutting the inner rail on the hippo....... I still need to be more convinced of its ability not to vibrate or generally come loose.
 
There is an mot reason for rejection which is retaining or locking devises missing or insecure. They can't see locktite and may fail it because of it not having an obvious method of locking? Dunno, it's down to the tester really and how picky they are.
 
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