Ulysses

Thanks Dave!,

I had thought about back lighting it, but red at the front on the road is not a good idea (and illegal i think?), though probably OK as a toy (like my police siren :laugh: )

Looking at it again, I think the 'S' should have been about twice the size, or maybe something below it as well?

Paint dried and back together...







and off out for a play to see if it works. Some vids uploading to youtube now, will post links later on...







and yet another ford thats washed away

and some videos:

This lane I went at from two ends as there was a bog in the middle I didnt fancy getting stuck in on my own and with nothing to winch off:







Then a scratchy one that required the use of my handy little pruning saw:

Riccy wrote: Floating rears finally finished this weekend.
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Then it was fiddling about with the ABS sensors. I had bought some cheap ones for a very early jimny off ebay and fitted them. The go into the axle stub in the same way as they would on the front of the car. A little bit of grinding to the axle end plate is needed to make room for the sensors. I unpicked the wiring from the new parts plugs and fitted it into the old wiring connectors so it looks factory and works properly. Forgot to take pictures of that of course, but no light on the dash is a good sign :laugh:
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Hi Riccy. It's an amazing build!

Your full float axle conversion caught my eyes and made me thinking about a few things which I'm currently trying to understand.

a.) Does the ABS sensor actually function without an abs collar?

b.) The thick russian adapter plate has a protruding round section which sits into the recess of the axle housing where normally the wheel bearing is located, right? So the load from the wheel hub is transferred to the spindle which is firmly bolted to the adapter plate by 4 strong bolts. Therefore any radial force is being absorbed by these combined parts instead of the axle. So from a wheel bearing point of view, it does not need to take lateral forces anymore only radial, right? (I guess that's the whole point of this setup) Therefore all lateral force is absorbed by four M8 size bolts which should not be a problem as it's also the case in the factory design! However the spindle tries to rip off the adapter plate from the bearing recess of the axle housing, by causing additional torque / strain on those M8 bolts !?! If so is there any solution to reinforce the lip of the axle?

Sorry for my curiosity! :blush:

HUN wrote:

Riccy wrote: Floating rears finally finished this weekend.
...

...

Hi Riccy. It's an amazing build!

Your full float axle conversion caught my eyes and made me thinking about a few things which I'm currently trying to understand.

a.) Does the ABS sensor actually function without an abs collar?

b.) The thick russian adapter plate has a protruding round section which sits into the recess of the axle housing where normally the wheel bearing is located, right? So the load from the wheel hub is transferred to the spindle which is firmly bolted to the adapter plate by 4 strong bolts. Therefore any radial force is being absorbed by these combined parts instead of the axle. So from a wheel bearing point of view, it does not need to take lateral forces anymore only radial, right? (I guess that's the whole point of this setup) Therefore all lateral force is absorbed by four M8 size bolts which should not be a problem as it's also the case in the factory design! However the spindle tries to rip off the adapter plate from the bearing recess of the axle housing, by causing additional torque / strain on those M8 bolts !?! If so is there any solution to reinforce the lip of the axle?

Sorry for my curiosity! :blush:

Hi HUN, Thanks for the interest. The floating rears are a success so far, even with the 130hp

to answer your questions...

a) the ABS sensor works fine, but its not the original one in the axle tube I am using (thats just there to bung up the hole). I bought some new front ABS sensors and fitted them into the original front hubs (now fitted to the Russian's axle end plates). So the spindle mount, bearing, carrier, ABS toothed ring and ABS sensor is identical front and rear in my car now. The rear brakes are the Renault caliper setup normally used on the Jimnybits kit, but with a Golf caliper carrier instead of a Renault one. Works better with the Renault caliper this way as the bleed nipple is at the top on Renaults, unlike when Golf's are used.

b) Those M8 bolts were my concern as well, but so far they have been working as expect (and regularly inspected to be sure). It helps to think of it more like a join in the axle tube than as a end cap. With the shape its machined to it fits well and any load taken by the M8's is lateral rather than vertical. I suppose under really extreme acceleration or braking there is a chance of them shearing and the whole brake/drive assembly rotating, but I would rather that than the axle tube

b+) a possible solution might be to weld the Russian's plates onto the axle tube end rather than the bolts (or as well as). That would only transfer the potential issues somewhere else though. A sacrificial part is the term for them M8's :laugh:

Keithy did say I would need a bonnet bulge when the ITBs went on... He was right :laugh:

The large pipercross airbox was still rubbing on the bonnet even after cutting as much out as I could, so I started looking at bonnet bulges or vents, none of which I really fancied or would work.

So made a template and dug out my old vac former box:



1.5mm pinseal plastic sheet clamped between two bits of board and in the oven on max for 10 mins, bung it over the mould and turn on the vac. It works pretty well for a home made thing.

Trim off excess plastic and voila:







Next make matching holes slightly smaller than the moulded plastic and sandwich the new bulge between the bonnet and the S plate with a bit of sealant to tidy it up and primer on the cut metal:









Worked out pretty well. The bonnet finally doesnt catch on the airbox and theres room for everything to move about easily. Result cost £10 for plastic