80 series, stretching wheelbase

[killalux]

i have had a thought and wanted to see what opinions other people have.

I have an 80 series that is cut into an extra cab ute. At the moment it has a fairly short tray and it looks as if it has heaps of overhang and looks kinda out of proportion. I am wanting to put a 2M long tray on it so i can have a tray top camper and useable tray space.

My idea is rather than cutting and extending the chassis as some others do, I was thinking of making my upper and lower control arms about 200mm longer, And then just move the coil hats and panhard mount/crossmember back 200mm.

This way I am not changing the structural strength of the chassis. And i think it should free up the rear suspension to flex a little better without flogging out bushes.

I don't wanna go too much longer in the wheelbase because i don't want to sacrifice off road ability too much, as i do enjoy driving the harder tracks.

so whats everyone think, i good idea or a waste of time.

steve

[dow50r]

Stevo...why not! What a gr8 idea....
Andrew

[TWISTY]

Will defintley look a lot more in proportion! I reckon go for it

[pinkfloyddsotm]

i have had a thought and wanted to see what opinions other people have.

I have an 80 series that is cut into an extra cab ute. At the moment it has a fairly short tray and it looks as if it has heaps of overhang and looks kinda out of proportion. I am wanting to put a 2M long tray on it so i can have a tray top camper and useable tray space.

My idea is rather than cutting and extending the chassis as some others do, I was thinking of making my upper and lower control arms about 200mm longer, And then just move the coil hats and panhard mount/crossmember back 200mm.

This way I am not changing the structural strength of the chassis. And i think it should free up the rear suspension to flex a little better without flogging out bushes.

I don't wanna go too much longer in the wheelbase because i don't want to sacrifice off road ability too much, as i do enjoy driving the harder tracks.

so whats everyone think, i good idea or a waste of time.

steve

doin my coil conversion with 80 series stuff,ive extended my wheelbase at least a 100mm maybe even a bit more , just be prepared for alot of grinding ! haha

[killalux]

i have had a thought and wanted to see what opinions other people have.

I have an 80 series that is cut into an extra cab ute. At the moment it has a fairly short tray and it looks as if it has heaps of overhang and looks kinda out of proportion. I am wanting to put a 2M long tray on it so i can have a tray top camper and useable tray space.

My idea is rather than cutting and extending the chassis as some others do, I was thinking of making my upper and lower control arms about 200mm longer, And then just move the coil hats and panhard mount/crossmember back 200mm.

This way I am not changing the structural strength of the chassis. And i think it should free up the rear suspension to flex a little better without flogging out bushes.

I don't wanna go too much longer in the wheelbase because i don't want to sacrifice off road ability too much, as i do enjoy driving the harder tracks.

so whats everyone think, i good idea or a waste of time.

steve

doin my coil conversion with 80 series stuff,ive extended my wheelbase at least a 100mm maybe even a bit more , just be prepared for alot of grinding ! haha

Don't worry mate i'm used to grinding, I did a coil conversion on my old lux with nissan and 80 series gear, was lots of grinding involved

[killalux]

Just had another look at it and a bit of a measure up.

I found that the lower arms are 290mm longer than the uppers, so i figure if i stretch it by 290mm i can put the lowers in the upper, and just have to get 2 new arms made.

The other issue i found is that the chassis just behind the panhard mount slopes down resonably steeply, which is a problem. I feel what i will have to do is to cut the chassis between the coil hat and the shock mount, and add 290mm into the chassis rail here. I will then add another x-member in front of the coil hat, and make new raised shock mounts in front of that.
which is prob less work then cutting off all the mounts and welding them back on anyway. And still less work then extending the chassis in the middle.

I did a rough measurement of my wheelbase now which is about 2900mm, so it will be stretched out to 3190mm, or 125", which i feel is still pretty good.
Also does anyone know how long a 75 series tailshaft is compared to an 80 series, would be good if i can keep a factory shaft.

steve

[80's_delirious]

Just had another look at it and a bit of a measure up.

I found that the lower arms are 290mm longer than the uppers, so i figure if i stretch it by 290mm i can put the lowers in the upper, and just have to get 2 new arms made.

The other issue i found is that the chassis just behind the panhard mount slopes down resonably steeply, which is a problem. I feel what i will have to do is to cut the chassis between the coil hat and the shock mount, and add 290mm into the chassis rail here. I will then add another x-member in front of the coil hat, and make new raised shock mounts in front of that.
which is prob less work then cutting off all the mounts and welding them back on anyway. And still less work then extending the chassis in the middle.

I did a rough measurement of my wheelbase now which is about 2900mm, so it will be stretched out to 3190mm, or 125", which i feel is still pretty good.
Also does anyone know how long a 75 series tailshaft is compared to an 80 series, would be good if i can keep a factory shaft.

steve

Awsome idea to extend the dual cab.

by the time you do all that I think it would be LESS work to cut and extend the chassis in front of the control arm mounts.
to do that what would you have to do? extend chassis, shift a couple of body mounts, extend fuel and brake lines and wiring, new tailshaft.

I reckon try and keep it as simple as possible, keep it as factory as possible and change as little as possible, ie why reinvent the wheel?
it sounds like you would be doing a lot of extra work to avoid cuttin the chassis in front of control arms for what gain?

[killalux]

If i do it the way i am thinking it will be about the same amount of work. Still just cutting and extending chassis, have to make some new shock mounts (want to anyway for longer shocks) and extend a few wires, and tailshaft.

Dont have to move body mounts, don't have to extend fuel lines. Also just in front of the lower control arm mounts the cruiser chassis bends inwards, so would have funny angles to deal with hear aswell. Also my exhaust would be a PITA to extend in the middle rather than just the tailpipe.

Also my way i get the advantage of longer control arms, therfore i think i should get less rear steer and bush binding under flex.

steve

[pinkfloyddsotm]

yer i remember your old lux,anyways i just measured my

75 series rear tailshaft, its about 1.2m long, ..with the lowers not lining up with the chassis end brackets, cut the link diff brackets off and move them in if possible ? thats what i had to do on mine..adjustable links can fit in on a pretty extreme angle anyways if you left the brackets where they are.