Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey guys,
I'm in touch with Chad at Dobbin Engineering because I was curious to know if an X-Link for LR was planned.
Chad said they did plan,but it seems there's not enough demand at the mo.
They could study/develope a kit though,they just need a test rig to engineer off...

So,any volunteer?
I'd happily drive my 90 straight to their door but it's an hell of a trip from Italy!

I told Chad I would have posted here.


Not a poll,just a feeler...

Quite happy to donate my skank, she's sitting in the drive doing sweet FA currently.

But dobbin is still a fair trip for me and I doubt he'd do the work at a price I like

realistically it'll be a good 18months+ before i start looking seriously at making the susp work better

Simon

I'd like to see a prototype in a more reasonable time!


I think there's no need to donate,maybe just to leave the truck there for the time they need...?

Where is Dobbin engineering? For some reason I have Brisbane in my head.

Does anyone think the X-Link would make a lot of difference on a Rangie?

Sydney. I think the X-link would do a heap for a RRC.

I live right down the road from dobbin, Infact got to go chat with him later this week. My 88 RR Classic is a weekend car, maybe he can use that to set it up???

You haven't got a lot of room for that on a rover.

I am ceratainly keen on the XLink for a RRC, a bit far from Perth to volunteer my car though. I hope this does happen.....worst case a few of us could chip in and buy an old dunger to send to Dobbin.

If I was in Sydney he could borrow one of mine...but I'm not!

How much is the X-Link for other vehicles? After having a read up on it it looks like it could be good.

Well I read AU $850+gst which would be +-510€ to me...
Which is not bad compared to other setups...

I have a pretty complete RR chassis and suspension they could borrow.

I just need to lift the body off (I need it for my next project) and they can have it.

The biggest problem is that the axle end mount for the panhard rod is part of the front bracket for the radius arm.

This bracket has to be removed to fit an X-link.

I think Glen would only need the axle case and possibly a radius arm.

The other thing that Glen may not know, is that later radius arms have wider bushes.

I have an X-link for my rangie, but the front axle is not rover.

I have a lot of things to over the next 2 months, after that if nothing has happened I will take this up with Chad and Glen.

Bush65 wrote:The biggest problem is that the axle end mount for the panhard rod is part of the front bracket for the radius arm.

This bracket has to be removed to fit an X-link.

I think Glen would only need the axle case and possibly a radius arm.

The other thing that Glen may not know, is that later radius arms have wider bushes.

I have an X-link for my rangie, but the front axle is not rover.

I have a lot of things to over the next 2 months, after that if nothing has happened I will take this up with Chad and Glen.

there are a few things to get right on the rovers, they are not as straight forward as the nissan or the toyota but not impossable all input is noted thats for sure.

To the best way to engineer it is to have a complete car in our workshop that makes for no guess work.

another thing we need to know is as stated the differences in all the modles ie the bush difference(how wide)

Chad

There should be only two versions of the radius arms, wide and narrow which changed in the early 90s sometime. I think it is 37 and 44 mm width.

Also if you are going international (i.e. Michelle) you need to understand the difference in the LHD/RHD panhard rod mounts. I fyou need photos of a LHD or measurement let me know.

This is going to be a cool project...

red90 wrote:There should be only two versions of the radius arms, wide and narrow which changed in the early 90s sometime. I think it is 37 and 44 mm width.

Also if you are going international (i.e. Michelle) you need to understand the difference in the LHD/RHD panhard rod mounts. I fyou need photos of a LHD or measurement let me know.

Awesome!
Yeah this was my greatest concern.Are they mirrored exactly?

send in the pics if you can.I'll try to get the chassis specs to work off too.

Chad

Sound like this could make the front work as well as the rear and just to add on the bush sizing my 89 has actualy got the bigger sized bushes and radius arms are bigger than earlier ie. my 85 model. Not sure exactly when they changed but pretty sure it was during 89.
Hope this is of any help.

Are the Disco2 bushes etc the same?

What is a x-link?
I can´s find it on their webpage.

desertrover wrote:What is a x-link?
I can´s find it on their webpage.

Replace your front two radius arm bushes, with a seesaw attached to the middle of your diff housing.

professor wrote:

red90 wrote:There should be only two versions of the radius arms, wide and narrow which changed in the early 90s sometime. I think it is 37 and 44 mm width.

Also if you are going international (i.e. Michelle) you need to understand the difference in the LHD/RHD panhard rod mounts. I fyou need photos of a LHD or measurement let me know.

Awesome!
Yeah this was my greatest concern.Are they mirrored exactly?

send in the pics if you can.I'll try to get the chassis specs to work off too.

Chad

On second thought you should be able to figure it out. The axle casings have both LHD and RHD panhard rod mounts built in. The chassis side mount just mirrors over.

ANyway a few high resolution pictures anyway.

http://www.calgarycachers.net/red90/100_0513.JPG
http://www.calgarycachers.net/red90/100_0514.JPG
http://www.calgarycachers.net/red90/100_0515.JPG

I have a spare axle case (1986 MY) laying on the floor,I will take pics too...

People I have some bad news



Looks like the rover XLink is a bit more complex than we first thought.

we were able to study a rover today at great lenghts a few thing we found were that the panard mount is in a bad spot for the Xlink. this can be fixed but we also found that the radious arms are far to close to the diff to offer the correct amount of movment the Xlink needs and also the tie rod sits all to close to the radious arms at the rear of the diff.


having said that at this stage we are not going to manufacture these as a production line product.what we can offer to people is a full custom setup. This will be alot more involved to setup and engineer than what we first anticipated so the build up like this might not be for all.

we can offer an XLink to the nissan diff and from what i can gather this is becomming a common mod for the rangies to do.


we are happy to discuss some options for the people that had there heart set on a rover XLink all you need to do is call me on 0418441064 after 2pm.


Chad

chad, just a silly thought, but can the x-link be on the rear??? on rovers or the like.

1MadEngineer wrote:chad, just a silly thought, but can the x-link be on the rear??? on rovers or the like.

only the s2 discos had radius arms on the rear.. dunno bout the other rovers..

but if we're talkin bout rangie classics.. then they got a standard 2 link in the rear and an A frame in the back.

1MadEngineer wrote:chad, just a silly thought, but can the x-link be on the rear??? on rovers or the like.

Possibly on a D2, but not on a 3 link rear end like the classic rangie and D1.

good thought guys but i did actually mean on the rear of the front diff, as to avoid the panhard problems

1MadEngineer wrote:good thought guys but i did actually mean on the rear of the front diff, as to avoid the panhard problems

Steering rods and diff head make things quite crowded.

IMO if you want to get away from radius arms, do it properly and go 3 or 4 link.

1MadEngineer wrote:chad, just a silly thought, but can the x-link be on the rear??? on rovers or the like.

we looked at that, The theory would work but It would be one hell of a XLink to miss the diff center.

Chad