Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hello everyone,

this is my first post here, and I'm Canadian, so go easy eh?

I have an HJ47, by way of Australia, that I imported last year, then stripped completely apart, and now have converted to LHD. I picked up a Brazillian ZF Bandeirante power steering box and have installed a 60 series tilt-head column. Work is progressing fairly well, but one thing I'm trying to sort out is the steering gear from the steering box on down. I thought about going to the 60 steering box and that type of system for a while, but decided to go with the factory 40 system, notwithstanding it's flaws. I would like to beef it up a bit however, and notice that almost all subsequent series cruisers have beefier TRE's and rods. That's what I want to have.

I put 60 discs on the front and have left the 60 knuckle arms in place, so fitting the 40 tie rod means conical shims at a minimum - but I'd rather not use the 40 stuff at all. Someone up here suggested that I could put in 70 series rods and TRE's, and I thought that the chances were good that someone in Oz has done this conversion. So, what's the deal? The 70 stuff is only a couple of cm longer than the 40, so I'm thinking it may well go in with minimal modification (hah! famous last words that one!). However, questions come up when it comes to dealing with the steering damper attachment and the pivot arm unit which is sized for 40 series TRE's.

So what's the best way to go about this - any suggestions or advice would be most appreciated.

75 series drag link and tie rod ends will fit between the 60 series swivel arms perectly. Only problem is if you are keeping the rest of the 40 steering components (not going to 60 series box) then you will need to find a tie rod end from the 40 relay rod to 75 drag link.

There is some talk about this here and some pics but the pics are with 60 series p/steering conversion. You may have to sign up to view the pics.

http://3rdrock4x4.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1096

Here are the pics but it is still worth signing up as its a great forum for 40s.





So as seen in the above pic, in your case keeping the 40 series relay rod (and steering dampener) you just need the correct taper joint (or make an adapter) to fit into the L/H tie rod end.

That was VERY helpful, thanks so much!! I had to mirror-image everything in my mind to see the LHD set up, but, as you say, it looks like all I need to do is adapt the relay rod TRE to fit the steering pivot arm. Now, given that the TRE for the 40 series is smaller, it would appear that either I need to use a 40 series relay rod, with an adapter to attach it to the 75 TRE, OR perhaps use a 75 relay rod and re-taper the 40 pivot arm to accept the larger TRE - -is that a viable solution?

I'll check out that other forum too - thanks!

Maybe I'm missing something .. but why not keep all 60 stuff .?

The 60 axle is 6 cm wider, and the tie rod and drag link would need to be cut down to fit. The 75 tie rod is only 2 cm wider, so it can pretty much bolt up, it appears.

krinkncrank wrote:The 60 axle is 6 cm wider, and the tie rod and drag link would need to be cut down to fit. The 75 tie rod is only 2 cm wider, so it can pretty much bolt up, it appears.

It make much sence .. ::D

krinkncrank wrote:That was VERY helpful, thanks so much!! I had to mirror-image everything in my mind to see the LHD set up, but, as you say, it looks like all I need to do is adapt the relay rod TRE to fit the steering pivot arm. Now, given that the TRE for the 40 series is smaller, it would appear that either I need to use a 40 series relay rod, with an adapter to attach it to the 75 TRE, OR perhaps use a 75 relay rod and re-taper the 40 pivot arm to accept the larger TRE - -is that a viable solution?

I'll check out that other forum too - thanks!

Glad the above info helped.

This is the way I see it. The 40 series relay rod TRE is smaller than the hole in the LH (in your case RH) drag link 75 TRE. You can make or buy an adapter that fits the 40 TRE that will also fit the 75 TRE taper. I've heard it referred to as a spacer bushing or adapter.

This is an interesting thread too http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php? ... 40+tie+rod
Perhaps the minitruck TRE fits the 75 TRE taper and threads into the 40 relay rod? Pretty sure the term 'minitruck' is referring to a Hilux but wouldnt know what model. ih8mud is an awesome forum for 40 series stuff too so if you join up and ask the question there I'm sure you'll get a pretty good solution there fairly quickly.

Good luck.

Mini truck it's USA spec hi lux solid axle up to 85 if I remember well .. ( de date )

RAY185 wrote:

krinkncrank wrote:That was VERY helpful, thanks so much!! I had to mirror-image everything in my mind to see the LHD set up, but, as you say, it looks like all I need to do is adapt the relay rod TRE to fit the steering pivot arm. Now, given that the TRE for the 40 series is smaller, it would appear that either I need to use a 40 series relay rod, with an adapter to attach it to the 75 TRE, OR perhaps use a 75 relay rod and re-taper the 40 pivot arm to accept the larger TRE - -is that a viable solution?

I'll check out that other forum too - thanks!

Glad the above info helped.

This is the way I see it. The 40 series relay rod TRE is smaller than the hole in the LH (in your case RH) drag link 75 TRE. You can make or buy an adapter that fits the 40 TRE that will also fit the 75 TRE taper. I've heard it referred to as a spacer bushing or adapter.

This is an interesting thread too http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php? ... 40+tie+rod
Perhaps the minitruck TRE fits the 75 TRE taper and threads into the 40 relay rod? Pretty sure the term 'minitruck' is referring to a Hilux but wouldnt know what model. ih8mud is an awesome forum for 40 series stuff too so if you join up and ask the question there I'm sure you'll get a pretty good solution there fairly quickly.

Good luck.

Hi again -some more good information. I am a member of 'mud as well - some 700+ posts now on that forum. I hadn't come across the thread you linked, so thanks again. The 40 series drag link with a mini-truck end is an idea I hadn't considered. I could also get a custom drag link made with a 75 TRE at the one end and a 40 TRE at the end connecting to the pivot arm.

Yeah I guess thats definately a better option as you can have that custom draglink made beefier than the rod its replacing which is what you were trying to achieve to start with. 40 rods are piss weak.

Let us know how you go.