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Castor Plates installation

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:00 pm
by Vulcanised
I am about to fit castor plates to my Pootrol..... anybody got advice on how to set them up properly? or a couple of pictures..... would make life easier

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:23 pm
by Hoonz
don't do it get drop boxes!

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:31 pm
by Vulcanised
Hoonz wrote:don't do it get drop boxes!
too late..... got them already :lol: don't quite have the spondooly for them with the money it's going to cost for thge engine swap..... if need be, i'll weld the bastards into place.

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:16 pm
by Hoonz
ahh ok .. well welding them in place will work best ... other wise they do move around when flexing up and the holes flog out ...

hand brake on undo the arms ... drill the holes ... get a jack to move the pinion up and bolt in the new plates .. pretty ease

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:20 pm
by Vulcanised
Hoonz wrote:ahh ok .. well welding them in place will work best ... other wise they do move around when flexing up and the holes flog out ...

hand brake on undo the arms ... drill the holes ... get a jack to move the pinion up and bolt in the new plates .. pretty ease
is it beneficial to space the radius arms forward 15mm?? i'm told this helps keep the 35's from scrubbing on the back af the front guards under flex.... i was going to machine some up and fit them while i had the radius arms unbolted

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:36 pm
by bogged
RoeDao wrote:
Hoonz wrote:ahh ok .. well welding them in place will work best ... other wise they do move around when flexing up and the holes flog out ...

hand brake on undo the arms ... drill the holes ... get a jack to move the pinion up and bolt in the new plates .. pretty ease
is it beneficial to space the radius arms forward 15mm?? i'm told this helps keep the 35's from scrubbing on the back af the front guards under flex.... i was going to machine some up and fit them while i had the radius arms unbolted
Yup... it does help

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:26 pm
by Bentzook
well welding them in place will work best ... other wise they do move around when flexing up and the holes flog out
I didnt design them to be welded into place. They`re best bolted on and they shouldnt flog out unless you install them poorly. I designed them in 1999 when the Gu ute first came out, as a bolt-on fit for Patrols, that way you could take them off, return the suspension to its originality. There were many welded on dodgy looking units at the time. It was a good idea at the time and since then several companies have copied this castor plate design, so much for design rules in Aust. When in Oz = just copy it.
Anyway their best installed as bolt on, but if you need more travel you probly bought the wrong 4x in the first place. Or spent all your $$$ on a motor swap.

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:01 pm
by Vulcanised
i'm new to this shit, and i'm learning as i go...... does anybody have photos of them fitted? where the holes need to be drilled etc

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:22 pm
by Hoonz
Bentzook wrote:
well welding them in place will work best ... other wise they do move around when flexing up and the holes flog out
I didnt design them to be welded into place. They`re best bolted on and they shouldnt flog out unless you install them poorly. I designed them in 1999 when the Gu ute first came out, as a bolt-on fit for Patrols, that way you could take them off, return the suspension to its originality. There were many welded on dodgy looking units at the time. It was a good idea at the time and since then several companies have copied this castor plate design, so much for design rules in Aust. When in Oz = just copy it.
Anyway their best installed as bolt on, but if you need more travel you probly bought the wrong 4x in the first place. Or spent all your $$$ on a motor swap.
every set of castor plates i've seen after being used have been flogged out
mind u none of us are shy with the cars

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:15 pm
by nalucas
Basically to install the castor plates, you firstly remove the rear bolt from the radius arm (or just remove the arm entirely if you want to drill them).

Once you have figured out how the plates go (half washers on the inside and there is a nick out of the inner one near the pumkin) bolt them in through the rear hole and swing them up till the half washer hits the bottom of the factory radius arm bracket. At this point you should be able to mark your holes.

Remove plates (and arm if not already) and drill holes :-)

Then refit the radius arm, rear bolt first, then front bolt, then plate to bracket bolt with crush tube and tighten. Check again a few times over the next few weeks to ensure it hasn't worked loose.

Don't have any photos handy at the moment sorry.

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:26 pm
by DieselBoy
Photo's please!!!!!

Very interested in this mod as i am keen to run a pin on the left hand side for partial dissconnection of the left hand radious arm.......

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:25 pm
by doddzee
Diesel Boy, you dont need caster plates to do the mod you are talking about unless you are going to correct caster at the same time. For Caster correction you would be better off with drop boxes, you can still remove a bolt then.

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:35 pm
by Vulcanised
nalucas wrote:Basically to install the castor plates, you firstly remove the rear bolt from the radius arm (or just remove the arm entirely if you want to drill them).

Once you have figured out how the plates go (half washers on the inside and there is a nick out of the inner one near the pumkin) bolt them in through the rear hole and swing them up till the half washer hits the bottom of the factory radius arm bracket. At this point you should be able to mark your holes.

Remove plates (and arm if not already) and drill holes :-)

Then refit the radius arm, rear bolt first, then front bolt, then plate to bracket bolt with crush tube and tighten. Check again a few times over the next few weeks to ensure it hasn't worked loose.

Don't have any photos handy at the moment sorry.
Thank you..... that explains it adequately :) i'm going to fit them tomorrow arvo

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:26 pm
by ats4x4dotcom
Hope you have a right angle drill ;)

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:32 pm
by Vulcanised
ats4x4dotcom wrote:Hope you have a right angle drill ;)
i have a right angle air drill :armsup:

platers

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:26 pm
by china
just a quick question, does the plate have three (3) holes already in them?

Re: platers

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:32 pm
by Vulcanised
china wrote:just a quick question, does the plate have three (3) holes already in them?
yes they do.... they are Tough Dog 5 degree plates

pl

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:36 pm
by china
so whats the drill for?

Re: pl

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:49 pm
by Vulcanised
china wrote:so whats the drill for?
ats4x4dotcom wrote:Hope you have a right angle drill ;)
Thats why *shrug* beats the piss out of me...... i'm just fitting these things blind :lol:

p

Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:00 pm
by china
with mine put the back bolt in first then flip them up put front bolt in, then bolt radias arm to plate, it was 30 min job, i didnt need to take arm out or drill holes.

Re: p

Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:29 am
by Vulcanised
china wrote:with mine put the back bolt in first then flip them up put front bolt in, then bolt radias arm to plate, it was 30 min job, i didnt need to take arm out or drill holes.
well that will make life even easier :D

Re: p

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:13 pm
by Vulcanised
china wrote:with mine put the back bolt in first then flip them up put front bolt in, then bolt radias arm to plate, it was 30 min job, i didnt need to take arm out or drill holes.
give yourself an uppercut :lol: :lol: 30minutes??????????? by the time we frigged around getting the holes drilled, the diff rotated (worked out it was much easier when we loosened the panhard rod :roll: ) put the spacers in behind the radius arms... it took us about 3 and a half hours....... thankfully we did it over a mechanics pit.... would have been a royal pain in the ass on a concrete driveway!! I doubt they will come l;oose in a hurry.... Coey was fair swinging off a bloody great breaker bar to tighten them.
Made a heap of difference to the driveability.... it goes where i point it now, and doesn't try to change lanes every time i hit a bump or put my foot on the brake.... all i need to sort now is the teeth rattling shake once it gets over 90kph.....

Image


Image

pl

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:03 pm
by china
like i said before mine bolted in the existing holes, not my problem if yours didnt, and i also didnt say i fitted spacers cos u didnt ask.

Re: pl

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:33 pm
by Vulcanised
china wrote:like i said before mine bolted in the existing holes, not my problem if yours didnt, and i also didnt say i fitted spacers cos u didnt ask.
the spacers were piece of piss....... took all of 10 minutes including unbolting and rebolting the arms...... and dude...... take one of these Image it was a light hearted dig ;)

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:05 pm
by china
:crazyeyes:
ive had no probs with mine for 3 years, till now,springs have saged n now caster is out, but thats more spring hight prob.