fishsponge's ongoing thread of problems!

[Mr Noisy]

Unless you're very cack handed you ain't gonna get close to the starter. But then again this is Fishsponge so I guess it's worth a shout!

The other thing that will undoubtedly come to play is which way to mount the damper.

I mount the damper with the body to the diff and and piston to the track rod. This means the diff gives a small amount of protection to the delicate body. The piston is lower profile and much stronger anyway.

Cheers.

 

[fishsponge]

good point... I hadn't considered which way round to fit the damper! I think i'll mount mine whichever way keeps the dirt cover open to the bottom (so stuff doesn't collect in it). This presumably means the body will be down at the steering end. I would rather do it the same way as yours, but then water and mud etc... will collect in the plastic cover and never leave because it'll be pointing slightly upwards.

Also, I popped back into the wheel alignment place last night to get a printout of the numbers.

My rear-left wheel is toed in by 2.3mm and the rear right wheel is toed out by 1.0mm. To work out how much to shim the trailing arm by, some values are needed, one of which is r (the radius).

So I asked if the wheel had to be brought inline by 2.3mm at the edge of the rim or the edge of the tyre (because this makes a big difference to the size of the shim) and I was told the 2.3mm is not a distance - it's mil-radians.

Most values on the printout (from the Corghi laser device) are either degres & minutes (00º26') or mm, but are the mm values really "mil-radians" or even radians? Or are they actually millimetres as I suspect?

And if they're millimetres, do I need to move the wheel 2.3mm to the left at the edge of the rim or the tyre? Nobody seems to really know...

NOTE: I am not making this over complicated - I simply want to shim the trailing arm, but the calculation on how much to shim it by needs to know the above or the values are radically different!!!

 

[xat44]

This presumably means the body will be down at the steering end. I would rather do it the same way as yours, but then water and mud etc... will collect in the plastic cover and never leave because it'll be pointing slightly upwards.

you could drill a hole in the lowest point of the plastic cover so that any water can escape.

 

[fishsponge]

very true... but there is a hole in the bottom of my diff guards for that reason, and they get clogged up and blocked very quickly indeed!

 

[Mr Noisy]

The rubber boot on mine had holes in already. Andway whatever, even with the holes it will block up like you say.

For an on roader your plan is probably best, depends on the day I guess.

 

[fishsponge]

I agree

Anyway... does anyone know about wheel alignment and can help with the below?

Also, I popped back into the wheel alignment place last night to get a printout of the numbers.

My rear-left wheel is toed in by 2.3mm and the rear right wheel is toed out by 1.0mm. To work out how much to shim the trailing arm by, some values are needed, one of which is r (the radius).

So I asked if the wheel had to be brought inline by 2.3mm at the edge of the rim or the edge of the tyre (because this makes a big difference to the size of the shim) and I was told the 2.3mm is not a distance - it's mil-radians.

Most values on the printout (from the Corghi laser device) are either degres & minutes (00º26') or mm, but are the mm values really "mil-radians" or even radians? Or are they actually millimetres as I suspect?

And if they're millimetres, do I need to move the wheel 2.3mm to the left at the edge of the rim or the tyre? Nobody seems to really know...

NOTE: I am not making this over complicated - I simply want to shim the trailing arm, but the calculation on how much to shim it by needs to know the above or the values are radically different!!!

 

[Mr Noisy]

**** no!

 

[matthew2riches]

Why didn't you ask the guys in the garage to adjust it while they had the gear all set up on the wheels?

Took my van for a 4 wheel alignment, and they bolted the stuff on, measured, adjusted then measured and checked again... They said I could go away and make sure it was what it was then come back and pay. My wandering problem was solved. I went back and paid.

Simple.

Why didn't they adjust yours?

 

[fishsponge]

They did not adjust the front because the track rod and drag link had completely siezed. No amount of heat or hammering would free them up, hence why I have bought new ones which I will fit this weekend.

The reason they did not adjust the back axle was that it is not adjustable. It does need adjusting, but this can only be done by shimming out one of the trailing arms and the tyre fitting/wheel alignment place did not have the time, nor are they geared up to do such jobs!

 

[matthew2riches]

Take it to a proper tracking place and not your local fast fit. Where I used to go they had the full ho-har, 4wd rolling road and everything.

I can't see why your axle is so out of line Is the chassis twisted?

 

[Mr Noisy]

Maybe it was welded on a monday morning!

 

[fishsponge]

no idea why it's so out of line to be honest... i do know of a very good local garage with all the kit, skills and knowledge, but they're £66 per hour inc. VAT. I just can't afford it.

I also have an old school friend who is a manager in a wheel alignment/tyre fitting place and is actually very knowledgable about such things. He is also a fellow Landy owner with an equally old Disco as mine, so I'm going to see him on Saturday morning before I start the work to get his opinion on the numbers and state of the back axle/chassis etc... i'll know exactly what to do when I get home mid-morning then, and once my work is done, I can just get it aligned anywhere (to make sure my own alignment attempt is spot-on), presumably... or do you think the local fast fit might actually bugger the alignment up again if the back axle still isn't level?

 

[matthew2riches]

Never trusted fast fit places.

 

[fishsponge]

well generally I agree with you, but I do trust the guys at my local place in particular... they don't seem to understand the numbers fully, but they have done a good job for me in the past with previous vehicles

The problem is, they charge £30. My favourite garage charges £66.

 

[davek0974]

Have you measured the distance from wheel to wheel, if it's out as much as you say then it would be easy to check with a tape measure.

Sounds very odd

 

[fishsponge]

not yet (I still don't own a tape measure!). I plan to do this at the weekend though, after replacing the track rod, drag link etc...

 

[xat44]

not yet (I still don't own a tape measure!).

father xmas is coming soon, time to write a list

 

[Brian S]

Even a bit of string would work to check that measurement, you are only looking to see if there is a difference.

 

[fishsponge]

not yet (I still don't own a tape measure!).

father xmas is coming soon, time to write a list

already ahead of you! Wishlist | Richard Hobbs

That's mainly for my relatives and is a lot smaller now since they have taken stuff off it for Christmas...

and you are right, Brian - string would do! lol

Although I do need a tape measure to set the track rod and drag link properly, of course.

 

[davek0974]

Make sure you get the right sort of string