Salisbury axles lose valuable gnd clearance offroad so there pretty useless
no good having all the lockers in the world if your sat on yr diffs..
the best way to gain clearance is larger tyres..unless you go the portal axle route..
my setup works perfectly and shows up a lot of these so called "competition" guys who build all these trucks with lockers and suspension and stick small tyres on and spend too much time sat on there diffs..
Actually a Salisbury axle has the same clearance as an old rover axle pre flat bottomed axles. Tis true newer axles flat bottomed ones have an inch extra clearance however a Salisbury can be modified quite easily with a grinder to make it the same by just shaving a little
Bit off or go big and cut he bottom off and plate it as a few guys are doing gaining more than an inch over a rover but with the full strength and reliability of a strong proven design and easily upgradability to absoluy stupid strength
competing is where reliability and strength by design is needed. Rover axles are ok sub 2 tonne motor driven hard on 35 inch tyres fully upgraded with 300m shafts and cvs better diffs etc circa £4-6k and on a gutless tdi or even a 300 horse v8. But they fail when these limits are pushed. No point spending £2k in fees time off work prep accommodation to get to an event and break it. Salisbury start that much higher and upgradability is huge.
Salisbury axles do have a weight penalty and it's un sprung weight which is no good for racing but. It's heavy low down tough strong and ultra reliable for the tough bits.
Wiltshire what comps have you taken your motor to??
I quite fancy competing in a comp localish, I quite fancy a go in my series one weighing around 1100 kilos (excluding fat Bastid driver) should be fairly nippy with it's locked rear diff and only 33 inch tyres. Weight is a huge disadvantage defender chassis especially has a deep section and very heavy compared to a rangy. Then again a disco or rangy is a heavy motor so pipe and panel is the way forward.
Rover axles bend so easy the best ones I saw were he warrior offroad and the Simmonites when they tubed rover cases proved a better way of doing it.
Thy are bending them on comp safari motors weighing half that of a challenge truck so they stand no chance when racing.
Winch challenge is a whole other world I know one guy has spend circa £35k and it's been out once this year. It's not a top car but is built well.it has a design error tho. The skid plate is an inch lower than the chassis. Meaning the break over angle is awful. Others raise the gearbox and cut 2 inches from the chassis rail making the lowest point 2 inches higher than stock.
What does this mean
Well 37 inch tyres become only 35's on the one with the inch skid plate below.
It makes the one with 2 inches more clearance break over act as though it's on 39 inch tyres. All that for very little effort just thought. Handy on a 100 inch motor.
lots and lots of competing motors have design faults as above that seem obvious. I'm not going down the winch challenge route I did contemplate it I have a lot of the bits kicking about but I have zero time and I've competed more seriously before and it costs lots. ALRC for now maybe a dabble comp safari racing al la cheap.
Main reason I left one of the biggest groups years back too many wrecks passing scruteneering that shouldn't have just an accident waiting to happen
Too many people come into this hobby sport dabble and give up. Buy new old wrecks every few months. I've had my motor 10 years competed in lots of various comps laid out probably just as many. I've even managed to gain a few shiny bits along the way probably more luck than judgement on my part I reckon but not many people I know have had the same vehicle which is still road legal and competed in it for 10 years.
Reliability is key. To come first, first you got to finish.
