Gwagensteve
Well-known member
Oh, I'd neglected to mention my rear end was previously mini spooled, so in the process of going 30 spline, I went to a rear airlocker. whilst I had no problem with the mini spool in the rear, its very nice to turn without skipping wheels and have the car push.
Let's just say I can't recommend Nitro gear, their product is great but the customer service is beyond terrible, so I ended up waiting 6 months for the shortside axle, which was installed today, so now I can actually drive the car. However, that didn't stop me doing some testing in the driveway, and lets say I can confirm welding on an axle does indeed embrittle it and lead to cracks.
fortunately that axle was already the one that was messed up (See the wrecked spline) but who would have though stalling the car up in front wheel drive would do that! (I ordered replacements from trail gear on black friday and due to a series of stuff ups they took nearly 4 months to arrive - sent me longsides, then sent the short sides to louisiana, got them back, then sent them to me.
On to other jobs,
I found wear in the drag link, so I knocked up a new one with a replaceable ball joint
And I worked on a little idea I had that came together very well. This is a bit complex to explain, but stay with me.
Here's my auto shifter. I previously modified it so I can slam 1st/reverse (thats the welded tab on the LHS) and I added another tab so I can't bump the car into neutral when it's in D or R. I find this pattern really good and probably better than any aftermarket shifter for a standard pattern valve body. However, the computer always has the car pull away in 1st gear. That's fine in a standard application, but not with gearing as low as I have - I just can't general any wheel speed. Some versions of the AW-4 have a "snow" mode or "2nd gear start" button that makes the auto start in 2nd, but suzuki didn't employ it.
My idea was to power solenoid B (i think) which would lock the gearbox in 2nd gear, but I didn't want to do this with a manual switch, I wanted it to work only if armed and when the shifter was in 2nd. (hence the microswitch above) - here's my little diagram:
and here's the arming switch on the console
It was a bit of an experiment as I didn't know if it would put the transmission into limp mode until the ignition was turned off, but it was worth a try, and it turned out to me an outrageous success. with the lever in 2 and the system armed, it will hold 2nd gear until I move the lever into D, at which point it shifts into D normally, and instantly if the revs are high enough to call the shift. A trouble code shows on the dash, but that clears within a few seconds once it's in D and doesn't interfere with normal shifting. Very happy with this outcome.
I also had the shocks rebuilt and valved by a local specialist who does a lot of off road race cars and winch challenge vehicles. I haven't had the car off road since, but in my short testing drives it feels very good. It was a challenge as I only have 2" of front compression travel to the bumpstop and the car is relatively light and very softly sprung, so a full 150psi charge would have lifted the car 2'" or so. it's setup with about 85psi and that hasn't raised the car noticeably. Shocks didn't require any replacement parts other than seals and o-rings which was awesome.
So that's it for now - I missed this year's adventure tour as I was still waiting for my axle, (basically, I missed a whole summer season of driving, but I'll get some trips in over winter now the car is back together.
Let's just say I can't recommend Nitro gear, their product is great but the customer service is beyond terrible, so I ended up waiting 6 months for the shortside axle, which was installed today, so now I can actually drive the car. However, that didn't stop me doing some testing in the driveway, and lets say I can confirm welding on an axle does indeed embrittle it and lead to cracks.
fortunately that axle was already the one that was messed up (See the wrecked spline) but who would have though stalling the car up in front wheel drive would do that! (I ordered replacements from trail gear on black friday and due to a series of stuff ups they took nearly 4 months to arrive - sent me longsides, then sent the short sides to louisiana, got them back, then sent them to me.
On to other jobs,
I found wear in the drag link, so I knocked up a new one with a replaceable ball joint
And I worked on a little idea I had that came together very well. This is a bit complex to explain, but stay with me.
Here's my auto shifter. I previously modified it so I can slam 1st/reverse (thats the welded tab on the LHS) and I added another tab so I can't bump the car into neutral when it's in D or R. I find this pattern really good and probably better than any aftermarket shifter for a standard pattern valve body. However, the computer always has the car pull away in 1st gear. That's fine in a standard application, but not with gearing as low as I have - I just can't general any wheel speed. Some versions of the AW-4 have a "snow" mode or "2nd gear start" button that makes the auto start in 2nd, but suzuki didn't employ it.
My idea was to power solenoid B (i think) which would lock the gearbox in 2nd gear, but I didn't want to do this with a manual switch, I wanted it to work only if armed and when the shifter was in 2nd. (hence the microswitch above) - here's my little diagram:
and here's the arming switch on the console
It was a bit of an experiment as I didn't know if it would put the transmission into limp mode until the ignition was turned off, but it was worth a try, and it turned out to me an outrageous success. with the lever in 2 and the system armed, it will hold 2nd gear until I move the lever into D, at which point it shifts into D normally, and instantly if the revs are high enough to call the shift. A trouble code shows on the dash, but that clears within a few seconds once it's in D and doesn't interfere with normal shifting. Very happy with this outcome.
I also had the shocks rebuilt and valved by a local specialist who does a lot of off road race cars and winch challenge vehicles. I haven't had the car off road since, but in my short testing drives it feels very good. It was a challenge as I only have 2" of front compression travel to the bumpstop and the car is relatively light and very softly sprung, so a full 150psi charge would have lifted the car 2'" or so. it's setup with about 85psi and that hasn't raised the car noticeably. Shocks didn't require any replacement parts other than seals and o-rings which was awesome.
So that's it for now - I missed this year's adventure tour as I was still waiting for my axle, (basically, I missed a whole summer season of driving, but I'll get some trips in over winter now the car is back together.
