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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:09 pm |
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This thread is about changing the front hubs on an LJ series axle to SJ (Sierra) swivel hubs.
Why would you do this?
First of all some of the benefits of changing your swivel hubs to SJ:
- Option of disc brakes (drums can be retained, more on this later)
- Option of Free Wheeling Hubs (FWH), (drive flanges can be retained also)
- Better wheel bearings
- Easier to get parts for than the older LJ bits
Parts required:
- You need a front LJ differential/axle. Must have housing, centre, and inner axle shafts. This works for LJ50, LJ80, and LJ80 Stockman; I don't know about LJ10 or LJ20.
- You need a pair of SJ swivel hubs. Any leaf sprung SJ is fine, even drum brake 1L hubs will still offer you FWH's and SJ wheel bearings but without the discs. You cannot use Coily (SJ80) Swivel hubs.
- You need a pair of SJ410 CV joints. You cannot use any other model CV joint to my knowledge.
- Assorted sockets, spanners, hammers, and general tools. LMM grease, wheel bearing grease, and probably all new wheel bearing and swivel hub kits. Don't forget new king pin bearings too.
Step 1; The usefull LJ parts:
Strip down your LJ frontend untill it is just the housing and the diff centre
Remove your LJ CV joints from your inner axle shafts. This can sometimes be done with a hammer and a drift, by hitting against the inner ring of the CV joint (so far so good for me ), sometimes its requires destruction of the CV joint using an angle grinder.
This is the bit you need, don't damage it!
You will have your LJ swivel hubs left over, you don't need them anymore. Keep the king pins and shims for spares though
Step 2; Axle/CV assembly
Now the worst part of the whole job, making up the Hybrid axle shafts. These require those inner LJ axle shafts from step 1, but with SJ410 CV joints fitted to them. Once again, sometimes SJ410 CV's can be removed using a hammer, sometimes you will need to destroy the SJ410 inner shaft (Don't cut up the CV, thats the bit you want!!!).
The resulting hybrid shaft should look like this:
As we are dealing with 30 year old plus cars here, sometimes the axles have deep grooves on the area where the axle seal runs. I have found about a 50/50 strike rate with good ones, bad ones. So if you do have a grooved one, you will need to fit a sleeve:
The two manufacturers I know of are Redi-Sleeve, and Speedi-Sleeve. You wants a sleeve to suit a 26mm diameter shaft. Instructions come with the sleeves on how to fit, but you may need to use chemi-weld to fill up the grooves first.
Once fitted:
Step 3; The SJ Swivel Hub:
This is the bit you are aiming to fit really, the SJ swivel hub.
late model SJ410, SJ50 (narrow track 1.3), and SJ70 (Widetrack 1.3) will all give you disc brakes and free wheeling hubs. This is the option most people would want to go with.
Alternatly, if you want the SJ bearings, and the free wheeling hubs, but want to stick with a standard drum brake system, you can use early SJ410 swivel hubs. This is what 3cyl runs on his LJ50 with LJ80 stockman diffs, suits his needs fine.
Also if you want the SJ hubs, but want drive flanges still (not sure why on earth you would, but anyway), you can use drive flanges from the front of Grand Vitaras.
The rest of the assembly process is just the same as putting any SJ front hub assembly together, and Suzuki tell us how to do that in the factory service manual, so I won't bore you with those details.
Assembled (yes disc calipres are not fitted yet, but thats as I might be fitting Vitara discs yet):
Step 4; Related issue of steering arms:
Interesting note, is that LJ steering ball joint tapres are smaller than SJ. Hence LJ steering arms don't really suit the SJ hubs perfectly. Every vehicle I have seen personally with this hub upgrade done, has just tightened up the nuts, and got away with it fine. However if you are a fuss pot like me, you won't be happy with this .
Simple Solution:
The LJ ball joints can be removed from the steering arms (unlike some SJ ones). You can then buy new SJ ball joints, and fit them, and it should work.
My Solution (Suitable for LJ80 width diffs only):
The LJ steering geometry is flawed as it is. The two arms allow for a "bump-toe" effect, where by going over a bump changes your wheel alignment's toe setting. To eliminate this, and give you steering arms that suit your new SJ hubs, I will use an SJ tie rod (narrow track SJ only).
See in this photo, how the overall width between LJ80 (top), and SJ40/SJ50 (bottom) is the same, but the drag link is notably longer on the SJ arms due to the wider chassis:
The solution I see to this, is use the original LJ tie rod as your new drag link (flash, its adjustable!). This however will require that a new bigger SJ size tapre be made to the hole on the end of the new drag link. See below how the length is better:
Hope thats of use to some people out there. And people feel free to comment ond add to what I have said
Appologies about some of the pictures, they were taken with my phone
Cheers
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
Last edited by Highway-Star on Wed May 05, 2010 5:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TZAR
az supporter
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:30 pm Posts: 3459 Location: licking some windows
Vehicle: LJ20 LJ50
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:23 pm |
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NB the steering mod will NOT work on LJ50 diffs as they are 100 mm narrower
Apart from that excellent work
_________________ Camels have nice toes
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tanshi
az supporter
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 pm Posts: 7719 Location: Brisbane
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:24 pm |
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A note from Graham at suzi spares.
You can also modify the tie rod from a n/t SJ to fit an lj 50 by shortening the threads a little
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hooki
az supporter
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:30 pm Posts: 1785 Location: perth, WA
Vehicle: 85' LWB Sierra, 01' S15
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:55 pm |
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awesome write up mate. Will defently be using this info when it comes time for my disc conversion.
_________________ 79' LJ80 (sold) :( 95' & 97' sierra (sold)
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Gonzo
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 440 Location: At Home
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 10:54 pm |
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Get A Job !! Hippie Lol
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3cyl
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:30 pm Posts: 2054 Location: Ipswich
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:24 pm |
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Good work Aaron, great info for all the Flintstones out there (well I do still run drums so I guess I'm one) who still insist on running LJs. Shouldn't there be a diff guard on there though? Had to redo my front diffguard while the LJ's apart, surprising the damage they take on when wild animals drive your car!
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:02 am |
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Thanks guys
3cyl wrote: Shouldn't there be a diff guard on there though? Had to redo my front diffguard while the LJ's apart, surprising the damage they take on when wild animals drive your car!
This car won't need a diff guard, its for the LJ81, hence will only see light 4wd duties. If it was for my 80V, you would be right, already dinted that housing .
Yes Gonzo, I know. I have a job, but it sucks bigtime!!!
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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303zuke
az supporter
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 2447
Vehicle: LJ50V, SJ70
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 5:35 am |
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SJ410 and NT SJ413 axle shafts are dimensionally interchangeable, but only the SJ410's have the same spline as the LJ in the inner CV. Often, 1.3 axle shafts were interchanged into 1.0lt Sierras that blew CVs due to larger tyres etc, so check that wreck that you're pulling them from to ensure they're the right ones.
The way to ID the the correct CV is the SJ410 is marked 75AC, while the SJ413 is 82AC.
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3cyl
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:30 pm Posts: 2054 Location: Ipswich
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:18 am |
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If it's at my place the sj410 one is the broken one. Still waiting on the new axles, they are made but no longer straight after heat treatment (LJ80 axles made from 4140 with 22 spline both ends). Seems it's harder than I thought to get 1.3 CVs too, believe it or not.
_________________ awesome only comes in 2 colours, camo & bare metal
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tanshi
az supporter
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 pm Posts: 7719 Location: Brisbane
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:58 pm |
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*cough* *cough* *Chromos* hehe
Im hoping if i can get the splines cut, that i'll have a set of cv's in my 50 that i will never break.
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3cyl
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:30 pm Posts: 2054 Location: Ipswich
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:44 pm |
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The last one I broke (the one I did right in front of you Tanshi) looks like the axle went first. Shouldn't be able to break 4140 treated ones. They should be straight and in my hands tomorrow arvo (about 11 of them). So far I've only been able to get Fleabay CVs, probably strong enough but don't have a lot of faith in the average Chinese product. Either that or 2nd hand NTN ones.
_________________ awesome only comes in 2 colours, camo & bare metal
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 5:46 am |
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OK, thought I would add here how to upgrade your rear brakes at the same time
Why would you do this?
If you have done the front swivel hub upgrade (as at the start of this thread), and gone to Sierra discs, then this might be usefull to you:
- Upgrade the rear to bigger SJ413 Drums
- SJ413 drums are self adjusting, so you along with front discs, you now get a low maintenance braking system
Parts required:
- You need a Rear LJ differential/axle. I am showing how to do it for a "stockman", but pre-stockman diffs could likely be worked with, with extra mods to your brake backing plate.
- You need a set of SJ413 rear brake drums (complete). SJ50 give you self adjusters, SJ70 and SJ80 give you self adjusters, but with rear diff handbrake provisions. Either will work. I am using SJ50.
- Assorted sockets, spanners, hammers, and general tools. Probably all new wheel bearing, axle seals and brake shoes. Maybe new brake cylinders.
Step 1; The usefull LJ parts:
Strip down your LJ rear diff of all its braking components (hard brake lines can stay). Keep your LJ axles, and keep your LJ bearing retainers (downgrading to the SJ413 bearing retaining method would be going backward).
Step 2; SJ413 Backing plates:
All SJ413 backing plates are also the bearing retainer, which means the centre hole in them is 50mm. The wheel bearings are 72mm O.D. (for stockman and all SJ's, smaller on pre-stockman) So you need to make the centre hole in the SJ413 backing plates 72mm.
See the difference in centre hole size, and overall drum size (SJ413 on left, LJ80 stockman on right):
To make the holes larger, a lathe that could fit the backing plates would be ideal....but I don't know anyone with such a lathe. I used a rather crude method, of drawing a circle (slightly under 72mm), then using a centre punch, to put a ring of spots around that circle at very close intervals. Then I drilled out all these holes. Then using a chisel and hammer I cut all the small bridges left between the outer part and the bit I was trying to remove in the centre. The end result was a cerated centre hole, which then required some hand filing to get to the right shape and size. This wasn't fun, and took a while, but it worked a treat
SJ413 backing plate with larger centre hole for wheel bearing:
Step 3; Assembly:
Its fairly simple from here on, assemble your rear brakes/axles.
First slide your modified backing plate over your wheel bearing, and onto the 4 bolts on your LJ bearing retaining plate (Stockman axles have the same bolt spacing as SJ, pre-stockman are different). Now slide into axle housing:
Put your self adjusting brake components together (SJ50 brakes in photo):
and finish assembly:
I ran into some small issues doing this, however all these issues were to do with the parts I used having small defects that were easily rectified. This really is simple, and makes the front swivel hub upgrade look super hard in comparison (which its not).
Ta-da! a good match for if you have the front discs . I think the final brake upgrade would then be a Sierra master cylinder and maybe booster to essentially give you an entire SJ braking system in an LJ; which I think is good, as the best improvement Suzuki made going to the SJ from LJ, was the brakes IMO. Might look into the master cylinder "how to" much further down the track when I am up to that part of my LJ81 project
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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want33s
az supporter
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:30 pm Posts: 8136 Location: Sunshine Coast Qld
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 6:00 am |
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Awesome write up there mate.... Almost wish I had an LJ to upgrade.
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 7:14 am |
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want33s wrote: Awesome write up there mate.... Almost wish I had an LJ to upgrade.
Thanks .
I guess my little addition about the rear brakes is sort of applicable to anyone who wants to put the seperate bearing retainer plates on a SJ413 too
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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mudzookacoatsy
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 380 Location: ipswich
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 7:42 am |
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hey you will have to bring it in to work for a wheel alignment now
_________________ 2''lift 31's twin locked & 6.5s
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:06 am |
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mudzookacoatsy wrote: hey you will have to bring it in to work for a wheel alignment now
Its just axles ATM, no car, no wheels or anything attatched
Probably be 2 years or so before its a complete car.
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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Gonzo
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 440 Location: At Home
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:08 am |
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You can put them under your Dad's Ride on
_________________ I Like cat's they make good hats !
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:16 am |
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Gonzo wrote: You can put them under your Dad's Ride on
How about your MG???
I will start stripping the ute which they will go under, when I have shed space. Shed space is currently taken up by Jeep. When Jeep sells, LJ81 gets extra progress .
Next thing for the LJ81 will be the transfer anyway. Rebuild it (Hutch has already done a wright up on this ), rienforcing bar accross the top, and I might even have a go a twin sticking for shits and giggles
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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mudzookacoatsy
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 380 Location: ipswich
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:22 am |
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oh soz thought there were going on anita
_________________ 2''lift 31's twin locked & 6.5s
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:38 am |
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mudzookacoatsy wrote: oh soz thought there were going on anita
Your alright. Anita might get another set built up, but not for the time being .
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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mudzookacoatsy
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 380 Location: ipswich
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:39 am |
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when u wheeling nxt?
_________________ 2''lift 31's twin locked & 6.5s
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makes
az supporter
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:30 pm Posts: 24 Location: Gold Coast, Queensland
Vehicle: LJ81 Stockman
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:26 pm |
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Thanks Highway-star for such an excellent write-up on how to do this !. It has been extremely valuable for me as i am new to Suzukis and am currently in the process of doing this conversion.
I was wondering if anyone has tried fitting Sierra ball-joints to LJ steering arms to address the problem of the holes in the uprights being slightly larger ?. Unfortunately, it looks like these joints are handed and only a RH side one is available for a Sierra... also not sure if thread would be the same for them to screw into the LJ steering arms anyway ?.
I have investigated doing the narrrowtrack Sierra steering arm conversion but haven't been able to find a workshop to do the modification to enlarge the taper in the original LJ steering arm. I have contacted a few local engineering places but no one seems interested/able to do it... so i am looking at just doing a ball-joint swap for now to get the car on the road asap.
Thanks
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:49 pm |
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makes wrote: Thanks Highway-star for such an excellent write-up on how to do this !. It has been extremely valuable for me as i am new to Suzukis and am currently in the process of doing this conversion.
I was wondering if anyone has tried fitting Sierra ball-joints to LJ steering arms to address the problem of the holes in the uprights being slightly larger ?. Unfortunately, it looks like these joints are handed and only a RH side one is available for a Sierra... also not sure if thread would be the same for them to screw into the LJ steering arms anyway ?.
I have investigated doing the narrrowtrack Sierra steering arm conversion but haven't been able to find a workshop to do the modification to enlarge the taper in the original LJ steering arm. I have contacted a few local engineering places but no one seems interested/able to do it... so i am looking at just doing a ball-joint swap for now to get the car on the road asap.
Thanks
No worries
I still haven't got the taper on the steering arm done myself yet... When I get back into it and find someone, I'll post up who did it. It shouldn't be a big operation, as it just requires the correct tapered reamer.
As for the balljoint swap, its something I have not looked thoroughly into yet. I will be disk braking my hardtop hopefully late this year, and it has to retain the original steering arms to meet the competition rules I run it in. So at that time I will look into it further. You used to be able to buy both handed balljoints on ebay, but I can't find them ATM
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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tanshi
az supporter
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:30 pm Posts: 7719 Location: Brisbane
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:46 pm |
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they were vitara balljoints i believe. not sure of the thread on them though
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303zuke
az supporter
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 2447
Vehicle: LJ50V, SJ70
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:25 am |
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[quote="Highway-Star/Highway-Star] The solution I see to this, is use the original LJ tie rod as your new drag link (flash, its adjustable!). This however will require that a new bigger SJ size taper be made to the hole on the end of the new drag link. See below how the length is better:
Hope thats of use to some people out there. And people feel free to comment and add to what I have said
Cheers[/quote]
The taper on the drag link hole is actually reversed to how it needs to go together (look at the before and after in the pic and you'll understand why)and needs to be opened out like this. You don't really need a taper reamer (but it's nice if you have one!), just file out the hole with a round file and using the large LJ hole as your guide.
Also, the LJ50 drag link is the right length for a narrowed SJ track rod in an LJ50, and an LJ80 drang link is the right length to use in an LJ80 w/SJ track rod.
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Last edited by 303zuke on Wed May 19, 2010 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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303zuke
az supporter
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 2447
Vehicle: LJ50V, SJ70
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:31 am |
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As for the narrower track of an LJ50 preventing the use of the SJ track rod, the rod can be cut and shortened with a tube of Cro-Mo tubing welded over it to strengthen the track rod. That way, you can select either a NT or WT track rod for the LJ50 or 80 conversion, and not you're just limited to an NT SJ on an LJ80 only. NT Track rods are getting hard to find theses days, and this also offers a solution for a NT Sierra owner to use an WT track rod as a replacement/repair.
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makes
az supporter
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:30 pm Posts: 24 Location: Gold Coast, Queensland
Vehicle: LJ81 Stockman
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:24 am |
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Hi guys, for those interested just wanted to let you know that after asking around a few engineering workshops in Brisbane/Gold Coast finally found one with the necessary machine to do the modification to enlarge the taper in the original LJ steering arm. Rage Engineering, Brendon Drive, Nerang, QLD.
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:30 am |
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makes wrote: Hi guys, for those interested just wanted to let you know that after asking around a few engineering workshops in Brisbane/Gold Coast finally found one with the necessary machine to do the modification to enlarge the taper in the original LJ steering arm. Rage Engineering, Brendon Drive, Nerang, QLD.
Sweet! If you don't mind saying, what was the cost? (you may PM me if you prefer). I still haven't done this, as I keep getting sidetracked with too many projects
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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hooki
az supporter
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:30 pm Posts: 1785 Location: perth, WA
Vehicle: 85' LWB Sierra, 01' S15
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:16 pm |
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how hard would it be fitting a sierra master cylinder and booster? Would the booster clear everything on the firewall?
_________________ 79' LJ80 (sold) :( 95' & 97' sierra (sold)
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Highway-Star
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:30 pm Posts: 4109 Location: Ipswich
Vehicle: LJ80V-II (a proper Stockman)
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:31 pm |
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hooki wrote: how hard would it be fitting a sierra master cylinder and booster? Would the booster clear everything on the firewall?
I haven't had a chance to give this a proper look yet. I know it has been done to an LJ or 2 before though.
First thing thats an issue (In an LJ80, or 50-2 or 3 only) is the battery tray. This will have to go, and either a significantly smaller battery (probably a gel cell or similar) or battery relocation is required (I'll mount mine under the tray in the back in my 81). I "Think" the clutch cable location looked OK?
I'm fairly sure the firewall will need modifying. I'm not sure how extensive and hard/easy that will be.
I doubt length will be an issue with an F motor fitted (or a LJ50 motor for that matter) in the standard location. But I will be looking at a larger motor sitting further back in the engine bay, so Vitara master cylinder has got my attention due to how short they are.
Also for an F motor a vacuum point will have to be fitted to the manifold. I don't think this should be too big an issue. For an LJ50, a vacuum pump will need to be fitted; probably easiest to use an alternator off a Diesel engine with a vacuum pump already fitted.
If you get to it before I do, please feel free to add to this thread
_________________ Clearance Hole Technology
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