"Accidental" Front Suspension Rebuild

[Carledo]

If you'd said, I have several sets of front backplates, as they get deleted during the Trackerjack conversion. You could have had a pair for the cost of postage!

Steve

[new to this]

If you'd said, I have several sets of front backplates, as they get deleted during the Trackerjack conversion. You could have had a pair for the cost of postage!

Steve

When i fitted my Trackerjack conversion,i made new brake backplates to fit,i made them in stainless there polished on one side, but forgot to turn the metal over on the passengers side, so the polish side faces the disc

Dave

[Carledo]

If you'd said, I have several sets of front backplates, as they get deleted during the Trackerjack conversion. You could have had a pair for the cost of postage!

Steve

When i fitted my Trackerjack conversion,i made new brake backplates to fit,i made them in stainless there polished on one side, but forgot to turn the metal over on the passengers side, so the polish side faces the disc

Dave

There's no good reason NOT to make your own backplates if that's what floats your boat!

OTOH, they really aren't necessary, i've been running TJs for 7 years now and not had so much as one small stone caught by the caliper. I don't think there's a market for them as a commercial proposition, the conversion is quite expensive if you total it all up, parts alone come to around £450 if you do it properly with new calipers, wheel bearings, bespoke hoses etc. adding the cost of backplates is just an un-necessary extra expense.

I'm not quibbling about the cost of the conversion itself, I reckon the improvement in braking is well worth the money! But I personally wouldn't pay out for bling on top! Nor can I be arsed to make it myself, i'm a cafe racer at heart, NOTHING gets ADDED to my cars that doesn't actively make it faster!

Steve

[marshman]

Progress report.

All blasted, welded where necessary, primed and painted. All washers and small brackets, sub frame mounts etc. blasted, etched and zinc plated. Spent a couple of hours this afternoon reassembling most of it. Hopeing to get it back on the car tomorrow - really want the car back on the road before Christmas but am being limited on time I can spend in the garage

Old bushes pushed out OK and new poly bushes pressed in without too mush drama. Ended up replacing pretty much all the ball joints, they were all rusty inside where the rubbers had split allowing in water. Some had perished due to age, some split/worm where they rub and one looked like it had been nibbled by mice (I have a recurring problem with mice chewing various tasty rubber and plastic bits - oil pressure gauge feeds, windscreen washer tubing, wiring and rubber door seals, and that's just the bits I have found over the years!)

Some pics of progress:




Zinc Plating underway.





Pile of plated parts waiting for re-assembly



Pile of parts all painted




Getting it all back together.




Still need to tighten all the bolts up and fit a few more bits.

[marshman]

Just to finish off. Managed to get it all back together just before Xmas, had a few things to sort out after when I could get the bits. All went fairly smoothly with the exception of the roll bar bushes, 24mm supplied in the poly kit so had to change them for 21mm ones. Also the nearside anti roll bar mounting bracket had fractured so the two parts did not hook together. Ended up paying through the nose to get one from Rimmers. Fitted an new pad fitting kit (the pads squeal like a banshee with no shims fitted). Fitted the little R clips (unlike the previous owner). Bled the brakes all round to be sure. Only other little niggle was the spilt pins in the new wheel bearing kit were too big for the new stub axles! No idea which part is wrong. Found some that fitted nicely. So all is good.

Tips for anyone else doing this:

- Check the drag strut holes in the subframe, chance are they are worn and elongated. Easily repaired with a bit of weld. Also look at the ends of the drag struts themselves. Mine were OK but easy to see how some could be badly worn - they can be made good but probably easier to find aome better ones.

-Check the diameter of the anti roll bar before ordering new bushes!

- Have a good look for stress cracks on the roll bar mounting brackets.

-Be prepared to find some replacement washers for the drag struts and some of the sub frame mounts - they can get quite badly pitted with rust.

- Give the splines on the steering rack, steering column and the lower knuckle joints a good clean and light oil to make re-assembly easier, make sure the knuckle slides on and off easily on both parts before offering up the completed sub frame - don't forget to centre the rack and the steering wheel.

- Reckon on changing all the rubber bits - especially things like ball joint boots and steering rack gaiters.

- don't forget to check the tracking when it is all back together.

Next to redo the sunroof, it has a big tear where someone took a knife to it to break in.



Sub frame all ready to go back on the car.


Lifting it up into position.


All bolted up


Don't expect it will stay clean for long!

Roger