blistovmhz
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
Finally bump-stopped the rear properly on Friday, and hit some new trails Saturday. Trails were much less technical than we normally do. All very mild, high speed stuff.
No idea what I did, but I managed to do some damage. Most of it is simple stuff, but the unibody I'm not sure is worth repairing at this point.
Somehow, despite the bump stop being set correctly (finally), I managed to tear out the upper rear passenger shock mount. I'm guessing it'd been fatigued from multiple hits before the bump-stopping.
Not a big deal. Throw a new bar together and call it a lesson in stress mechanics.
This hadn't broken free until last night on our way home from the lake (all highway) but I noticed it on the way out (saw the crack).
Next up, I managed to overheat the brakes. I'm not sure if it was just the pads fading, or if my fluid was boiling, but it sure was difficult to stop at the bottom of the hill. Front was smoking. Rear was hot, but not extraordinarily so.
Then last night on the way back from the lake (on the way there it was fine), my t-case started slapping. Had to pull the front DS to drive home. Front DS of course, had a stripped bolt on the t-case side and I only had an 8mm wrench (no socket) and socket is required to get the front bolts out. Instead, I just dis-assembled the front joint and had to break the ear off the double cardan joint (last bolt just wouldn't come out). Drove home smoother than it's ever driven. I've known for a while the DS was on it's way out so I wasn't too upset. I have a couple spare 231's anyway so this isn't that big a deal and I half expected it from the day I finished building it.
Here's the real problem though. My hatch doesn't wanna open/close. Noticed this last night as well. The hatch is shifted towards driver and doesn't wanna latch. A little coercion get's it closed. When I looked at it this morning though, I noticed that my bumper had run into the door, which is crazy because there's about a full inch between the two.
So the big question... Is it time to just build up a new shell? I can't imagine how this one tweaked out so far. It's got 3/16 stiffeners along the bottom and half way into the wells, two massively stiff bumpers, both of which go at least 30" into the rail, the front is all plated out, and the rear is mostly plated out with 3/16 and 1/4".
I guess it's worth noting that I didn't start plating until I knew it was necessary
. Always a bad idea.
But, are we pooched here on the rear, and if not, is it worth fixing, knowing the uni's been tweaked that far out? Is it time to throw everything under a new shell? If so, is this time to just plate and cage it from the get go?
Also, my rig is 5000lbs right now. I have no idea how. I look at rigs like Cal's KOH "car" which is fully caged and plated and he weighs in 600lbs lighter than mine. How the ****?
Cal, how's your uni been holding up and how hard do you beat on it? I generally pick the hardest line I can find and I'm usually pretty smooth over most stuff, but I do smoke it pretty hard on the high speed.
Who's got pointers for plating/caging, as I'm clearly going about it the wrong way at 5000lbs and it's still twisting. (yes, I'm aware I could've used some triangulation, but again, very few guys have a full cage and very few manage to twist their uni's out this bad on a mild trail.
Should I just bend it back and start caging?
No idea what I did, but I managed to do some damage. Most of it is simple stuff, but the unibody I'm not sure is worth repairing at this point.
Somehow, despite the bump stop being set correctly (finally), I managed to tear out the upper rear passenger shock mount. I'm guessing it'd been fatigued from multiple hits before the bump-stopping.
Not a big deal. Throw a new bar together and call it a lesson in stress mechanics.
This hadn't broken free until last night on our way home from the lake (all highway) but I noticed it on the way out (saw the crack).
Next up, I managed to overheat the brakes. I'm not sure if it was just the pads fading, or if my fluid was boiling, but it sure was difficult to stop at the bottom of the hill. Front was smoking. Rear was hot, but not extraordinarily so.
Then last night on the way back from the lake (on the way there it was fine), my t-case started slapping. Had to pull the front DS to drive home. Front DS of course, had a stripped bolt on the t-case side and I only had an 8mm wrench (no socket) and socket is required to get the front bolts out. Instead, I just dis-assembled the front joint and had to break the ear off the double cardan joint (last bolt just wouldn't come out). Drove home smoother than it's ever driven. I've known for a while the DS was on it's way out so I wasn't too upset. I have a couple spare 231's anyway so this isn't that big a deal and I half expected it from the day I finished building it.
Here's the real problem though. My hatch doesn't wanna open/close. Noticed this last night as well. The hatch is shifted towards driver and doesn't wanna latch. A little coercion get's it closed. When I looked at it this morning though, I noticed that my bumper had run into the door, which is crazy because there's about a full inch between the two.
So the big question... Is it time to just build up a new shell? I can't imagine how this one tweaked out so far. It's got 3/16 stiffeners along the bottom and half way into the wells, two massively stiff bumpers, both of which go at least 30" into the rail, the front is all plated out, and the rear is mostly plated out with 3/16 and 1/4".
I guess it's worth noting that I didn't start plating until I knew it was necessary

But, are we pooched here on the rear, and if not, is it worth fixing, knowing the uni's been tweaked that far out? Is it time to throw everything under a new shell? If so, is this time to just plate and cage it from the get go?
Also, my rig is 5000lbs right now. I have no idea how. I look at rigs like Cal's KOH "car" which is fully caged and plated and he weighs in 600lbs lighter than mine. How the ****?
Cal, how's your uni been holding up and how hard do you beat on it? I generally pick the hardest line I can find and I'm usually pretty smooth over most stuff, but I do smoke it pretty hard on the high speed.
Who's got pointers for plating/caging, as I'm clearly going about it the wrong way at 5000lbs and it's still twisting. (yes, I'm aware I could've used some triangulation, but again, very few guys have a full cage and very few manage to twist their uni's out this bad on a mild trail.
Should I just bend it back and start caging?
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