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Sidekick-Lockers-front alum.casing

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Offline 1bigtracker

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Re: Lockers-sidekick
« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2004, 03:06:17 AM »
thats third memeber looks awsome.  has anyone ever had any probs with steel ones?

Stu
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Offline wildgoody

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Re: Lockers-sidekick
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2004, 03:08:51 AM »
Not that I have heard of, but you might
ask if Mike knows, he's really up to date
on the front axle stuff.
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Offline 1bigtracker

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Re: Lockers-sidekick
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2004, 03:12:38 AM »
ya i really like his norrowed 7.5 rear up front.  really wana build one.

Stu
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GRVIT

Re: Lockers-sidekick
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2004, 03:41:09 AM »
Quote


Yes, to a point, I filled in the "hollow" spot between the
3 bolts, I just kept welding until it was full and retapped
the broken hole, I had some loose and missing bolts, so
I consider that break my fault for not checking everything. >:(


I ve done that to my stock aluminium casing but it broke.I believe that whatever you ll do,it still remains a weak aluminium casing.About what you say about the loose bolts,from my experience,the bolts get loose by themselves.If you bolt /unbolt them over 5 times,or try to put more power on them to bolt them tight,then the inside,where the bolt goes ,starts to get loose.In this case you can use longer bolts so that they can go deeper in the mount,but this will go on and on till the complete failure of the 3bolt mount.That's what happened to me.Its not only the mount that breaks easily but also where the bolts go.You see,its aluminium and inside goes a steel bolt.........
After a short period of off roading I always had a bolt loose.I think usually it was the lower one.Till I put longer ones.But this does not solve the problem.
So I got a complete (casing and third member) Grand Vitara 2,5 V6 front axle.(thanks to my friends from UK ,Dave(K9rdj)-Simon(Tonka-toy)-Dave.S. But because I wanted to make the front axle as strong as possible  (and secure the new 5,83:1 R&P's),I decided to go for the Anvil.The final set up now,is the Anvil and the steel 3rd member from GV.No problem till now and seems  indestructable. ..... :) The worse damage that I can have now is a broken driveshaft.....
I think everyone that has an aluminium axle must replace it with a steel one (3rd member included),instead of trying to make aluminium parts stronger.They can never be as strong as steel.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2004, 03:47:26 AM by GRVIT »
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Offline Natebert

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2004, 04:16:32 AM »
Glad to see we've all been there and done that with these POS alum housings and 3rd members.

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Offline wildgoody

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2004, 12:11:48 PM »
I used high strength lock-tite and have had no loose
bolts for over 2 years, I think that running an auto
trans has alot to do with the breakage, I know I can't
stress with shock like a clutch does, unless I do a neutral
drop again, which I don't do, this was an isolated case
where I had to drop at RPM to get out of a stuck, I had
sand almost covering all the tires after the sides of the
pit that *#&|removethispart|@ard dug (  >:(  Still mad about it) caved in
and almost buried the trucklet, I had to climb out the
window to get out and see how bad I was stuck.
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Offline Mikerpm4x4

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Re: Lockers-sidekick
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2004, 02:20:31 PM »
Quote
 has anyone ever had any probs with steel ones?

Stu



Not to my knowlege.
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GRVIT

Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #22 on: January 24, 2004, 06:17:06 PM »
According to your experience,with a set up like the one I have now (Calmini 3"+3",Anvil-steel 3rd member-5,83 r&p's-Centerforce II-Warn premiun hubs-26 spline driveshafts-steering stabiliser-idler arm brace)
is it safe enough to install an automatic locker in front and which one  do you propose ? What moves should I avoid when off roading ?
An other option is to put an LSD in the front axle,mainly to reduce stress,but .....its not a locker ..... :(

(sorry for any mistakes I do,english is not my native language)  :-[
« Last Edit: January 24, 2004, 06:22:29 PM by GRVIT »
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Offline Cowtracker

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #23 on: January 25, 2004, 03:13:56 AM »
wildgoody (or actualy anyone that has reinforced an aluminum 3rd member)  it looks like in the pic you used a mig welder did you find the case had changed shape or you needed to rebore the bearing saddles? did you do a lot of cooling time between beads?

|removethispart|@ work I have acess  BIG mig and Tig welders, I do weld aluminum on a daily basis but I have found things change shap radicaly , I work primarily with sheet metal mostly .160 5052 and  some .250 5086 but others too tlike T6 and T4 extrusions
I do moderate off roading, nothing real extreme so perhaps welding my box and shimming/stiffining  up the spiders would suffice
I'm just leary of the warpage factor.
 
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Offline wildgoody

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #24 on: January 25, 2004, 03:55:39 AM »
I have not done the welding yet on the diff,
the pic I have is from a guy in Mexico or South
America, like Brazil, he said since the mod he
has had no problems, so I think he is running
this mod and had no warpage.

I did however weld that custom high angle front
bumper out of .100" Aluminum plate, and some
diamond plate, also aluminum, and did not have
any warpage problems. I don't know how the casting
would hold up, and I don't remember what alloy
the plate I used is, but I did use a MIG welder
with the softer alloy wire, I think it's like 3000
series alloy, I also tried the 5000 alloy wire, which
is much stiffer, but it seems to not be as easy to
weld with. I did get the larger Dia. .035" wire when
I got the stiffer wire, which might be the problem.

I use a small MIG machine, so I pre-heat the thing
I'm working on and that might help to reduce the
warp factor, also I don't think a 110V MIG puts out
over 85 Amps so the heat is not as severe as some
of the high output machines.

I run the welds hot and fast, high wire speed, like around
8 on the 1-10 scale of the Lincoln mini MIG, you know the
ones that about look like a suitcase, great little welder for
light stuff, welds tubing like a champ.
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Offline Cowtracker

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #25 on: January 25, 2004, 05:14:39 AM »
thanks for the reply.
I have noticed there is a huge  difrence IE:  thinner panels  warpage/shrinkage is far more pronounced
I have also noticed the harder aloys are more heat stable
I've only been doing this for about 5 months so I am fairly new to this  aluminum fabrication bit

 perhaps the casting is thick enough the heat doesn't warp it ?
Not to hijack this thread(I guess you could star tanother one) but I would like to see some pics of your aluminum bumper ..... I got some 1/4" dimond plate scraps to play with  and I could use/ steal  some ideas  ;D

BTW the welding stations we have|removethispart|@ work are mig controller stacked on tig combined they are about the size of a refrigerator. :o
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Offline Zukipilot

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #26 on: January 25, 2004, 05:30:44 AM »
Quote
According to your experience,with a set up like the one I have now (Calmini 3"+3",Anvil-steel 3rd member-5,83 r&p's-Centerforce II-Warn premiun hubs-26 spline driveshafts-steering stabiliser-idler arm brace)
is it safe enough to install an automatic locker in front and which one  do you propose ? What moves should I avoid when off roading ?
An other option is to put an LSD in the front axle,mainly to reduce stress,but .....its not a locker ..... :(

(sorry for any mistakes I do,english is not my native language)  :-[


I have been locked in the front for years and never trashed a front housing :-/ I must be lucky from what I have heard about others experiances. I have trashed many half shafts and CV's. I recently upgraded to the Anvil w/ XL-7 3rd member (see article archives "Zig's Beef) I dont believe that you will have any trouble with a locker and the Anvil/steel 3rd set up. The problems that you will probably have will be with the CV's breaking under the extra force. Keep in mind that will be determined by your driving style and how heavy your right foot is. I drive my Kick HARD, and I expect to break stuff with the trails I ride and the vehicles I follow/lead through the trails.

If you are running manual lockout hubs there will be no difference of driving in 2wd than what you have now. Off road you will gain an incredible amount of traction with a front locker. Your steering will not be as tight turning in 4x4 with a locker and you will have ALOT more steering wheel pull from the wheels grabbing traction. With manual steering it can be tough to turn if the locker locks in, but I quickly learned to feather the throttle to lock/unlock the locker to allow turning.

I personally think you will enjoy being locked in the front, as long as you dont mind switching out CV's on the trail.

Also see the article archives on Hagens Explorer CV set up. It will be a good upgrade for you if you find yourself breaking CV's after installing the Locker

I hope this helps out,
Zig
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Offline wildgoody

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #27 on: January 25, 2004, 05:55:50 AM »
This is the modified failed first bumper, the first
one was square and it hit on stuff all the time, so
I cut the front and bottom off of it and pulled the
angle into it so now I can hit about a 70* incline
and I don't hit, now I have to work on the rear so
I don't get hung up from the back  ;D


this second pic is a link as the pic is bigger and I
don't want to slow the page load speed.

http://wildcatent.freeyellow.com/suzuki04.jpg

Enjoy,
Darrin
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GRVIT

Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #28 on: January 25, 2004, 06:53:05 AM »
Quote

"If you are running manual lockout hubs there will be no difference of driving in 2wd than what you have now."

"  With manual steering it can be tough to turn if the locker locks in, but I quickly learned to feather the throttle to lock/unlock the locker to allow turning."

I hope this helps out,
Zig

Yes it helps.Thanks.Have some questions though...
I have also read Hagen's article about explorer's CV set up.I ll try to do it.Can you give me more details about  that there will be no difference of driving in 2wd if I m running manual locout hubs.I have Warn premium manual hubs.
Also what do you mean when you say "with manual steering it can be tough if the locker locks in...."
I think I understand what you are saying but I want to be sure.Thanks
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Offline Mikerpm4x4

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Re: Sidekick-Lockers- front aluminium casing
« Reply #29 on: January 25, 2004, 09:18:55 AM »
When you are in 2wd the locker will feel like an open diff. Thats why people want a 2 low option. This way they can drive slow and turn easily.

Mike
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