Jan 2nd 2013
Right. The car I bought has been developed over the past 4 years by the previous owner. He has rebuilt the under-bonnet scene and everything is very tidy and well prepared. He has done a lot of work on the suspension, without spending a lot of money, to soften the ride (and improve traction) and lots of other detail things.
I did notice when I took the car for a bog-about on a friend's 750 acre fell-side farm that the sump grounds quite easily and once we got stuck and had to actually lift the front of the car.
Looking underneath it's obvious that the sump is the lowest part of the car.
It has been deepened to increase the oil capacity (and improve cooling) but that has had a negative effect on the ground clearance.
The previous owner (I'll call him Brian ....erm.... because he is called Brian) has welded some steel straps along the base of the sump and across to the bellhousing to allow the car to slither across obstacles.
However the front face of the sump, whilst having these straps up it, is a vertical wall and is lower than the front axle.
Looking to the rear of the car I also noticed that the "banjo" of the diff in the rear axle sticks down and presents a partially vertical face to rocks and stuff.
I decided that I needed to modify both aspects to help the car over obstacles and also to reduce drag in deep mud.
The sump was the first job. So I drained the oil and dropped the sump pan off.
It had been my intention to remove the extra depth of the pan and possibly install an oil cooler to restore oil capacity and cooling. However the front suspension "A" frame actually knocks the oil filter (unless you "relieve" the canister with a mallet). This meant that a sandwich plate to fit oil cooler pipes wouldn't work as the oil filter would be even further forward into the travel arc of the suspension arms. So I would be looking at a remote oil filter as well and also would need to modify the oil pick-up pipe to sit in the shallower sump pan.
This was becoming an expensive and time-consuming project. I decided instead to just weld a skid to the front of the existing sump to help it over rocks and stuff.
You can see how the oil filter end is battered in to clear the "A" frame
From the front you can see how the axle is slightly higher than the sump. You can also see how the diff hangs down (into the mud).
The Diff Skid
It's my thinking that if the car is on the edge of breaking traction and the diff digs in to mud, grass or something it'll be enough to start a wheel spinning. Just skidding the diff might be enough to prevent that happening and maybe gain a bit of better terrain.
I had a conversation with someone who knows a lot more than me (or than most people) about the subject and he thought it not necessary.
But being stupid, and having a bee in my bonnet, I shall give it a whirl anyway.
As you can see in the pic above the diff banjo hangs down and presents quite a vertical face to obstructions. Here is a better shot from just below the "A" frame bearing.
I had a conversation with someone who knows a lot more than me (or than most people) about the subject and he thought it not necessary.
But being stupid, and having a bee in my bonnet, I shall give it a whirl anyway.
As you can see in the pic above the diff banjo hangs down and presents quite a vertical face to obstructions. Here is a better shot from just below the "A" frame bearing.
A piece of steel cut and roughly bent
A clamp over the diff nose.
Some studs welded to the diff case
Some straps to connect to the skid
What can go wrong?
Well. It could lose me possibly 1/3rd of an inch in ground clearance. It could try to tear off if I reverse over a rock. But my thinking is that if it allows me an extra foot of uphill motion before the mud grabs me that may just be enough to nose past the next post.
(Yes, I ought to have welded the straps inside the skid. However they are out of the way and I can soon do them the other way if needs be.)
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