carnage

[bud]

tore the front left out today on a rock,

snapped tie rod, snapped 3 of the four bolts holding top ball joint, bent track rod, bent pitman, bent idler arm, bent shock, cracked and bent upper control arm...(calmini too):nenau snapped idler arm bolts of chassi..
winched it onto a trailer and dropped it home on the lawn.

will look at it more closely tomorrow.

 

[zippy656]

Oh no

Pity your so faraway, cncfabs and rick will have that lot im sure.
:doh

 

[jims-terrano]

That's bad luck Bud but for some reason from what little we know about you it wont stay that way for long. You'll fix her up and be back on the road again:thumbs

 

[rustic]

Looks like you have found the structural limit of these components.:doh

However all this would have started with the weakest link.
Do you know what went first to start this chain of events?

Had this component not failed, then other parts may not have exceeded their design limit.

I know the steering idler arm is vulnerable on these trucks, was this the original arm or a beefed up one?

I hope the chassis is undamaged by this incident, as most of the other parts are just bolt on parts, once the parts can be sourced.

I know some members on here would like to see "the rock" and the route you were taking.
But the most important thing is that you are safe, and the truck gets to live another day.:thumb2

What is it they say.. "If you ain't broke it, you ain't trying hard enough":naughty

 

[AlexD333]

Bloody hell mate, how fast or how hard did you hit that rock!!!!

I think a slower approach is needed!!!

Can you repair it?

 

[Banshee]

Dibs on the bumper if you're scrapping it :lol :thumbs

 

[solarman216]

with that sort of damage I would be checking the chassis for alignment very carefully, I am sure you will be able to source all your spare parts locally but if you do have a problem cnc or myself will be able to help, apart from the non standard stuff that is, Rick

 

[makeitfit]

Hard to tell from pics but looks like the chocolate idler gave up but is that a Calmini top arm ? How the hell you took that out I don't know :nenau
Have the top arm bolts sheared or something ? tell me more

 

[Fez_uk]

on the calmini top arm where it's sheared looks like it could of been damaged from before as there is no paint.

Although very hard to tell from pics and I am probably wrong.

Those things are built very well!

 

[briggie]

with that sort of damage I would be checking the chassis for alignment very carefully, I am sure you will be able to source all your spare parts locally but if you do have a problem cnc or myself will be able to help, apart from the non standard stuff that is, Rick

hes in new Zealand rick

 

[bud]

Well the reconstruction started today, I decided not to go sas after watching some you tube videos last night and watched a patrol suffer the same deal just bending the radius arm and steering instead, that and a lot easier to fix what i have with the current resources.

Robbed the steering (and all the bolts) off a navara ute at the scrappies. Unfortunately it wasn't the earlier model with the better steering setup as i explain later....and before ya ask, some one had already poached the steering box of the ute.

stripped the idler and added more steel

gawd welding cast is a pain but managed to do it without warping the replacement idler It's basically a mini I beam now.

then onto the idler arm bracing

Don't ya just love the immaculate 17 year old chassi:naughty

now with that done i'm going to pull it all out and source the earlier navara track rod with the eye's for the TRE's between the idler and pitman arms.

The local parts supplier got a replacement shock for cost price :clap

Sent pictures of the rusty crack in the A arm to the supplier to see if they'll replace it, but I'm doubtful at this stage as I'm in NZ and they're in the U.S.of A.

then onto some heavy duty custom TRE's ....

Then got bored and added a second fuel filter....:nenau

 

[AlexD333]

Loving your repair and loving the step by step.

Again. Do you think you hit the rocks too fast or just bad timing? :nenau

 

[bud]

speed. :augie

 

[R1cho]

love the repair work, made me laugh though,,,,i got bored so added a 2nd fuel filter........think we all been there :lol bored now what else can i do :lol

 

[bud]

So i managed to get my hands on the earlier track rod and the longer inner tie rods from a wrecker....380kms away. So the next stage of the steering will begin once i get home. Will be a tight schedule. Have to pick up inlaws from wellington then back to work on monday.

Calmini havent replied but im not surprised being christmas, so will take it to engineer tomorrow.

 

[bud]

So have had calmini arm straightened out and welded and is back in.

While i was at wreckers scored a set of twin 14 inch electric fans and loom, so that went in today.

This is the navara track rod and tie rods. I wont be using the bendy inners, engineer is making up some longer adjusters so we can keep the normal outers and also use them as inners and make the adjusters long enough that 90% of the tie rod thread resides inside the adjuster. This combined with the lesser angle the tie rods now operate on should stop them bending, and this different tie rod should stop itself from trying to rock on its ball joints up into the chassi.

 

[makeitfit]

Yep twist in the drag link assy is a bitch. That's why I binned the whole lot and made a modified steering arm. No twist at all now

 

[bud]

Yep twist in the drag link assy is a bitch. That's why I binned the whole lot and made a modified steering arm. No twist at all now

that's illegal here, if you want it legal you have to pay mega dollars for a certifier to inspect it, test it and then give it a D.O.T certificate saying it's equal too or stronger then the O.E.M design.

then once that is done, you have to apply to have it certified for the vehicle you want to fit it too,

Since the link i have sorced is a factory nissan component from the same family of chassis, there is no issue.

But that is only part of the reason i have changed it, the navara arm places the tie rods on less of a vertical and perpendicular angle in relation to the standard ones, therefore allowing me to raise the vehicle and still keep the steering geometry and angles in the correct factory positions. elimnating the rocking in the track rod and bending of the tie rods.

come warrent of fitness time i will have to put a standard idler arm back on then swap my modified one back in once it has passed.

 

[bud]

that and you should have the bolts pointing down so if the nut does come off the rod doesn't drop out of your steering arm. :thumbs

IF you were to use your pic as an example when it comes to important compnents that control the vehicles speed braking and direction it would be a fail as there is nothing to trap the nut on the bolt in the event it does manage to come loose, nylock nuts are not classed as a form of lock nut here you need a crown nut with a split pin atleast.

 

[Fez_uk]

Wow I am actually glad to live here in the UK for once, Nylon nut is classed as a form of lock nut and petes steering is legal here.

I thought NZ would be a little more relaxed about it