Which axle upgrade route to take

[James86004]

I was teaching my wife how to drive the Dormobile. It is not an easy vehicle to drive. It is manual transission, and there is no synchromesh on 1st and 2nd gears, so you have to double clutch it. No power steering, so it takes a lot of effort to steer. Kelly only has about 10 hours of time in her life driving manual transmission of any type. So, in the rocky place we were in, we were jerking all over the place, and that was too much for the weak 10 spine axles. Something broke completely in the rear, and something broke partially in the front. There is still front-wheel-drive, but there is an awful banging every wheel rotation coming from the left front. You see the steering arm on the left side vibrate a lot when it happens. We were towed out of the backcountry by some wonderful AZLRO folks.

So, I am thinking of changing the transmission to a Series 3 full synchromesh. Or maybe something else.

For the axles I have several options.
Salisbury rear, upgrade front.
Series Trek Toy conversion.
Take the 24 spline axles from the RRC I am parting out, weld leaf spring mounts on them, and install them. (this is by far the cheapest option)
Or
Install RRC axles and put Toyota diffs in them.

The last two are appealing because they give me some real nice disc brakes, and a tighter turning circle.

[Mercedesrover]

Well, ya-all know my vote.

Really though, it depends what you do with it and how hard you wheel. Being a 109 I wouldn't think you're doing much rock crawling but also being a 109 it's pretty heavy.

If you're on a budget, this is how I'd go:

Front: You probably just broke an axle u-joint. Replace both u-joints and leave it alone. There isn't much trouble for most people up front and you probably only broke the joint because the rear had failed first and you were asking too much of it. If you did break either the inner or outer shaft at the joint, they're cheap if not free to replace.

Rear: Pull out one of your RRC diffs and buy yourself an ARB locker and the ring-gear spacer for it. Install your 4.7 R&P into the new-style housing and run a set of 24-spline axles.

This set-up will be strong enough for most people and is relatively cheap. You'll spend may $100 up front and about $1200 in the back and will be getting a locker to boot.

jim

EDIT: Another option with the rear is to find a 4.7 T-100 diff, install it in your housing and run a set of 30-spline axles. Cost would be around $800. You could also install a locker in that diff for a total of around $1500. A little more work but you'd have a bullet-proof rear axle. I really want someone to do this conversion. If you decide to go for it, I'll knock $50 off the 30-spline axles for you.

[Alaska Mike]

My suggestions are based on the weight of your vehicle and my own Jeep background.

For the transmission, I would consider a truck transmission like the T-18, SM465, or a similar box over another Rover transmission. If you don't want the granny 1st, there are versions of the T-18 with a 4:1 1st gear. It would be the last transmission you would ever need to install. You would be limited to custom builders like Timm Cooper, Ike Goss, or maybe Jim Young, but they do good work.

For the rear axle, I would consider that Salisbury or one of Jim's Toyota conversions. If you're still running the 4 cylinder, you're going to have to do a gear swap on those RRC axles anyway. I just barely avoided the siren call of disc brakes myself, and with the extra Dormobile weight I expect that it is extra tempting. Isn't the RRC axle wider? I would be interested to see how the lighter Rover housing would hold up under the weight.

[revor]

If you desparatly want Disc's I'd do the Rangie axles and plan on converting at least the rearend to toy. You could also change to a Scout ll steering box and eliminate the steering problem and the steering relay. You will have wider axles that offer more stability as well.

On the other hand if you can live with the brakes and the steerig I'd do Series Trek..

The salisbury offers only a small gain over the rangie axle in terms of axle shaft strength, to really make good use of the massive diff you'd need to go with 35 spline axles, that can add up fast but you could get rear Disc's out of the swap.

[James86004]

Thanks for your input you all. 3 replies and 3 different answers! That is great for the creative juices.

I should add that it is powered by the 2.6 liter Euro 6, which has much more torque available at the lower rpms than the 4 banger. The torque peak is at 1800 rpm. Also, the vehicle fully laden weighs 5200 lbs, according to the scale at the Ina Road Landfill.

[revor]

Aren't we helpful?

[Alaska Mike]

I think there is a general consensus:

• You need stronger axle shafts in the rear. 24 spline at least
• A better R&P would be nice too
• The front axle is probably sufficient

You have access to a set of axles that might work well and provide greater stability. Even with the V-6, I'm not crazy about the idea of running 3.54s. Then again, I'm going to run 3.54s on my Rover with a MPFI 4 banger, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. Like I said, those disc brakes are pretty tempting...

[James86004]

The hard part about the Range Rover axles is the steering. Others who have done this swap report the track rod wants to go through the leaf springs, so you have to move it. Also, my Dormobile is right hand drive, my Range Rover is left hand drive, so I wil have to change something. I am a mechanical engineer, so it is not insurmountable, just more work.

[Alaska Mike]

Interesting. Shame you couldn't just swap housings and have everything bolt together with a little axle shaft machining. Reengineering the steering arms is something I don't feel comfortable with, especially since the RRC arms are cast on the swivel housing. Is this an ABS RRC? That might make for some more fun.

With those obstacles, I'd echo the others and fix the front and beef up the rear axle in some manner. Usually simple is better. You could always do a Torrell Industries disc conversion in the future.

[James86004]

Okay, I have had some time to sleep on it, and talk it over with my wife. If she can't drive the vehicle, she wants to sell it. If we lived anywhere else in the world, we would probably buy a D110 and swap the Dormie bits over. Here, D110s are a little pricey.

We talked about what we want to do with our vehicle. We want something that will take us to remote mine sites, is small, and is a self contained camper. Something that lets us cook and eat inside when the weather outside is lousy. We don't want to deal with a trailer or a roof top tent. The only other thing we can think of that would fit the bill is a Toyota Tacoma with a Four Wheel Camper on it. There are some very strong family political reasons not to get the Toyota, so that rules it out.

So, I am going to have to put some money into the Dormobile drive train. My wife really wants the disc brakes, because she has memories of going down Black Bear Pass in Colorado in our old Series III. That was where we discovered that the transfer case likes to pop out of gear on long, steep descents, and she remembers our brakes starting to smell, although I don't remember that.

I am going to make a few phone calls to get some more information.

James