VDJ 70 Series Track Width Modifications

Great Idea John , actually I quite like those cars and also things like Prado's but am not able to accept there poor rollover performance.

This mod is of course mainly about aligning rear track to front.

I know some with the spacer solutioin , and its great if done well, but getting the basic rear track right is a better way to go , as it then allows for wheels with more negative offset to be fitted which is also required to get rollover angle up some where near 45 degree.

It is a pity Toyota didn't make it correct in the first place, isn't it.

What Were They Thinking?

MDT's solution is quite innovative though.

Just need to drink plenty of beer to get the courage to use the grinder on a perfectly good housing. There is no way back.

John, by sheer coincidence I was down talking to Tom and the boys at Multidrive this morning. I had a look at the awesome six wheel drive tub ute they’ve made as a concept vehicle, “Southern Scorpion”. What a machine.

Darryl extended my diff as the prototype over two years ago. The made up a set of custom axles and then reinforced the diff. Since then they have developed their ‘Tru-tracker’ bolt on kit. The kit retails around $2600 and comes complete with all the required extensions etc. The sold a truck load of these at the Brisbane 4x4 show and have been flooded with enquiries and orders. They were turning up the new axles while I was there having a large order of billet axles manufactured. All Certified and ADR compliant

http://www.multidrive.com.au/overview.html

(You’ll also notice that they are offering the 500mm chassis extension for the single axle utes now as well – My truck was the first 500 extension done by MDT back in 2010. Still going strong after 80,000 hard and rough kilometres.)

Multidrive are also going to prepare a kit for those who don’t want the bolt on option and would rather a diff extension. This involves actually cutting the the axle housing just either side of the diff pumpkin and then adding in two turned steel extensions. The whole diff is re laminated and strengthened. I’m going to be running the prototype of this modification again. All engineered, certified and ADR compliant.

There are a lot of exciting things happening down there at the moment. The Crown Prince was gobsmacked with all the toys and work going on.

There was a write up on the Scorpion in the recent 4x4 Australia Mag

http://www.4x4australia.com.au/drive/road-tests/1408/mdt-southern-scorpion-6x6/

Will have some photos of the new diff being created in the next week or so.

Mick

After watching the video on John's link, watched another from Ultimate Suspension.

They are selling/fitting the Multidrive kit too, so that might save some Sydneysiders the drive to Geelong?

Bob

I’m currently looking at this for “The Landy” as it appears to be a very good option for those wanting to correct the wheel tracking.

Oddly, I have a “paperwork” issue to work through first as I have a Lovell’s GVM upgrade to 3,900kg, however the MDT product is approved to 3,780kg only.

The 3,780kg is the sum of the axle group ratings on the vehicle. Lovell’s, for whatever reason, were able to gain approval for GVM upgrade to 3,900kg and they warranty the rear axle and components as it is above the manufacturer’s rating.

Will be talking to the engineer as he may be happy to certify the variance in the rear axle weight which is 2,360kg under Lovell’s approval, and only 2,300kg under the MDT approval for this product.

In the meantime there are probably many vehicles out there with “spacers” fitted illegally and nowhere near as safe…

Such is life!

Good weekend to all,

Baz – The Landy