The Box and the Angle

This morning I used the plunge saw to cut the top off Jan’s box  creating the main compartment and a lid.  Then I cut 70mm off the lid with the bench saw.  This 70mm length of lid was then glued back onto the main part of the box using lengths of 4mm plywood as a ‘strong back’

A 4mm strip of plywood has been glued to the inside of the lid as a guide to position the lid when closed.

Jan and I made yet another trip to the local hardware store where she chose the handles for the box and some paint, whilst I bought a length of piano hinge for the lid.

Laving the glue to set I wandered over to the Isuzu 4WD and checked the angles on the CV joints.  The front of the Isuzu has Independent Front Suspension (IFS) rather then a ‘live axle’.  The advantage of the IFS system is it allows the wheels to move up and down independent of each other.  However it does mean power to the wheel from the front differential is delivered by a CV (Constant Velocity) joint.  Ideally the CV should be horizontal when the vehicle is stationary or moving on level ground.  Last year Ken and I fitted new suspension to the vehicle which also ‘lifted’ it by 40mm.  I wanted to check what difference this had made to the CV angle.

Front left side

It’s actually rather hard to take a photo of the CV.  It’s located behind the orange shock absorber in the above photo.  The red arrows point to either end and the red line shows the angle.  the blue line shows where horizontal is.  In its current position the CV is always at an angle which will probably result in premature wear.  Moreover if the wheel dropped into a hole the angle might get so acute the CV could break.  

I’ve already solved the premature wear issue by fitting Free Wheeling Hubs; which when unlocked; means the CV’s don’t turn.  However as I plan on taking the 4WD on some further long and isolated off road trips I’ve decided to get the CV’s back to horizontal by fitting a front differential drop kit.  The kit will lower the front differential by 30-40mm.  The kit isn’t expensive; Jan even managed to get a discount when ordering online.