It seems almost impossible to get any good pictures out of my garage recently. It's been dark when I've had the opportunity to take pictures and the flash reflects on the unpainted metal. Regardless, I managed to snap some shots and add HDR effect to clear up the pictures.
Balljoints, Tie-rods, Camber shims
After the first test drive, I quickly found that the ball joints and tie rods needed replacing. Took an entire weekend to replace everything but I did learn a whole lot about working on the front axle.
Then, when I drove the VX to the shop for gears, everything felt tight BUT, I could barley keep the VX on the road. I'm surprised I wasn't pulled over for drunk driving. I soon realized the positive camber was most likely the cause and required purchasing shims. They're fully adjustable positive or negative camber 1/8th* -1-1/2.*
I may need an alignment shop to dial everything in perfectly but I'm hoping this adjustment fixes most of the wander.
...and once again, sorry for the picture quality!
Pulled the knuckle for ball joint replacement
Installing the camber shim
Camber shim installed
Airing up the ORI struts
These things are pretty cool! They have two Schrader valves on the top and bottom of the strut. The bottom valve controls the shock stiffness & damping. The top valve controls ride height.
Need a little more lift? Just...
Attach Nitrogen regulator hose to top Schrader valve
Open regulator
Measure change in strut shaft, remove air hose, repeat for other side.
Track Bar, Steering
The track bar was difficult to fit but with a little brain storming, I found the room. I’ll get more close-ups of the mounts & brackets after they’re cleaned up and painted.
Tire Placement
The axle/tire ended up 2" forward over stock. This position was dictated by the oil pan & pitman arm and the axle fits snugly between the two.
Width
My front wheel pattern is 5x5.5. This can be converted to 6x5.5 with a swap of the knuckle. For now, I found a cheap set of matching wheels in 5x5.5. The offset is -6 and my rears are +6. Which matching offsets, the tires will almost have identical widths. --front should be slightly wider for tracking.
Here's a quick shot I took of the VX yesterday before it got dark. Just starting ZU makes me miss driving it! Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready to hit the road again. Obviously it also needs a wash with the nice layer of metal cutting dust covering the entire exterior.
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