Rehashing a few thoughts

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

I rode shotgun to Great Falls (87mi) today, which gave me even MORE 
"spare thought processes" than usual, which left me re-thinking some ideas..

Tires & C.G.

FYI, I priced the 33x12.50" BFG Trail TAs at Sam's Club at $97 each.  
BUT, these are 4ply tread, 2 ply sidewalls.

The can order the Radial All Terrain TAs in about 1 or 2 weeks, at $135 
each in the 33x12.50".  I know they have 3 ply sidewalls.. are they also 
6 ply tread?

Anyhow.. pricing those got me thinking about Center of Gravity and my 
fiance's ever present fear that I'll roll my *stock* Scout (let alone 5 
or 6" of lift, and 2" higher because of tires!).. granted, she's been in 
a number of roll-overs, but not one with me (knock on wood, I've always 
kept the rubber side down)

So.. All this time I've been planning to buy some new aluminum wheels 
($100 a pop roughly) to go with the 33s when I buy 'em.. cut down on that 
nasty unsprung weight, and try to counteract the "Big Brick Shoes" 
feeling I got when I put my 31s and steel wheels on my 196 powered '77.

The thought then.. with STEEL wheels and 33x12.50" tires, I have a pretty 
good bit of weight down low..  which does two things.

1) Unsprung weight is BAD
2) Lower weight (even unsprung) lowers the C.G.

Aluminum wheels would lower my unsprung weight, but it wouldn't lower my 
C.G... 

So, which is the better compromise?  (Also note, I *like* chrome wheels 
better, not to mention they run $50 or so vs $100)

More thoughts:

I've been watching the tail end of a thread on the ORD about pinion 
angles.. we had this discussion a while back which I believe ended with a 
few comments that 7 degrees of pinion tilt will be fine, and not cause 
premature pinion bearing burnout.

Well, I was just thinking that 15 degrees is also what one of the 4x4 rags 
claimed was about the farthest you can go with an "ordinary" U-joint 
without experiencing binding or rapidly accelerated wear.  (Their comment 
was 15 degrees on either end would leave you with an estimated live of 1/2 
year at 8hrs/day duty, or for most of us, just change 'em out annually)

Well, my front end *will* be using a CV driveshaft.  Period.  But this 
pinion angle bothers me (again).

I put a CV at the t'case, so the overall angles are not an issue, but the 
pinion should be rotated the full 15 or so degrees necessary to point it 
(4" springs, + reverse shackle) at the CV on the t'case front output.  
This exceeds the recommended 7 degrees or so of tilt that was called "OK"

This brings about a few other thoughts.. one is putting a CV on the 
differential end as well, to alleviate any thoughts of driveline 
vibration, and to allow the front pumpkin to be turned just a little bit 
(well within 7 degrees).  OTOH, I think cost takes another nasty jump, 
and I still haven't heard any metrics on CV joint life expectancies.

The other thought is, of course, to over-fill the tipped differential.  
Without my Dana 44 in front of me, I have a hard time visualizing the 
fill plug, but I know it's not at the extreme top, so a bit of tipping of 
the pinion would result in not being able to fill the diff "full."  OTOH, 
one could PUMP it full of gear lube, then put the fill plug back on.. 
assuming I'm running some fuel line from the vent cap anyway, any other 
problems if I fill the diff too full?  (and how much is too much?)

One more thing I was pondering...

Bucket seat swaps.  Where is the "slide rails" on the stock bucket 
seats?  Are the rails in the base, or in the seat?  Or, to get to the 
point, anything special I need to do to mount a non-stock seat the bucket 
seat bases to faciliate sliding the seat forward and aft, and any 
recommendations on makeing sure the seat folds forward far enough?  I was 
thinking of perhaps some Honda bucket seats, but I've never been in a 
2-door Honda.. and the 4-door front buckets flip forward, but not *too* 
far (IMHO, not far 'nuff to allow me to climb through the door and into 
the backseat.. even if they were installed in a Scout II with a larger 
door opening)

Enough re-hashing and musing for one night..

Thanks,

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT (stirring up the pot again)
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'72 and '77 Scout IIs