Back at it + Updates
 

Hey crew.

Needing some advice here. The drivers side floor pans have been an ABSOLUTE pain to continue and finish off getting welded in. I did move the vehicle just down the road to get gas a couple months back. I had a bit of the floor pans still out. I could see this rod just below my feet jumping and moving, felt like a flat spot in the tires, but it was what I believe was maybe a panhard bar? Just below my feet. Moving up and down.

I am $4200 total into this project. Since it’s my first go at welding and the angles are horribly painful to weld at, the floor is pretty botched lol. But, I am going to fill in the small gaps with some bondo, sand and paint it, and then put vinyl flooring in since it’ll be an offroad vehicle. After I moved her, she got angry and sprung about 45 leaks in my garage. The next thing I need to do is find a guide on removing the dash. The one in the “workshop” manual here seems like a horribly long process. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks guys. I will post updates soon. I’d like to get one half of the vehicle floors and seats done so I can start slowly driving it around town too, so I’m going to cut vinyl into the right shape to fit the floorboard. Any recommendations on cheap, accessible vinyl would be awesome. And properly removing the dash. The RAVE manual just can’t be the easiest way haha.

Also, what are the widest readily available fender flares? Those need to go on next so I can move it without tearing off the fenders and start figuring out if there are any major mechanical issues. But right now I can’t move it unless it’s in a straight line because the tires are too big.

Thanks!
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Good to see you back here. Panhard rod is in front of the axle, centering the axle with the chassis, left to right, so that is probably not what you saw under your feet. Track rod is for steering, behind the axle, keeps the tires pointed in the same direction, left to right. There are two radius arms (one on each side) that keep the axle in place relative to the chassis, front to back. Maybe show us a photo of the bouncing part.

By the way, seam sealer is good at patching small holes. Can also be used to adhere small stainless or galvanized patches. I'm guessing removing dash will involve breaking some plastic clips. Don't know about fender flares, except my son likes them.

glad your back at it.
could it be the anti sway bar - maybe bushings or link joints are shot.
"if its not leaking its out of fluid" haha
I have removed the center bezel for radio and HVAC - very brittle plastic at this age and assembled by magic. After that experience I would try as hard as I can to avoid removing the whole dash

how painful was it? I’m not going to be able to avoid it.

Thank you. I believe it’s the steering damper and steering linkage just below the drivers foot well that was jumping all over the place from identifying it from online photos. Could old crappy shocks have anything to do with that or should I get a new damper and rods for cheap from Lck8 and toss em in and hope it solves the issue lol?

is the anti sway bar the same as the set of steering dampers?

Steering track rod will move along with the axle, so shocks will impact this. Sway bar should not move (if rubber bushings are tight) since it is fixed to the chassis for the main lateral portion of the bar.

By the way, there is a kit available from Terra Firma to change the position of the steering damper from the track rod (lower, behind axle) to the drag link (higher, in front of axle, dragged around by the power steering arm). Helpful to avoid damage to the damper by big rocks.

I only removed the center bezel and hvac controls - that maybe the worst part of it but it was not fun at all. - needed 4 old credit cards to insert around ashtray/clock to remove. Felt like I was gonna break everything I touched. and a replacement center bezel is like finding a unicorn.

anti sway bar is separate from steering damper. But check the damper bushings too. Best to lay under having someone else rock the steering and watch all parts for play. Mine were shot from engine oil breaking them down.

I saw this. Not terribly expensive either so will probably just change all the necessary items and avoid actually finding the problem all together 😂

I will check damper bushings when it comes time to get the thing actually rolling down the road haha. I appreciate it. And the radio and center area of the dash is already broken loose. Ole gal I bought it from had it all torn out. I want to regain functionality of it all. I’d like to pull the dash out because I’ve got the main wiring harness that goes back in.