Thank you for all the nice replies everyone. It's been a long summer for me as I broke two ribs early last month which has slowed down my productivity. No major updates as of yet, however I plan to submit all drawings for V3 (hopefully the last) prototype this Friday to begin building it in about 2 to 3 weeks (time it takes to laser cut as well as build V2 jigs). I'll be posting more once that process begins. I am definitely behind with the Standard RCLT kit production unfortunately...
Thanks for the reply. I do prefer the idea of a double sheer setup but am not committed on the TRE of choice yet. What is the source on that tie rod end? I'd like to review it's specs. As for the bend angle, I have designed the steering arm with a 10-degree slant which could be increased more if needed.
Currently and in order, the downtravel limits are:
#1: The inner CV joint. (RCV cannot improve this any further so the only option is a diff drop which defeats a major purpose of RCLT)
#2: The MarRack ITR joint. (Easy to improve this design)
#3: The TRE jam nut interfering with the steering arm. (Easy to improve this by adding more than the 10-degree angle in the steering arm)
#4: Finally, the heim joint max bend angle. (Same as #3: Easy to improve this by adding more than the 10-degree angle in the steering arm)
So downtravel is already limited by the axle shaft long before the heim joint. I've discussed a few different axle designs with RCV including the use of a slip-joint mid-shaft, which they actually designed for UTVs but the added cost for this was very high (on already one of the most expensive parts) and even despite the use of roller bearings still encountered too much friction resulting in other issues. The concept is to ditch the 30-degree max angle inner slip joint and use the fixed (non-slip) 43-degree angle outer CVs at both out-board and in-board locations... The end result would have a quite large diameter meaning the spacing of the RCLT V-Groove would need to be increased which would result in a major loss to ground clearance...
$$$$
Ideally, yes. Same for the axle shaft. But it's not easy fitting 40s haha My ride height is, however, about 0.75" taller than before, which I do not like, so once I get healthy and resume working on the Taco I plan to lower it a bit which will help level those parts out.
Regards,
BigMike
Hey Mike, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Source for the TRE is Evolution Machine and Fabrication, EMF out of Canada. Clayton builds some really high end parts.
https://www.emfrodends.com/I use all his joints in my builds and some custom steering parts as well.
