Newcomer with LT85 question

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Originally Posted by justinc

Almost certainly input brg. I am going to throw a cat in the pigeons here and suggest you fit a LT95 4spd, and taper roller brg transfer case mods. This is the trans you would've had in your civi 6x6, except the 6x6 had a lower high range. The 4x4 version uses .996:1 high range, with 255/85 tyres about 2000rpm at 100km/h. A great gearbox IMO.

JC

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Kinda noticed that the 3.9 tends to vibrate the hell out of everything at idle- and the shear/hammering at the gear faces would indeed stress the bearings- poor little things- I guess they put up a fight but are bound to heroically collapse after a time. So bringing the idle up to even out some of that terrific vibration would help, even just a bit.

To go down the LT95 route, I need another bell housing and transmission tunnel cover to suit. I would have preferred the four speed but the five speed was in the car when it was sitting forlorn at the vender- at least it wasn't an LT77!
As it happened, the '86 6x6 I had all those years ago (1990) killed it's box- an LT85 as I recall while it was under my ownership. Damn thing just collapsed without warning too. I just figured that after all those years carting tons of fish up and down Fraser Island on the soft sand just wore it out along with the tappered roller bearing intermediate gear in the transfer.
The LT95 in my stage 111 just kept on going. I liked the ratio provided by 3rd gear (750/16 crossplies). The current setup I use doesn't subjectively feel all that right at times- 4th being kind of ok for most hills but changing down to 3rd every now and then is kind of embarrassing- esp when a daggy old rustbucket 60 series cruiser on petrol just passes you going up the one of those ranges between here and Brisbane so fitting an LT95 to this car would be best as the headache of fitting an Isuzu box seems too much for the present time. I am not a fan of non-factory conversions....

I'm wondering when the army 110 isuzus are going to start trickling onto the market- Does any one know what kind of timeframe this is?
I guess all of us are waiting for some of those bits and pieces.
I'm guessing it will be a steady phasing out over time. I like the Benz G Wagon but have real reservations about their longevity- The ex-army blokes I used to work with used to tell me all sorts of stories about what kind of punishment the 110's got at the hands of cowboy army drivers.

Oh and you are right, the 6x6 high range was quite low. And fuel economy was pretty bad as well but pulling around all that chassis and extra axle will do that. From memory, the 4BD1T power band was also pretty thin too. I remember struggling with the car for miles on the soft sand on Stradbroke island trying to keep 3rd and 2nd gear within the turbo's power range. Road speed was best kept at about 90km/h on the highway- fifth gear being damn useless 90% of the time.

"Anyone know of a trustworthy mechanic nearby to the ACT that can look at the thing and provide a best guess??" Quote
I'd give Ray at Mitchell another try, but ring first thing in the morning, after about 8am. He seems to be there on his own so will probably answer the phone - if anyone knows, he should.
My LT85 is starting to concern me too, so will likely be going down the same road soon.

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Originally Posted by AdsLandies

"Anyone know of a trustworthy mechanic nearby to the ACT that can look at the thing and provide a best guess??" Quote
I'd give Ray at Mitchell another try, but ring first thing in the morning, after about 8am. He seems to be there on his own so will probably answer the phone - if anyone knows, he should.
My LT85 is starting to concern me too, so will likely be going down the same road soon.

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Book it in for him to give it the once over instead of trying to get a diagnosis over the phone.

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Originally Posted by AdsLandies

"Anyone know of a trustworthy mechanic nearby to the ACT that can look at the thing and provide a best guess??" Quote
I'd give Ray at Mitchell another try, but ring first thing in the morning, after about 8am. He seems to be there on his own so will probably answer the phone - if anyone knows, he should.
My LT85 is starting to concern me too, so will likely be going down the same road soon.

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I believe that I will stick with the LT85 for the time being.
There are a few downsides to this but maybe down the track a good (late) R380 or LT95 will come up and then I can perform the conversion when I have the bits gathered over time ('Bower bird'). Buying everything all at once can end up making the car (overall) too expensive (over-capitalising)- and as good as the car is (ie fit for purpose), it aint perfect and there are other modification/additions/improvements that I want to do so 'running project' it is and likely will remain....

The previous owner informed me that he spent well over $5k haviing this box reconditioned and modified with larger bearings where possible. This may or may not have been worth it (from his perspective) but I am certainly curious to see what is happening inside the box before too many miles are racked up.

I'm thinking removing the gearbox from the vehicle and separating it from the transfer case and presenting the box to either CMW (Ray) or similar venue. This seems sensible. This would lower the all up cost (removing the remove/refit element of the invoice) quite significantly perhaps to the tune of $800 or so, maybe more...The job would take about three to four or so hours (removal). It's a pretty straight forward job but best performed by two. Anyone interested in assisting? This is a two way street of course.... :)
Just wondering....

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

inputshaft, layshaft or center support bearing.

select N on the tcase and let the clutch out.

if the noise is present when you select all gears in the main box its typically going to be the input bearing

if its not there in 4th then the odds are its the center support bearing for the input to the output shaft

if it changes with selection of first second and 3rd but is the same with 4th and 5th then its likely to be the layshaft bearings.

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When I say 'apply the pedal' I mean engage the clutch- meaning take foot of pedal as you would when selecting a gear and driving along. Just to confirm is all.

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Originally Posted by Svengali0

I believe that I will stick with the LT85 for the time being.
There are a few downsides to this but maybe down the track a good (late) R380 or LT95 will come up and then I can perform the conversion when I have the bits gathered over time ('Bower bird'). Buying everything all at once can end up making the car (overall) too expensive (over-capitalising)- and as good as the car is (ie fit for purpose), it aint perfect and there are other modification/additions/improvements that I want to do so 'running project' it is and likely will remain....

The previous owner informed me that he spent well over $5k haviing this box reconditioned and modified with larger bearings where possible. This may or may not have been worth it (from his perspective) but I am certainly curious to see what is happening inside the box before too many miles are racked up.

I'm thinking removing the gearbox from the vehicle and separating it from the transfer case and presenting the box to either CMW (Ray) or similar venue. This seems sensible. This would lower the all up cost (removing the remove/refit element of the invoice) quite significantly perhaps to the tune of $800 or so, maybe more...The job would take about three to four or so hours (removal). It's a pretty straight forward job but best performed by two. Anyone interested in assisting? This is a two way street of course.... :)
Just wondering....

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I assume you are looking to do this in the ACT? Otherwise if your up Brisbane way I could give you a hand.....

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Originally Posted by the_grubb

I assume you are looking to do this in the ACT? Otherwise if your up Brisbane way I could give you a hand.....

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Mate ur a champion. It's very good to see people who don't mind chronically dirty fingernails, grease and grime in the creases etc lmao...

ATM I'm in Canberra where I spend most of my time due to work. I really appreciate the offer and Brisbane has so much to offer in terms of options for advice and parts- different story down here but the tap water is better lol.... what more can I say...

Wouldn't mind catching up at some point- you seem to have all manner of projects on the go- brave and cunning:D.

So what's this kit of yours worth (isuzu box to LT230) and what does it include? Is the converter plate fully milled flat mag alloy, or steel?

I ask 'cause there was recently a full isuzu MWB 4.3L tray including rego down this way for just over 2.5k which appeared a bargain though I didn't check it out.

Sometimes things come up and if I know where to get the bits, then conversion may not be the full 'bells and whistles' headache that it can sometimes (read: tend generally) to be. I've done two engine conversions personally prior and have seen enough of em to wonder why some people put the time and effort into the job in the first place.... Bit chary about them now but in principle, an isuzu box with an isuzu engine does make sense as long as the ratios are workable.
Cheers mate.

The 'tick' noise at idle in my LT85 gradually got worse, to a state where it was very loud and rattles in 2nd gear, and most others as well. This happened rather quickly. I picked up a spare LT85 and fitted that. Problem solved (for the short term).

I'm still to see an isuzu lt95 come up for sale (taper bearing or not) so I'm wondering where people get them from :)

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Originally Posted by ScottW

The 'tick' noise at idle in my LT85 gradually got worse, to a state where it was very loud and rattles in 2nd gear, and most others as well. This happened rather quickly. I picked up a spare LT85 and fitted that. Problem solved (for the short term).

I'm still to see an isuzu lt95 come up for sale (taper bearing or not) so I'm wondering where people get them from :)

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Any LT95 would do the job, its the bellhousing that is dedicated. The tapered roller bearing referred to prev relates to the transfer intermediate gear on an LT230 to wit.

Over the last couple of months someone (possibly around here) listed an LT85 (says it was rebuilt) that was prev fitted to an Isuzu Rover on eBay, and two other listings for Isuzu/Rover bellhousings from Tasmania were put up on at least two occasions. At the time, a listing occurred for an SD 33 (nissan 3.3 six) diesel county and a 101 forward control (by appearances, same vender selling for a friend). So they come up from time to time.

I've heard that the Dept Of Def army tried to get Land Rover AU to continue to supply bits to keep the 110 Isuzus up and running but Land Rover AU refused (economies of scale not big enough and god only knows what happened to the old tooling- which beggars the imagination as casts and die for things like bellhousings are hideously expensive from a car manufacturer's perspective) so hence full tender was put out (that Benz won)- thats my understanding. So at some point bits and pieces as well as whole vehicles should be coming up but (correct me if I'm wrong) no one knows _or is not willing to say_ where or when such items will appear. So much for democracy when competition is in town! ;)

I came across a wrecked 110 Isuzu at Wanless wrecking at Salisbury (QLD) some years ago (ok, over 15 years ago) and on at least five occasions have seen a vehicle for sale elsewhere including a Military 6x6 wide cab that sat on the same car lot for about 6 weeks (they wanted about $29k as I recall) where I sold my civilian 6x6 on commission. FWD motors (QLD) have or used to sell bits for our cars as well and they sometimes obtained oddments from surplus auctions so sources are definitely out there...

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Originally Posted by Svengali0

Mate ur a champion. It's very good to see people who don't mind chronically dirty fingernails, grease and grime in the creases etc lmao...

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My parents didn't nick name me 'the_grubb' all those years ago for nothing :)

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Originally Posted by Svengali0

So what's this kit of yours worth (isuzu box to LT230) and what does it include? Is the converter plate fully milled flat mag alloy, or steel?

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The kit includes everything needed to drop out the current box and swap in the Isuzu box - engine, driveshafts and original levers all bolt up in the same position. If you source your own gearbox there are three cuts with an angle grinder and one weld required. Otherwise if I supply the gearbox everything is 'bolt up'.

The adaptor b/n the gearbox and the transfer case is a steel weldment that is machined, with a EN26 shaft that bolts to the output flange of the gearbox to feed into the input gear of the LT230.

What's it worth.... to me, in my vehicle, a lot of piece of mind... prices and other info is here;

Landrover: Isuzu 4BD1 Transmission - Home

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Originally Posted by Svengali0

Sometimes things come up and if I know where to get the bits, then conversion may not be the full 'bells and whistles' headache that it can sometimes (read: tend generally) to be. I've done two engine conversions personally prior and have seen enough of em to wonder why some people put the time and effort into the job in the first place.... Bit chary about them now but in principle, an isuzu box with an isuzu engine does make sense as long as the ratios are workable.
Cheers mate.

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I hear you. My first car was a holden powered Series IIA. When I bought the 110 I swore to leave it stock standard. So bought a 90 to 'play' with - which now has an Isuzu 4BJ1-T, ZF auto and hilux diffs. So yes, know the fun and games of conversions. Given I want to keep my beloved Isuzu 110 for ever (ie. an investment), having rebuilt and knowing the strength issues with the LT85 and eventaully wanting to get a bit more power from it with a turbo, I decided it would be worth the effort for this conversion.

The plan was to make it reliable, simple, user friendly and as 'bolt upable' as possible. This has been achieved. The hardest thing to do is to pull out the spigot bush in the end of the crank (which really isn't that hard), eveything else is the same as any other gearbox removal and refit. I have had mine in my vehicle for 6 months now and is a daily driver. No problems at all and I think it shifts alot smoother than the LT85 but it has been awhile since I have driven one of these now. The ratios are very workable, with a lower first and a just slightly higher 5thed. If anyone who buys my kit ever has a problem I can tell you I want to know about it. I don't wont to be stuck out in the middle of the NT and I certainly don't wont to be the cause of someone else either. Actaully any feedback is good (GarrySeriesIII has been excellent with this) as I am just a simple Mechanical Engineer (no degree in Landrovers... just a specialty in aerospace automation and lasers).....