> 65 is pushing it a bit too much I think. 60 is a good speed. Remember too
> that you have to drive it all the time. If you sleep on the job it may
kill
> you. The handing in the A2 in my opinion is somewhat more wishy-washy than
> the A1 possibly because of the roll bar changing the CG.
> Get good not ND tires.
Mine has no cage. The Canadian cages were quite a plumber's nightmare in
comparison to the U.S. ROPS outfit, and where the Canadian 'feet' for the
thing are mounted, you invariably have complete, total, take-no-prisoners
rust-out problem beneath. One of my fellow collectors up here compromised
between originality and practicality and mounted the Canadian cage on
American ROPS mounts. Looks factory. As to the ride, well, I've found the
weight of the cage loads the suspension down and makes for a more
'comfortable' ride in terms of how the unit handles bounces, but I also
can't help but wonder if that extra 250-plus pounds 'in the sky', as it
were, might significantly change the Center of Gravity and make the unit
MORE likely to roll over - not less. I'm extremely careful with mine, but
some situations are irrecoverable irrespective of how careful and
accomplished a motorist you might be.
Tires. My God, yes. There's a joke going around a few 151 drivers up here,
and it goes something like:
Q: "Do you know why they're called 'Non-Directional Tires'?"
A: "Because when you hit the brakes in wet weather, you skid in no
particular direction!"
No exaggeration. On dry pavement, the 151 with ND's brakes adequately, but
add slick pavement and a bit of speed, and it seems no matter what you do
WRT replacement/adjustment of brake components, you cannot get the vehicle
to brake 4-wheel evenly. Make that soggy pavement icy instead - and add a
100 or 416 - and you'll wish you spent the money on some better tires. One
of our club members bought some 'decent' radials for his and said it handles
'like a different vehicle.' There's are many precedents for 'non-standard'
tires on M151(*) vehicles in service: I've seen many vehicles up here and
south-of-the-49th with commercial pattern mud&snows instead of ND's, and I'd
seriously consider adopting at least that much, if not a good set of radials
for a daily-driver. Keep your pretty 7.00 x 16 NDCC's for the shows.
Me:
> > Alternator mountings. The alternator bottom bracket and associated
bolts
> > like to shake loose after lots of high-rpm driving, and if you don't
check
> > them periodically, you'll make a mess of the threads where the bracket
is
> > bolted to the block. I have seen many of these. Mine got put back in
> with
> > Loc-Tite.
Jeanne:
> Make sure that the bottom bolts are snug, not tight. You need quite a
> contraption of extensions and u-joints to losten the bolts down there. If
> they are rally tight and you have to replace the belt(s) in the field, I
can
> gaurantee that you will not have the right tools!
Sorry, I was actually referring to the bolts which go through the alternator
mount bracket and into the block. The advice above concerning the bottom
bolts is right on the money. Apart from the frustration of trying to get at
over-tight bolts in emergency conditions in the field, there seems to be a
bit of a correlation between how tight these bolts are and the number of
broken alternator castings where the bolts pass through - at least that's my
guess after having far too many of 'em TIG'd to squeeze a few more years out
of them.
> The A2 head with the larger bosses is suppose to not have the bolt
breaking
> problem. I bought a brand new head a couple years ago and so far no
problem.
Yeah. I've heard that, but have yet to come across one in any of the ones
I've helped dismantle.
Andy Hill
MVPA 9211
Vancouver, B.C.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 23:18:39 PDT