Jump to content

AE95 Corolla 4WD Wagon - Gezza the 7AFE Offroader!


Kebin

Recommended Posts

Members dont see this ad
  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/17/2018 at 8:08 PM, Jono.C said:

Although this is quite a different interesting topic, I'm wondering what the go with that ke11 is! Is it on here and i've missed it?

It is 4AGE swapped but unfortunately never got finished

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 7 months later...

More Suspension.

The standard front suspension has its limitations when off-road. The aim was to increase shock absorber travel/stroke to allow further flex. A little bit of experimenting and we worked out that we can squeeze taller 1st gen Rav4 components into the AE95 strut housings with a little modification.

Standard Rav4 front struts are very similar and will bolt up to AE95 hubs except the spring perch is way too big therefore will not physically fit into the Corolla.
Side by side they are 100mm taller than the original AE95 struts.

Left = AE95 strut and shock
Right = SXA10 Rav4 strut and shock
rmpsZhv6WxZiZ8UOfFT33v-hrUd3YtZ0mf-Ccovf

Rav4 shock shaft has 60mm more length than AE95 shaft.
HhW5HGx2VGTGGELQmc8ZZcTXB2nUhYbGmzIS-SbB

The cool thing is that aftermarket replacement Rav4 shock absorber inserts are pretty much identical and slide straight into the AE95 strut tubes however they are around 40mm longer.
Cbmq08X6ugMtZlISQQAZtgxMP7XlsGg_ouRH2UEP

Easy solution is to cut 35mm off the end of the old Rav4 struts and weld it to the top of the AE95 strut housing so that it makes the tub section longer to suit the Rav4 shock insert. This will also retain the thread so you secure the gland nuts back in.
ldDt4ptXqScEspI9rHB7Nv3HPQy44X08Zh6_bwwc
wpTFzPJXf2E79a195WREd1P4K-7KULvuktZEu_jY
xgu0Br1T1EKpcwvHKsRfGzDKByJxOK2Y0LGKFPA-

Simply reassemble AE95 struts and reinstall (quite difficult to get back in haha). By extending the struts we ended up gaining about another 15mm of lift over the original setup once the Corolla was back on the ground.
Left = extended AE95 strut, aftermarket Rav4 HD shock, AE95 standard spring and 70mm strut top spacer.
Right = standard AE95 strut
I_2-UtGS_2BPZprxi34KhCMKzjGX9uTqSHw7Db4R

At the same time we upgraded the rear suspension with some further heavier duty springs and shocks.
New shock = Ultima branded replacement SXA10 Rav4 rear shock absorber
Old shock = original oem SXA10 Rav4 rear shock absorber
Yellow spring = King springs branded heavy duty rear springs to suit EL Ford Falcon model (Australian car)
Black spring = original oem EL Ford falcon rear spring
mhUGaCtKv3z4TILIYICcQm8fuL6JjCLZML2L7lK1
REslhJG-hyBu4dTnq8Je2oJVnNKF7WDUnKWymD1O

Edited by Kebin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Rooftop Water Tank.

Over the Summer period of 2019 I began to spend most weekends on the beach with Gezza and my family. Instead of dragging a portable water tank along and setting it up every time we needed to wash hands, I came up with an alternative solution that we could use on the beach or when we went away camping in the bush.

Rather than taking up precious cargo space inside the car I decided that there was an opportunity to utilize the dead space between the roof basket and the roof of the car and squeeze in a water tank.
Getting creative on a budget led me to raiding the local building sites of new housing developments where I picked up various off cuts of 50mm PVC water pipe from the rubbish piles. I then purchased various elbows and fittings from the local hardware store and from there I began to build the following tank:

ACtC-3cH-IpPTQbEWpK3gb21EnNK8SL05vvDigit

The tank features a tap with a regular garden hose fitting and filling the tank is done from a screw tap which poke through the upper side of the roof bask in the corner.

ACtC-3dIwNFEDQnsqn9H17ItBYoqFokKMf4Dv896

All up the tank holds around 8L of water which is sufficient for washing hands for a day out or overnight camping.

ACtC-3c64jqyOMRF2TV4Ni3c38EEjTzqUR-BG6-2

When we are out and about all we need to do is plug in the green hose and clip the second tap onto the bumper. We open the upper tank tap and allow the water to gravity feed to lower bumper tap.

ACtC-3eUE5CneqVKHQrhKfkaWzZlfSbzoP2Y8__2

A few few more pics on my Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAEMg_XHxYh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Edited by Kebin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Audio Upgrade.

Continuing with the space saving theme, the downside to a having a small offroader is storage space. Much like most people I like my music and I like to listen to decent sound quality.
Rather than having a bulky sub woofer enclosure taking up precious boot space I figured I should continue to utilize dead space in the car. On my airbagged wagon I applied the same logic by installing air tanks in the rear passenger footwells. In Gezza this was an opportunity to do the same yet still keep space for passengers to sit comfortably.

Fiberglass is great to work with as it is lightweight and rigid!

ACtC-3cLfFKEal3Caxmov4ZehfjERd28LxH_XiQe
ACtC-3ffueKfrScdGImW8GK9Z3SsvgYx334uuLCW
ACtC-3fJYz1FT82NvHtGO13gWniCfoOTNaLEgDaf
ACtC-3c-IMVMPnUPZA-3tuH_EwQqOlcQpmQY2dkh
ACtC-3d_3pUHMYoAn1BG9CKa69X5buS5np5CQp2c
ACtC-3dScbwdHZR76nhiY5TKVKGlZGnwlVxW8VD4
ACtC-3dn8n86kTlpNB1ItEeeL3pgnhaiIbF6xTdJ

All trimmed up
ACtC-3dF5I47cJtohG-R5LeSl3sB1ojYRsSWpC3W

The finished product.
Two shallow mount Pioneer sub woofers installed together with the second battery mounted on top of the trans tunnel as well as the amplifier mounted on top of that. I have them mounted this way high and dry in case the car potentially floods during a water crossing haha

ACtC-3dHYxYpPTOcsmO2YVVK1nG4Qoov3ouTkzsD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New Rubber.

Over the last few year I had been running/testing ultra cheap 185R14C sized retread truck tyres and for the money they were great however they eventually let go and delaminated in true nasty retread tyre fashion. To be honest they held up longer than I initially expected.

It was time to upgrade to some decent offroad tyres this time around however I insisted in running my little 14" wheels so I could maintain the bigger sidewall on the tyre.
Now finding 14" mud tyres proved to be quite the challenge (just like taking a softroader offroad! haha) in comparison to finding 15" mud tyres in small profiles.

To my delight my research identified that Kumho was one of a few manufacturers who make 27" x 8.50" R14 MT tyres. This particular size is a little larger than the 185R14C tyres that are already on Gezza and by all research found there was plenty of good feedback on the performance of Kumho Mud Terrain tyres in general!
After a dozen phone calls around the local tyre shops and having the tyre dudes telling me no one makes 14" mud tyres I managed to find my local Tyrepower store in Seven Hills NSW were happy to source what I needed.

The old 185R14C retread truck tyres with winter tread pattern.
ACtC-3fYLKyx7qod9Ew0yeBgx5wn1m5-UuyhlOEl

The final tyre choice was the 27x8.50R14 Kumho Road Venture MT KL71
Very impressed with their performance after some initial testing.
ACtC-3eHz6gmg1Mj06w1PI2tF3dw4KG-6iNMha1e
ACtC-3ctUdScoWvC3iAelTyY74b2W3JUar5BKibb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...