Mellow Yellow's Minibeast - maintenance and makeover

[mellowyellow]

The tale of the front suspension of the minibeast begins. I was keen to have a go at doing the job, so under instruction I worked on the driver's side and Spider on the less accessible passenger side. Yep there's a radiator in the way of some of the bits you need to get at. Here are a few pics of the before drivers side.

A general view of the set up


A closer shot showing the chewed bump stop and the non existant rubber on the L pad.


Here is a comparison of new vs old donuts.



You will notice a couple of marks and some deformity of the old drivers side donut. This was caused by the trumpet having fallen to the side - goodness knows how long it's been like that. 



While we were at it we checked everything out and replaced what needed replacing: donuts, hilo's, L pads, standard bump stops swapped for hydrolastic suspension ones, knuckle joints and the upper arm support pins and associated bits and pieces. And before you say anything, the nut in the forground was tightened up. 



Here are some of the bits that came out.

Donuts. Rear, front, rear, front.



The 2 L pads on the left with no rubber, just grease and a new one on the right



And some pretty chewed up bump stops



We replaced the donuts and knuckle joints in the rear as well. Apparently the rear shocks ar the wrong ones ie they are too short, so will have to replace them as well at some stage.



And finally, the apprentice up to my elbows in grease...but it was great fun.



I now have a new moke!!  Hmm... what to fix next.

[Mont]

Looking good Mellow Yellow. I have recently done the same thing and it makes such a huge difference to the driving experience.

Cheers Mont 

[Newie]

That's going to make for a much nicer trip to Tamworth (and less chance of seriously breaking/damaging something).

Good to hear you got some help, but did a lot yourself too. Apart from the job satisfaction, you know a lot more now about how it all works don't you? 


Newie

[mellowyellow]

Thanks HP, Shorty, Mont and Newie, it is already a different car to drive. I'm amazed it has done so well particularly on the last run to Tamworth. I must have been very brave or naive - or both. I think mokes rule your heart and smile rather than your head sometimes.
Moral of the story is join the Forum before buying the moke in the first place.

So, I already know the next jobs. New battery and oil change before Tamworth. And after that sort out the hoses in the engine bay, fit an accessory plug for GPS's etc, and get doors for the canopy or a whole new canopy. The doors are a must have if I am to brave the changing weather conditions of Tassie next year.

Oh yeah, I will also investigate changing the starting system from, as Shorty puts it, "smash and grab".

Stay tuned....

[ADR]

wow, i think that you actually had bumpstops doing the job of the suspension and the mangled donuts acting as the bumpstops. Looks like you might have been a bit lucky and got to Spider just in time !! nice one and I will be looking for the moke and the smile locally !

[mellowyellow]

Hey ADR, I reckon its been like that since I bought it. When I went to Tamworth in 2012, the bump stops were chewed and the rubber boot on one of the knuckle joints was split. It hasn't really been driven much during the past year or so, and spent the last four months away from home under cover.    Now it's home I can tinker and improve things.

[Money Pit]

Thanks Mellow , does it work out any cheaper getting them from the UK with our poor aussie dollar ?  I found a place in Melbourne ( Northern mini spares ) He is giving me a price on Friday but I think I am going to get quite a shock. Thanks for the info.
Cheers MP
ps, great work you are doing there by the way
pps, Little wheelers rule also

[moemoke]

Thanks Mellow , does it work out any cheaper getting them from the UK with our poor aussie dollar ?  I found a place in Melbourne ( Northern mini spares ) He is giving me a price on Friday but I think I am going to get quite a shock. Thanks for the info.

You can try online at minisplus.com.au, always good service and mail delivery.

Nice work Mellow, Its a wonder the area where the bump stops mount is not all caved in, those bump stops
look like they taken a hammering!  I see you changed to Hydro bump stops, good mod 

[thorlek]

What make hyrdo bump stops better? are they softer or something?

[mellowyellow]

Hi Thorlek. You can't get the long length original bump stops. There are short ones available, but it is a real pain to change them over. I think the donut has to come out to get to them. Either way it is realy fiddly to reach the nuts to get them off. With the hydro ones, all you have to do is drill out the hole a bit bigger for the bolt (not sure what it's called just now) to go through. We also had to shorten the spacer between the new bump stop and the bottom of the shock absorber, as the hydro bump stop has metal either side making it just impossible to get the nut back on the bolt. Once that's sorted, if the bump stops need changing it is a much easier job. Even I could do it!! 

[Biggles]

G'day Mell,
             Well done. its nice to see a lady having ago and getting her
hands dirty for the cause. Finding someone who is willing to show you
what to do is a bonus, not something your average garage mechanic
would do. The beast certainly wasn't in good shape so it must be like
a different moke now. Enjoy Tamworth.
 
                                Biggles

[mellowyellow]

Thanks Biggles. Yep the moke is a completely different ride now. Sorry you can't make Tamworth this year

Well I crossed off another pre roundup job today - nice clean oil and filter. As with all moke things, there is always something that is not the right size. This time it was my oil filter remover which I've had for years. You guessed it...too big to grab a little oil filter. Think outside the square, cut a piece of rubber I had lying about, wrap it around the filter then the holder had something a bit fatter to hang on to. Success. 
I'll leave the sump guard off till tomorrow, just to check if anything is leaking, but I know it won't be  Just hedging my bets.

Next task - new battery, otherwise it needs to stay on trickle charger all the time.

[shorty 68]

Hi mellow it sounds like you might have a power leek. The solenoid can some times drain power. Mine did got ride of it no power drain.

[mellowyellow]

Shorty, the only thing "on" all the time is the imobilizer with it's flashing red light. Even with driving the moke to and from work several times last week, I had to go and pick up my bees in the evening (that's a whole other story), all going well, then I stalled it. Would not start. I was able to push it over the speed hump, then clutch start. Left the motor running while I did what had to do, and it's been on trickle ever since. I've got a new solenoid sitting in the garage, might fit it any way.   

[mellowyellow]

I had the NRMA battery guy out this afternoon with the view of getting a new battery. Seems the battery is fine...looks like the alternator is the culprit. The battery has been on trickle for a few days and is fully charged. 14.6V when the moke is running. Turn on the lights and it drops to 12.6V. He seems to think that with the battery not charging, a long trip may be a risk unless I'm travelling with another battery to swap to or have one of those portable chargers to hook up to. So the moke sits with the battery disconnected at the moment to stop the drain (still don't know what that cause is). Unless I can find another alternator or get this one rewound in the next few days, Tamworth is looking a bit of a no go.    To make things worse, I'm working every day till I set off so getting things fixed will be a bit of an issue.