I've broken a coil spring in Mongolia

[benckj]

Sounds like you have made progress and arrived at a good solution. Hopefully the parts come soon enough before you have visa restrictions. What do you need to repair on the air bag suspension?

Completely understand the lack of diesels in cold climate. Having grown up in the cold ares of US a diesel would be dead 1/2 of the year. Even semi’s get stuck passing through when their fuel filters clog with gelled diesel. Always lost a few rigs after those intelligent truckies try and thaw out the engines and tank by building a fire under. Makes for good entertainment when the fire gets out of control.

[old Jack]

Re Airbags

Actually it may be ok, as it wasn't inflated at the time, this because there was a bit of a leak affecting one side only, which was creating uneven rear suspension a few hours after pumping up. I let both bags down and was intending to get around to fixing up the leak, which I expect will be in the tubing connections. I hope to attend to the leak when installing the new springs. It's great that I'm getting KCRR35EHD, as these should be the last springs I ever need to install.

The leaky airbag combined with the under rated coils you had fitted, the load you are carrying and the terrain you are driving, all would have contributed to the coil failure.
Let this be a lesson to all that run underrated coils and use airbags to supplement their suspension way too much. On smooth surfaces where the suspension is not articulating much they are ok but as soon as the suspension has to work hard airbags are more likely to fail which can then lead to coil failure.

The coils on independent rear suspension need to be twice the spring rate to carry the same load as a coils fitted to a live axle suspension and the coils have to work in half the movement range so this puts a lot of stress onto the Pajero's real coils.

OJ.

Declaration of Engineering Bias, I am ex Airbag owner/operator who experienced continuos problems on vehicles fitted with airbags that where used to carry heavy loads over rough terrain for extended periods. I am a strong advocate for rubber cone springs to be fitted inside coil to protect the coils during high load situations. I have not worked out a mod for the IRS Gen 3 & 4 Pajero's but do have a solution for Gen 2 Pajero, PA,PB,PC Challenger and Pajero Sport.

[kiwi1973]

Did you reach out to the Russian Pajeroclub for assistance? Too far, expensive?

I thought you had the best camp fire story already with your busted bearings in Morocco but Ulaanbaatar, what a wonderful place to have a story about a broken spring. Its on my list. I hope your video includes some drone footage (if allowed) of approx 60km east of the centre.

Great to hear you are getting your chosen springs in the end. When do you expect the springs to arrive? Any news from the embassy?

Keep enjoying this amazing time and adventure with your family. Travel well Kiwi

Because my Pajero is so customised now I thought it better to get what I really need direct from Aussie. Pajero's are more popular in Russia and I may have found a spring, but it would probably be lighter duty and take just as long to arrive. Kings were dispatching today, so I should have it late next week.

Getting approval from the Embassy to overstay the visa, or extend it, isn't proving straightforward. The consulate in NZ is trying to assist.

[kiwi1973]

I attribute the coil breaking to a defect with the spring. Tough Dog said they haven't sold a TDC635HH in ages. Who knows, could even have come from the same batch as Steve MC181's KCRR35HD-SP.

It's debatable to view this spring as being under-rated. Tough Dog would say it was suited to my load, as they rate it at 500kg constant load and it's the strongest they market. What I can factually say is that was the highest rated spring I've run in my Pajero and they were certainly higher rated than the Lovell's CRR92's that I removed just before shipping. I did ample off-road testing early this year in NZ, with the auxiliary fuel tank fitted and the Lovells springs (not using air bags either) and it all performed well enough. The Lovell's were a bit underated once the aux tank was fitted, and the Tough Dogs were handling the weight better. But the bottom line is that I'm confident the Lovell's would't have failed. I can't really prove that assertion, and no one can, but there would be many Pajero's about with underrated springs for their loads, and yet we know of only two coil spring failures on Pajeros - in both cases KCRR35HD-SP.

I've been drafting a blog post for the website this morning and the Gobi Desert - Part 2 video is finished and ready to put online. A bit of downtime isn't all bad, as I can catch up with these things at least.

[kiwi1973]

What do you need to repair on the air bag suspension?

I think just a slow leak where the tube goes on the barb. I'd like to fix it when I remove the springs, though with EHD's I may not need airbags any longer.

[kiwi1973]

Back here in Oz (and probably the rest of the world), there is a lot pf media coverage about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. To loosely quote Mission control after they landed, "There's bunch of guys here who have been turning blue, but are now breathing".

Well, with you, it is rather similar - there's a lot of people here who are following your travels with baited breath, and who gasped when you announced the broken spring. Not that we can do much, but be assured everyone here is keenly following your moves. Hope this setback doesn't muck up your future border crossings, or delay your ultimate arrival at the end of your trip.

I knew from the outset that something like this would occur at some point and I'd be running around trying to find a solution. This just goes with the territory on a trip like this really. It's a pretty long 4wd trip! Shouldn't have been the springs though. Of course, there may yet be a further episode like this still coming. I have taken as many precautions as it's possible to take though.

[kiwi1973]

Springs arrived

I've got to hand it to DHL, they're very good. Collected from Brisbane on Friday, the springs are in my hands today (Tues). The place I'm staying reckons they have a floor jack around somewhere, so tomorrow I hope to get on with it. I'm also removing the front struts to replace the lower bushes, as they are stuffed. I know these take a hammering and am carrying spare bushes.

The Mongolian Consulate in NZ has been trying to assist us with the overstaying our visas situation and they kindly wrote a letter to Mongolian Immigration asking them to extend our visas in the circumstances. This was however declined. I've been informed today there are no circumstances in which overstaying is permitted. So the bad news is that we will be fined, but the good news is that the fine is not very much at all.

This situation has however really brought home just how lucky we are to be having this issue in Mongolia, not in our previous country (Russia) or the next one (Kazakhstan). I have read of a case of an overland adventure biker delayed in Russia in circumstances similar to ours being threatened with considerable prison time. It seemed so excessive I struggled to believe it. Apparently in Kazakhstan until recently the penalty was either a not so small fine, or 3 weeks in prison, though I think some of these countries are beginning to ease up a bit in the interests of appearing more tourist friendly. This is all something international 4wd explorers would need to bear in mind, as vehicle trouble goes with the territory and can never be completely ruled out.

[nj swb]

That is good service!

Bad news about the fine, but at least "not very much" is better than something substantial.



Send an invoice for the fine + the DHL freight to Tough Dog. In this case, their "Tough" wasn't enough. It may not be their fault that the spring broke, but they should at least stand behind their name, and provide better support to their customers.

[benckj]

Happy to hear your getting the problem sorted. Will you need to alter your intended course to edit Mongolia in time?

[kiwi1973]

Happy to hear your getting the problem sorted. Will you need to alter your intended course to edit Mongolia in time?

Fortunately not. When the car is fixed I am to return to Immigration to pay the fine. They will then permit us 10 days to exit Mongolia, which is quite generous and should give us time to exit in the far north west. If they were to force us to exit to the north then it would be a lot more mileage and we'd see less of interest. So looks like we'll still get to see more of Mongolia on the way out West.

[benckj]

Well that's good news, all the same. Just need to get truck back together and hit the trail. From looking at your route you still have a few miles to tackle (maybe 1/2 way through).

[kiwi1973]

Had a big day doing some work on the Pajero today. I always carry plenty of tools and just needed a trolley jack to install the new EHD springs, which I borrowed from a local mechanic. I also removed the front struts and took them to a workshop with a press to have new lower bushes installed. I had these bushes in my parts box, because I know from experience these need replacing every couple of years at the most. The struts consist of Koni RAID shocks with Lovells EHD coils and this is a superb combination, other than the aforementioned tendency for the lower bushes to wear early. Even when new the Koni lower bushes didn't last long. I couldn't get those in NZ so tried a couple of different types of bushes, none of which lasted long at all, before discovering that control arm bushes from a Nissan X-Trail fit perfectly if you take an angle grinder to shorten the length of the crush tube.

So now I have true EHD coils front and rear, and it feels brilliant. Definitely not over-sprung for a full touring weight Pajero and not at all harsh - just right, and with an appropriate amount of lift.

Only issue still to resolve is that I discovered a rear lower inner control arm bush was stuffed. I don't have that in my parts box and doubt I'll find it on the shelf in Mongolia easily, if at all. But I should find it in Russia or Kazakhstan easily enough.

We plan to head West from Ulaanbaatar on the weekend - we have most of Mongolia to cross and will be permitted 10 days to do it by the Immigration Police. It's very important that we do not fail to achieve that. Not only because there would be serious repercussions on the Mongolian side, but also because I've timed our Russian transit visas to start then. Russia generally only allows you just enough time to drive through with nothing to spare, and visas are strictly date specific. I was charged $600 for those transit visas yesterday!

[benckj]

Ouch! Visa $$ is an essential part of the budget however one can’t help to think of all those others things the money could be spent on. Puts a lot of pressure on the itinerary timing and reliable transport. Happy trails ahead.

[old Jack]

Hi Aaron,


Glad you are happy with the KCRR-35EHD, it was a bit of a risk recommending these without knowing your rear axle weight.

Were your airbags ok and if so what pressures are you now using?

Safe travels and keep the video's, photo's and story coming!


OJ.

[kiwi1973]

Hi Aaron,


Glad you are happy with the KCRR-35EHD, it was a bit of a risk recommending these without knowing your rear axle weight.

Were your airbags ok and if so what pressures are you now using?

Safe travels and keep the video's, photo's and story coming!


OJ.

The airbags are ok. I discovered that the leak was caused by a hole in the tubing just before where it goes onto the barb. It would be easy to cut it back and reattach, but I don't have any of the little clamps/crimps. How would some wire twisted tightly around it with pliers go? I did the best temp repair I could to the tube, mindful that this side has to come out again when I replace the stuffed inner lower control arm bush soon. I actually also need new spring seats really.

I've not inflated the airbags, so my initial impressions are of the springs alone. I haven't really given them a full test yet - just been around the block a couple of times, but some of the roads here resemble a 4wd track anywhere else, so it's still a test. It may be that I don't really need the bags at all now, or if I do then at low pressure. I'll see for now how it goes with just the springs.