Donaldson P551615 Bracket using existing Fuel Filter mounting bolts

[Hill]

Many will be aware that I have a Donaldson P551615 filter kit on my NT Pajero. Until this afternoon this was mounted from the fire wall using two existing bolts.

I have suggested using the bolts of the factory filter to others and thought I'd better follow my own recommendation.

I found a piece of 25mm x 4mm flat steel that was lying under the bench and thought at 270mm long and with a predrilled hole on one end this would be ideal.

I drilled another 10mm hole 76mm from the existing hole and this completed the mounting holes for the factory filter end of business.

To create a bit of clearance for the bolt heads for the second filter I put a 20mm kink in the flat steel. Big hammer and vice is handy.

To complete the job I drilled another two 10mm holes 55mm apart (I think) at the other end.

A small section of noise deadening material was cut away to allow the bracket to sit flat.

Two 8mm bolts completed the job.

See attached thumbnails for the rest of the story.

[ticky]

Looks Great Mate

[sam.cath]

Looks great Hill!
Really tidy job. It's great to make a bit of custom stuff that works so well.

Wish I could put one in the same location but as you can see, there's no room now! I had a custom bit of aluminium made up to attach the Redarc SBI12 to.

Would have had a crack at doing the second fuel filter if I could do it where your's is, but will put it in the too hard basket for now.

Thanks for your input to help me better understand the fuel filter situation!

Cheers,
Sam

[GHendo]

Great minds must think alike Hill

I've made up a bracket for mine almost the same sort of thing as yours, except that I welded an extra bit on the bottom to also bolt onto those two bolts below your bracket in the first photo.

I haven't fitted the Donaldson yet as I am waiting until the next time I have to change the diesel filter and will do it then - must be getting very close.

Cheers

Geoff

[vladguan]

Nice work. I have a length of 25x3mm aluminium flat bar. Would that be OK to use? Hill, does Hitachi sell just the @*$#Donaldson P551615 3 micron 99% efficiency Filter@*$#or the Donaldson P903316 114LPH, 3 Micron kit?

[Rovingman]

great work hill, thanks alot.

[ticky]

Great minds must think alike Hill

I've made up a bracket for mine almost the same sort of thing as yours, except that I welded an extra bit on the bottom to also bolt onto those two bolts below your bracket in the first photo.

I think this is a good idea. I think Hill's bracket looks good & it would prolly do me fine as I am a caravanner who like to play a bit, rather than a 4WDer who get serious. But I can for see possible problems with this if serious 4WDing is your thing. A third anchor point underneath would strengthen hills design considerably.

As for Vlad wanting to use 25x3 Ally, & would consider that third anchor a must, but then I think 25 x3 Ally would be fine.

JMO


Steve

[GHendo]

I think this is a good idea. I think Hill's bracket looks good & it would prolly do me fine as I am a caravanner who like to play a bit, rather than a 4WDer who get serious. But I can for see possible problems with this if serious 4WDing is your thing. A third anchor point underneath would strengthen hills design considerably.

As for Vlad wanting to use 25x3 Ally, & would consider that third anchor a must, but then I think 25 x3 Ally would be fine.

JMO


Steve

Yes, something people probably forget is while the filter is quite light when you install it, the weight increases dramatically when it is full of fuel and over time, being knocked around with vibrations etc., the mount needs to be quite solid - look at how solid the OEM filter mount is.

Cheers

Geoff

[XTV]

Those two bolts below the bar look very well placed for providing an additional 3rd or even 4th mounting point. Does anyone know what their purpose is, if there is any unused length in the bolts and can you undo both at the same time and reinsert without causing any dramas?

[msman]

someone else may know what they are for
when i undid them it just looked like an unused mounting point for something?
bolts put in during assembly to seal up the holes?
undo bolts and it just has the thread in the holes nothing mounted behind there, also the specific cutout in the insulation also says flat space for mounting something?

I just used some longer bolts they are m6.

[Hill]

Nice work. I have a length of 25x3mm aluminium flat bar. Would that be OK to use? Hill, does Hitachi sell just the @*$#Donaldson P551615 3 micron 99% efficiency Filter@*$#or the Donaldson P903316 114LPH, 3 Micron kit?

Hi Vlad

I used steel as I am hoping to remove filer insitu. An aluminium bracket may not have the strength for this process.

I like Geoff's idea of stabilising the bracket using the two bolts on the
firewall

[Rovingman]

A little project i started today, a bracket for the Donaldson fuel filter thanks to Hills design:

Remove fuel filter bolts and measured 80mm from inside left bolt to start of right bolt



Then a got a piece of Aluminium 30mmx3mm and about 300mm long
came in 20mm then drilled 2x 8mm holes with the required distance between them. (obviously a calculation error somewhere)Then made a slight bend 20mm to suit fire wall curves



Cut, drilled and placed a little marine carpet for baffling, probably overkill, better to be sure then remove all of it again.



Removed baffling one small push clip removed only and all came away easy. Then Drilled a 9.5mm hole through firewall, and inserted a nut cert screw hole.



Bolted on bracket and tested a 50mm bolt



With advice from other forumites about strengthening the original design idea from Hill. I Placed a washer then 4 small nuts on and 1 more washer for 2nd filter support, this is very firm no movement what so ever, tested with engine on no vibration, also allowing room for filter bolts.



Put back the baffling and screwed in bolt, fits well and might cut down the end of the bracket, when the filter arrives i will take off bracket drill holes and will put another small piece of aluminium between the new filter and the bolts and paint black. I cant see any issues with this design it looks and feels very strong. With the bracket having 3 bolts already and if needed i can make a stay to the bolts underneath quite easily.
I will be using this as a primary filter to start with see how that goes as i have warranty till next march

[Hill]

Beautiful.

The slotted screw hole looks like a factory made to provide a little additional flexibility in design.

The filter head is flat aluminium and you may need to drill a 10mm recess in the back to accommodate the bolt head.

You may need to remove filter head to change filter as the rubber seal tends to stick after being in place for a period of time.

[erad]

Slightly off-topic, but I have a Donaldson filter head mounted on a bracket bolted to the two factory bolt holes. I use the Donaldson as a pre-filter, meaning that the Factory filter is the secondary. However, to get the fuel from the Donaldson to the factory filter, the fuel line has to arch up in the air somewhat, meaning that the hose tends to rub on the underside of the bonnet. Has anyone moved the angled inlet pipe from the factory filter to a flatter angle? I wasn't brave enough to try that (yet).

[vladguan]

I plan to use the bolt that the plastic clip nut is screwed onto to secure the baffle. Anyone see any issues with this? I will be using a 35mmx3mm aluminium with the two holes for the OEM towards the bottom edge and the new one towards the top edge, keeping the bar level. I will have to bend it back to follow the buldge in the baffle.