Chenowth Desert Patrol/Light Strike Vehicle - Pics Added

[Lawdog734]

Larry, the way I figure it is that they've already had a rough life, so dirt roads and pastures will be the roughest terrain they'll see from this point forward. Given how few of them there are out there, I really just want to return them back to their original condition to preserve a piece of history. Maybe I'll drive them in the local Independence and Veterans Day parades and put them in the occasional car show too.

It's still a long way off, but it'd be neat to do something to raise funds for the UDT - SEAL Museum or the Navy SEAL Foundation, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I've given thought to the torsion adjustment housing and figure it might be easier to replace it rather than to rebuild this one. I've seen housings for $100 from Moore Offroad to $400 from Sway-Away. Is there anything to look out for on these? Should I bite the bullet and go with the Sway-Away or can I get away with the less expensive variant?

[JUSSUMGUY]

Based on this diagram the stock torsion housing is 1050mm or 41.33 inches.
I would most definately stick with Sway-Away for the torsion adjuster

[Lawdog734]

Double post

[Lawdog734]

Noted, the Sway -Away housing it is.

After further inspection of things this morning, I've determined that all 4 hubs need to be replaced. The front hub is easily identifiable in that it's marked CNC, so it's easy enough to see they're from CNC Brakes.

The rear hub though - I can't figure out what I have. Please see the below pics - they're secured in place with Sander Engineering 2.5" Sprint Hexnuts. Any idea what they are or what brand so I can replace them?

[Leatherneck]

Not VW, I know no help on that. Thought it might of been an altered one till the last pic.

[JUSSUMGUY]

Those rear arms look very familiar What does it run for stub axles?

[Lawdog734]

Richard, you know I don't know much about these things, so I'm just winging it in this case.

I couldn't tell you what I have, but I imagine that if I did it'd be easier to find replacements. I'm thinking a micro-stub of some sort.

See the below pic and let me know if you recognize it.

[TimS]

Holy chromoly that stub is huge. I like it!

[JUSSUMGUY]

Holy chromoly that stub is huge. I like it!

What he said! I'd be keeping that if possible. From what I can tell from the pic it is very similar to a micro stub already meaning the stub axle is short. Looks like your hub is in good shape just need new rotors. Check and see what the bolt pattern of the rotor is, hopefully is a standard pattern and thickness and can get off the shelf replacement.

[Lawdog734]

My main concern with the hub is the circumferential fractures that connect most of the lugs.

You don't think that's an issue?

[Leatherneck]

They might be worth getting inspected.

[JUSSUMGUY]

They might be worth getting inspected.

What he said. What do the bearings look like? Pics of the cracks in the hubs? I would not be very quick to abandon what is back there. What does the end of the arms look like where the stub axle goes thru? Once you start changing, say to micro stubs, it ends up having to change a lot.

[Lawdog734]

Actually, everything looked pretty dang good. It's just the hubs, with this being the worst of the two, that have me concerned.

[TimS]

I bet the bearings have numbers somewhere. Then cross reference those to different part numbers, then google search the bearing numbers with key terms like micro stub or vw, plus search for bearing numbers on race desert and other vw sites. That might gain you some Intel.

If that doesn't, I'd start looking at the front ends of gmc trucks of the era, 1/2, 3/4, 1-ton 4x4 and see if the measurements or bearings match.

Is it a 33 spline?

Edit--> Or dodge... Spline count is key to tracing it's origin. Please post it when you can.

[Lawdog734]

Tim - good idea! I won't be able to get into it until Friday, but will definitely will post what I'm able to dig up.