mattaway

i need some pros and cons here.

i've never heard of them. are these things safe? do they wear out your balljoints or cv axles faster?

i found a set on ebay pretty cheap. i'm wondering if i should just wait til i can afford a real lift, or get them for the time being.


EDIT: by the way, my Yota is a daily driver/weekend warrior....

Junkers88

They are great little add-ons. No reason not to use them for a mild lift. They won't cause any abnormal wear and tear on the rig. I have them on one truck now and will be putting them on the 4runner when I can save some money to do the rear springs at the same time.

If you get a chance and have some time to do some reading you can search for threads on the topic. You'll get a lot of hits and have plenty to read.

Luck!

mattaway

thanks. i'll probly get them. the seller says they can add up to 2.5 inches.

a guy at work has a set of 2 inch blocks i can use for the rear, and he'll more than likely give them to me.

Junkers88

The max you want to go with the BJ lift is 1.5". You could crank your t-bars for more but the ride goes to poop in a hurry.

The only way you would want to go with a thicker BJS (and thus more lift) is if you plan on relaxing the t-bars to bring it down a little. Sort of counter productive but it can be done.

Be careful with blocks on older rigs that have the factory spring packs still in them. Most of our leaf spring packs have gone flat over the years and from what I've read blocks will put undue stress on the springs. You don't want to decide to go out wheeling in your DD and snap a spring pack.

yoterr

so the only reason you wouldent want to go 2.5" is? ide do it just to be able to relax the T-bars a bit for a little bit more flex. my .02

Matt16

Most noticeable, you will start wearing out the idler arm at an alarming rate (daily off road, depends for on-road). You will also be wearing through CV boots fast if you don't have manual hubs. CV axles will be more prone to breaking because of the angle they are operating at. You're flex off road will suck, as will your ride on-road. Also, it is unlikely that you would be able to align properly with 2.5" of lift (you need to align after any lift).

I'm running zero lift with my BJ spacers and I like it a lot. I lowered my truck after adding BJ spacers so that it is indistinguishable from stock.

Junkers88

Relaxing the t-bars doesn't exactly equal to more flex. Keeping similar geometry while maintaining factory ride quality with a little more lift is what the BJ spacers do. The upward flex is limited by the bumpstops, downward is also but you'll need to be more worried about CV angles going down.

You can relax the t-bars until it rides on the bumpstops and still have the same droop that I have with BJ's, and less upward travel.

Matt16

The angle of the upper control arm relative to the ground is what determines how easily the front suspension is going to flex. If you had a tight bolt you had to undo with a wrench, you'd find it easier to apply a force at 90* to the handle of the wrench. Same idea with the force being applied to the torsion bars.

yoterr

if ur saying that to me i know, but if you had to jack the torsion bars for that same lift you wouldent have crap for flex (what little flex ifs has)

Junkers88

Matt16 if you'll permit me a little free license here.



What Matt16 did by installing the spacers and realxing the t-bars was this

1) It looks like a sleeper. No one knows whats under the front end to make it more capable off-road. (Same for his locker in the rear)

2) He helped the IFS front end function better. The problem with IFS and an open differential is that we tend to "pick" a tire a lot easier that guys with a solid front axle. With the extra 1.5" of downward travel he has over the stock set up he has a better chance to keep the front end on the ground and less chance to unload a tire and cause it to spin.

Was that stated correctly?

Junkers88

Very true! That and the ride suffers. It becomes a lot more stiff and will cause the rig to buck more when trying to crawl up an off camber area.

edit. I just noticed that you have a 4" suspension lift. Yeah those of us that run BJS's can't compete with that.

yoterr

what can i say

Matt16

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It does flex better than it did and there is definitely less pitching from side as now both front and rear flex. Before, the rear would have to flex a lot before the front did anything, so the ride sucked over rugby-ball sized rocks.

I've also made quick disconnects for the front sway bar, that helped as well.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi28TLAtrCE&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

mattaway

i live in SW Florida, so i'm not really worried about flex, there aren't exactly alot of hills and rocks around here.

i'm not worried about the "ride" either, i drive a 4x4, not a cadillac....

my concern is wearing out the cv axles/balljoints/tie rod ends/ etc faster than normal. but i guess i shouldn't be too concerned about that either since most lifts wear parts out faster than normal.

i don't know, i guess i wanted to know if it was safe and worth the $

mattaway

one more question....

will i have to get new shocks if i do this lift? i just got new shocks and i'd hate to have to get another new set!

Matt16

They're safe, providing you do not drive around on super worn out steering parts caused my the lift and lack of maintenance. There are parts to beef up your steering that you could do to increase the lifespan of your parts. A friend is burning through a set of idler arm bushings each 4x4 outing with 33x12.5r15 muds, bj spacers (hasn't touched the t-bars) and has an idler arm brace.

You don't need new shocks, but there is a chance they will limit your down-travel. YOu will still have the lift or the flex, which ever you choose. You need a shock about 10" long compressed, and 15" long extended if I recall. I've got Old Man Emu front shocks and they work. The shock from the front of a Suzuki Samurai apparently work to, but I'll let you search that on the YT Search.

As for cost, the spacers are one thing, but consider the alignment, the shocks and the idler arm brace (if you're running tires wider than 10.5")

Mic09dcsm

My truck just begs for mercy.

abecedarian

My mercy begs for a truck.