BJ spacers and lift kit review
04-22-2007, 10:56 PM
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BJ spacers and lift kit review
I was always looking at doing it and had tons of questions about it so im making this post for those of you guys and gals that were in my boat.
You hear it can be done and think it should work but people will tell you no way and it cant. Dont listen to em. I used the 1.5inch BJ spacer from www.trdparts4u.com
My truck already had a 4inch trailmaster lift that the Tbars were relaxed on already. Flex was good but not what i wanted. My goal was to keep the front as high as it was and maybe gain an inch or even just a half inch to kill my rubbing issue on bald 36's. I knew adding a tire with some nice tread would make it worse.
The instal.
The spacer instal was easy. If you set the spacer on top of the arm you can see exactly where to cut. We had them ready to go on that night but I wanted to replace the Balljoints again for a fresh start and they wouldnt be in tel the next day. Once on the truck sat 1.5 higher and seemed to be more. I would Recomend replacing the boots or CV's when doing this. I ended up with a torn boot 10feet in to rolling with locked hubs.(Thanks Travis for pointing out how dry they were.)
Right away while driving i could tell that it was higher and felt way tippy compared to before. First thing i did was flex it out with the bars set how they were. It seemed like nothing changed and if it did it was not for the best. I went home and relaxed the T-bar as much as i could. The front shows less then half inch of threads. I went back and did it again. it was better but still not what i expected.Oh well maybe it will work in i was thinking.
I went and got new tires and had the truck alighned. We loaded up and went camping.
the truck didnt lean all that much going up the hills it just felt stable just like it was a tad topheavy. Set up camp and i made an excuse to run down to leave directions for a friend so i could go wheel for a few. I met up with my friend on the way back up and we made a quick run near our campsite.
Flex was good. I didnt notice a tire picking up at all but then again the trail was mild. Wed get to the good stuff after dinner.
We ran the same trail i had run the weekend before so i knew how the spacers helped. I had the freshly lifted truck feel again. It was odd. Anyways flex was good and the truck didnt lift like the week before. We found a few side shoots with big rocks i had a hard time going over locked before. This weekend the tires were the key and i had no issues. it wasnt tel the next day i got to see what else had improved. The fex was night and day! I thought i had some good flex before! this time it was crazy. I will let the pics do the talking. I have a short vid clip too.
good vid bad line.
Everyone was blown away by the travel, Myself included!
Final thoughts. Need to do something with the CV's theres TOO much travel for them the boots hate life. Im going to the free replacement auto zone shafts after i kill the one with the broken boot. Im also looking in to joint options for a stronger option at full flex. Lowering the Tbars is a MUST. no option unless you have other shafts. They will bind and brake or atleast blow the boot apart. I wheeled all weekend on this
Well worth the money and i wish i would have just done it earlier when i was being told it doesnt work. Dont listen to the hype cause thats what it is HYPE! they work and they work amazing! Replace the balljoints when you do it so you dont have to mess with anything after that and have more time to wheel cause you will want to wheel 10X more...I know i do.
Russell
You hear it can be done and think it should work but people will tell you no way and it cant. Dont listen to em. I used the 1.5inch BJ spacer from www.trdparts4u.com
My truck already had a 4inch trailmaster lift that the Tbars were relaxed on already. Flex was good but not what i wanted. My goal was to keep the front as high as it was and maybe gain an inch or even just a half inch to kill my rubbing issue on bald 36's. I knew adding a tire with some nice tread would make it worse.
The instal.
The spacer instal was easy. If you set the spacer on top of the arm you can see exactly where to cut. We had them ready to go on that night but I wanted to replace the Balljoints again for a fresh start and they wouldnt be in tel the next day. Once on the truck sat 1.5 higher and seemed to be more. I would Recomend replacing the boots or CV's when doing this. I ended up with a torn boot 10feet in to rolling with locked hubs.(Thanks Travis for pointing out how dry they were.)
Right away while driving i could tell that it was higher and felt way tippy compared to before. First thing i did was flex it out with the bars set how they were. It seemed like nothing changed and if it did it was not for the best. I went home and relaxed the T-bar as much as i could. The front shows less then half inch of threads. I went back and did it again. it was better but still not what i expected.Oh well maybe it will work in i was thinking.
I went and got new tires and had the truck alighned. We loaded up and went camping.
the truck didnt lean all that much going up the hills it just felt stable just like it was a tad topheavy. Set up camp and i made an excuse to run down to leave directions for a friend so i could go wheel for a few. I met up with my friend on the way back up and we made a quick run near our campsite.
Flex was good. I didnt notice a tire picking up at all but then again the trail was mild. Wed get to the good stuff after dinner.
We ran the same trail i had run the weekend before so i knew how the spacers helped. I had the freshly lifted truck feel again. It was odd. Anyways flex was good and the truck didnt lift like the week before. We found a few side shoots with big rocks i had a hard time going over locked before. This weekend the tires were the key and i had no issues. it wasnt tel the next day i got to see what else had improved. The fex was night and day! I thought i had some good flex before! this time it was crazy. I will let the pics do the talking. I have a short vid clip too.
good vid bad line.
Everyone was blown away by the travel, Myself included!
Final thoughts. Need to do something with the CV's theres TOO much travel for them the boots hate life. Im going to the free replacement auto zone shafts after i kill the one with the broken boot. Im also looking in to joint options for a stronger option at full flex. Lowering the Tbars is a MUST. no option unless you have other shafts. They will bind and brake or atleast blow the boot apart. I wheeled all weekend on this
Well worth the money and i wish i would have just done it earlier when i was being told it doesnt work. Dont listen to the hype cause thats what it is HYPE! they work and they work amazing! Replace the balljoints when you do it so you dont have to mess with anything after that and have more time to wheel cause you will want to wheel 10X more...I know i do.
Russell
04-23-2007, 08:38 AM
#3
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Glad to hear you are happy! Thanks also for dispelling any myths about spacers and bracket lifts. They work the same and as well on on a bracket lifted or stock truck. When I designed them I had a bracket lifted truck. I put the proto's a stock and a bracket lifted truck to make sure all was well and it was.
Frank
Frank
04-29-2007, 06:51 PM
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Looking good man.
A little off topic, but where does one get a bumper like that, but for a 3rd gen?
EDIT: Looks like Downey updated their site. Seems like that's your bumper.
A little off topic, but where does one get a bumper like that, but for a 3rd gen?
EDIT: Looks like Downey updated their site. Seems like that's your bumper.
Last edited by KevinInSac; 04-29-2007 at 07:40 PM.
07-15-2009, 03:11 PM
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Thought id update this now that im done playing with IFS.
The bjspacer on the bracketlift worked great! I relaxed the tbars just enough to hold the truck up at the height i needed for the tires and dropped the back to match. It rode great and flexed about the same as my buddys solid axle truck that was stock. The steering in the IFS is the weak link. If it wouldnt have been for that id still be running it.
After tweaking the set up it was great
more pics.
SAF truck...all stock
Worth doing but get either the TC idler arm or truss one with a bronze bushing.
The bjspacer on the bracketlift worked great! I relaxed the tbars just enough to hold the truck up at the height i needed for the tires and dropped the back to match. It rode great and flexed about the same as my buddys solid axle truck that was stock. The steering in the IFS is the weak link. If it wouldnt have been for that id still be running it.
After tweaking the set up it was great
more pics.
SAF truck...all stock
Worth doing but get either the TC idler arm or truss one with a bronze bushing.
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07-15-2009, 04:36 PM
#8
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yea its a decent upgrade
It's good to note that setting your ride height (torsion bars) is important to do BEFORE getting it aligned. If you adjust them after, your camber will be wack since BJ's throw off the geometry of the front end. IE the A-arms are no longer parallel.
Also, dropping the dif an inch helps A LOT to relieve CV axle bind. Also by just 'relaxing' the bars.. ie lowering the front end to get a better Axle angle isn't fix-all solution. This simply allows the axles not to bind while on level ground. The suspension will still droop and the axles will bind.
I've gone through quite a few CV's. One grenaded real good! BAMMM .. haha was a good laugh. I've gone as far as making my own upper bumpstops to limit down travel.
Right now I have the dif drop and haven't blown an axle yet but the aftermarket (autozone) still binds at full droop. The OEM one doesnt, must be some difference in design.
Also, like he said, you need a Idler Arm brace or a beefy aftermarket one. Don't think it won't bend.. It will.. so be prepared with vice grips and a wrench to re-set your TOE before the drive home! Mines been bent for over a year now, I've gone through 4 haha.. to cheap to brace it.. They'll only bend so far before it contacts the frame on full lock to the left. The frame keeps it from bending further (not good but regardless it wont get worse)... so i just set the toe there and dont worry about it. If you're gonna really hammer on the rig, get the brace, i wouldnt trust the idler arm to this repeated abuse and trust it on the highway not to randomly snap from the stress of being bent, bent back, bent, bent back (everytime it contacts the frame rail.
But... SAS will be going on July 25th =P Bubye IFS!
It's good to note that setting your ride height (torsion bars) is important to do BEFORE getting it aligned. If you adjust them after, your camber will be wack since BJ's throw off the geometry of the front end. IE the A-arms are no longer parallel.
Also, dropping the dif an inch helps A LOT to relieve CV axle bind. Also by just 'relaxing' the bars.. ie lowering the front end to get a better Axle angle isn't fix-all solution. This simply allows the axles not to bind while on level ground. The suspension will still droop and the axles will bind.
I've gone through quite a few CV's. One grenaded real good! BAMMM .. haha was a good laugh. I've gone as far as making my own upper bumpstops to limit down travel.
Right now I have the dif drop and haven't blown an axle yet but the aftermarket (autozone) still binds at full droop. The OEM one doesnt, must be some difference in design.
Also, like he said, you need a Idler Arm brace or a beefy aftermarket one. Don't think it won't bend.. It will.. so be prepared with vice grips and a wrench to re-set your TOE before the drive home! Mines been bent for over a year now, I've gone through 4 haha.. to cheap to brace it.. They'll only bend so far before it contacts the frame on full lock to the left. The frame keeps it from bending further (not good but regardless it wont get worse)... so i just set the toe there and dont worry about it. If you're gonna really hammer on the rig, get the brace, i wouldnt trust the idler arm to this repeated abuse and trust it on the highway not to randomly snap from the stress of being bent, bent back, bent, bent back (everytime it contacts the frame rail.
But... SAS will be going on July 25th =P Bubye IFS!
Last edited by drew303; 07-15-2009 at 04:39 PM.
07-15-2009, 04:57 PM
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I also ran a bit longer diff drop. In 30k miles most of them wheeling over 3 years i only broke one cv and it was the one pictured a year later(turned in to a game) the reason it broke was because i tried low pro downtravel stops and it popped out on the trail. Keep the stocks in and its fine.
I went through 16 idler arms before getting a bronze bushing unit with a home built brace.
I didtched the IFS for stronger steering...ok thats not the only reason but i like to think it got the ball rolling.
the truck in its current state
I went through 16 idler arms before getting a bronze bushing unit with a home built brace.
I didtched the IFS for stronger steering...ok thats not the only reason but i like to think it got the ball rolling.
the truck in its current state
Last edited by vwfastg60; 07-15-2009 at 04:58 PM.
07-15-2009, 05:30 PM
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hell o fuzzy drew thats some crazy IFS flex. VW i cant wait to see that beast pu tback together. are the guy that i seen on here that put a 2wd gas tank on it? or am i thinkin of someone different
07-15-2009, 11:51 PM
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my build thread is here...I dont know that anyone is looking anymore.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-no-no-158802/
07-16-2009, 01:34 PM
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Old thread... Since I posted above I took out the bj spacers because it made the truck feel too tippy with the bracket and body lift I already had on there. I like the way the truck feel so much better without them and they're for sale if anyone wants them. 
For the record, my tires don't rub at all with just the bracket and bl so I didn't need them anyway. SAS is really the way to go with these trucks, but it isn't in the cards for my truck as I really never go off road anymore anyhow.
For the record, my tires don't rub at all with just the bracket and bl so I didn't need them anyway. SAS is really the way to go with these trucks, but it isn't in the cards for my truck as I really never go off road anymore anyhow.
07-17-2009, 02:40 AM
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I didnt have a bl but after the spacers the only time i noticed the tippy feeling was going down something off camber near a cliff. The truck felt super stable on about everything going up. Sometimes too stable.
Credit goes to Nate for the dents in the roof
Credit goes to Nate for the dents in the roof
07-17-2009, 02:44 PM
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Holy open differentials, Batman! You look like a great candidate for an ARB! I'm a little more soft core on my 4running, so I'm eyeballing the truetrac gear driven limited slip. I'm nervous about a fully locked IFS diff, honestly. Great looking truck! I hope those are posted on the IFS flex pages!
07-19-2009, 04:50 PM
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Holy open differentials, Batman! You look like a great candidate for an ARB! I'm a little more soft core on my 4running, so I'm eyeballing the truetrac gear driven limited slip. I'm nervous about a fully locked IFS diff, honestly. Great looking truck! I hope those are posted on the IFS flex pages!
a few are on there, Like i said i had plans for a sas so i wasnt looking to drop any coin on the front end if i wasn't going to use it. As for a fully locked front IFS truck, TC on here has one and so do a few others and i know they pop CV's from time to time but still have no plans on SAS'ing.
07-19-2009, 04:54 PM
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I have a few favorites up north and still have tons more to run but Bunce school road is fun and has some cool spurs, Big elk medows is fun, MSV/Coney flats is on my list of favorites. They are not super hard trails but some can be a bit hard or scarry for a truck with no armor or lift.
Traildamage.com and then click trails to see trails in your area. PM me if you wanna do some wheeling this week. My girlfriend and i will be at her cabin in allenspark.
Russell
