Well, as a 100th post special, I figured I'd post up some pics of my truck. these were takin the other day and are the first since the lift and tires. Well, here they are, constructive criticism is welcome. Enjoy


Rear flex

Front flex

Next to a bone stock '92 4WD

Reminds me of JAWS

Next to an '08 FJ

Up on the hill

 

Looks good! im rolling the 7 inches of lift and 33s...but 35s are comig sooon

 

Mmmm, how far is the front diff dropped ?






Fred

 

Get the right side headlight door and some fender flares.

Looks sick. How is the quality on the rough country lift?

 

Looks nice... with a black eye

 

Looks like your t-bars are relaxed, in relation to the stocker truck looks like the ground clearance is the same if not worse!


p.s lose the wind deflector!!!

 

Looks good.

 

get ridda that tailgate rust

besides thatl ooks nice

 

Lookn good

Just wish they made IFS lifts that actually improve performance =/

what do those lifts do with the spindles? How do they compensate for the ifs drop bracket? Big balljoint spacer?

 

Woah, major t-bar issues there. The bracket lift is made to keep everything relative to the stock setup. Setting next to the bone stock truck should have been a big DUH. I'm miffed you thought that was ok?? Really.....

If you didn't touch the t-bars during the lift install, then your's is a prime example of bracket lifts over leveraging.

 

The tbars are either relaxed or old and saggy. It wasn't caused by the lift at all.

Btw, the way they are sitting right now that truck is a perfect candidate for bj spacers. You'd keep the cushy ride and get back the ground clearance you lost.

 

The relaxed t-bars was the only way to get the thing to align after the lift. We were at that thing for hours and that was the only way to fix the problem. I have the headlight door, but my core support is messed up from the previous owner smashing into something so it wont really fit into place. Agreed, though, that I need to figure something out with those t-bars. Any insight regarding them would be appreciated.

 

Looking at your front alignment cams, it's obvious the guys at the shop either don't know what they are doing, or using incorrect specs.

Also what was the issue? With all things relative the cams should nearly be in the same location as they where stock. I'm going to assume they couldn't get the castor into spec, since they lowered the hight. If they can't get the castor right then they do not know how to properly set the alignment and should be slaped. I've gone through this numerous times with my setup and once pissed the tech off so much he finally let me do it. Guess what? I got it right into spec....needless to say he was miffed. It's sad there is an expensive piece of alignment equipment wasted with an ignorant tech using it.

 

I missed this. How bad was the smash? This could also be the key to the alignment issues. I'm also dealt with front frame damage, but you should be able to get the alignment better than it is. How are the bushings in the upper and lower arms? Other than those two things, it would point to the tech not knowing or using the wrong specs.

 

Unless I am mistaken, there are only two ways to improve ground clearance under the axles:
1) larger diameter tires
2) shaving the axles

To my knowledge, bracket lifts generally do NOT increase ground clearance other than provide room for bigger tires. It's the tires that make the difference.

But hey, if it's a street queen, who cares?

Other than that pointless rant, I agree with the other expressed conclusions.

 

You're right on the button !!!
That's something that seems to escape most people, I see a lot of it here.
Suspension lifts, bl's, do NOT increase ground clearance for the lowest part of the vehicle.
Tires do .....

Tires provide the clearance, lift provides room for the tires.
Once people understand that (if they every do get it) and set their rig up using that idea, they end up with a rig that performs much better than the vast majority of others vehicles.




Fred

 

The pre-existing damage did nothing to the alignment, as far as I know. When I bought it, it had a patched radiator, a broken horn, and the front end damage you see in the pics. I replaced the radiator, got a new horn, and now Im on to the cosmetics. I pulled the bumper out cause it was pushed in just enough to not wanna let the 33's fit in the wheel well. But as far as alignment, it drove straight as an arrow until the lift. It tends to drift to the right now a little bit ever since lifting it.

 

Won't a suspension lift provide clearance for the anything else underneath besides the diff's?

 

Yes, of course, however so will a bl and with a raised xfer case/tranny and gas tank, and you'll have a much lower COG.

Don't wheel much, do you

The diffs and axles are probably the most common thing that people get hung up on, at least in the rocks, the the IFS is even worse than the rear axle, as the diff doesn't move on the IFS and it will some on the rear axle.
Hang up a little on your front diff (with IFS especially) and it deweights the vehicle and bingo, you're done.





Fred

 

Hence the need for larger diameter tires, kids...

Careful though, it's an addiction. I've been running 33's for less than a year now, and I'm starting to think about going bigger....