Offroad-Express

i have now got 4" dobi springs and rancho shocks all ready to put in, but just wondering about the driveshaft angles, and every thing else to go along with it... (my brother told me if he was to do his again next time around he would only to a 3" lift because of the driveshaft angles on the swb)

so i went ahead and brought a 4" lift anyway thinking there must be a better way of doing it than he did, when he done his he used 4" coils and shocks then to correct his angles he used caster bushes and gearbox spacers (and extended brake lines) but to me if you are trying to make your truck higher why would you lower your gearbox correct???


what would everyone else do/ and the best ways of doing it??? also to get the most movement??

Do what your brother did with castors and spacers as you do not want to lower your gearbox as it will put the engine mount under too much pressure and you will destroy them in no time and it will also just give you anthor thing to get hung up on under your truck

PS and from what I here Ranchos are prone to breaking in Safari's. I have set 2 up now one with a TJM 2" suspension lift and 2" body lift an the other with a Raw/Dobi 4" suspension and 2" body lift

I have run a 4" lift in my swb, using gearbox spacers and longer lower trailing arms.
Gearbox spacers are a lot cheaper than using upper and lower trailing arms, and the thing to remember is, you have gained 4" height, plus whatever tyre size you now run, so losing 10mm under the gearbox means SFA.

Depends on how much $$ you have, but if you want better flex off road, use drop boxes as castor correction, bushes is a cheaper way of doing it, but you lose flex, and although the boxes sit lower, the benefits are greater than the risk of getting hung up on them. I know plenty of people running them, and while they scrape, I'm yet to get stuck because of them.
They space the gearbox down, and move the diff foward at the same time, which is what you want too.

I assume you have longer/adjustable panhards etc? Another good idea is to extend the brake bias valve bracket to suit the lift.

PR wrote:PS and from what I here Ranchos are prone to breaking in Safari's. I have set 2 up now one with a TJM 2" suspension lift and 2" body lift an the other with a Raw/Dobi 4" suspension and 2" body lift

yer been there done this ovr the coast 1mth old,done the 4inch lift job with EFS coils now back to 75mm front and 50mm rear EFS coils ,got to keep centre of gravity down as i have done ute job aswell i wud rather cut my guards than go higher



vince

but wouldnt puting gearbox spaces in, put strain on the engine mounts??? ( moving the back of the g/box down will tilt the front of the engine up) ???

Does put more strain on mounts, but most people don't lower more than 10-12mm, seen some shops put 20mm or more in on 4" lifts though

Gearbox spacers and longer lower rear trailing arms are all to get the gearbox output shaft and diff pinion onto the same angle. With 4 inch lift you also need to make sure the driveshaft universals aren't maxing out.
Castor bushes are really only good for castor correction up to about 2 inch lift, less in Safari/Patrol. Drop boxes are a great bolt on relatively cheap option.

I've got a question.

Would it be really dumb running drop boxes which move the arm 4" down if you were only lifting the truck 3".....

seems commonly done. Asking as i have drop boxes to suit 4" lift but only want to lift 3" max

Thats exactly what I run. DObinson 3" coils, Superior 4" drop boxes.
No castor correction is not nice, and there is no way I'm running castor bushes again.

Some people go on about too much castor, but the way I see it, the castor can be no worse than having a standard Safari that has sagged an inch (usually more), and there plenty of people driving these around with no problem

I have got about a 70mm lift in a SWB GU, and run Drop boxes probably more suited to a 100mm lift with no problems what so ever. Without any caster correction it was still driveable, just had to use very fine movements of the steering wheel - wife hated it and wouldn't drive it. With the drop boxes on now you wouldn't know any difference from a standard safari. Agree with DaveM - Drop boxes are a good option and probably the best way to go. Hell if you don't like em just take them off and sell them.

Drop boxes are cheaper than two sets of caster correction bushes........

Got any updates on the mods progress there Summit? Always keen to see another shorty getting modded

so what do drop boxes do exzactly?

They move the radius arms chassis mount downwards (usually 4"/100mm) and forwards (any amount you specify).

I have some pics of mine if you want to see them.. they are beautiful . I recommend the ones that 4wdbits make - they look far far far stronger and nicer than any other drop box i have seen- was going to sell as only want to go 3" lift but will use them and see how it goes

yea mate some pics would be awesome

Heres the 4wdbits ones:

http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails ... uctID=1186

yeah thats them...... heres some other pics.

also what about castor bushes??? alot of people say they limit your travel?

also what exactley is there purpose?

you can also buy arms which correct the castor, we have them on our truck

cool__bananas wrote:you can also buy arms which correct the castor, we have them on our truck

$$$$$$$$ though, huh?

Castor correction bushes shift the diff angle back to within factory specs after a lift. They are crap. They don't last and restrict travel. Either fit drop boxes or don't bother. I haven't done anything in mine and that is running 75mm springs and a much lighter motor which equals about 4" lift. There aren't any serious handling issues with this but the steering is a bit lighter. The truck has been running these springs for 3 years now and had 2" lift before that for about 4 years.
The other thing to think about is bigger tyres compensate for the lift as well so if you lift it 2" and run 31's then it will be similar feel to a 4" lift and 35's. Obviously the angle is the same but the effect of the steering is changed depending on tyre size. So big tyres need less castor.
The other advantage of drop boxes is that the return the radius arm back to a horizontal position. This means that when you hit a bump the shock is transmitted to the spring rather then through the arm and into the chassis.