Offroad-Express

gidday fella's,

after selling the other trucks (a zuk and a mitzi) ive bought myself a swb safari
ive also just purchased a set of 35" wranglers

now, the question is, what do i need to do to get them to fit?? ive seen various 'kits' for sale on tm etc for 4" lifts and things, do i need to go that high? what offset rims for best clearance? will my rear swaybar disconnect thingy still work or should i take it off completely?

and any other info you boys have will be great. looking forward to taking my new toy out for a play any other things i should know/do about these nissans before i go play?

cheers
weemsy

On ya mate, If you are going to drive it hard then don't do a body lift, you will rip the mounts apart. A 4-5" suspension lift will do the job. You can cut the guards as well if they catch too much. I think you need sway bars on for a warrant these days, but saying that, mine doesn't have any at all. As for the wranglers, I found the truck too heavy for them, kept ripping sidewalls. Kumho KL71's are a good tyre but I also think the truck is too heavy for their soft compound. I run 35" silverstones on 7" rims. Post some pics up of the pig.
Al

Sadam_Husain wrote:Good score Weemsy, welcome
to the world of heavy trucks

Yeah dont do the body lift, if you use the truck
for its intended purpose the body mounts will
keep cracking on you, Curly stuck a 3" efs lift kit
in his and his truck sits up really high and has
no problem with 35" creepies on it.

What he said, landcruiser offset (what ever that is) for the rims.
<<<<<<<Thats it over there

I'm with marty simexs , a lift and lockers then your set and very little will break just watch the banks and trees they jump in front of ya for no reason

what everyone has said> go for 4 or 5 inch suspension lift. i run -24 off set rims for my 35's and is plenty good enough. they do start to get a little over geared with 35's on steep decents. when one day i get around to fitting lockers i would swap the diff ratios to something like 4.6's.

did you get one with a winch (electric or pto?)?? does it have the factory cradle??

gidday fella's,

thanks for the warm welcome to the world of 'heavy trucks' shes a bit different to drive than the old escudo for sure

the truck is totally bog stock. no winch, no lockers, nothing. its a 'granroad' if that makes any difference?? and auto.

where do i get a good suspension lift kit from? are there springs from other trucks that can be used to reduce costs? or do i need one of them kits of that guy in chch that includes springs, shocks, drop boxes, brake pipes and longer bottom arms?? this one.........
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =223476417

i dont really want to do a body lift anyway, so i definately wont now i know it has adverse effects

will get some rims ordered tomorrow and tractor tubes. pics up soon, the interior is out of it at the minute for some rust treatment

cheers
weemsy

then an ARB winchbar and a 10,000lbs winch

4wdbits for suspension. Great to deal with i've found.

Weemsy wrote:gidday fella's,

thanks for the warm welcome to the world of 'heavy trucks' shes a bit different to drive than the old escudo for sure

the truck is totally bog stock. no winch, no lockers, nothing. its a 'granroad' if that makes any difference?? and auto.

where do i get a good suspension lift kit from? are there springs from other trucks that can be used to reduce costs? or do i need one of them kits of that guy in chch that includes springs, shocks, drop boxes, brake pipes and longer bottom arms?? this one.........
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =223476417

i dont really want to do a body lift anyway, so i definately wont now i know it has adverse effects

will get some rims ordered tomorrow and tractor tubes. pics up soon, the interior is out of it at the minute for some rust treatment

cheers
weemsy

3" lift is what I would use on a shorty,any more than that and you open up a hole new can of worms with cost and vibration problems.
slite trim to guards and the 35's well fit no probs.

LWB 4-5" lift is fine.

Shane

Shop around Dude, shop around. Sometimes an apparent "good deal" is really a ripoff. I wouldn't buy any designer bar, make one that fits your needs.
Al

You could allways find a set of second hand 80 series Cruiser springs, they usually give a GQ swb about a 2-3 inch lift and the best thing is they are not to stiff so dont hurt the flex like some other so called lift kits, You have to be carefull as some lift kits just use very stiff springs and you can loose some of the flex eh.

If the lift kit on TM is a genuine 4" lift, then add a few hundred $$ for adjustable panhards, or get your originals lengthened.
I run a 2" lift, and its borderline needing panhards, and I have added 4" drop boxes as it wandered too much on the road, and castor bushes IMO are crap, and I kept cracking them.

I no longer buy off the shelf kits, I always mix and match to suit my needs, as my 3" coils run 4" lift OME shocks, and the fronts are still too short to allow full flex

DaveM wrote:If the lift kit on TM is a genuine 4" lift, then add a few hundred $$ for adjustable panhards, or get your originals lengthened.
I run a 2" lift, and its borderline needing panhards, and I have added 4" drop boxes as it wandered too much on the road, and castor bushes IMO are crap, and I kept cracking them.

I no longer buy off the shelf kits, I always mix and match to suit my needs, as my 3" coils run 4" lift OME shocks, and the fronts are still too short to allow full flex

OME don't make a shock for a 4" lift so that is you problem. The OME 'L' seies shocks are for 50mm lifts. To take advantage of the full travel in a GQ you need to raise the shock towers to fit longer shocks. Any shock that fits a GQ without some mods, will restrict travel. ie To get it long enough it will bottom on compression or to get in short enough on compression it top out on extension. It is a simple fix though.
The ideal length is an 80 series LC shock (brand to match everything else). These are designed for the same type of suspension and the same weight vehicle and work extremely well. To make them fit, you unbolt the shock tower, remove the factory bolts (that are tack welded in) and replace with longer bolts and spacers. 50mm is about the right length.
So with that setup you will then have the handling and travel that you want with off the shelf parts.
So now you have fitted 3" springs in your GQ, have you modified the bumpstops? If not then you'll get coil bind!
Also at 3" you'll need brake hoses. Take the rear hose and fit it to the front and get a longer one made for the rear.

darinz wrote:

DaveM wrote:If the lift kit on TM is a genuine 4" lift, then add a few hundred $$ for adjustable panhards, or get your originals lengthened.
I run a 2" lift, and its borderline needing panhards, and I have added 4" drop boxes as it wandered too much on the road, and castor bushes IMO are crap, and I kept cracking them.

I no longer buy off the shelf kits, I always mix and match to suit my needs, as my 3" coils run 4" lift OME shocks, and the fronts are still too short to allow full flex

OME don't make a shock for a 4" lift so that is you problem. The OME 'L' seies shocks are for 50mm lifts. To take advantage of the full travel in a GQ you need to raise the shock towers to fit longer shocks. Any shock that fits a GQ without some mods, will restrict travel. ie To get it long enough it will bottom on compression or to get in short enough on compression it top out on extension. It is a simple fix though.
The ideal length is an 80 series LC shock (brand to match everything else). These are designed for the same type of suspension and the same weight vehicle and work extremely well. To make them fit, you unbolt the shock tower, remove the factory bolts (that are tack welded in) and replace with longer bolts and spacers. 50mm is about the right length.
So with that setup you will then have the handling and travel that you want with off the shelf parts.
So now you have fitted 3" springs in your GQ, have you modified the bumpstops? If not then you'll get coil bind!
Also at 3" you'll need brake hoses. Take the rear hose and fit it to the front and get a longer one made for the rear.

Yip, thats why I don't buy off the shelf kits, the OME shocks are sold as a 4" lift shock, and are longer than the 4" EFS equivalent.
I've done a rough mod on the bumpstops, but will be running VX cruiser bumpstops soon.

As my GU runs ABS, I needed to replace all 3 brake hoses, but this will always be a softroader for shiney trips, so will limit any further mods until I get another GQ, or just stick to the easier tracks in this

then tell me why my brake hose's look fine with a 75mm lift

Ive got one of the trademe kits from steve in my swb and it works very well, it has the heavy duty rear arms, drop boxes, raw shocks, dobson coils and long brake lines. For the price of the kit I rate it, I have also thrown my sway bars away, it is on 35inch trepadors,no body lifts around here cut the guards.

darinz wrote:

DaveM wrote:If the lift kit on TM is a genuine 4" lift, then add a few hundred $$ for adjustable panhards, or get your originals lengthened.
I run a 2" lift, and its borderline needing panhards, and I have added 4" drop boxes as it wandered too much on the road, and castor bushes IMO are crap, and I kept cracking them.

I no longer buy off the shelf kits, I always mix and match to suit my needs, as my 3" coils run 4" lift OME shocks, and the fronts are still too short to allow full flex

OME don't make a shock for a 4" lift so that is you problem. The OME 'L' seies shocks are for 50mm lifts. To take advantage of the full travel in a GQ you need to raise the shock towers to fit longer shocks. Any shock that fits a GQ without some mods, will restrict travel. ie To get it long enough it will bottom on compression or to get in short enough on compression it top out on extension. It is a simple fix though.
The ideal length is an 80 series LC shock (brand to match everything else). These are designed for the same type of suspension and the same weight vehicle and work extremely well. To make them fit, you unbolt the shock tower, remove the factory bolts (that are tack welded in) and replace with longer bolts and spacers. 50mm is about the right length.
So with that setup you will then have the handling and travel that you want with off the shelf parts.
So now you have fitted 3" springs in your GQ, have you modified the bumpstops? If not then you'll get coil bind!
Also at 3" you'll need brake hoses. Take the rear hose and fit it to the front and get a longer one made for the rear.

How far can you lift the shock tower with no body lift?
I have monroe 80# shocks in front(2" lift on toyota they tell me),with 5" springs.
Shocks not long enough now so if I lift shock tower well be even shorter.

At a guess the answer is lift the shock towers and buy longer new shocks?

Shane

Im running Monroe gas Magnum 16 0188 Range rover shocks and they have a lot more travel than normal safari shocks. They work well

Shocking mainly on the down stroke

Cheers Richard

coxsy wrote:then tell me why my brake hose's look fine with a 75mm lift

You tell us. What length shocks do you run (extended)?
I run over 700mm on the rear and 560 front from memory, so I would be very suprised if you were running the same length shocks and not needing extended hoses.

Obviously if your shocks are shorter, there is no need for longer hoses

EFS 36-5548 e/e 654/ 397mm &EFS36-5546 pin /pin 510/ 306mm

Thats about the same length I was running on a 2" lift, and the main reason why I buy shocks after coils are fitted. Mine are around 50mm or so longer, and are slightly longer than EFS use for their 4" lift.
I have found most companies sell a range of lifted coils, but limit their shock range (ie they sell shocks to suit 2-3", 4-5" etc)
I have found in most cases that a shock that suits a 2" is too short for a 3" lift and vice versa. I ran a 3" lift shock (TJM) and it was topping out, when measured, it only had 35mm downward travel left, so was in no way suited to a 3" lift.
I have also tried EFS extreme shocks on my old GQ, "suitable for 4-5" lift", and the rears wouldn't stay captive, so were good for a 5", but not most 4" lifts.

Of course, this is just from my experience, but I have found a lack of knowledge from retailers selling this stuff, so buy from oz every holiday now, where these people have proven they know what they are talking about. Of course, there are obviously those here that do have knowedge, but I am happy with whom I buy through at the moment, so will stick with them for now.

My 7cents

well had good flex standard, have the hight now, and same flex

Pay extra and get the Xtreme shocks. They are red....,50mm longer and have that sweet white gaiter thing.

DaveM wrote:

coxsy wrote:then tell me why my brake hose's look fine with a 75mm lift

You tell us. What length shocks do you run (extended)?
I run over 700mm on the rear and 560 front from memory, so I would be very suprised if you were running the same length shocks and not needing extended hoses.

Obviously if your shocks are shorter, there is no need for longer hoses

its an easy fix up front move the chassi mount for the flexy hose forward as far as the hard line will allow and weld the tab back on it will be just about over the axle
Out back you need to cut the tab off and weld it on the end of a 150mm piece of pipe/bar what ever you have laying around the hard line will bend round to fit
Do this and its good for a 4" lift no problems on the original brake lines

Cheers Reece

De-Ranged wrote:

DaveM wrote:

coxsy wrote:then tell me why my brake hose's look fine with a 75mm lift

You tell us. What length shocks do you run (extended)?
I run over 700mm on the rear and 560 front from memory, so I would be very suprised if you were running the same length shocks and not needing extended hoses.

Obviously if your shocks are shorter, there is no need for longer hoses

its an easy fix up front move the chassi mount for the flexy hose forward as far as the hard line will allow and weld the tab back on it will be just about over the axle
Out back you need to cut the tab off and weld it on the end of a 150mm piece of pipe/bar what ever you have laying around the hard line will bend round to fit
Do this and its good for a 4" lift no problems on the original brake lines

Cheers Reece

If the shocks are long enough for a 3" lift then the brake hose will be tight at full extension. If the brake hose isn't tight them your shocks are too short.
Why modify all the brake hose mounts when you can get a road legal braided hose custom made for the rear that is about $120? (moding is cheaper obviously but!) You then fit the factory rear hose to the front and it allows about an extra 3-4" of travel.
To raise the tower without a body lift you will need a holesaw!!!!
It is just a fact of life that GQ (and GU) front shocks are too short for the potential suspension travel. It is a design fault that can be fixed. Any off the shelf kit does not solve this problem but it can make things better.
Look at it this way. The rear springs are the same length (basically) as the front and yet the rear shocks are about 60mm longer (closed). But the rear suspension works very well and has good travel etc.

Use the factory lines unmodified.

you can then use 100mm longer shocks without limiting straps.

-Nathan

albundy wrote:Shop around Dude, shop around. Sometimes an apparent "good deal" is really a ripoff. I wouldn't buy any designer bar, make one that fits your needs.
Al

I shoped around and i found that steve had the best kit with the best bits to suit the truck for the best price, so hasel free to fit and drives better then stock, the package works very well offroad. give steve a call and talk to him about what you need and I am shore he will put a good kit together for you..