Offroad-Express

Need to get more clearance on my LN130 surf.

which is better - body or suspension lift

any thoughts/comments would be appreciated :study:

Way to open a can of worms Brian.
Better or easier?
Body lift is way simple, last one I did took 2 of us 1.5hrs. Lifts body only. They do not increase atricualtion, alter ride quality, or anything unduly nasty. They also leave all the chassis and suspension bits where they were, so apart from extra height in the bigger tyres, ground clearance remains the same. Ctr of gravity is kept lower, which means less pitching and rolling while driving.
Suspension lifting usually alters the geometry and handling characteristics of your truck. You could spend thousands of dollars and hours of time, and still not have quite what you want. But get it right, and good suspension lifts are hard to beat. Heaps more work than body lifts, and the ability to cause shit loads of headaches, but worth it in the end.

My personal preference is a comibantion of both, and then don't be scared to attck the sheet metal to make tyres fit.
I have 50mm body lift, 200mm suspension lift, and have removed 50mm of sheet metal off the rear gaurds to get the 39.5s in the hole. My suspensiuon set up for rock crawling, and as such it is really soft and supple (sounds like a skin product add). the truck has awesome atriculation and is really comfy on boulder bashing etc but you don't want to drive my wreck at anything over 75kph either.

Yeah, do a bit of both mate. For example 2" body lift and 2" suspension lift

I AGREE 50MM BOBY LIFT BUT 100 MM SUSPENTION LIFT :bubble:

nuts wrote:I AGREE 50MM BOBY LIFT BUT [size=18]100 MM SUSPENTION LIFT[/size] :bubble:

Cmon Nuts, on a IFS Surf don't be mean!!!
You'll get 50mm out of the front suspension max. So a body lift will probably be beneficial too, depending why you need the height??

Smurf wrote:

nuts wrote:I AGREE 50MM BOBY LIFT BUT [size=18]100 MM SUSPENTION LIFT[/size] :bubble:

Cmon Nuts, on a IFS Surf don't be mean!!!
You'll get 50mm out of the front suspension max. So a body lift will probably be beneficial too, depending why you need the height??

WELL COULD DO A BEAM AXLE CONVERSION

Dont forget a body lift will require cert to be legal, so factor in another $400 for that too.

HERE YA GO 2 INCH SUSPENTION LIFT 100MM BODY LIFT DIFF PUMPS ... LSD IN REAR ... 35X12.5X15 GOODYEAR WRANGLERS

depends what you want out of your surf? how bigger tyres do you want to go? you can only lift the front suspention 50mm (easisly that is, anything is possible with enough money lol). do lift the front you just wind up the torsion bars. easy to do, one bolt on each side. there theres is a great description in the toyota tech section on here. as for the rear 50 mm lifted spings will cost you about $200 and are easy as to put in, again look in the tech section.

with this you should be able to run 32inch tyres easily with the right offset rims. you will notice stuff all handling difference.

if you want to run bigger than this then go for a body lift as well, i would suggest just a 50mm. with this you will easily get 33 inch tyres on and 35's if you dont mind bashing the front guards abit.

on the surfs the sring lift is cheaper and easier than a body lift.

personally i wouldnt go bigger then 33's on an ifs surf as the front diffs are so weak and with the 2.4turbo it would be terrable to drive on the road with 35's and you would struggle to spin them off road. go 33's and lokkas and it will be pritty damn capable.

heres afew pics of my truck. 50mm spring lift and 50mm body lift running 33's

Shit Pete,
I've heard of people having a chair for the cat and/or dog.
But dude, Ithink you are going over the top letting your truck have it's seat

haha yea it was about to go on the trailer that was hooked on the truck may as well drive over it first

brianr70 wrote:Need to get more clearance on my LN130 surf.

which is better - body or suspension lift

any thoughts/comments would be appreciated :study:

50/50 would be the way to go or

Sell the smurf buy a NISSAN

will you get over the whole buy a nissan thing PR it may just be me but i find it ####### annoying you say it in almost every post.

sure your truck is a weapon an will leave most others to shame but each truck has its place, you get what you pay for, you have spent over 20 grand on yours, that much spent on any surf and it would more than give you a run for your money.

there is good old brand rivalry then there is jst going abit overboard, give it a rest....

I dont want this to start a huge depate, these are just my thoughts. take them or leave them up 2 u.

cheers Pete

I would go for the suspension lift, which would more than likely improve the handling on road, and its capability off road.
If thats not enough, short of buying a Nissan ( ), maybe a small body lift too?

What are your future plans? Keeping it for a while, slowly modding it more for a future SAS?

not sure whether to keep or dare I say it buy a SWB Nissan :frighten:

ask a silly question what does SAS stand for

it all comes down to what you want to do with the truck and how much money you have. with the same mods a swb nissan will beat your surf any day mainly due to the front solid axel as ifs dont flex. but it will generally cost you more to do it.

the advantage of a surf is that they can comfortably fit 5 ppl and all your gear.

is it your daily driver or just a play truck? the ifs suspension is pritty good on the road. with 33s and lokkas they go well off road but that is about the extent of it unless you go to sas. this stands for solid axel swap where you cut out the ifs front and put in a solid axel, once youve done that the skys the limits but again it comes down to money

pete

Buy a Nissan?! bwahahahaha, I'm begining to like you, but in the manly Nissan way, not the strange Toyota/Niblik way

SAS is solid axle swap, same as Padero is doing at the moment.

At the end of the day, it depends on the use it will get. The surf would have nicer road manners, and more room, but in my opinion, the Safari is far superior off road (and yes I have had a Surf so speak from my own experiences).

The Surf is more than capable for 4wding, but if youy want to get a little more hard core, look for something with a solid front axle, whether it be SAFARI or a hilux/landcruiser

Petemcc wrote:with the same mods a swb nissan will beat your surf any day mainly due to the front solid axel as ifs dont flex. but it will generally cost you more to do it.
pete

If doing a 50mm suspension lift, the only extra cost over lifting a surf is the price of 2 extra coils, so $300.
If you were to do the full Surf lift with new torsion bars, the Safari is cheaper to lift.

It's a shame Toyota didn't do a "cheaper" version of the VX ie a surf with front/rear coils/solid axles. Not that would be a great all rounder

Suspension lift 50mm, body lift 50mm (I am sure you dont need a cert ?), and as its a toyota (correct me if im wrong) and an engine/transfer case lift (for some reason toyota transfer cases hang way below the chassis http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/MotorMount.shtml
my 2 cents.

Did the body lift thing on my hilux and it required a cert because of the "modification to the body mounting". Yeah I argued it was just a block inserted between so I hadnt modified the mount but they argued that it was the method of mounting not just the steel on the frame. End of the day I also got the engine recerted (crap job and didnt pass when i went back for body lift and steering), bigger wheels and tyres, different seats and the steering spacer certed.

At the end of the day I could've argued the lift didnt need doing but I wouldnt like to argue against a lawyer for an insurance company or in a criminal / coroners court if the worst happened so just bit the bullet.

Best to just read the regs and get your own interpretation in writting from your Wof / Cert guy.

Heath

Heath wrote:Did the body lift thing on my hilux and it required a cert because of the "modification to the body mounting". Yeah I argued it was just a block inserted between so I hadnt modified the mount but they argued that it was the method of mounting not just the steel on the frame. End of the day I also got the engine recerted (crap job and didnt pass when i went back for body lift and steering), bigger wheels and tyres, different seats and the steering spacer certed.

At the end of the day I could've argued the lift didnt need doing but I wouldnt like to argue against a lawyer for an insurance company or in a criminal / coroners court if the worst happened so just bit the bullet.

Best to just read the regs and get your own interpretation in writting from your Wof / Cert guy.

Heath

Ooops, good call Heath, didn't even remember to mention the cert thing.
Yes you will need a cert, and even though there are guys running body lifts without one, it's only a matter of time before someone gets refused a payout over it from their insurance company.
A lot of WOF agents won't pick up on it, but you can guarantee that if the insurance company needs to weasel their way out of paying on a claim, a body lift will do it for them.
Money wise, go for the suspesion lift. New coils, shocks, and a tweak on the torsion bars

was kinda thinking along the lines of a suspension lift.

at the mo the Surf is used some times for work but mostly as a play thingee

where does one locate the parts etc for a suspension lift

as my mechanical skills are practically zero :scratch: any suggustions where to go for help

Maybe try 4wdbits for the coils and shocks, and any local mechanic should be able to fir them.
The torsion bars are easy enough to adjust, so you could do this yourself, or let your mechanic do the lot.

DaveM wrote:Buy a Nissan?! bwahahahaha, I'm begining to like you, but in the manly Nissan way, not the strange Toyota/Niblik way

I dony know how to take that

If you need help to install the sus lift give me a yell Brian. It is very easy to do.

found this stuff from 4wd bits - what do I need
:scratch:

http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductsListPr ... egoryID=39

SAS - Solid Axle Swap.

The front of the Surf can be lifted 75mm relatively easily - this is done via one inch ball joint spacers plus a two inch torsion wind. You'll want to drop your diff an inch to save CV angles, again very easy.

This coupled with three inch lift springs in the rear and appropriate shocks makes for a pretty capable truck and is the level I hope to get mine at sometime.

went to local 'Fully Equipped" to find out how much they would charge for the suspension lift...wait for it.....$1800

brianr70 wrote:went to local 'Fully Equipped" to find out how much they would charge for the suspension lift...wait for it.....$1800

Thats to be expected form them.
I'd get a set of Dobinson coils, and maybe Monroe shocks, should cost no more than $800.

Theres bound to be someone on here to help fit it as its a POP to do, the coil fitting is the fiddliest part.

hi guys, got a bj70 SWB and looking for some one whose put lift blocks in there 70 serries

wanting a really cheap way to get about 50-80mm lift, is this the best cheapest way?

any draw backs?

and do i need to extend any hoses at the same time?

and can you recomend a good web site to get them from?