Lift kit advise and sugestions

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:31 pm

guyph_01 wrote:here are some pics of the SJR kit and how its bolted to the car.

Comments....
thx

Where did you get the SJR kit - hope they're strong.
Cheers
AP

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:19 pm

i didn't get them, the guy selling it sent me some pics...

Plz let me know what you think and if you would go for them?
thats why i put un that post to get all the possible thoughts that would help me decide what to get.

Thx again guys.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:46 pm

Ok fair enough - in my opinion, I like going over the board (I'm well known by that rather be safe than sorry and I know by going over the board is waste of money but its safe.) By looking at the picture, I don't like the looks of the "C" pieces in steering section, it should be hollow boxed steel (even solid steel would be even better) which they are stronger, if these "C" get flattened or get bent badly while you're off road - you're stuffed! I am not too sure about the rear diff, but there is a better way of doing that is to drop the rear diff cradle and install blocks on the top of the diff cradle to underbody, that way it'll be stronger.... I'm just saying it from my point of views, i am not criticising at anything/maker etc.
Cheers
AP

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:56 pm

Thx, not sayin anyone is criticising, im just after the maximum thoughts and opinions so it can help me make a better descision. As im no lift kit expert and its my frist L series project.

All opinions greatly appriciated.
thx

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:00 pm

guyph_01 wrote:Thx, not sayin anyone is criticising, im just after the maximum thoughts and opinions so it can help me make a better descision. As im no lift kit expert and its my frist L series project.

All opinions greatly appriciated.
thx

I think you're better off getting BYB ones, they're made by experienced subaru owners which they drive on the beach, sand dunes and thru the bush... I know the price is... but its worth buying if you want safe legal lift.
Cheers
AP

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:00 pm

AlpineRaven wrote:Ok fair enough - in my opinion, I like going over the board (I'm well known by that rather be safe than sorry and I know by going over the board is waste of money but its safe.) By looking at the picture, I don't like the looks of the "C" pieces in steering section, it should be hollow boxed steel (even solid steel would be even better) which they are stronger

Rubbish. For starters, if you hit something hard enough to bend that ~5mm plate, you're in big trouble. And secondly, elastic deformation can be desirable - think about crumple zones, rubber bushes, clutches that slip before they can transmit excessive torque to the gearbox. Solid steel blocks would be even worse - they'd punch holes in the floor or shear their bolts, and that could get very ugly.

Excessive strength is also the reason I worry about being rear-ended in my wagon - the massive rear bar i built will never deform, but will transfer all the impact energy into bending the floorpan and giving me whiplash.

But strength issues aside, I'd still go for one of the local lift kits.

Dane.

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:25 pm

ok so i got this reply from

Suby Wan Kenobi wrote: Second of all, having seen both 3 and 4in kits installed in Lseries i dont seen any real advantage of the 4in kit other than bragging rights. The 4in kit doesnt allow a much bigger wheel to be fitted.

3in kit has metal spacers for the strut top and a metal one for the front crossmember and rear shock hangers but all else is solid allow blocks. The kit comes with everything you need to lift the car including bolts and instructions.

Does this means that all the blocks used in his kit are aluminium blocks?

What do you think about the 3" over 4" deal. Would having the 4" not make any differance at all? no higher look? no higher car? no higher clearance?
If any plz explain.

Sry for the questions, slowly learning and want to grasp everything:D

thx

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:08 pm

4" would get you another inch of space between the top of the tyre and the guard lip compared to a 3" kit, and the sills will be another inch off the ground. But 29" is the biggest tyre you can fit before it fouls on the strut's spring seat, regardless of the size of your lift blocksm so you don't get any more clearance under the diffs with a 4" kit.

I suspect SWK means the strut tops are steel, the rest is alloy. Don't think you could make strut tops strong enough with ally.

Dane.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:18 pm

questions about subi-wan's kit are probably best asked directly of him. Post up the replies tho as it would be nice to know more details about them.

Brett told me a while ago that the BYB kits are actually dropping the diff with a plate like that now instead of dropping the whole moustache bar - again double check this with subi-wan tho.

Subi-wan - maybe a more detailed advert for the kits might be in order?

Here's how to work out what kits are bigger etc.
The bigger the lift kit (2", 3", 4"), the higher your car will be.
But being a body lift, it only lifts the body, not the engine/gearbox/diff. But the reason you want to lift the body is to create more space between the wheels and the guards so you can fit bigger tyres - bigger tyres lifts the rest of the car too (diff etc).

If you have a Liberty or later car you can put in just the strut tops from a lift kit which means your lifting the whole car rather than just the body, but this doesn't apply to L series.

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:26 am

Ok so with a 4" kit the car will look higher than if it had 3" kit installed. Yeah im set to use 29 on the car for off road and them get the biggest tyres i can fine for the 14" to drive on the road.

Dropping the diff with a plate would be bad, add stress to the cv joints right? and dropping the whole moustache bar would mean less stress on them?

Yeah i ask him the exact same questions and will ask him if the BYB kit uses a plate or drops the whole moustache bar.

Does anyone have pics of a L series with a 4" on?

thx

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:06 am

No, the METHOD by which the diff is dropped makes no difference to CV angles at all. The fact that it IS dropped is what means the CV angles remain the same. Dropping just the diff instead of the whole hanger just means that the hanger isn't low too, so you don't whack it on rocks - this is a definite advantage as I totalled a diff hanger myself once by smashing it on a big rock.
The reason the CV angles remain the same is because the Kframe is also dropped by the same amount - and the K frame has the hubs and CVs attached to it. So everything is dropped by the same amount, no angles change.

A body lift can be thought of as a "body lift" or a "running gear drop" I suppose depending which way you look at it. The basic premise is that the body is separated from the suspension components and engine by 2, 3 or 4 inches (depending on your choice of kit), and bits of metal stuck in between to take up the empty space.

I think you just need to spend abit of time under your car looking at where everything bolts up, it doesn't take too long to work it out whats what - theres only about (let me see...) 8 places in total where things get changed;
- Rear K frame, both sides (most kits include 2 blocks for the 3 bolt spots here - one takes care of 2, the other is a single)
- Rear diff or rear diff hanger (depending on the kit)
- Rear strut tops, both sides
- Front strut tops, both sides
- Front radius rod mounting plates, both sides (most kits include 3 blocks for the 3 bolt spots here)
- Front engine crossmember, both sides
- Engine stay rod needs to be replaced with a longer one - should come with the kit
- Steering linkage needs to be replaced with a longer one - should come with the kit

I think that's everything!

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:57 am

Ok from what im reading i am shifting to go for a 4" kit. I hope the BYB kit drops only the diff as i have that diff with this plate bolted to it.

How can i find out the ratio of that diff??

I will post the reply of subi wan kenodi as soon as he replies.

For now plan will be, Buy the HD clutch and get EJ22 running. tidy the car up and get it over the pits. Install the diff with the plate if the ratio is the same, install the front bash plate, get the biggest 14" tyres that can fit on the car without any lift and then Take it off road a bit for fun without expecting to go over mountains untill i can save up for the 4" kit.

p.s aT, did you have to do any guard cutting on the monster wagon with the 6"? do you still have the Liberty auto starter?

thx

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:38 am

I had to do some very minor trimming of the guards, check the last few pages of the MonsterWagon thread for details of that.

I think I still have a few EJ starter motors kicking around but wouldn't be certain which models they suit, I'll try and post up some pics when I get a chance.

There is a way of finding out the ratio of the diff by taking the rear cover off and counting teeth on the ring gear, not sure of the details myself but it's been covered a few times, search is your friend here.

When you say you will install the "plate" with the diff, I assume this will be at the same time as installing the rest of the lift kit?

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:50 am

i need to find out the ratio of that diff first. i'll put some pic to show the plate its got... if its the same then i wont bother to much of the one in the car at the moment but if its different i might not go crazy off road as there wount be any lift kit on the car and try to swap the plate over.

But yeah if the ratio is the same i'll put it in when i get the lift kit.

thx

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:40 pm

What "plate" are you talking about and what does it have to do with the diff ratio?

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:32 pm

This is what i got from

Suby Wan Kenobi wrote: The moustache bar is not dropped there is a plate that is used that drops the diff only. This setup has resulted in less bending of the moustache bar.

Most of the blocks in the 3in is alloy and same applies to the 4in.

With a 4in lift you do gain more height but due to the shape of the wheel well you dont have that much more clearance than that of the 3in kit. I have seen 29in tyres used with a 4in kit but they where scrubbing out quite a bit more that you get with a 2in a 27in tyres. To run 29s with a 4in kit you would have to relieve the wheel well on the front behind the wheel (footwell).

In short i am able to build what ever kit you desire but from the years of building kits i find the 3in kit with 27in wheels are the best combo.

I have a diff that has a bash plate bolted to it. I want to use it on the car. So if the diff ratio of the diff the plate is bolted too is wrong i will put it on the one on that fits the car. Just basically i want to use the plate on the car on what ever diff matches the gearbox if that makes more sense.

Did that come stock or was it made after? did you guys ever see one? Im pretty happy i scored it on a wreaked L:)
(See pics)

Could you explain the (footwell) part to me? how can i relive it? where is it exactly? What needs to be done?

thx

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:55 pm

ahah now I understand. I've got one of those diff protectors too, scored it on the RX sedan when I got it.

Keffa managed to iron out most of his scrubbing issues with his 29" tyres I beleive, and he only had 3" lift + very decent springs and shocks, but there was a fair bit of cutting here and there....but nothing structural or anything extreme like that.

I think the area of the footwell SWK means is basically the part of the wheel arch which is exactly where the accellerator pedal is on the inside of the car (and the same place on the passenger side). It would need some "massaging" with a gympie, including smashing the seam that sticks out so it's flat. I had to do that a little bit even way back when I ran 3" lift and 27" tyres. Careful not to bash it too far in or you won't be able to floor the accellerator

It's the kindof thing you will have to really wait and see when it's done, and just make room as required. At least you can always swap down to a smaller tyre/wheel combination if you have too much scrubbing trouble.

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:06 pm

cool cool, but i need to get the lift kit to figure the rubbing.

SO after all this, would you go 3 or 4inch??

Im opting for a 4"... I want the height:P

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:37 pm

Cut:

Remove plastic bits and bash:

I learned most of my mechanical skills working on Falcons

.

Dane.

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:08 pm

What is that?
6mm steel?
Because that wont be weak as anything.

People snatch off bits of 6mm plate in the bigger 4wd's. ideally they Bolt the recovery hooks to 6mm chassis rails anyway.

I suspect youll pull the captive nuts out of the body before doing any damage to the SJR Kit.

$700 is farking ridiculous but if thats what there costing nowadays.....

Atleast there wont be any Shitty welding on the SJR Kits.

It looks liek there diff drop bracket is adjustable anyway to what you would want out of your CV's