Truck lift - Your opinion is wanted!

[HippoNZ]

I wouldnt bother with the body lift, unless running huge tyres (37+)

I would recommend fitting drop boxes if going 4-5 inch lift, much cheaper than new radius arms and often give a better ride.

For 4" you will need

coils
shocks
castor correction (drop boxes or radius arms)
panhards front and rear
adjustable draglink (centres steering wheel)
extended sway bar links (if you are running them, im only running rear)

may as well get a new steering damper while you are doing it

zordos do good kits http://www.zordos4wdsuspension.com.a...d=49&Itemid=53

Thanks GUte, I guess if I was running more on a cheaper budget then a drop box may better suite my situation. cheers for the link, I think its probably going to be best buying in a kit so that I don't miss anything! lol A question I do have for you guys is I hear having a suspension lift keeps your center of gravity down vs a body lift? How do you find the limitations that a 4" lift gives while on slops?

Cheers
Brett

[growler2058]

My kit complete absolutely everything was $3k without fitting, I fit it myself with plenty of blood sweat n the occasional tears hahaaha then 2k on 5 new sunnies and Mickey t mtz. I didn't go snake firstly the cost and secondly found bigO 4x4 in south aust. There's other mobs superior engineering not sure what u got in NZ but shop around u should be able to get well less than 5k tho

[GUte]

Oh you also need longer rear control arms (connect rear diff to chassis) or adjustable uppers to re align the diff to the tailshaft and stop the coils rubbing as they will bow a little

The drop boxes also drop your gear box which helps keep the tailshaft aligned to another reason why drop boxes are better imho

[growler2058]

I'm not running any sway bars at the moment. Never one fitted on the front and got lazy and haven't got extension for the rear so she is a little bit "boaty" on the hardtop corners but definately not scary. If you go for a kit make sure you get the brake valve proportioning bracket it's only a small part but without it ull get more rear brake pressure than front.... Not ideal. Good luck with the hunt for the right kit mate and ask ask ask if in doubt. Modding your troll should be an enjoyable exersize. Even when the bark is torn from your knuckles hahahaha all part of the fun. Or get someone else to do it and enjoy scar free knuckles, either way your troll will be better for it

[melts]

I helped a mate fit 2inch body lift to his d21 Navara. It was reasonably simple (with the right tools) and enabled him to go from 28inch tyres to 32inch tyres.
The Navara suspension is not easy to lift (IFS) so alot of the guys use body lift as a way of fitting larger tyres. If done right you wont really encounter any issues. I think his kit cost less than $200 from ebay and it all bolted in easy enough.
you will need to do things like extend your steering rod and possibly lower your radiator, or remove the fan shroud.

If you went 2 inch suspension and 2inch body you should easily fit 35' tyres.
once you go 3-4inch suspension lift you need to spend bulk on suspension components.
you can get away with doing an easy spring upgrade to get 2 maybe 3inch lift from what i hear.

there are pro's and cons to each, but if you were on a serious buget you could prob just go 3inch body lift and fit the tyres straight up.
I guess it depends on your budget

[TuffTD42]

Hi guys
I am in the process of looking at a lift of some sort, I have asked many outlets who all have an opinion on what I should or shouldn't do which has confused the sh!t out of me, so I'd like to ask yous (since you actually own trols) what you think. I want to make the lift suitable for 35" muddies.

Should I get all my lift from the suspension?
Should I mix it up with a body lift?
What are the pros and cons of each?

I am under the assumption I need a 4" lift to have room for the 35" tyres.

What has to be changed to accomadate the lift?
Besides, new starring damper, castor correctors, extended brake line. This is all im aware of at the moment.

Your help is much appreciated
Brett

What lift do you want? What sort of wheeling are you or will be doing? 35's will fit under a 2" lift. If cost is a problem 3" would be the way to go. I ran mine with a 3" lift for 5 years. Cost me $1500 all up, that was 4 x Kings springs, Lovells shocks, castor bush's & pan-hard rods. I know run a 6" lift & it cost me approx $5000. No matter what lift you have or if you run 33's or 35's the rear tyres will scrub out on the inner guard. Nothing to worry about only enough to remove the paint. You can extend the bump stops to stop this.

There is a heap of different kits about & you will get a different story from nearly every place you ring. That's what I found anyhow. For anything over 3" lift it gets expensive as you've seen by now there's a lot more involved. Best thing is to do a heap of research & don't rush in. For instance a lot of people advise of running heavy duty lower control arms (rear) but 15+mm longer. This will correct the wheel base while the vehicle is at ride height but once you flex it up the rear tyre now will be 15mm further back than normal which will result in you tearing into the rear quarter. Most one's I've seen with longer arms have had a quarter chop & the rear guard slightly stretched. I run heavy duty rear lower arms but standard length. I use adjustable uppers to aline the pinion angle & it works a treat. What I needed to correctly lift mine 6" which will be the same for 4"

Springs & shocks
Adjustable front & rear pan-hard rods (corrects track)
Drop arms ( correct Castor & pin angle)
adjustable drag link (center steering wheel)
Braided extended front & rear brake lines
extended diff breathers
Brake bias bracket
heavy duty standard length lower rear control arms
Adjustable upper rear control arms ( sets pinion angle, spring angle & shock angle)
10-15mm gearbox packer (Helps to take away the drive line vibration)

I also had to spin the tail shaft end for end to stop it from hitting on the cross member. I had to notch out the gearbox cross member so the front drive shaft had clearance.

For your question about center of gravity. I've read that body lifts raise it then I've read they help to keep it down. To find out it's limits I was thinking about this also. I've had mine on some fairly gnarly angles & am let to lay her over. Maybe tie a snatch strap to the side & to another vehicle with a slight amount of slack & drive a ramp till she wants to start to lay over then you'll know what angle you don't want to get on in the bush lol.

As far as body lifts go I'm not a fan of them & there is more to do than just simply fit blocks if you want to do it right. My mate done a body lift to his & cooked the engine due to the radiator being higher than the head & causing an air lock. Not overly common but as I seen it dose happen. So he had to re-mount the radiator 2" lower to correct it. I've read numerous story's where body's are cracking where the mounts go & also have read where a lot have no issues. So as I said do a heap of research & figure out what bests suits you.

Just my 2cents.

Cheers Jono.

[MudRunnerTD]

I ran a 2inch lift and a 2inch body lift and 35s for 7 years with no problems at all. Depending on the type of wheeling you are going to get into you will struggle to find the limitations of this setup to be honest mate. When you do, it will be time to do a heap of things to it, ie lockers, winch and "stuff".

Save your cash and whack a 2" spring and a 2" body lift mate, you will have no regrets.

You may get a little scrubbing on the back of the front guards if you are running brand new 35s with lots of tread, that was the first time i ever scrubbed the front was with brand new tyres.

[Ben-e-boy]

Hippo what do you want out of your suspension? do you just want clearence or do you want good flex aswell?

[HippoNZ]

First things first I need the clearance. At this point in time I don't realllllyyyy need the flex but will want it when I join a club. So I'd say both for the long run.
Just like to say I have really appreciated your guys help so far, you have all brought up some bloody good points that I would have missed and probably kicked a fuss when the trol won't drive! haha
I think I'm rather convinced on the idea of going 4"inch spring lift. But then again I said that 2months ago and my mind keeps changing! lol
I don't just want the lift for looks but to enhance my off road ability too.
Generally speaking I'll only have tools in the back and some fat mates lol weighing me down since being a swb and all I won't have a ton of gear.
Keep up the 2cents worth as any opinion is accepted!

cheers guys
Brett

[Ben-e-boy]

First things first I need the clearance. At this point in time I don't realllllyyyy need the flex but will want it when I join a club. So I'd say both for the long run.
Just like to say I have really appreciated your guys help so far, you have all brought up some bloody good points that I would have missed and probably kicked a fuss when the trol won't drive! haha
I think I'm rather convinced on the idea of going 4"inch spring lift. But then again I said that 2months ago and my mind keeps changing! lol
I don't just want the lift for looks but to enhance my off road ability too.
Generally speaking I'll only have tools in the back and some fat mates lol weighing me down since being a swb and all I won't have a ton of gear.
Keep up the 2cents worth as any opinion is accepted!

cheers guys
Brett

If you want both in the long run go the 4" spring, drop boxes, you can save some coin by using non adjustable gear to suit the lift (panhards etc)