A visit to Mod heaven

So, the VX has been down for several weeks while I tore out the front end to get at the differential drop brackets to lift it. Long story short, a lot got done to the VX, like:

2" extended diff drop brackets
1.5" drop brackets for forward frame cross-member(under forward driveshaft)
New inner bearings and seals
Mecatech CV boots
Brand new upper and lower ball joints
Ball joint flip
Independent4x brake lines
Brake caliper speed bleeders
Energy suspension polyurethane low profile bump stops
Energy suspension polyurethane tie rod dust boots
Custom made 1 1/4" Powder coated 4340 Hex tie rods w/grease-able rod ends
Energy suspension grease-able sway-bar bushings
Re-indexed front suspension to 4" of lift
Installed Nitrided steel spring jacks in the rear for 4" of lift
Energy suspension polyurethane coil spring isolators
4 Mega 835 20" rims
4 Nitto 285 55 R20 Nitto Dune Grapplers
Aisin Locking front hubs
Brakes flushed and filled with ATE Super blue brake fluid
Front and rear differentials changes to Mobil 1 full synthetic
Oil changed to Mobil 1 synthetic
All bearings/bushings lubed with Red Line CV-2 synthetic grease
All brake parts and ball joints painted with Hi-temp red ceramic paint

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/PICT0284.JPG
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0288.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0287.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0286.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0285.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0289.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0290.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/PICT0291.JPG

Here's some pics, Sorry about the bad lighting, but it's overcast outside. The guys at the alignment shop said their machine can't hook up to that rim size with the Nittos because the bead is too tight. So tomorrow, I get to take these of, put the old ones back, have it aligned, then put these back on. So far though the ride is nice and smooth. I love being up high, and man, I thought people looked before, but now I think I might cause an accident or two. :p

Awsome Avitar! Have I had my eyes closed or did that just appear?

Oh, and your VX sounds like it'll be great, but Hey, no pictures yet, so...

Cool can't wait to see the pics. Edit... Looks Great!

Do you have the part numbers and imformation for...
Energy suspension polyurethane low profile bump stops
Energy suspension polyurethane tie rod dust boots
Energy suspension polyurethane coil spring isolators

-Dave

Hey Cyrk, the part #s are

Low profile bump stops: ENS-9-9102R

Ultra Low profile bump stops:ENS-9-9132R (I didn't use these, but probably should have due to the increased lift)

The coil spring isolators are ENS-9-6101G but unless you plan on using the type of rear lift I did, or want to replace the factory coil spring isolators I don't think you'll need them.

I don't have the part numbers on hand for the tie rod dust boots, but they are fairly universal and can be found on the Energy Suspension website. You wouldn't really use these anyways unless you have Heavy duty tie rods, since the OEM tie rod ends are sealed units.

Also, for those who might not know, the R or G at the end of the part numbers denotes R(red) or G(black).

Looks great! Did you change out the shocks as well? If so to what?

Looks good but you need bigger tires :_drool:

That's impressive!!!. Congratulations.

Love the look of the Dunes on the black rims. i hope to see your ride in person some day... extremely clean.

i'm a little green tonight.

-biju.

Maniacal!!! :) Awesome!

Sweet! Now, NO EXCUSES! When are we meeting up? And BTW, where the heck has Clint been? I'll have to PM him.

:) Bart

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And BTW, where the heck has Clint been? I'll have to PM him.

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I was about to ask you the same thing!!! I haven't seen CrnCnn around lately either. The VX is back at Tires Pls this morning getting aligned with the stock wheels, then I have to throw the Dunes back on(30 minutes). After that I'm good to meet up anytime. I'm thinking Big Pig BBQ, but wherever is fine. During the week I have all day, everyday since I work very early in the morning. I am almost thinking of dropping it down a little because at the present height, I think the wheel well clearance is a little big, but the only plus side is that I have had trim barely any cladding at all, maybe around 1/8 of an inch because it rubbed when I was turning and going up a curb.

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Looks great! Did you change out the shocks as well? If so to what?

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No shock changes, which on the rear I am slightly worried about. I am going to try and fab up some aluminum extensions for the rears, and some steel post extensions on the fronts. I had purchased some front post extensions, but they were the wrong thread pitch. I ahven't been able to find any of the correct pitch yet. I like the stock shocks, and I think there was a post I read awhile back about a way to rebuild them, or a shop that could, so I may look into that when the time comes.

I am here fellas,

Been workin a LOT. I found a road that takes you from the VC highlands all the way to Lockwood. I don’t know how bad the road is the whole way, I only went about 2 miles and felt that I should turn around cause my cell didn’t work and i was all alone. Being inexperienced in off roading i felt uncomfortable.

Well, I have a GPS now, and my full sized spare should be here Monday so I will be as good as I am gonna get for off-roading.

Bart

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Originally Posted by CrnCnn

I am here fellas,

Been workin a LOT. I found a road that takes you from the VC highlands all the way to Lockwood. I don’t know how bad the road is the whole way, I only went about 2 miles and felt that I should turn around cause my cell didn’t work and i was all alone. Being inexperienced in off roading i felt uncomfortable.

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Well I mapped it so I know it will take us all the way, i just dont know what condition the road is in.

In effor to not completely jack Ascinder's thread, I will start a new Reno meet up thread.

Mods look sweet, Ascinder!

Bart

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Originally Posted by CrnCnn

Well I mapped it so I know it will take us all the way, i just dont know what condition the road is in.

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Here's an update, as some members were wondering how this lift went for me. So far mostly nothing to complain about that was not already expected. The ride compared to stock is very slightly rougher because of the tires. The cladding only ended up having to be trimmed less than 1/4" on each front fenderwell, although it does occasionally rub when I have the wheels turned and hit a bump. I didn't have to do any hammering whatsoever to the back of the fenderwells, which I am very happy about. I do sit about 6" higher including the height from the wheels which feels completely weird at first but is easy to get used to. Handling is surprisingly the same compared to stock, and I am able to take corners as fast as a stock rig without dipping or rolling. Acceleration is a little more sluggish now, as was expected, but not too bad. The only thing I would change if I were to do it again would be using ultra-low poly bump stops up front for some added clearance. The front differential drop brackets are holding up superbly and when we took it for a little wheeling this weekend, they were solid. The rear spring jacks worked out extremely well and are totally silent. After several weeks of having them in, they haven't moved and have worked flawlessly. Now the bad part. When we went out wheeling this weekend, nfpsgaskmask, CrnCnn and I were looking at my handwork and we noticed some grease around the inner drivers side CV boot :uhohgray: . This was before we had even hit the trail. After the day was over and I got back home, I cleaned the boot off and couldn't find any tears. But when I squeezed the boot, I ended up finding some kind of tiny puncture that looked like someone had poked the boot through with a needle or tack. I don't know how something like that could have occurred, I though it might be a manufacturing defect since it was very close to the boots' mold seam, and the Mecatech boots are thinner than stock boots, but whatever the case, I will try to seal it up instead of pulling everything apart and replacing it offhand. That is the only gripe to state so far, all in all I am extremely happy with the lift.

Your diff drop brakets were custom right?
THis is something I need to do.

They were custom in the sense that I pulled them out of the VX, cut the axle mounting areas out of them, moved them down 2", made some spacer plates to fill the 2" gap, then had them welded up. In hindsight, I think I would have tried to cannibalize some off of a trooper(they look the same) so I wouldn't have had so much down time. Just cutting out each side took me a day since I used a dremel and was very careful to make the lines as straight and as thin as possible to facilitate the best welds I could. Then there is the prep for welding. I don't know what isuzu used for the paint on those things, but man was it tough to get off. It resisted abrasive wheels, sanding discs, wire wheels, and pretty much everything I could think to throw at it, it was drudgery type work indeed.