Diff Drop Query

While doing the T-Bar crank the other day I went to far and put the front up 4 inches. I corrected back down to 3 but liked the 4" height...

I was just looking at the Diff. Drop brackets on the DOR site. If you threw on 1.5" diff drops, and took the front up to 4", wouldn't your CV's be okay with the angle as it's still .5" lower than it was at the 3" height? Am I way off base here? Just a thought to eek out a bit more growth.


BTW, I put 919's in the rear and only got 2"... What gives? I hear the 912's give 2.5". I guess 1" spacers are in order.

4.0
-1.5
------
2.5 ................................ Looks right to me. :thumbup:

Has anyone done the diff drop? If so, what is your opinion on the mod?
Peace.
Tom

p.s.
What does DOR stand for? What site is that?

Tom,
I know that Alaska VX (Dustin, I believe) has done it to his.

DOR is Darlington Off Road...lots of cool stuff for Troopers & a few bits (like the IFS diff. drop) that'll cross over to the VX.

After looking at their site, it appears that you may need the dropped cross member too ???

Maybe pm Alaska VX & get the straight poop.

www.darlington-offroad.com

I did the diff drop from DOR about 8 months ago. Overall I am pleased with the results. The bracket was of very good quality and Joe of DOR was very helpful. But take into consideration he makes these to order so you will probably have to wait awhile to get it. (I waited about 5 weeks I believe).
I'm sitting about 3"-3.5" taller and the drop really sets the front axles straight, gives me much more confidence in the inherently weak front drivetrain when wheeling.
However... If you decide to do the drop, you must either have someone or someplace put the brackets on for you or you must be mechanically inclined and well tooled. They are a PITA to get on and off. You'll need to undo cv joints, ball joints, get an alignment and wrestle with 4 monstrous bolts (I ended up stripping/cutting/replacing three of them) So seriously think about how much you'll benefit from this.
And ldub is right, you do need to lower the front crossmember with this mod, I used spacers but DOR sells a modified crossmember as well.

In summary, If you want to wheel hard, then go for it. And take the oppurtunity to rebuild the CV's, Replace tie rods, change the diff oil, replace/flip/spacer ball joints and maybe even upgrade the brakes while you're in there like I did.

Also, I'd be willing to walk you through it, and I think SPAZZ, AlaskaVX, and Coachreed (if he's still around) all have experience with this and are willing to help.

Bobmumgaard

Bob,
Check me if i'm wrong on this but...
Are you kind of implying that for the same amount of effort/expense, you could do the CV grease/ re-boot a couple times or more ? :confused:

A FYI addendum, I'm pretty sure Alaska VX ended up with Randys (Coach) not quite finished VXV8. FWIW

Thanks Bob. I'll let you know if I decide to do this mod.
Peace.
Tom

trust me, I'd rather do one time of "axle bracket drop down mod" verse two times or more of replace broke cv's.
kind of a no brainer on this one :rolleyes:

But, if you would rather tear most of the axle out anyway(to do cv's) then stop just a few bolts short (cause your lazy) then do it a couple or few times then change the axle brackets out...go right ahead....your choice.

I myself would rather save my knuckles, time, cv's and $$$'s and do it once and do the axle bracket drop down mod in the first place.

Or if you have that much dough to do a few cv fixes and the bracket drop...just do an SAS. I'll give you the parts list. $2500 or less depending on how you want it done.

It may be too late to get the drop brackets from DOR. It seems that Joe is closing up shop...Read it here! . Joe did a lot for the Isuzu community and hopefully will return!

do it your self :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Triathlete

It may be too late to get the drop brackets from DOR. It seems that Joe is closing up shop...

---

Sad news, indeed :(

But it looks like Joe still has a few sets - so if you really want them, you'd better call him SOON!

208-590-0104

SPAZZ makes a good point. I did the axle drop so I wouldn't have to keep doing the CV's. Once youre in there to do the CV's the axle is only a 4 more bolts (granted they are big and tight) so you might as well go for it. Or.. once you're in there redoing the axle, you might as well grease up and boot the CV's one last time. Plus, dropping the axle in a shop is alot easier than replacing CV's on a trail 300 miles from home.

Quote:

---

A FYI addendum, I'm pretty sure Alaska VX ended up with Randys (Coach) not quite finished VXV8. FWIW

---

I can't wait to see that beast come to life one of these days.

208 is Idaho area code??? Darlington is on East coast.

But, I heard he gets the brackets modded or did from a guy here in Boise

Darlington is located in NC, but I think the number Joe uses is his cell phone, which could be an ID area code.

Hello everyone been a while. I had the drop brackets installed and while they do definately save some wear and tear on CV's I am still going through them. I am sitting about 3.5-4" higher and I have been thinking for a long time I need to back it down a bit and just trim more to make things the way I want them. If I was to do it over again I would go 2-2.5" of drop, that makes the crossmmember have to drop more as well but you will still have a TON of clearance.

Yep. like I said do em your self.

Find a good machine shop and have them do the brackets. I always thought that Darlington charged too much for his brackets especially with a core trade too. That way you can decide the amount of drop in inches you need.

An inch to an inch and a half is only what the general public may need I always thought like Alaska said more is better especially with bump stop extensions. Also, 80 percent of VX travel is down travel so more drop on the brackets the better. Especially if you start disconnecting the Sway bar, flipping the ball joints, and putting the bump stop extensions in there and other stuff like that.

I guess it's a trade-off between correct CV joint angles and ground clearance. If your torsion bars are only cranked about 3" or so, dropping the diff 1.5" lets you keep some clearance and mostly correct the joint angle. I think if you crank them all the way to 4" you might want a greater diff drop to correct for that, as even with the diff drop brackets, your angle is off by 2.5". I guess that's why you're still going through CV boots, as your axles sit at nearly the same angle as mine without the diff drop.