EXTREME DUTY 3" Lift Kit: 92-03 Trooper/VX

[navistar]

I lifted using most of the Indy4X products. In the front I used the ball joint spacers (+ did the flip), the low profile snubbers and poly anti sway bar bushings. In the rear I used the OME 912 coil springs, 1-inch coil spring spacers, extreme lower links, extreme upper link and the poly anti sway bar bushings and stainless brake cables all around. I cranked the torsion bars for a slightly nose-down stance.

I lifted because I have larger tires on 16-inch wheels and I just like the look of a lift on the a VX. I did do a light trim on the front cladding too.

With a 3-inch lift, the rear axle was slightly forward of the center of the rear wheel wells so I adjusted the lower links out to center the wheels perfectly then I adjusted the upper link to level the axle, taking the strain off the u-joints.

Although the links are shown painted black on the Indy4X web site they were unpainted when I received them. Same with the ball joint spacers. I had them powder coated in gloss black. Also the holes in the spacers didn't match up with the holes in the new ball joints so I had to match drill them and the opening in the spacers that goes around the top of the ball joint was too small to seat properly so I had to grind the opening larger.

The lower links have grease fittings and can only be mounted with them pointing down because there's not enough room to get to them if they're pointing upward. Pointing down leaves them completely exposed to damage from impact so I replaced them with bolts.

The upper link didn't fit into the mounting bracket on the frame without some cutting and bending of the bracket. The bearing housing of the link was just slightly too big.

These issues were the same when I purchased a second set of all these parts from Indy4X for my other VX...no paint, misaligned holes and too tight a fit for the upper link.

These parts are awesomely beefy and look terrific on the VXs but Indy4X should have taken care of these issues on their end. I also bought a set of the shock absorber extensions but I didn't use them on the stock shocks. 10,000 miles since the installations with no problems.

Navi

[Riff Raff]

HAGGISGOOD--- Ok, it's time for "Tire School-101":

You mentioned you would possibly like to go with a 35" O.D. tire. Please seriously consider this tire/wheel set-up:

TIRES: TOYO "Open Country" A/T or M/T (both tread styles are available) in size LT285/75R18 (35" O.D.). Incidentally, these tires are only 2 of 3 types in the entire world in this unique size. The 3rd tire is the Maxxis "Big Horn" M/T in this exact same size. Your only decision would be to pick the style of tread (A/T or M/T).

WHEELS: OEM Stock 18x7. Why???

A. They look great and you already own them on your VX (saves money). Don't waste money on aftermarket wheels while the OEM wheel is the best for the VX.

B. They are capable of fitting a "285" series width tire like the LT285/75R18 (35" O.D.) - Toyo "Open Country" A/T or M/T & Maxxis "Big Horn" M/T.

C. The OEM Stock 18x7 wheels have the proper offset and backspacing you will want to maintain and will greatly minimize any rubbing/trimming issues encountered by keeping the tires neatly tucked within the wheelwells.

Then, go over and see Jo in San Diego and test fit the tires and see what "needs to be done" in order for them to fit. You may find that only a moderate lift may be required, but you really won't know until you test fit the tires first. Remember, the "secret" is to use the OEM Stock 18x7 rims to minimize any fitment problems!!!

Do the Tire/Wheel set-up FIRST, and then do the Body Lift SECOND (based upon what is required to fit the new tires). Riff Raff

[pbkid]

HAGGISGOOD--- Ok, it's time for "Tire School-101":

You mentioned you would possibly like to go with a 35" O.D. tire. Please seriously consider this tire/wheel set-up:

TIRES: TOYO "Open Country" A/T or M/T (both tread styles are available) in size LT285/75R18 (35" O.D.). Incidentally, these tires are only 2 of 3 types in the entire world in this unique size. The 3rd tire is the Maxxis "Big Horn" M/T in this exact same size. Your only decision would be to pick the style of tread (A/T or M/T).

WHEELS: OEM Stock 18x7. Why???

A. They look great and you already own them on your VX (saves money). Don't waste money on aftermarket wheels while the OEM wheel is the best for the VX.

B. They are capable of fitting a "285" series width tire like the LT285/75R18 (35" O.D.) - Toyo "Open Country" A/T or M/T & Maxxis "Big Horn" M/T.

C. The OEM Stock 18x7 wheels have the proper offset and backspacing you will want to maintain and will greatly minimize any rubbing/trimming issues encountered by keeping the tires neatly tucked within the wheelwells.

Then, go over and see Jo in San Diego and test fit the tires and see what "needs to be done" in order for them to fit. You may find that only a moderate lift may be required, but you really won't know until you test fit the tires first. Remember, the "secret" is to use the OEM Stock 18x7 rims to minimize any fitment problems!!!

Do the Tire/Wheel set-up FIRST, and then do the Body Lift SECOND (based upon what is required to fit the new tires). Riff Raff

gonna have to agree to disagree just a tad bit my friend.....

while, yes, the stock wheels will solve any type of bearing problems from changing your offset...
1- it is not necessarily true that they will minimize rubbing...as long as you go VERY small in your change in offset its not going to affect your rubbing...
i have stock toyota 4runner rims on my VX and i have NO rubbing issues and the difference in offset is so small that i would put money on the fact that my bearings will last as long as anyone elses (except for maybe the difference in weight of my heavier tires)

2- the stock wheel is DEFINATELY not the best for buying tires...you will find it difficult and much more expensive to buy tires for the rare shaped VX wheel...if you go with something more generic then you are going to have a whole world of options, and they are going to be much cheaper, any size and width option you could dream up (if you change your wheels)...something more like these..
https://secure.bluehost.com/~gotword...treetlocks.gif
http://www.off-road-outdoors.com/ima...ave-teflon.jpg

3- oh and the savings of money mentioned?? if you bought one of these style of wheels, you will probably save money over keeping the stock wheels....a standard M/T style wheel for the VX wheel is going to cost you $250 per tire at the minimum....if you got something like those streetlocks (thats what jo has) then you could get tires as cheap as $50 per tire...
my point with changing away from the stock wheels is that if you go more universally sized then you are going to open up a world of options on tire sizes, widths, and styles....

[Riff Raff]

PBKID--- Hmmm, sometimes your logic is illogical. Just don't make "cent's". Doh!!!

[haggisgood]

l dub.. so your saying that the stock suspension is just as capable as the indy? We have to remember that the suspension is 9yrs old now also.. not to say its damaged.. but existing suspension prob has more of a chance of failure.. hard to imagine then putting that kind of cash into something that basically functions no better than what I have currently..

[Triathlete]

Navi,
When dealing with Matt did you mention the problems with your 1st set? Matt is great to work with and would have probably checked into it and if not fixed it would at least advise future buyers of the situation. The problem is that most of his stuff that fits the VX is actually designed for the Trooper and there is probably some small differences in the two. Matt is a very upfront kind of guy and if he was made aware of the problems would take care of you or as I said at least advise future buyers of any mods that would need to be done for proper fitment.

[Ldub]

l dub.. so your saying that the stock suspension is just as capable as the indy? We have to remember that the suspension is 9yrs old now also.. not to say its damaged.. but existing suspension prob has more of a chance of failure.. hard to imagine then putting that kind of cash into something that basically functions no better than what I have currently..

I'm saying MY stock torsion bars, shocks, etc. work just fine for me......

I don't know of anyone who has replaced their torsion bars with the H-D ones from Indy4X, & I wheel with 20-30+ of the membership here.

Don't get me wrong, I highly recommend Matt & Indy4X every chance I get, I think it only logical to support the ONLY vendor in the country who is interested in bringing a wide variety of aftermarket parts to a very small market.
I'm just sayin' ALL that stuff isn't necessary to be VERY capable off road.

[navistar]

Navi,
When dealing with Matt did you mention the problems with your 1st set? Matt is great to work with and would have probably checked into it and if not fixed it would at least advise future buyers of the situation. The problem is that most of his stuff that fits the VX is actually designed for the Trooper and there is probably some small differences in the two. Matt is a very upfront kind of guy and if he was made aware of the problems would take care of you or as I said at least advise future buyers of any mods that would need to be done for proper fitment.

I did call Matt and he hadn't heard of the misalignment issue before, was willing enough to help and asked for pictures of the completed installation. I wasn't angry or anything I just gave him a call with an FYI. I appreciate that he's got these way cool things for the VX and since I like working with my hands and mechanical things I enjoyed doing the final fitting. The ball joints I used were after market not OEM so perhaps that was part of the problem. Also, the expense of them powder coating the parts certainly would have upped their cost and maybe some people wouldn't care one way or the other that they're unpainted. This topic was an opportunity for me to describe an installation that maybe not everyone has done so I wanted to let everyone know of my difficulties.

The VX is about looks in addition to performance and the extreme lower links greatly compliment the overall appearance so even though I know there is not performance advantage it is worth the cost to me. These Indy4X extreme links should have been OEM on the VX.

Navi

[pbkid]

PBKID--- Hmmm, sometimes your logic is illogical. Just don't make "cent's". Doh!!!

how do ya figure?? to change rims to something that has more options for tires and therefore making them cheaper doesnt make sense?

[etlsport]

for offroading purposes.. i think factory VX or trooper or rodeo 16's are the way to go.. lots of options.. lots of sidewall.. factory offset

[Ldub]

l dub.. so your saying that the stock suspension is just as capable as the indy? We have to remember that the suspension is 9yrs old now also.. not to say its damaged.. but existing suspension prob has more of a chance of failure.. hard to imagine then putting that kind of cash into something that basically functions no better than what I have currently..

I'm saying MY stock torsion bars, shocks, etc. work just fine for me......

I don't know of anyone who has replaced their torsion bars with the H-D ones from Indy4X, & I wheel with 20-30+ of the membership here.

Don't get me wrong, I highly recommend Matt & Indy4X every chance I get, I think it only logical to support the ONLY vendor in the country who is interested in bringing a wide variety of aftermarket parts to a very small market.
I'm just sayin' ALL that stuff isn't necessary to be VERY capable off road.

Here is some more food for thought...

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...ht=lift+thread

[Maddawg]

HAGGISGOOD---

WHEELS: OEM Stock 18x7. Why???

A. They look great and you already own them on your VX (saves money). Don't waste money on aftermarket wheels while the OEM wheel is the best for the VX.

B. They are capable of fitting a "285" series width tire like the LT285/75R18 (35" O.D.) - Toyo "Open Country" A/T or M/T & Maxxis "Big Horn" M/T.

Not so. The recommended wheel width for the Open Country is 7.5" width for the 33's and 8.5" for the 35's.
Use this link, scroll down to the blue specifications title. Once in scroll the specs to find the tire and wheel match.

http://toyotires.com/tires/pattern/o...traction-tires

Sure, they'll fit a 7.0 wheel but good luck.