Diff Drop Query

[Ldub]

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

[bobmumgaard]

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

[Ldub]

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 ?

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

[tomdietrying]

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

[SPAZZ]

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

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.