Lifts are turning out to be a PITA

[schneidermj]

Lemke,

Bummer... If you are going to go with front coilovers, I would go with Donahoe hands down. The Downey is a pig. You pay for 3"s of lift and it'll settle around 1". The Donahoe looks bomber!

Good luck with the X-REAS issue.

 

[Good Times]

Lemke,

Bummer... If you are going to go with front coilovers, I would go with Donahoe hands down. The Downey is a pig. You pay for 3"s of lift and it'll settle around 1". The Donahoe looks bomber!

Good luck with the X-REAS issue.

All suspension will settle. This means Donahoe's too. The beauty of coilovers are that you can just crank em up even more

 

[RXvedub]

Let's talk theoretically here. If a shock is over compressed or over extended, would it not break down internally and become a less effective absorber, but the top slider seal still be intact? Reason I ask is I've seen worn out shocks on old vehicles but they don't leak at the top seal.

PREMISE
A top seal would go bad if the shaft was not traveling center to the intended engineered design.

CONCLUSION
The NE relocators are not compensating for the lift with correct geometry causeing the shock shaft to bind on the top seal.

I have been meaning to put together a lift kit for mine, just waiting for money to buy tires. Aluminum spacers up front to go above the upper mount hence making a new uper mount, and shock mount relocate in the back, but the shock is at an angle, so i am trying to figure out the math on the geometry so its done right.

BTW: I use to work at SWAY A WAY doing shock assembly & rebiuld. Not a bad product, good for the money.

 

[hre814]

are you gonna contact Anthony at NE? You should see what he has to say. Maybe one of his personalities will fork over the dough to help you out.

 

[ToyotaDoodz]

PREMISE
A top seal would go bad if the shaft was not traveling center to the intended engineered design.

CONCLUSION
The NE relocators are not compensating for the lift with correct geometry causing the shock shaft to bind on the top seal.

I have been meaning to put together a lift kit for mine, just waiting for money to buy tires. Aluminum spacers up front to go above the upper mount hence making a new upper mount, and shock mount relocate in the back, but the shock is at an angle, so i am trying to figure out the math on the geometry so its done right.

BTW: I use to work at SWAY A WAY doing shock assembly & rebuild. Not a bad product, good for the money.

Thanks. Seems like this would be "easy" to test by jacking the body up in back on both sides and supporting it, then drop the springs out, mount the shocks on the relocs and then take a floor jack and move the axle up with a floor jack and observe the shocks for binding.

 

[EDGE]

Looks like NE could have a lawsuit on his hands, rush something to the customers without any long term testing and shit goes bad, who would have thought.

 

[RXvedub]

anyone have a pictue of the kit installed? or even not installed. Curious to see what the relocated look like?

 

[RL Lemke]

anyone have a pictue of the kit installed? or even not installed. Curious to see what the relocated look like?

The stock location for the bottom of the shock is on the bottom. The NE relocation bolt is on the top.

BTW: This is a photo I collected, it's not my 4Runner.

 

[RXvedub]

The stock location for the bottom of the shock is on the bottom. The NE relocation bolt is on the top.

Is the whole existing or do you have to drill it?

 

[4RunningGuy]

It's an existing hole, but by looking at that picture, you can already see that the angle of the reloc is different than the original mount.

 

[RXvedub]

It's an existing hole, but by looking at that picture, you can already see that the angle of the reloc is different than the original mount.

BINGO!

 

[4route]

the angle of the re-loc does bend the shock.

 

[4run4fun]

I seem to have confirmed the angle problem. See Yotatech thread for pics.

http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=50144&page=2&pp=25

 

[Expat]

Good photos that really tend to point the finger to the problem.

How many people are running around with this setup and don't know the damage that might be being caused to their expensive XREAS system:awais:

 

[EDGE]

Good photos that really tend to point the finger to the problem.

How many people are running around with this setup and don't know the damage that might be being caused to their expensive XREAS system:awais:

To have such an advance system on the truck made by Yamaha and it's slowly being destroyed

 

[bulldog-yota]

Yeah those sure are "killer" relocs, they kill the XREAS for sure:bash: :bash: :bash:

 

[RXvedub]

I would probably still use it, but would drill a new whole in the correct location.

 

[Bluto]

PREMISE
A top seal would go bad if the shaft was not traveling center to the intended engineered design.

CONCLUSION
The NE relocators are not compensating for the lift with correct geometry causeing the shock shaft to bind on the top seal.

I have been meaning to put together a lift kit for mine, just waiting for money to buy tires. Aluminum spacers up front to go above the upper mount hence making a new uper mount, and shock mount relocate in the back, but the shock is at an angle, so i am trying to figure out the math on the geometry so its done right.

BTW: I use to work at SWAY A WAY doing shock assembly & rebiuld. Not a bad product, good for the money.

So any coil spacer will cause a shaft to travel uncenter of the intended engineered design.

Operating the stock struts and shocks in a abnormal (higher) range has always been my concern. On my last vehicle 1.5" of drop using new coils would blow the stock struts/shocks in 30k. Coming from a car, my offroad knowledge is zero. Bulldog and Lance have pointed out problems with the bump stops & poor relocation design I never considered.

So a proper xreas lift will require a new upper mount (top spacer?) up front, rear coil spacers, well designed rear shock relocation, and larger bump stops in the rear?

 

[Bluto]

Also, as to the party line at the dealers about XREAS, consider this. OK they say the system needs to be replaced. Fine. How are "they" going to get it from the warehouse in a pressurized condition? Sure the manual says you can remove an XREAS shock with the vehicle on a lift where ALL FOUR wheels are hanging loose and each shock will seal itself. Soooooo, how do they pressurize the lines for the new shocks they're replacing? Are the lines with the reservoir pressurized to? Look at the shape and length of the lines. You can't tell me they ship them that way in a flat box the size of your vehicle. To me, there's something wrong with all the dealer's stories or they're leaving out the part where they fill the lines. It's just not logical from the standpoint of being able to replace them at all.

Can anyone with the FSM (Factory Service Manuals) read up on the XREAS?

 

[Good Times]

Can anyone with the FSM (Factory Service Manuals) read up on the XREAS?

I believe since this is a hydraulic system if the system is stable w/ no pressure applied (i.e. wheels off the ground) then you should be able to remove the shock and reinstall w/o any problems.

Once one wheel has pressure, the opposite shock on the other end will receive the pressure thus the xreas will work.

That's my take since I don't see any other way for the system to be installed in the first place. That said, you should technically be able to remove the shock and reinstall it w/o any problems (which means even to install the spacers). The only catch is that I've never done it this way and don't want to take the risk on someone else's rig when I help them install the system. If it's mine, no biggie but some friends.... eh not really.