?'s before I do my first lift

[ILVH8RS]

So I am new to the off road scene. I've done plenty of suspension work but I've never done a full on lift kit. I am planning on installing the 4crawler spring spacers and new coil springs in the rear, and the 4crawler ball joint blocks up front. I know their sight talks about the panhard bar drop brackets and possibly longer rear shocks. But I won't know if i need these until after I install the new coils/spacers which kinda sucks. Also, it doesn't say much about what the front end lift will impact other than allowing 33's easier. And I hope I don't sound like a window licker here but I've been told that I may need to add brackets to adjust the dif and sway bar to account for the angle changes??? Again, I'm new to this so lets keep the laughter at a minimum if you please. Any assistance on this is appreciated guys. I'm going to do the install myself and am pretty confident I can handle it but any "oh by the way's" or "Watch out for" or "oh S***'s" you may have had that can help, by all means please share....thanks again all.

 

[Dinardy]

So I am new to the off road scene. I've done plenty of suspension work but I've never done a full on lift kit. I am planning on installing the 4crawler spring spacers and new coil springs in the rear, and the 4crawler ball joint blocks up front. I know their sight talks about the panhard bar drop brackets and possibly longer rear shocks. But I won't know if i need these until after I install the new coils/spacers which kinda sucks. Also, it doesn't say much about what the front end lift will impact other than allowing 33's easier. And I hope I don't sound like a window licker here but I've been told that I may need to add brackets to adjust the dif and sway bar to account for the angle changes??? Again, I'm new to this so lets keep the laughter at a minimum if you please. Any assistance on this is appreciated guys. I'm going to do the install myself and am pretty confident I can handle it but any "oh by the way's" or "Watch out for" or "oh S***'s" you may have had that can help, by all means please share....thanks again all.

If your CV axles are shot it may be a good time to replace those, along with installing manual hubs if you go that route.

The BJ spacers are a simple install, you do have to grind quite a bit of material from the upper a-arm, each side took me about 10min.

You will probably be OK without the drop brackets. It's always good to inspect your work, if you feel that the CV angle is too severe, or that your rear axle is not tracking dead center it may be a good idea to order those parts. I installed manual hubs along with the new CV axles to avoid premature wear, especially with the BJ spacers and cranked torsion bars.

I just used a panhard drop with my LC coils and made a LPSV bracket. I didn't purchase a diff drop, I have heard mixed reviews on them.

 

[92-SR5]

If you are getting lift out of it, a panhard bracket will be need to compensate for the lift. When I lifted my IFS, I used a diff drop and never had any issues. I probably could have gotten away without the diff drop, but I did not want to take any chances because I was locked. If you are going over 4" of lift I would highly suggest an extended brake line.

 

[crash813]

+1 on the grinding for the BJ spacers, except it might be a bigger PITA then you expect. A small grinder or cutter would probably make quick work but I had a bigger saw and a 4 1/2 grinder, so it was a little more frustrating but just stay with it. I did the diff drop just because I feel the CV's are the weakest point in the system, keeping them at extreme angles is just going to make it that much worse. I'm no way an expect but seems logically enough to justify the $20 or so. Plan to replace the front shocks with longer ones. You can get away with the stock length but you'll hit on extension and sooner or later, you'll need to. Also, might be a good time to inspect the upper bj. If they need to be replaced, go ahead and get them while taking everything apart. Can't help you on that fancy smancy rear end you got. Only low tech stuff on this rig! :naughty:

 

[ILVH8RS]

Really appreciate the responses guys. I forgot to mention I guess that i do already have manual hubs. And do plan on replacing the ball joints with the spacers. From what I can find, with new OEM coils, the 4crawler spacers and the ball joint spacers up front I don't THINK I will need new shocks but we'll see once everything is installed. Don't want to prematurely order the panhard bracket and either not need it or get the wrong size. Also, I will probably go ahead and do the diff drop to be safe as the CV's are almost brand new and would like to keep them as long as possible. Didn't see anyone mention the Sway bar brackets though....is this something I shouldn't bother with/worry about? Thanks again everyone.

 

[reallifedog]

I am by no means an expert ton the subject but I have been looking deeply into doing the same lift you are talking about. Sway bar brackets seem to be subjective. I am not planning on changing them.

 

[TMAC110]

Really appreciate the responses guys. I forgot to mention I guess that i do already have manual hubs. And do plan on replacing the ball joints with the spacers. From what I can find, with new OEM coils, the 4crawler spacers and the ball joint spacers up front I don't THINK I will need new shocks but we'll see once everything is installed. Don't want to prematurely order the panhard bracket and either not need it or get the wrong size. Also, I will probably go ahead and do the diff drop to be safe as the CV's are almost brand new and would like to keep them as long as possible. Didn't see anyone mention the Sway bar brackets though....is this something I shouldn't bother with/worry about? Thanks again everyone.

When I did my lift with the 4crawler spacers I also did the diff drop to ease up the angle on my CV's. In my case with the diff drop I definitely needed the sway bar drop kit too to account for the diff drop otherwise the diff would have hit the sway bar.