mk triton owner needs help...now with pics!

[built2redline]

hows it going guys? well after a year of my best mate pestering me to get a fourby i got myself a used mk triton( mostly for work as i didnt want to scratch the XR6 turbo any more) and as the story goes in the first 2 months i went off road 2 times with him...(and our missuses of course .. nuthin sus LOL..) once to stockton beach and once to the blue mountains to do a little rock crawling.

the triton is pretty much standard but it did ok with a scrape here and there.

the ute is a 2.8l diesel (with aftermarket turbo glide turbo) single cab chassis with a steel tray and 15" pajero alloys 31inch all terrain tyres.

im now hooked on weekend gettaways with a little rock,sand, mud action along the way.

so the mod bug has bitten and i want 33" cooper ST Ts on the triton..

so im thinking a 2" body lift will be suficcient to fit the 33s under the guards.

im thinking just body lift as idd like to keep the suspension alone to try and keep the articulation as good as possible..

also am i better off getting solid raising blocks or the poly ones?


and hw much should i pay for the coopers and also the body lift kit?

thanx in advance.

[-Scott-]

Welcome to the world of Mitsubishis.

Several things:

Not all 33s are equal - you're only talking about (approximate) outside diameter. Are you planning to acquire 16" rims, or break the law with the factory 15" rims?

Don't rule out the suspension lift. You don't need to go ultra radical, and by cranking the torsion bars you gain bump travel (for hitting rocks) at the expense of droop travel (dropping into pot holes.) Total travel from top to bottom (and hence "articulation") doesn't change. By trimming droop stops (the UPPER ones) you can regain some of your droop travel AND improve your articulation. (But it's IFS, so articulation will still suck.)

A Pajero with 2.8 diesel & suspension lift can handle 33s without much trouble. I'd recommend suspension lift and 33's to see if the body lift is required.

If you decide to proceed with the body lift, I personally would NEVER use plastic - of any description. (I'm an engineer, I understand that not all plastics are equal. ) Go with alloy blocks and nobody can argue. Whatever the material, don't use blocks 50mm in diameter - get the 65mm blocks for the larger surface area, and reduced possibility of cracking the floor.

Prices? My STTs were around $320 each. Next time, I'll be looking at Mickey Thompson MTZ too. I bought my body lift blocks second hand, so I can't help there.

Cheers,

Scott

[built2redline]

thanks for the great responce Scott, i was thinking about breaking the law with the 15" , is this something thats policed or something the cops rarely look at?!

i will look at suspension lift but i thought that the body lift may be the way to go before the suspension lift. and yeah my mate warned me about the plastic/nolathane blocks as he had previously used them and they sagged/cracked under the load of the cab.. expecially a no no for the tray if you carry weight.

how hard is the body lift to do yourself?..im pretty mechanicaly minded and have a decent array of tools, have done engine swaps, changed clutches and diffs.

[built2redline]

shopping around for prices, the coopers stt- $318 each fitted, MTz $310 each fitted...

decisions decisions...

now how much road noise do these tyres pump out? and how do they handle in the wet tarmac?..obviously very different to the ATs that im running at the moment.

[Vineboy]

GO the MK's!

[built2redline]

here are some pics of the mk before the body lift and 31s,, yeah i got the 31s instead of the 33s.. gotta do susp lift before im ready to tackle 33s as well as the need for new wheels as the pajero rims are too narrow forthe 12.5" wide STTs

[built2redline]

and here it is with the body lift and the coopers



...

now in this stance the front drivers side wheel wont travel up into the guard any higher, yet its not hitting the bumpstop(still 2" of available travel) so what could be stopping it? the sway bar?

[-Scott-]

now in this stance the front drivers side wheel wont travel up into the guard any higher, yet its not hitting the bumpstop(still 2" of available travel) so what could be stopping it? the sway bar?

Sort of.

Your suspension isn't at full travel because there's not enough weight over that wheel (yes, I know, stating the obvious... ) In other words, vehicle weight has been transferred to the other wheels, and the sway bar has contributed to that. In other off-road situations (such as "crossed up") I expect you'll find you can hit your bump stop on one side, and droop stops on the other.

However, as the other front wheel isn't yet off the ground, I wouldn't be too concerned about your sway bar. I'd be more concerned that the rear driver's side wheel appears to be barely touching the ground, if at all - I believe improving that situation will give you a better all-round off-road improvement (at this stage) than anything you do to your front sway bar.

Cheers,

Scott

[built2redline]

i gotcha!... so i should worry about the wheel thats up in the air and not the ones touching the ground!.... sorry im new to 4X4. ..

ok so if i get some drop shackles for the back leafs i should get more travel out of the rear, and get the rear to sit flat(ish) on the ground

[Gee]

Looks good. Any rubbing with the 33's? How difficult was the body lift to put in. I've been thinking about doing this to my MK for ages but haven't because I don't want to spend time and money stuffing around to fix the problems that a bodylift creates.

[built2redline]

the body lift was easy as! as long as you have a rattle gun and a trolley jack, and the tyres are 31s unfortunately as the 33s had no chance of fitting on without chopping out some of the guards..

i gotta get a sus. lift and get wider rims to fit the 33s