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lifting a gq

Tech Talk for Nissan owners.

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rOd
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Post by rOd »

Would not having sway bars create any hassles come rego time?
If not and the road handling isnt to woeful, then I think Ill be pissing those off as well. :lol:

Cheers

Rod
Dont expect mere proof to sway my opinion.
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Post by hottiemonster »

am i able to fit bigger casters to suit a six inch even if i get a 3" casue i was going to get bigger when more funds are available, or should i just get the right one that i need now
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Post by getdirty »

Trust me, don't bother going any higher than 3"-4" springs, there is no need and it just becomes more unstable......
Just get some ARB/OME castor bushes thrown in when you do it.....
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Post by hottiemonster »

yeah, but if later on a stick 2" body i will be able to fit 35" yeah, also with 3-4" lift i will be able to fit 33" tyres but what about 12.5 wide or 11.5 rather than the standard 10.5 whch i have now
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Post by bogged »

rOd wrote:Would not having sway bars create any hassles come rego time?
If not and the road handling isnt to woeful, then I think Ill be pissing those off as well. :lol:

Cheers

Rod


My car was engineered without them, passed the swerve test...

Try them yourself on a back road before you decide to leave them off fulltime.
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Post by bogged »

getdirty wrote:Trust me, don't bother going any higher than 3"-4" springs, there is no need and it just becomes more unstable......
Just get some ARB/OME castor bushes thrown in when you do it.....



Good advice dude. You just dont need it.. Cheezy had 39s with 4in sus and 2 in body and bit of trimming....

Then you said. wrote:yeah, but if later on a stick 2" body i will be able to fit 35" yeah, also with 3-4" lift i will be able to fit 33" tyres but what about 12.5 wide or 11.5 rather than the standard 10.5 whch i have now.....


Body lifts are a PITA (YMMV) my car has more bangs and clunks than ever since putting mine in.

3inch lift you will run 33x12.5x15
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A1
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Post by A1 »

bogged wrote:
getdirty wrote:Trust me, don't bother going any higher than 3"-4" springs, there is no need and it just becomes more unstable......
Just get some ARB/OME castor bushes thrown in when you do it.....



Good advice dude. You just dont need it.. Cheezy had 39s with 4in sus and 2 in body and bit of trimming....




Yeah but with how low these trucks are you are gunna be draggin ya guts everywhere!!!!!!

wen i fitted my 37"s the other day with bout 3 1/2 springs (And 2" body)
I still only had bout 500mm under the chassis rails. llllllllloooooooowwwww wen driven big rocks ;)


My Opinion anyway

I will have 5" springs here soon
Just widen track and all is honky dory :!:
[b][i] DAN [/i] [/b]


:silly:
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Post by turps »

I would start off with a 2"body lift and a 2" susp lift. The susp lift is coils and shocks nothing else is required (this is what I have know). A mate had a petrol auto SWB (same lenght tail shaft as a manual) and he could only lift it a little bit as the tail shaft vibrated.

With this set up you can run 35" tires, yes they will rub. But then again I know of a swb with 6" susp lift (lots of money spent to make it work) and he could get his spare 31's to rub (it ran 35's normaly).

As has been mention before think about what the truck is really going to be used for and whats it going to be driven on. If it's to drive the hard stuff, then yes modded. Some things can be added now like adjustible panhard rods and trailing arms. But big caster plates require the big lift to go with it. Some things that work for the big lifts dont work on small lifts.
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Post by getdirty »

A1MAV wrote:Yeah but with how low these trucks are you are gunna be draggin ya guts everywhere!!!!!!

wen i fitted my 37"s the other day with bout 3 1/2 springs (And 2" body)
I still only had bout 500mm under the chassis rails. llllllllloooooooowwwww wen driven big rocks ;)


rocks??? what are rocks????

Sydney cars vs Melbourne cars very different setups..... oh how we laugh at these huge lifted trucks...... they could never fit under trees up bush......

I bought mine from Sydney..... down here it has had the detroit removed, ranchos removed, dropped a bit (still needs more), dual cardon removed, the list goes on,... and it still has reminants of a sydney truck..... but is 100% better off road......
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Post by Wendle »

getdirty wrote:Sydney cars vs Melbourne cars very different setups..... oh how we laugh at these huge lifted trucks...... they could never fit under trees up bush......
.


This is so true. You don't even have to go as far as sydney, 500km north will show up the difference.
My truck in melbourne would be sliding all over the place, falling into trees, probably wouldn't fit anywhere, and wouldn't have enough anti-squat to climb anything. There is no way it would even be water resistant enough for all that mud.
Your truck up here would probably spend all its time sitting on it's belly and getting snatched off, and would be bouncing around like a demented bunny on the vertical stuff.
Like the suzuki guys, who have 36's and stuff in Vic, their trucks are ultra-reliable for the conditions down there, but would be busted up in 10 minutes further north.
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Post by getdirty »

Wendle wrote: bouncing around like a demented bunny on the vertical stuff.


:rofl: i love it....... :rofl:

Its true, to be honest I have no idea at all how you guys drive some of the stuff you do....... would actually love to come up for a weekend and sit passenger.........
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Post by Wendle »

come up for a drive one weekend...
it's not that far.. up the highway till the tumut/adelong turnoff, then probably close to 2 hours through the mountains..
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Post by getdirty »

Book me in! Let me know when you've got a weekend planned.....
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Post by Wendle »

no worries, It is about time to have another gathering, I think.. Maybe just into the new year, as I know a lot of people (including myself) are in the middle of building/updating/repairing.....
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Post by Area54 »

With the height of lift discussed here, I wouldn't bother taking the swaybar off the rear. It is no hindrance to the flex of the rear at all, and the rear swaybar makes for a better balanced (front to rear flex bias) vehicle, as the torsion from the rear swaybar can exert more pressure on the front to flex. I have the rear swaybar on my 6 inch wagon and have no problems at all with full compression and extension to the full length of the shocks (matched to the spring) when crossed up or on the ramp. The rear swaybar will help firm up the rear on the road, so just leave the thing on, don't get caught up in the flex hype of removing the swaybars for more flex - it's not true.
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Post by hottiemonster »

so take the rear front swaybar off and leave the rear on? i was thinking that easily fitting 33s on 4" lift would u be able to run 34JT2's, but then again i need to worry about the vibration stuff. Say for example i get the 4" big balls kit on my SWB 92 mav, i would not get the vibration? also is it a good idea to drop the gearbox mount thing? i got some pics of a SWB patrol i took today out the front on ARB in richmond. very nice!
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Post by hottiemonster »

Nissan Patrol SWB
4" suspension lift
70mm body
35 mud terrains
front + rear lockers
custom lower arms
custom panhard rods
diff ratios (not standard)


also he has got some extention things under the gearbox protection. is that what you mean by dropping the gearbox crossmember from an earlier post. it has been dropped about 15mm
Last edited by hottiemonster on Thu Nov 27, 2003 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by hottiemonster »

more pics

i would love to have something like this but too much $$$ for a full time student. but eventually. lol.
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Post by bogged »

hottiemonster wrote:so take the rear front swaybar off and leave the rear on? i was thinking that easily fitting 33s on 4" lift would u be able to run 34JT2's, but then again i need to worry about the vibration stuff. Say for example i get the 4" big balls kit on my SWB 92 mav, i would not get the vibration? also is it a good idea to drop the gearbox mount thing? i got some pics of a SWB patrol i took today out the front on ARB in richmond. very nice!



Fuck off both swaybars.

There is no guarentee on the viabrations with any kit.... You might get em, you might not.
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Post by hottiemonster »

ok, so say i get vibrations with a 4" lift, what would need to be done to stop them? Are the vibrations bad for the car when you are driving at high/low speed? or is it easier to break things with these vibrations off road? Remember it is a SWB
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Post by Area54 »

You can buy gearbox packers from ARB, come in 5mm thicknesses (4 in a pack, 2 per side, including bolts in the kit) another thing to look at is raising the engine. I know quite a few guys that have done this with success. This will alleviate the angle on the U joint at the transfer case end on the rear shaft, creates a bit more angle on the front shaft U joint, but it's a compromise.
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Post by RoldIT »

hottiemonster wrote:... on 4" lift would u be able to run 34JT2's ...


You can run JT2's with 2" lift with only a bit of rubbing on the factory flares ...
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Post by hottiemonster »

but how much would it cost to lift the engine?
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Post by hottiemonster »

i think i might head off to pro comp tires posibly soon and have another chat about the whole thing. does anyone know if they have a ramp at the narre warren store? It seems to be a huge issue and all the information is really helpful, so keep sending it in. Cause in the end i just wanna know what exact work would need to be done to run 33's with lots of travel casue thats what i do. or get 34's Jungle trekkers.

Am i right to say that i will be able to run 34's with 3" suspension with dropping the gearbox cross member. and removing the stableisers, and adjusting the caster bushes. i want to do NO trimming at this stage and i got want them to rub (well hardly any).

THings like panhard rods will wait to a have some more funds. or would 4" be the way to go? also i need to know how much it would be to raise the engine casue i think it would be a mammoth job! and costly.

What about adjusting the uni joints (is that what they are) to get the better angles to improve the vibration concern? Also is this a costly thing?

Basically it all comes down to how much money all this is gonna cost. as being a student i want a very capable off road vehicle for now.

In the future will come a front locker and winch but for now it is suspension and tyres.
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Post by Red Rover »

KEEP SWAY BARS ON! they are very doey on road without them (in my opinion having done that) Just lenthen the sway bar rods and it will make a difference - did on mine with a 4" lift ( no body lift ). MMMM vibration, mine had heaps and went to 3 balancing mobs who knew less than me! I put the packers in for the gearbox and made it worse (after so called expert advice) TRUE. When you lift a gq the pinion rolls upand makes the tailshaft too straight. I chucked the packers and shortened the top arms on the rear and GOOONNNEE no vibration. Don't know on a shorty though. A mate had one with 4" lift 35 simex - did good wheel stands on hills up here in QLD - now owns a ute
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Post by Area54 »

You can make the tyres fit inside the guards and not scrub by extending your bumpstops. I extended mine about 150mm to fit JT2s, had some 50x25 shaped to match the curved profile of the bumpstop chassis mount, then made the extension from 75x50, cut the steel bolting tabs off the rubber mount and welded the whole shebang together, then bolted them on using the factory threads in the chassis - can post some pics if you like.
Cost very little (I think they were offcuts from another project).

One of the things about modding your fourby to fit a certain size tyre or whatever is the amount of little things involved. A lot of shops either will not know about them or will not want to know about them as is it too much work for them to be able to charge out for. Certain mods as discussed on this and other forums are quite often done by the owners of the vehicles themselves, not put into a shop to have them done. This is the reason why a lot of things are not available 'off the shelf' and is the reason why most serious 4wd drivers do the mods themselves. Knowledge is power, and the more you learn the better off you will be. The point to this is that mods don't have to be expensive, you can save a whole heap of money by doing as much of the work your self, especially as you are on a tight budget (aren't we all). Don't be afraid to get dirty, you will have a ball building your rig yourself and also have a better understanding of it, and save a heap of buck$ in the process.
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Post by getdirty »

hottiemonster wrote:i got some pics of a SWB patrol i took today out the front on ARB in richmond. very nice!


A mate of mines truck, just bought it from Shitney as a truck to do some comps in (he's the dude that is selling the WHTEGU on 37's)....... Far too tall though, i believe its getting lowered soon and getting the motor injected and turbo'd..............

Where about do you live dude? May I suggest you pop down and see Sandy at Australian 4wd Specialist in Bayswater. Only because there is generally about 4+ GQ shorties there at a time all on 35's. You can have a look at all of them.
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Post by RoldIT »

Dude, just do it. There is nothing to say you have to do it all at once. Every tyre, lift, truck, rim combination is always slightly different and gunna react slightly different after mods.

Get yourself a set of 15"x8" ROH Trak II rims (safe rim/offset to start with), put some tyres on them and bolt the bad boyz on. Work out how high you gotta go (for 33" you can prob start with 2" lift minimum, 3" or 4" if you wanna run bigger later) and go buy some springs (only gunna set you back about $400 all round) and drive it. You can sort out shocker length later.

If it wanders, sort out your castor then. If it vibrates, try some of the cheaper fixes first (ie gearbox packers, etc) and then if it's still not happening, take it to someone like Cheezy or Sandy Bowman who have both run GQ's and Mavs since JC was a boy, both street and comp. They're are both genuine blokes who will be glad to steer you in the right direction.

Have fun ... :D
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Post by hottiemonster »

getdirty wrote:
hottiemonster wrote:i got some pics of a SWB patrol i took today out the front on ARB in richmond. very nice!


A mate of mines truck, just bought it from Shitney as a truck to do some comps in (he's the dude that is selling the WHTEGU on 37's)....... Far too tall though, i believe its getting lowered soon and getting the motor injected and turbo'd..............

Where about do you live dude? May I suggest you pop down and see Sandy at Australian 4wd Specialist in Bayswater. Only because there is generally about 4+ GQ shorties there at a time all on 35's. You can have a look at all of them.


i live in Berwick victoria. how far would bayswater be? i have heard of it but have no idea of where it is.
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Post by hottiemonster »

i need to get the suspension first casue there is no way of fitting big tyres really. well maybe with lots of rub.

then i will sort out the suspension department if it vibrates. whilst still runnning 31's until i get some more funds together for the 33s or 34s also gettings new tyres. if i get the JT2s in what ever size i will get the tyrelock systems what go around the rim on the inside of the tyres. i think they were 35 each at pro comp.

so if i have a few hasles i will be running 3-4" suspension lift with 31's for a while.

i just dont know whether to go for 3 or 4 inch becasue eventually i wanna run 35's and if i get 4" i can just slap the body lift on and be sweet with em
whilst also changing diff ratios :(
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