Body lift

[albey]

Hi Guys,
I'm looking to put a 2" bodylift into a NK 96 model paj. Just some basic info. are there any dramas with doin this? What needs to be extended, modified etc.? How many body blocks are required? Who in Sydney sells em'? I can't really see it happening but does it affect the drivability of the vehcile?
Any info would be appreciated, Thanks.

[pjb]

Can't speak for your NK, but I recently did a 40mm lift on my SWB NJ.
It was all pretty easy actually. I've had more trouble changing the diff oil.

Popped the front and rear bumpers off.
Peeled back parts of the carpet to get to the other body mount bolts.
Undid the fuel filler hose bracket.
Jacked the body slowly, one whole side of the body at a time.
Reshaped the brake lines slightly (by hand).
Put the (eight) blocks in, and longer bolts.
Extended the fuel filler hose bracket slightly.
Need to do a little trimming on the interior plastic around the T/C lever so it can still get into 2H. I moved the whole panel back by about 10 mm.
Refit stuff, done.

Had a bit of welding done to lift the bumpers too, but this isn't essential.
Top radiator hose gets a little stretched. Would be well worth lowering the radiator, but I haven't got round to doing this yet.

Much more than 40 mm of lift, I'd say that you would start having to get quite busy chopping the centre console to get the lever into 2H, and you would definitely want to lower your radiator at the same time. I found 40 mm more than enough to fit 33x12.5".

Can't really notice any difference in drivability. Maybe the steering shaft feels a bit funny, but I suspect I just have worn uni-joints on my steering shaft. It's a lot easier to clean the mud off from underneith though!

I bought the blocks and bolts in a kit from a guy selling them on trademe here in NZ. You could probably have them shipped if you can't find them locally.

[albey]

Can't speak for your NK, but I recently did a 40mm lift on my SWB NJ.
It was all pretty easy actually. I've had more trouble changing the diff oil.

Popped the front and rear bumpers off.
Peeled back parts of the carpet to get to the other body mount bolts.
Undid the fuel filler hose bracket.
Jacked the body slowly, one whole side of the body at a time.
Reshaped the brake lines slightly (by hand).
Put the (eight) blocks in, and longer bolts.
Extended the fuel filler hose bracket slightly.
Need to do a little trimming on the interior plastic around the T/C lever so it can still get into 2H. I moved the whole panel back by about 10 mm.
Refit stuff, done.

Had a bit of welding done to lift the bumpers too, but this isn't essential.
Top radiator hose gets a little stretched. Would be well worth lowering the radiator, but I haven't got round to doing this yet.

Much more than 40 mm of lift, I'd say that you would start having to get quite busy chopping the centre console to get the lever into 2H, and you would definitely want to lower your radiator at the same time. I found 40 mm more than enough to fit 33x12.5".

Can't really notice any difference in drivability. Maybe the steering shaft feels a bit funny, but I suspect I just have worn uni-joints on my steering shaft. It's a lot easier to clean the mud off from underneith though!

I bought the blocks and bolts in a kit from a guy selling them on trademe here in NZ. You could probably have them shipped if you can't find them locally.

Thanks PJB i only want to put 31s on and a little more clearance. Have you done anything with your torsion bar to raise the front up

[-Scott-]

Thanks PJB i only want to put 31s on and a little more clearance. Have you done anything with your torsion bar to raise the front up

31s? That was stock size for NL, and your NK should have the same clearances. With the "factory body lift" you're already sitting higher on the chassis than NH / some NJ, and can usually fit 33s.

If you only want 31s you probably don't tackle terrain that needs a body lift. Wait until you need bigger than 31s, then decide if you need a body lift.

[DUDELUX]

Hey Mark, I thought it was just a family bus , seriously though, mrs ds pajero had 235/75 x 15s on it and I just fitted my 31s on 15x7 sunnys(the ones off my lux) to it, no rubbing anywhere, just stick out of the guards. Looks good though
You should have no dramas fitting 31s mate

tony

[albey]

Thanks PJB i only want to put 31s on and a little more clearance. Have you done anything with your torsion bar to raise the front up

31s? That was stock size for NL, and your NK should have the same clearances. With the "factory body lift" you're already sitting higher on the chassis than NH / some NJ, and can usually fit 33s.

If you only want 31s you probably don't tackle terrain that needs a body lift. Wait until you need bigger than 31s, then decide if you need a body lift.

The reason i don't want to go any bigger than 31's is firstly that as dudelux said it's the family wagon and secondly i don't want to lose any power, it pulls nicely and i want to keep it like that! What about raising the front end? I hate how it sits low at the front what were bitsoshiti thinkin? I would like to get the front end up a little bit to try and level the thing out, i was told to wind up the torsion bars and cut the bump stops but i wanna try not to do any bodgey shit! What are your thoughts Scott you seem to know a bit about them.

[NJV6]

What about raising the front end? I hate how it sits low at the front what were bitsoshiti thinkin?

And how is that Mitsi's fault? No doubt you are a big saggy 13 years later too!

To level the front, just wind the torsion bars up. There are heaps of threads on here on how to do it if you do a Search!

You won't need to cut anything to match the height of the rear.

Glen

[-Scott-]

What about raising the front end? I hate how it sits low at the front what were bitsoshiti thinkin?

And how is that Mitsi's fault? No doubt you are a big saggy 13 years later too!

To level the front, just wind the torsion bars up. There are heaps of threads on here on how to do it if you do a Search!

You won't need to cut anything to match the height of the rear.

Glen

Glen's right - you shouldn't have to cut anything to level out the car, unless you have aftermarket rear springs? NH were noticeably down at the front ex-factory, but Mitsubishi re-jigged the front suspension for NJ onwards.

Stock arrangement has equal spacing to upper and lower suspension stops. Most adjust the torsion bars so that the gap to the upper stops (which limit droop travel) is half the gap to the bottom (bump) stops.

Note that after you've done this you'll need a decent wheel alignment, which should require fitting of shims to correct camber. Take it to a suspension specialist - there are too many tyre sellers who wouldn't know what to do.

[albey]

As far as i know all bitsoshiti's are lower at the front, when i bought mine off an old fellow he used to tow a caravan so he had the suspension replaced with heavy duty units. But unfortunatly it is still lower at the front. I just want it to sit level like a normal 4WD (same amount of clearance front and rear around the tyre). A mate explained to me who mind you used to work in a suspension shop that by adjusting the torsion bars decreases the clearance between wishbone and bumpstop so if i want the clearance i would need to cut the stops in half so there is still some rubber. That's why i mentioned about the cutting of bumpstops. Is there an custom torsion bar that would correct this, my mate didn't seem to think there was but he has been out of the game for a while.

[pjb]

The torsion bars you already have should do just fine.
There is a lever on the rear end of the torsion bar with an adjusting nut/bolt at the end. This is used to set the static ride height.
Take note of the space between the bumpstop and bracket (the one the stops the wheel drooping too far) before you start. You can't go up very much before you run out of downwards travel.

[Guy]

As far as i know all bitsoshiti's are lower at the front, when i bought mine off an old fellow he used to tow a caravan so he had the suspension replaced with heavy duty units. But unfortunatly it is still lower at the front. I just want it to sit level like a normal 4WD (same amount of clearance front and rear around the tyre). A mate explained to me who mind you used to work in a suspension shop that by adjusting the torsion bars decreases the clearance between wishbone and bumpstop so if i want the clearance i would need to cut the stops in half so there is still some rubber. That's why i mentioned about the cutting of bumpstops. Is there an custom torsion bar that would correct this, my mate didn't seem to think there was but he has been out of the game for a while.

You will find that you have little compression travel at the moment and mostly droop (25% up 75% down) wind the the bars up a bit to make it about 50/50 you will find it sits level and is alot more comfortable on fast dirt etc as you have some room for the suspension to compress before whacking the bumpstops.

You will not get any extra flex by doing this just a better balance of flex in the front end.

You can cut the bumpstops if you like I have not yet found a need for this .. but I may add a bit more lift to the front over the chrissie break as i have some patrol coils to pop in the rear to lift the back end up a bit when loaded down...

[chepercam]

I have a Gen 2. Lifted 1.5" on the front with Old Man Emu torsion bars. I have 32" x 11.5" on standard wheels and I have some scrubbing at steering locks.

I am considering a body lift since I have learned from the forum that there is not so much to do on the front.

The model of my car is a gen 2 but it have bow springs at the rear axle instead of coils. Is 2dr and have a 3.0 V6 petrol engine. Will this proceedure described above apply for my car?

This is the model being manufactured in Colombia, still today!. mine was manufactured on 2008, it have only 40.000kms.