Gen 2 Upper Wishbones Into Gen 1 Pajero For Ball Joint Flip

[paj302]

Wanting To Do A Ball Joint Flip On My Gen 1,1984 SWB Pajero.
Can I Bolt In Later Model Gen 2 Upper Wishbones.
This Way They Have Bolted Upper Ball Joints Allowing A Ball Joint Flip.
Do I Have To Change Lower Wishbones Aswell To Match Or Leave As Is .

[-Scott-]

I believe the Gen 2 wishbones are longer, so you'll need to swap both. You'll probably need new steering components too, to maintain steering geometry.

I have read (but can't confirm) that this increases track by 1.5 inches (per side?), which will be handy offroad, but will open other issues.

First, you may need to add flares to keep your tyres inside the guards (no big deal).

Second, the "powers that be" may detect the increase in track and become upset. Because it's a result of longer arms (rather than merely different hubs or different wheel offset) I would argue that (engineering wise) it's a safe modification to make, but authorities may want an engineer's report (to cover their backsides, if nobody else).

You may also like to consider what you'll do at the rear - you probably don't want different track front & rear, so you might like to factor in a rear axle swap too.

[Bitsamissin]

Yes this has been done before quite a few times.
Go on Trail Talk and do a search for exactly what you need.
The guys that have done this also mostly upgrade to the V6 front brakes abd 8" front diff.
You will need both upper & lower arms and CV's - I think the rest of the steering gear is ok.
For the brakes you need the rotor, calipers, backing plate, knuckle etc plus the master cylinder. Some have put in the V6 booster to increase braking power some have only done the master.
Very good upgrade for a Gen 1 4 cylinder - stronger CV's, much better brakes, 8" front diff so you can run a locker.
From memory you gain about 1.5" of front track overall and a tad more wheel travel due to the longer wishbones. You also get the bolt on balljoints (rather than the Gen 1 pressed in units) so you can do the flip and or spacers.

[iwan]

hi paj302,
i have a 91' lwb undergoing a conversion. i'm installing the front control arms too. perhaps you could watch my build..i post pictures of it.

check the 'gen 1 v6 3.5 tt build up' thread.

[J Top]

The arms are 1.5" longer so you must do top, bottom, axle, and outer tie rod end

[CapnCrunch]

If your intent is to crank the torsion bars, then swapping only the upper control arms is ideal. I did this swap on my 88 three years ago and it's a great mod. Swapped UCAs from a 95 into my truck and cranked the t-bars. Camber is perfect and I gained a couple inches of lift. A plus side is that because the UCAs are longer, cranking the t-bars don't put the CV axles at such an aggressive angle. I did not swap axles, tie-rods, or LCAs. I also did not flip the ball-joints.

[phat-customs]

Swapped UCAs from a 95 into my truck and cranked the t-bars. Camber is perfect and I gained a couple inches of lift.

Aprox how much lift??? IE. how much lift do U need to give the truck in order to get the camber spot on with the Gen2 UCA's???

[CapnCrunch]

I cranked until I had approximately two inches of lift, however, I did not crank for the sake of camber (mostly). I cranked the t-bars to reach the lift I desired. Camber was fine-tuned with two shims on each side. Each truck may be different. That's just what worked for me. I should also mention that I also cut-down the upper bump-stops on the UCAs half-way, to allow more room for travel. The ride is not stiff/bumpy.

[paj302]

Ended up getting set of rear standard height leaf springs from a lwb model, which gave me about 70mm lift from where it was, cut upper bump stop rubbers on upper control arms, wound it up with slight rake to suit rear, ride isn't to bad at all now, little bit firmer than what it was. Looks very good now.

[iwan]

did you happen to have the 'before' pictures? take pictures of it and post em up!