Suspension a waste of money?

[Trublusk8er]

OK i may be WAY off here being a newbie and all BUT. I have been thinking alot about getting more clearence for my terrano. Just the ussual body lifts, suspension lifts or bigger tyres.
So i finally decided to get some 31s and a 2inch spension lift because a body lift doesnt give u more clearence.
But then i thought that a suspension lift doesnt give any clearence either beacuse it may raise the body and the chasie but it doesnt raise the diff. So that same rutted track you got stuck on without the lift will still stuff you up with the lift.
Am i way off track. Please tell me i am beacause otherwise it seems to me that a body lift is as good as a suspension beacause it still gives you room for bigger tyres and is ALOT cheaper

[Slunnie]

If the world was only ruts, and assuming your chassis is higher than your axles then you may be right...... but its not.

Crest a hill, drive a step, drop off a ledge, drive over a log, drive over a rock etc and you'll need chassis clearance.

[JemmyBubbles]

Well actually both are redundant I suppose.

The most effective is to cut your gaurds to fit bigger tyres with almost standard suspension and armour up to buggery... or let the tyres do the cutting for you

Be conscious of your diff pumpkins etc when driving. I can get to places where guys with 35's get to on my 33's but have to be really carefull not to get hung up on my pumpkins..

On the same hand you need clearance between chassis rails and ground/obstacles or that also equals no go anywhere. So if anything body lifts are useless.

Just remember that the sole purpose of a suspension lift is only to fit bigger rubber and a bit of clearance. Stock suspension is generally articulate enough. (I know aesthetics do come into it as well... but here at outerlimits we don't talk about things like that ).

[saigo]

Both lifts help with bigger tyres, a suspension lift will help with approach/ departure angles and also your height clearence which allows you to get over bigger obsticles. A body lift will also help and prevent damage to your Vechicle body you can then raise stuff like exhaust, gas tank etc, Preventing further damage, You can also get a beta look at the girls in the Barina beside you

[Slunnie]

Well actually both are redundant I suppose.

The most effective is to cut your gaurds to fit bigger tyres with almost standard suspension and armour up to buggery... or let the tyres do the cutting for you

Be conscious of your diff pumpkins etc when driving. I can get to places where guys with 35's get to on my 33's but have to be really carefull not to get hung up on my pumpkins..

On the same hand you need clearance between chassis rails and ground/obstacles or that also equals no go anywhere. So if anything body lifts are useless.

Just remember that the sole purpose of a suspension lift is only to fit bigger rubber and a bit of clearance. Stock suspension is generally articulate enough. (I know aesthetics do come into it as well... but here at outerlimits we don't talk about things like that ).

I disagree with a lot of this.

For most trucks, more lift will help to stop it from grounding. Then again, I guess it depends on what type of stuff you drive. If you're going to go to the effort to cut guards, then I'd bet you will need more than the factory ride height. The role of suspension isn't necessarily to fit bigger tyres though, something which it will allow, but its to give that chassis to ground clearance also. Check the Patrols running 7" lifts Good luck trying to get a stocker to articulate like that also. Body lifts role generally though is to give tyre room, especially if you dont want to do big suspension mods. For some trucks it'll give engine transplant room also.

[roverrat]

slunnie I tend to agree with your sentiments however:

lets go back to very basics here.

1. The only way to raise diff/axle clearance is bigger rubber. (With the exclusion of booty fabbing a hummer type axle setup).

2. To achieve this we need susp/body lift mods and/or trimming of bodywork to get the 'required result'.

3. To keep all 4 wheeels on the ground most of the time we need flexy suspension. After all whats the use of a 7" lift if it wont flex

4. All work/effort/dollars is still wasted in the traction department if all four wheels don't recieve equal traction all the time hence lockers.

5. To return the vehicle to original (or better) driveability we need to then look at diff/trans ratios to restore lost reductions.

You see its called chasing your tail..... You mod one thing you may well have to mod another to compensate.

Best advise I can give is decide exactly what you want from your 4b and go from there.

Oh yeah mods will only get you so far, driver skill and the ability to pick a correct line is more important IMHO

[rOd]

1. chop it to fit bigger tyres

2. difflocks

3. Armour it!

[N*A*M]

as you are driving ruts, worry about the front diff clearance because momentum _usually_ helps your rear pumpkin clear. bigger tyres not only give you more clearance, they effectively make the obstables smaller.

[GUJohnno]

the first things to do with a new truck is suspension and tyres.

You need better tyres for added strength and grip. Depending on what you want to do you may not want o go bigger. Some vehicles handle bigger tyres than others.

Don't underate a good matched suspension. You'll have a better ride both on and off road. Able to carry loads better without excessive sagging. Generally you'll get more wheel travel
= tyres on the ground more often
= more traction.

Traction is the name of the game here. No traction and you ánt goin' nowhere.

[grimbo]

the first things to do with a new truck is suspension and tyres.

not entirely true. I reckon the first thing is to learn how to drive your car. Learn its capabilities and how it works off road.

As stated bigger tyres are the only thing to help clear ruts. To do this you can go suspension lift, body lift, or gaurd cuutting or combine all 3.

Of course once you have the bigger tyres you may find that you need gearing to power them, diff locks to fully maximise them etc etc. It can be a long and expensive road to follow once you start going to big. You have to be realistic about what you want to do with your car. Each car will have limitations that cann be overcome but usually by throwing a bit of $$$ at it.

Susupension kits aren't just for fitting bigger tyres. They can also be a used for improving the ride of thhe car or to increase the carrying ability

[Pinball]

the first things to do with a new truck is suspension and tyres.

not entirely true. I reckon the first thing is to learn how to drive your car. Learn its capabilities and how it works off road.

I'll back Grimbo, learn how to drive, then get all the aids to get you deeper into shit..

Spock

[Tiny]

IMHO I think the best mod for someone new to 4bing is a set of mud tyres and lots of practice....I see to often people with a gun car with all the mods that are either two scared to attempt the obsticle or fail when the car is more than capable.

Learn to drive the car, or the car will drive you

[-Scott-]

Terrano? Isn't that IFS? A suspension lift will raise the front cross member; the ONLY bit it won't lift is the rear axle. I think that's worth something.

Like others have said, learn the capabilities of the stock vehicle before you spend big dollars on mods. Truth be known, I rarely take mine anywhere I couldn't take it stock - but it gets there more easily, with more peace of mind. Value for money? I don't know.

Scott

[JemmyBubbles]

On the same hand you need clearance between chassis rails and ground/obstacles or that also equals no go anywhere. So if anything body lifts are useless.

Just remember that the sole purpose of a suspension lift is only to fit bigger rubber and a bit of clearance. Stock suspension is generally articulate enough. (I know aesthetics do come into it as well... but here at outerlimits we don't talk about things like that ).

SLunnie I honestly half disagree with myself also. But ultimately it should be the lift through the tyres that we strive for. I do have a 4" suspension lift with only 33's on my shorty..

If I were a real man I would get the gaurds chopped, armour up. Minimal Suspension lift but play around with shock mounts and retain coils and get the 50mm lift to have as much uptravel/downtravel as a 4" lifted gq.

I like to tell myself everything I do to the car is 80% practicality 20% looks but it is more 50/50.

[ludacris]

There is no way a standard fourby with 35's will out drive or evenly drive anywhere and perform the same as a lifted fourby with 35's will. For one thing a lifted fourby does not drag its belly across the beach, desert, rocks or mud like a standard one does. Why would you spend $2000 + on a comp truck to lift it if it did nothing for you but create higher gravity.

LudaCris

[Trublusk8er]

Thanks for all the great info guys.
Really appriciate it
Unfortunatly though my car has had some major things go wrong with it so might be flogging it off and getting somthing else. WITHOUT IFS