pro's con's snake racing.

hey guys i would like to lift my d40 snake racing kits are used alot with the d40 guys how are they going ?

how good is the big 5'' lift and whats involved in it ? how much better did it make the bush ? cheers

Is it even legal to do a 5" lift?

I would love to do that.

Well I'm not sure but when u think about it a 5 inch lift prob would be 2" lift on a patrol or something thos things sit higher than us navaras .. 5 inch would be awesome but would prob have cons there is guy on Facebook on the action 4wd mag Facebook website he has a 5 inch lift on his navara d40 looks awesome . Just want some info .

con: price although probably worth it

Its actually a calmini lift that snake import. If you go onto the Frontier forum in the USA you will find heaps of info.
From what i have read they do crack the cross members on the kit itself, so allot of the guys who do actually use them off road weld in some extra gussets to strengthen them, then they are sweet.

You do know that you dont actually gain any extra travel, and that the rear has to have blocks put in to level the ute up.

The good thing is you can run bigger tires with no probs, the bad thing about that is, you put the D40's week drive train under more load and are way more likely to bust the front diff housing or diff itself, and it will effect your gearing, especially if you run 35's.
The good thing about all the extra hieght is not only the looks but the ramp over angle, aproach and departure angle is dramatically increased.

I think you can get them certified by an engineer to make them legal, BUT the cost can be huge becuase in some states you will have to have a lane change test done wich involves the hire of a runway, you can only immagine the cost of that plus the engineer plus all the paper work.

At the end of the day, as much as i would love the extra lift, it just doesnt seem worth it.

If you add up the total of the kit,fitting cost plus the cert to get it legal you are not far off the price of a SAS, i know its more but i would rather do that and turn the ute into a real beast that actually works awesome then soend all that money just for added ramp over extra.

Just my opinion.

Nath

All I want is 33's easy no scrub also been a d40 could use a little ramp over .. Sometimes I wish they made the d40 a little better for off road I really love my d40 but a 4x4 should be streamed for off road / work

The Calmini kit is absolute rubbish. Just fit a 65mm suspension lift and a 25mm body lift. That should clear 33's no problem.

Any lift above VicRoads 50mm will require Engineers cert & lane change test to be legal.

nathand22 said:

If you add up the total of the kit,fitting cost plus the cert to get it legal you are not far off the price of a SAS, i know its more but i would rather do that and turn the ute into a real beast that actually works awesome then soend all that money just for added ramp over extra.

Nath

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Has anyone actually got a SAS D40 working yet?

The thread by Overkill on theirs went awfully quiet very quickly, and Vanguard hasn't been heard of since he started his (that I know of).

Calmini will send you a kit for (I think) $2000 including freight, or $2700 with their "performance" coilovers. If you want it that would be the cheapest way, but then you have installation & engineering to think about.

I looked into it on mine, the more I read the more I came to the same opinion as Leprechaun, its absolute rubbish.

Wait for the Monster Rides 3" kit and 33's will fit, someone on here has the prototype kit with 33's (Ray something)

iv herd alot about this Monster Rides whats the go with it ??
is he making something for the d40 ? what makes his stuff better also when is he selling it ??

navdog_d22 said:

All I want is 33's easy no scrub also been a d40 could use a little ramp over .. Sometimes I wish they made the d40 a little better for off road I really love my d40 but a 4x4 should be streamed for off road / work

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There is a thread on here where someone has put 33's on with only a 2inch lift.

In the thread the guy has taken photos to show you where you will need to trim off a little bit of the bottom corner of the guards, then he used a heat gun to re-shape the inner guard. Once thats is done the tyres will work.
Im pretty sure he used a standard steel rim from his spare to test the fitting first.

I would think the offset will have to be the same as the stock steel rims, so it didnt hit the chassis, or hang way out passed the fender

I actually had all mine Engineered as its required in the ACT due to Coilovers,new UCA and last but not least new wheels.
5" should still be legal, I believe the limit is 150mm or 6"in total so wheels plus suspension.
You might want to check the legality of 33" rubber .
As others have said check Clubfrontier.org as many of the guys there run Calmini Gear.

ive found that my 2 inch suspension and 2 inch body has been more than enough to suit my 33inch bighorns on dynamic 0 offset no scrubbng anywhere just heat gunned the point bit of the gaurd by about 30mm couldnt justify spending that money when i get a similiar effect with what i have

Aussie Frontier said:

I actually had all mine Engineered as its required in the ACT due to Coilovers,new UCA and last but not least new wheels.
5" should still be legal, I believe the limit is 150mm or 6"in total so wheels plus suspension.
You might want to check the legality of 33" rubber .
As others have said check Clubfrontier.org as many of the guys there run Calmini Gear.

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In Vic, 75mm(50,suspension & 25 tyres) total increase is legal before requiring certifying and lane change test.

So your right, 33's aren't roadworthy.

We are allowed 50mm without the egineeres report , however aftermarket UCA or any component other that springs or shocks means straight to the engineer.I got stung for my wheels too but that was just to be on the safe side.
Extended shackles are a no go in the ACT but new springs or lift blocks are ok. The 50mm is a total in lift so the 50mm increase in rubber comes out of the 50mm in lift

navdog_d22 said:

iv herd alot about this Monster Rides whats the go with it ??
is he making something for the d40 ? what makes his stuff better also when is he selling it ??

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Theres a thread on here about the MR Rekon suspension, have a read up, they are hoping to have it ready for Tough Truck which is in a month or so I think.

Their gear that they have had out for a while now for the Hilux gets very good reviews

I'm running 33 Muddies with a standard 2 inch lift front and back PLUS a 35mm front spacer (and the UCA offset bushes and extended balljoints) and a 1inch rear block (to level out).
I used the advice I found on this forum (and a grinder!!) to 'cut back' the metal from the rear of the front arch (about an inch) and reshape the plastic inner guard.
No rubbing, sits flat and performs really well.
The main problem with the Calmini kit is that even if you run 35s, your height over obstacles is much the same as the setup i'm running, as the front plate/brackets hang so low.
I'm not sure what 'magic' the Monster Rides kit is going to pull out of the bag, I think its just a mix of all the 'tricks' from this forum, all sold in one neat package - And probably worth it for the ease and timesaving.

I think the magic that MonsterRides are pulling out the bag is a strut long enough to give 3" of lift with UCA's that will allow it to actually still have down travel & work, I think we'll find its more exxy than a 2inch lift but less than a 5inch.

Yeah, fair call. The redesigned UCA will be the key - but I guess at about $1k, they'll come in at about the same price as a set landed from the US. And I've never heard of any limit being reached in terms of downward travel on standard front shocks - even with the aftermarket UCA. It'll be nice stuff though - if the Hilux stuff is anything to go by...And nice to buy as a kit, and mainly Aussie made.

Yeah the UCA's are the bit that got me listening, even with just a 2inch lift on my last D40 I had marks on the Coil Hat. The limit on down travel I was referring to was the UCA on the coil hat, i'm interested about your extended ball joints though, has that fixed it up with the strut spacer?

Yeah - the extended ball joint has helped a lot. I've also crudely attached some rubber to the underside of the UCA, so I never get a hit anymore (or atleast I can't hear it). The extended ball joints were about $150 from Ultimate Suspension - a cheap alternative to aftermarket UCAs - but are already showing some play after only 10,000k. Getting a spot on wheel alignment has been my ongoing issue - the offset UCA bushes still haven't sorted that 100% (with offset LCA bushes installed too).