Levelling out front after 2" lift. What to do.

[Hodge]

Hey fellas, i'm asking this on behalf of a family friend. I couldn't give him the answer as i'm not technically minded much on suspension my self...

Cut the long story short, he got a EFS 2" lift. Having a steel bar and winch up front, and no weight in the back, the car is road-sniffing. Mine does too a little bit with the OME kit, but i'm not fussed ,when i get the canopy and drawers etc, it'll level out a bit. He however absolutely hates the fact its higher at the back, looks butt ugly.
The shops explained to him, if they crank the torsions any more it'll ride like shit and won't achieve much height anyway, since it's sitting where it should be between the bump-stops. After lift they gained 45mm or so at back and 30-35mm up front. They also made him aware that it might NOT be level after, and he simply took it with a grain of salt and is now paying for it. lol

What can he do? Can he source some other t.bars that might give him more lift? Or would he need to do a more drastic surgery to the front like upper control arms and extend brake lines etc etc ?

 

[RustyNav09]

Torsion bars won't give him any more lift. It will make it stiffer and more harsh on road. The springs will settle as I originally had a efs lift. The only way you can lift the front is by installing upper control arms.

Goodluck

 

[Hodge]

That's what I thought. Thanks rusty. Hes looking at the snake racing kits right now. But unsure whether he should just order the front bits or the whole lot.

 

[tweak'e]

i take it hes replaced the torsions as the kit had new ones?
if so then just crank the torsions up.
if he hasn't replaced the torsions then he will need to. you can do 2" lift without replacing the torsions but not with a heavy bar and winch upfront.

 

[Hodge]

Yep he replaced torsion bars. The whole kit is EFS. Shocks, leafs, shackles, torsion bars...
But they said they've cranked the EFS (new) torsions as much as they can before being limited by the bump stops or something.

 

[Peteyen86]

He can get new upper control arms that alow more adjustment before hitting the bump stops. Buy them from the states (Calmini) cost half the price then in Aus. I just bout mine off them.

Also the back may sag down a little more after a while.

 

[Hodge]

He can get new upper control arms that alow more adjustment before hitting the bump stops. Buy them from the states (Calmini) cost half the price then in Aus. I just bout mine off them.

Also the back may sag down a little more after a while.

I've been trying to tell him the ass end of it will settle down and it'll make it more level then, but stubborn or stupid, i can't figure him out.
Anyways, he's looking at the snake racing add-on kit.
I think this is it:
http://store.snakeracing.com.au/~snakerac/product_info.php?products_id=3572

Control arms, idler arm brace and brake lines. Apparently this is for already lifted vehicles, and it brings the front up to 3" due to allowing more movement.
So i don't know.

 

[Peteyen86]

Tell him to save his money. You dont need the brake lines for even a 3" lift. Buy the control arms from the states, heres the link.

http://www.purenissan.com/d22_control_arms.htm

Think they cost about 500 bucks all up to my door. Then just buy the idler arm brace from snake, supiorengineering or caloffroad.

Can save his money this way. Some guys who lifted their navs 3" with extended shackles have hated the ride also and gone back to 2".

Hope this helps.

Pete

 

[Hodge]

Thanks a lot Pete. Thats definitely something hes after. Come to think of it i should probably order a set for my self. How long after order did they show up ? Are we talking weeks or months ?

 

[tweak'e]

you don't need new upper control arms for a 2" lift.
if its sitting on the bump stops he would have 3" lift. it sounds like they crank them up and ran out of adjustment. easy to tell because the nut will be sticking out under the ute.
all that needs doing is to pull the torsions out and turn them another notch or so and put them back in.

 

[Peteyen86]

you don't need new upper control arms for a 2" lift.
if its sitting on the bump stops he would have 3" lift. it sounds like they crank them up and ran out of adjustment. easy to tell because the nut will be sticking out under the ute.
all that needs doing is to pull the torsions out and turn them another notch or so and put them back in.

Very true, maybe tell him to get it looked at by someone else. Mines only got a 2" lift at them moment and sets pretty even, the front has sagged a little, but that will be getting fixed very soon.

But the UCA do give you more wheel travel. Depends what you want to do in bush.

 

[Peteyen86]

Thanks a lot Pete. Thats definitely something hes after. Come to think of it i should probably order a set for my self. How long after order did they show up ? Are we talking weeks or months ?

Only a week from memory, maybe a couple more days to arrive. I buy heaps of stuff from america. Usually the item will get into australia in a few days and then the majority of the time will be australia post stuffing around. 7 working days usually you will receive most things.

Pete

 

[scottybobcat]

Yep just go UCA's. Tell him to buy 4 or 5 bags of cement to throw in the back for a while. 100kgs will help the rear springs settle

 

[tommy222220_0]

Have a look at how much the gap is between the bumpstops and the front suspensions arms.

if like above - still needs to go up significantly

Wound up too much

Your friend is looking for around 10-15mm gap between the top arm and uncompressed bumpstop.

 

[Hodge]

Thanks Tommy. That clarified it a bit.
Hes bumpstops are roughly that around 10mm and around the same to the upper arms. Pretty sure he will be sourcing calmini arms if not snake racing. I know he'll regret it though as hes rear will sag after a while and then it might be imbalanced again.