How much Lift?

[ChristoSlang]

I have a 3" heavy duty OME lift kit with 33" tyres and I really have to take the very worst line if I want to scrape anything through an obstacle.

When you extend your anti-roll bar fittings (OME sells a cheap 2" kit for that) you'll find that the rears can still touch the inside of the wheel arches when going through extreme axle twisters. Together with the brake compensator extension (an easy task - I used some leftover aluminium bar for that) you should be sorted!

[Peter Connan]

When putting more than a 4" lift kit in a Patrol, you will be faced with a very significantly higher cost than for a lift lower than 4".

As I see it, this is the kind of "additional" work you are looking at when lifting includes:
Up to 2": Lower rear gearbox mount, caster correction bushes, Anti roll bar extensions.
2" - 4": Above plus longer brake pipes, compensator extension and diff breather extensions.
more than 4": all of above, plus adjustable or extended panhard rods (front and rear), drop boxes or special front leading arms (camber correction bushes are not enough) and possibly adjustable rear upper or lower trailing arms and also extended bump stops.

Therefore, I beleive the cost of a properly done 6" lift is at least double the cost of a 4" lift, and propshaftswill be put under additional strain and therefore last less well.

As Sias has said, ground clearance remains unchanged (except for the effect of the larger tires), but the LWB Patrol's weakest point in terms of off-road clearances and angles is the breakover angle, due to our extremely long wheelbase, and this will be improved by the lift.

Any lift will compromise on-road handling, and therefore your ability to avoid an accident. On a 2"-3" lift the effect is probably negligable, and if you have fitted one of the better kits on dirt roads you may actually be better off purely because of the quality of the shock absorbers, but I would think that by the time you get to a 6" lift you would definately have to reduce your cruising speed. In an accident a lifted car would probably roll that little bit more easily, but other than that I doubt it will have much of a predictable effect, as it will depend on exactly what you hit.

IMO, stay away from body lifts and spacer lifts.
Body lifts are only cosmetic and do not improve off-road ability at all.
Spacer kits improve approach, departure and break-over, but usually reduce travel and may be bad for the car unless the bump stops are similarly spaced.

[AndriesS]

Peter vertel meer vand ie:
Up to 2": Lower rear gearbox mount

[Jorrie]

Ek sal ook graag meer wil weet. My pens het noudie dag 'n bietjie gesleep agv "breakover".

[David]

Na 40 sleep die meeste van ons se pense! Nevermind hier oor Kersfees/Nuwe jaar!

Ek dink wat Peter na verwys is dat as jy hom lig dan moet jy die ratkas effens 'tilt' om die hoeke waarteen die dryfas werk kleiner te maak

Ek het 'n 2'' lift sonder enige modifikasies maar ek stem dat dit beter vir die U/J 's is as hulle teen 'n kleiner hoek werk.

[Jorrie]

Haai, hoe moet ek nou maar voel. Ek is oor die 50 merk Maar ek stem saam.

Groete

[Peter Connan]

Ek gaat nou maar weer ingels praat, voor mense op my skrou:

David is correct, the rear of the gearbox is lowered slightly by means of a special mounting, the purpose of which is to reduce the angle the rear propshaft's U-joint works through.

This, and the castor correction bushes are a standard part of an OME lift kit, but it seems (most of?) the other lift kits don't go to the trouble.

Off course, doing this increases the angle on the front propshaft's U-joint, but this works so much less often that it is less of a concern.

Jorrie this mod does not affect the breakover angle at all, and the Patrol has a relatively bad breakover angle due to the long wheelbase. The long wheelbase of course contributes to the Patrol's comfortable ride and excellent stability on rough roads.

This is why one of the first mods I did to my car was the transfer case skidplate. Now it doesn't matter if it scrapes a bit.

[Jorrie]

Peter, thanks for your input.

[Grant]

I have an extreme 4" lift from TJM on my Troll. With this type of lift you will also have to look at castor correction kit, adjustable panhard rods and also need extended the sway bar disconnects. Also on th list is longer breake pipes , and diff breathers. My recomendation would to stay at 50mm. Coils and shocks and you are good to go.

[Grant]

Jorries,


I opted to remove the caster correction kit as did not alter to castor enough. G Man then made me a set of drop boxes. This is a far better solution.