Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Peter Connan »

I have always been concerned about welding to chassis, especially on vehicles which live near the coast. The reason is that it is impossible to repair the anti-rust coatings on the inside of the chassis afterwards.

If you decide you are interested, I do have a bolt-on tower brace available, similar to the Superior Engineering one. It is just a brace which bolts to the top of both spring towers. As you mentioned, it does require a body lift to fit.

But I have no idea how it will fit with your Brown-Davis tanks and/or your exhaust... Should be reasonably easy to check though.

Having said all that, I do think you need to consider if there isn't a way to reduce weight somewhere. Weight really is the enemy.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Kirbster »

So I had a good meeting with Franz Fourie last week to discuss my plans to go for a 3" lift. We discussed my options at length and the message is becoming clearer that going for a 3" lift over a 2" lift is going to add more complexity and cost than it is worth, because all of the "off the shelf options" that I have looked are built in multiples of 2" and going for 3" requires custom made solutions, which either adds cost, complexity, or both and when I start to compare it to the benefits I'm starting to see that I'm running a deficit.

Some of the challenges with the 3" lift that immediately come to mind:
- Custom made shocks. Bilstein shocks can be made to spec, but the local supply of matching coils for 3" is not reliable (at the moment?). Now I have to hunt around for 3" coils. Do I want to do this? Nope.
- I should move to drop boxes for better caster/camber (I forget which one) correction on my front diff. Luckily Peter Connan can supply here in SA so that it is good, but if I stay with the 2" lift my existing correction kit keeps the geometry of the vehicle within spec and I dont need to add more stuff to my vehicle.
- Brake hose lines will possibly need to be extended. My diff breathers have already been extended, but that would too need to be considered if I had not already extended them.
- My vehicle is already very tall (almost 2.6mt) with roof box and when I'm packed for a tour I become top heavy. Do I want to add more height and lift my centre of gravity? Nope.

I now also have a better understanding that lifting the car higher doesn't necessarily mean that I will have better flex on the vehicle, because the radius arms can only travel within their designed parameters. Both Franz, Peter Connan, and Tinus have helped this IT geek understand the mechanics and geometry of my vehicle better :bravo:

So now I'm at the place in my decision making journey that I know that spending money on a decent 2" lift to replace my existing, aged, and now collapsing 2" lift is the best way for me to go, considering the vehicle that I own and the intended purpose of the vehicle i.e. touring.

I will update this thread as I go further down this journey.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Russ Kellermann »

Hugh, good call.
And to put you in the current picture, the trend now worldwide is to go with the biggest tyre you can fit with the smallest lift possible .
This makes for MUCH better handling on and offroad, specially on high speed highways cornering, or on big angles/offcamber sections off road.
The days of monster truck lifts americano are over. :rolleyes:
6" lifts look lekker but a 2" patrol/cruiser 80/105 setup right will outdrive it. too much roll, gotta get the weight down low.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Spike »

You've reached a milestone brah. :wink: The day one realises that simplicity is the best mod for an overlanding vehicle.
:oldtimer:
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Kirbster »

So here is an update to my investigations into replacing my suspension:

- I have measured my current lift using the centre of the hub and the bottom of wheel arch fender flare as reference. When I compared my measurement to that of a stock GU GRX I confirmed that I have a 2" lift back and front. I actually thought it was a bit higher.
- ARB and Old Man Emu do not stock rear coils that are rated higher than 400KG for the GRX. My Troll is very heavy and 400KG is not enough. They also only stock constant load coils and not variable load springs which is what I want in the front.
- ARB BP51's 2" lift kit will cost R76k with installation.
- Terrain Tamer supply rear coils rated at 500KG constant as well as 1,000KG constant and they also supply variable load coils for the front. I'm going for 500KG rated rear coils.
- Terrain Tamer provide an adjustable Pro Shock with remote reservoir at a good price. This is a good competitor to the BP51.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by graham1 »

Well, I’m extremely happy with my recently installed terrain tamer 2 inch kit.
It replaced a very tired OME 2inch kit.

I didn’t take measurements, but, the trol is standing very very high compared to the old kit. I can take measurements if you’d like.

But anyway, you won’t be sorry with the terrain tamer I think.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Peter Connan »

I don't know if this comes too late but:

Keep in mind that for a suspension to be capable of good flex, it must be relatively soft.

A relatively soft suspension will obviously sag under load.

Furthermore rising-rate springs will sag more under load than constant-rate springs.

Personally I would have rather gone for lighter springs and live with some sag when heavily loaded, or at worst supplement the softer springs with air-bags.

With regard to the shocks, the TT Pro's look like a good product, and I am sure they are much better than what you have had before. I don't think they are directly comparable to the BP51's, but then neither is the price.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by ricster »

I must agree with Peter, but that is for my preferences as most of the time I'm unloaded, besides the drawers, fridge and 2nd battery, so for me a lighter spring is more comfy on the roads, but when me wife loads up for a trip, a set of rear airbags hits the spot. it levels out the Patrol perfectly and makes the drive very comfy too. Like i said this is for how I like my ride to be, so may not be same for all.

Terrain tamer parts are fantastic in my opinion. Everything I have ever bought from Marinus were perfect, cost effective and reliable.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Kirbster »

Here is some pictures of the TT gear.
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Re: Upgrade to 3" lift on series 4 GU 4.8 Station Wagon. What do I need?

Post by Kirbster »

Peter Connan wrote: 13 Feb 2021 19:04 I don't know if this comes too late but:

Keep in mind that for a suspension to be capable of good flex, it must be relatively soft.

A relatively soft suspension will obviously sag under load.

Furthermore rising-rate springs will sag more under load than constant-rate springs.

Personally I would have rather gone for lighter springs and live with some sag when heavily loaded, or at worst supplement the softer springs with air-bags.

With regard to the shocks, the TT Pro's look like a good product, and I am sure they are much better than what you have had before. I don't think they are directly comparable to the BP51's, but then neither is the price.
Hey Piet

The advantage of having the adjustable shocks is that I can dial them in for a softer or firmer ride depending on the driving scenario. So harder on the blacktop, but softer in an offroad application. I can also adjust for when I'm towing or not. The variable / rising rate springs are only in the front where 41% of the weight is carried so I'm hoping that the sag will be minimal. The 500 kg contants are in the rear and I'm hoping that the uprated load rate of these springs will keep the car more level without being as dependent on the air-bags as I am now. My concern would be that I have to pump them too hard to level the fully loaded vehicle and then I start to increase the stress on the coil towers and chassis.

My car is very heavy even when unloaded so the constant load 500kg should be well matched for the loaded and unloaded variations, well this is the plan at least.

The BP51's are an incredible product, but unfortunately I'm too heavy for them and wouldn't benefit enough from the tech to make the expense worthwhile. I think they would be excellent for a GU that is below GVM when fully loaded.

Cheers
H
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