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Lift Kits


Mark Jenkins

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A very common topic I know, but here goes.

I'm planning 235/85/16 tyres and a 2 inch lift - for laning, pay and play, the odd RTV perhaps? Not a challenge truck anyway.

This is a lift kit package from Paddocks which includes extended brake lines, relocation cones, spring retainers, bump stops: http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/OFF_ROAD/C...p_to_1998).html

Does anyone have any opinions or experiences of this package given what I intend to use it for?

cheers

Mark

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I have just been through this with a bobtailled rangie. Plenty of threads on here to get ideas.

Many will recommend OME - no one has anything bad to say about them in fact. The only potential issue is the price, but as they say, you get what you pay for. OME springs are about £60 a corner plus VAT.

You will find with a lot of the off the shelf kits (OME excepted) that to get the lift the spring is a lot firmer than you would really want. This is a good thing if you don't want body roll or fillings :blink: but not so good for off road axle articulation.

I ended up talking to Procomp who were very helpful. Their springs were longer rather than stiffer to get the lift I wanted. So far, (only a month on!) I am very happy with them.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to money. If you can afford it, ( I couldn't :( ) go for OME. Alternatively, pick and mix from LR springs if you can find suitable ones. Or there's always the orange company...... :ph34r:

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I need to be careful that I don't put my salesman hat on jere but here are my obsevations...

Not a big fan of their springs.... I would supply you OME or a mix and match of LR ones to achieve the lift. Or maybe use packers?

With +2" shocks there is no need for the extended bumpstops , these shocks will compress enough to just about use the std ones.

Again, depending on what springs you use the fronts will probably not dislocate with +2" shcks so no need to buy the front cones either.

The brake hoses are probably only 2" longer which is not enough on the front as at full cross articulation the downside end will go down by much more than just the 2". The hoses need to ne longer than in the kit.

All in all a lot of ( wrong ) kit for not much money but handpicking the individual parts you actually need might not save too much over that price but would give you a much better setup.

Oh and IMHO :lol: Rough Country shocks are performing much better than the ProComp! :D:D:D

David

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i agree withe comment on longer springs thats what i did i know have a 90 that rides as it should but the off road articulation is lovely all supple and follows lumps and bumps following a mate with blue springs and he is crashing over the bumps and complaining of boat -like on road handling! cheapest route is as mentioned earlier ie spring packers.

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I've been looking into the same thing, and am coming to the conclusion that there are no springs out there that i would spend my money on, except OME, and possibly TJM... both of which are £60 + VAT per corner...

I want about 1" of lift and a stiffer rated spring for the rear (have rooftent, and do a bit of overland stuff) i'm not bothered about articulation as i'm not going to scrap my anti-roll bars...

I don't want to lift it more than 1" as don't want to upset the handling too much, or raise the COG...

best idea i've had so far, is sticking with the original front springs, genuine parts H/D rears, 1" spring risers, and 25mm of body lift....

coupled with some realy good shocks... (am thinking about koni special tracks at the moment)

...too much choice, and too much carp on the market...

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I'm an example of someone that is not happy with my suspension kit. I bought Ironman suspension. It is an australian product which is very strong. but way 2 stiff. If you hit a pothole in this thing the whole vehicle feels like it went through a brick wall without slowing down. I run 295/75-16 bf goodrich at's. There big but look perfect on the car they just need them to make them for mud next time around. I have spoken with alot of companies out there to suggest some different springs but because I havent found anyone with knowledge on the product they always want me to purchase OME shocks and springs. I am happy with the shocks on the vehicle but again it all comes down to the springs. Its a 2" kit but the thickness of the springs are much much thicker than what came with the car. If anyone has an answer for me on this it might kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

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There are no magic answers (contrary to what one or two companies might have you believe).

To select the correct springs, you need to know the weight it is supporting. Find a public weighbridge and get your front & rear axle weights.

You can assume that each axle weighs about 150kg so subtract that from the weight as the axle is under the spring and not being supported by it.

Divide the figure you have by 2 (which is the weight supported by each spring).

Decide how much lift you want to run and by measuring on your vehicle, work out what length the spring will be with that lift between the top & bottom spring hangers.

It's worth converting your corner weight into pounds as spring rates are specified in pounds per inch of compression.

Say your corner weight is 1000lb and the compressed length of the spring for the required lift is 12"

You could use a spring with a free length of 17" and a poundage of 200Lb/in for example as 17" - 12" = 5" 1000Lb / 5" = 200Lb/in

You could also use a 15" spring with 330Lb/in

It is tempting to go for long soft springs - but another consideration is that when you go over a bump, if you half the rate of the spring, it will compress twice as much and often hit the bump stops!

There are published tables of all the springs, rates and lengths on the market from which you can make an informed choice. Anyone who reckons they can sell you an ideal setup without going through this process is a liar and is just going to guess on your behalf!

Some companies will sell you a generic 90 2" lift spring - but without knowing the weight pressing on the spring, that is just impossible.

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i am running procomp springs alround +20% stiffness rears and plus 15% stiffness front (over std) all +2". not sure when the [revious owner fitted them) but after two years of my use they are starting to sag, lost about 1/2" ht in last 12mths plus Procomp seem to go for the longer spring to acheive the lift and front bump stops regularly hit!

OME will be the way fwd next, D4x4 do non handed setups for landrovers, 781s drivers side x2 for the rear, not sure what the fronts are.

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