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For those of you who took your stock 4x4 MM/PR50 and lifted it by going spring over axle, how high was the tail end compared to the front end? Do you end up "stink bug" ?
What did you do to the front end to catch up with the back or does it just work fine with montero uppers and maybe a cab lift? What's the magic combo?
Good question, I wanna know that too!
i'm not sure that a suspension lift can be done on these trucks because of the way the front a-arms are setup on the frame. i have pondered the question for a long time about how to suspension lift these trucks and have not been able to come up with an easy solution other than to do a straight axle swap. but if anyone else has a better idea i would love to hear it too.
Someone just posted the other day that 2nd Gen Montero UCA will give a max of 6" of lift. Unsure how he came to this, and can't find the damned thread, but...
6" of front suspension lift (max) will be more than enough to cover SOA. I guess the only questions are:
1. How did he come to this number?
2. What is the MINIMUM lift with these UCA?
3. How bad is this going to F up drive shafts...?
2-3 max for the uca swap - maybe another 2-3 if you have the aftermarket torsions cranked to the max?
Now that we have a discussion, here's my 1st and primary idea. The leaf mounts on the 4x frame have a 3 inch lift, the leaf mounts on the 2x frame are essentially flush with the frame rails.
I've already mocked up the new SOA rear axle with the 4x leafs/mounts, it's way high. and the single 4x driveshaft binds up on the crossmember where the torsions ride. It's gonna stinkbug and require the 2 piece 2x driveshaft. Bad deal.
Since I have one 2x and one 4x frame complete, my current plan is to cut the 2x rear frame half and graft onto the 4x front frame half, just between the cab mounts and bed mounts. That gives me the "lowered ride height leafs" SOA and hopefully clear up the driveshaft interference.
I don't see any econo junkyard way of dropping the IFS front axle down like the toyo guys do, so I'll have to live with whatever lift the Mitsu UCA give.
The numbers are in today:
The 2x rear frame sitting on my Isuzu 12 bolt corporate rear axle (with factory leaf perches) wearing 30" tires with stock D50 leafs puts the bed mounts right at 3 feet off the ground. There's no bed on the frame mockup, so the leafs will sag some amount, exactly 1" with my 200 lb body weight on it.
Tape measure on the stock 2x with saggy leafs shows a substantial 9" lift. Not apples to apples but at least something to work with.
The 4x frame has 3" lift from the factory on the leaf mounts and causes the 1 pc driveshaft to bind on the front cross member with my collection of parts and configuration.
See the "dirty turd" build thread for further adventures of this investigation.