Upper control arms and front end travel.

[CASTOY Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CASTOY]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Hi Paul,
Can you still get hold of front strut spacers?

[pcm_120 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcm_120]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Ahh bugger.

Sorry about that.

I got your message the other week and totally forgot to answer. Sorry.

In short yes.

I have on set that can be ready to go next week. As a word of warning, both MickL and myself have fitted them to our rigs which have been lifted a fare way and we have seen minimal results from the shims. I believe this is because on lifted trucks the lever arm geometry of the lower control arm becomes to steep and the extra length offered by the shim is nulled out by the spring compressing more.

On a non lifted truck however I do believe this will be different as the lower control arm is at a shallow angle and thus the shim "should" add to the spring length and thus lift the truck, by how much I don't know though.

So... Yes I have a set available, but I cannot guarantee how much you will gain.

I hope this helps,

Regards,

Paul.

[CASTOY Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CASTOY]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Thanks Paul,
I Know what its like, million things to do but not enough time.
Anyway i have replaced my AIr susp with coils & have 840mm at rear. Front needs to come up a little more.
As you can see i am adventurous as well.

PM me your bank details & i will advise delivery address.

Thanks again

Anthony

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

both MickL and myself have fitted them to our rigs which have been lifted a fare way and we have seen minimal results from the shims.

I have to agree with this, we really are at the very limits of the factory IFS set up.

The stresses are really starting to show, my lower strut bushes are very compressed and I would consider them U/S and in need of replacement.
Also at full droop the outer CV joint looks at a VERY ugly angle, the boot is actually stretched tight, at this angle the CV would be more at risk of breaking under shock loads and of course the boots are more prone to splitting.

Without being able to drop the diff I would say we are at the limit of droop due to the CV angle not because we are at the limit of the upper wish bone ball joint.

Mick

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Without being able to drop the diff I would say we are at the limit of droop due to the CV angle not because we are at the limit of the upper wish bone ball joint.

Mick

I am sure Snake racing could come up with something (They already have from what I have seen) where you can drop the diff housing down.) There was images of it on this forum ages ago, I think they dissapeared with Slads when he had his sh!t fit and deleted everything he had ever posted and took off..

It would be very similar to the Hilux one they have done.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

I think they dissapeared with Slads when he had his sh!t fit and deleted everything he had ever posted and took off..

:shock: I must have missed that....

It would be very similar to the Hilux one they have done.

You are right... Off the shelf lifts up to 5 inch are available for the Hilux. The advantage the Lux has is in the fact the front cross member the diff sits on is a bolt in job meaning it can be simply dropped with a couple of spacers.

On the Prado however this same cross member is a welded in section to the chassis.

I have seen a 120 with a 5 inch lift done, with the cross member cut out of the chassis and modified. The engineering costs involved would be high I would imagine, to much for me to justify anyway!!

Mick

[FlyNdrive Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close FlyNdrive]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

I know the discussion has gone more to the lift, however I had some noted on the Upper Control Arms.

The Upper Control Arms are replaced for several reasons. To bring the front end into alignment after installing a lift (Chamber), to allow more clearance for over sizes tyres, and to keep the ball joint from stopping at fill lock and putting stress on the suspension.

The All-Pro and Total Chaos Fabrication are made by the same vendor. The All-Pro's are about $100-$150 (US) less than Total Chaos. For the less cost the A-P's are black powder coated as opposed to the blinged out silver powder coated W/ decals Total Chaos Fab.

They are re-buildable and need do be done about every year and a half to two years. There is a "C" clamp holding in the ball joint. It needs to be removed and replaced using a press. When re building the ball joints cost about $50.00 (US) each. I'm sure a local replacement can be found at a fraction of the cost.



-Ben

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Front needs to come up a little more.
As you can see i am adventurous as well.

Anthony,

You may want to check with you local motor authority as in some states suspension spacers render a vehicle un-roadworthy and thus also voids your insurance....

Mick

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Time to get serious with the front end... got these coming from US, along with a diff drop kit and sway bar mod kit. Just have to decide on some springs and shocks, I'm over my OME stuff.



Mick

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Mick - you are to be commended - its great when someone who knows what they are doing jumps in the deep end and does something we haven't really seen on here that much :mrgreen:

I get excited and its not even my rig!

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

These (LightRacing) control arms aren't as hardcore as the likes of the Chaos ones. They run a conventional style ball joint rather than a uni ball and come in a fair wack cheaper too.

I chose these due to price (half of the high end stuff) and I really didn't want a uni ball set up as the disadvantages (noise, regular rebuilds) outweighed the advantages (Better range of movement.) for me.

These still have a better range of ball joint angle than the factory ball joint, offer adjustment to get the wheel alignment back into spec, better tyre to arm clearance and better spring clearance too. The ball joint should offer a life similar to the factory unit.

Mick

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Christmas came early.....My new toys arrived this morning:










Mick

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Still waiting on the diff drop kit and sway bar kit?

So with the diff drop kit, does this mean you will be cutting the cross member out of the chassis as you stated previously?

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Still waiting on the diff drop kit and sway bar kit?

I have the diff drop kit already, but I didn't go with the sway relocation kit in the end after talking to some of the US guys it wasn't what I thought it was. I'll do something custom with it to suit my needs.

So with the diff drop kit, does this mean you will be cutting the cross member out of the chassis as you stated previously?

No, I didn't want to cut the cross member as some of the kits require (though this is more for lifts in the 6 inch region).

What I got was a spacer kit that tilts the diff down at the front. It's almost identical to the Snake Racing one (Listed under the current Hilux) they only cost around $30 US compared to $175 for the local product. It only drops the diff 25mm but this will be more than enough for what I intend to do. I may not even go this far and skim the spacers down a little to suit what I need at the end of the day.

I forgot to take a pic of the kit but here's a link to the Snake Racing one so you get an idea of what it is:

http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/produc...2fcb1191ec18db

Mick

[Lakey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Lakey]

Re: Upper control arms and front end travel.

Hi Mick

Interested to hear if you have fitted these components up yet and how they have improved the travel in front end? Cheers

Lakey