lift kit write up

[ChunderDownUnder]

Well I have had my 35" tyres in the garage for about 3 months now and had to get around to my lift kit. The kit arrived the 1st week on 2013 so it was bad time. Had to wait for the kids to go back to school. I already have 2" of lift in my spring packs, so I decided to go another 3" by way of OUO 5" block/traction bar at the rear and Icon 3" shackle extension at the front. Here is the rear kit And the front First up was to remove all the steering Knuckles on the drag link and the bar that runs from the steering box to the dummy box. Alot of heat and a bit of PB blaster then a tap with the hammer and they should pop out. Then remove the pitman arm. Which aint easy. Heaps of heat and a turn on the puller and repeat the process until it pops off. Once of clean her up, add a bit of anti sieze. Flip her over and put it back on. Then support the front of the truck via stands and support the front axle via jack Take out the front pin and then the rear and remove the rear shackle. I had to drill out the Icon rear shackle holes a little bit more to fit my pins. Once that was done they are pretty easy to install Now the instructions say to fit the front extension and then front pin. I used a bottle jack to push the springs down to fit the extension in. But I gotta tell ya, getting that pin to line up was a complete PITA. So on the other side I pushed the springs down and put the pin in first and let the whole lot come up as one and it was alot easier Front kit installed other side done and shockie in place Now the rear block are pretty straight forward. Support the rear of the truck with the tyres off the ground. Support the rear axle with jack. Undo ubolts and remove the 2" OEM block. The OUO blocks have adjustable locating pins for the spring packs. I used the Zero setting. Drop the axle down to fit the block and fit on pin. Now I had to cut a fair bit of the Ubolt to fit my socket due to the fact I didnt have a spanner big enough. They are high tensile so I went through a few cutting disks. Repeat for the other side and do the suckers up. Then onto the bars. Once again the instructions are straight forward and there is not much technical about it. Find a location up the chassis that the front brackets will fit and you can gain access. Find a point from the front and get the measurement so you can repeat for the other side Now some say you should follow the angle of the drive shaft and others say just find a clear spot. Obviously I went for the latter. Now there are 8 bolts on each bracket which need pilot holes and intermediate holes until you are up to 10mm. Thats alot of drilling and there aint much room and the chassis is strong. On the outer side of the drivers side I had to use a battery drill cause there isnt enough room for the electrical drill to go in straight. Take ya time, have a break in between and get it right. That was the hardest part of the whole deal The front bolt needs a 34mm socket and the only one I had was 3/4 drive so my 1/2 drive torque wrench wouldnt fit. You need 125ft/lb of torque so i just did the mungrel up dam tight. You will also need to stop the bar from spinning so I use some stilsens. It left a little mark but I can only work with what I have. One last bit of drilling on the coupler and you are done. Oh, you are going to need a 1/2 and 5/8 drill for that which I didnt have. So up to bunnings I went. All done The finished product

[aussie_f350]

Looks tough mate, what wheels are they.

[ChunderDownUnder]

these little babies
Fuel D509 Octane - Black - MHT Fuel Off Road Wheels - Aluminum Wheels - Wheels - by 4 Wheel Parts

[SSSimon]

Brian, looks awesome. Will you have to get a lift kit for your house to now get the truck to fit under?

[aussie_f350]

Originally Posted by SSSimon

Brian, looks awesome. Will you have to get a lift kit for your house to now get the truck to fit under?

Was thinking the same thing

[SSSimon]

Also, how'd you go with the steering, need a pair of drop-pitman arms?

And a drop middle tail-shaft spacer thingy...

[BigF350]

Looks real good mate!

[ChunderDownUnder]

Originally Posted by SSSimon

Also, how'd you go with the steering, need a pair of drop-pitman arms?

And a drop middle tail-shaft spacer thingy...

Na, just turned the pitman arm upside down on the dummy box and put it back on. I had an adjust panhard bar which needed a few turns out to match up to the extended panhard bar bracket and there was enough adjustment on the draglink to bring it up.
Had a wheel alignment today. Just the tow angles were out. And they adjusted the draglink a bit more to centre the steering wheel

[aussie_f350]

didnt need a centre bearing spacer? no shudder under acceleration? i know guys that have gone less lift and need it, but also more lift that didnt!!! i get alignment on mine tomoro, steering wheel upside down so hopefully enough draglink adjustment??

[ChunderDownUnder]

actually now that u mention it, Im feeling a shudder in the driveline when taking off in first. Its only slight but its there

[SSSimon]

The bolts holding the centre mount are quite long. It would be easy to just undo the bolts add spacers, then re-fit - using longer bolts if necessary.

[aussie_f350]

Spacer is $30 odd bucks from arb!

[SSSimon]

Road test report on the new set-up?

[Nkelly]

Originally Posted by ChunderDownUnder

And they adjusted the draglink a bit more to centre the steering wheel

Just a heads up bruvva,drag link is good for fine adjustments,but you can go too far and you will lose turning circle left or right,put her up on the jack and get 'me me' to turn it lock to lock while you ae having a look too make your are getting full lock to lock,we need every bit we can get ...

Truck looks totally different,looks good,can i take it for another spin ?

NO,ok i understand

[SSSimon]

Go on, at least let test pilot Biggles check that the IC boots are properly on this time !