too high?

[geeves]

the 94 swb bighorn was still a bit low with second hand lwb springs in the back so I splashed out and fitted extra raised cobra springs in the back. So far so good Fitting was a pain with chassis stand at max and the diff lowered till the brake disc was on the floor the springs still needed a fair helping of force to get into the mounts. Then look at the shocks and decide longer travel required so Monroe Ultra designed for landcruiser fitted after a mix and match on the bushes. These are short enough to allow the axle to hit the bump stop and as long as can be fitted while keeping the spring on the seat with sway bar removed. 10mm longer and the spring starts to lift off the seat.
Up front I got most of the lift matched but decided the cvs and tie rods were getting a little off angle.
Ended up with a measurement on the back of 580mm from the hub center to the guard and at the front 540mm This is with no body lift. On 32s I have 400mm under the sills
Now alls fine and dandy till I took it for a drive. With the rims I have on now its always been a bit bouncy as they have too much offset. I have new rims and tyres that ran very nice before the lift and might end up on there sooner but I was hopeing to wear these out first. I havnt done a wheel alignment yet and there is evidence its needed. A straight edge seemed to show toe as correct but a spirit level did show camber issues. The tread on the front tyres got hot on a 8km motorway drive so I suspect there is slight scuffing going on
However the amount of bump steer and vibrations is something else. At certain power and speed combinations there is a huge buzz in the back change power slightly either way it stops You can feel the tyres bumping on turns. Hit a bump with one wheel and you wander all over the place
If Im too high in the front I want to get that sorted before the alignment
Thoughts anyone?

[MrRevhead]

If your alignment is out, it will change behavior when you hit bumps, corner, brake and accelerate, so oyu really need to sort the alignment

The vibrations sound like drive shaft U/Js. When they wear they often resonate and certain RPM's rather than all the time. Is it also possible you have changed the pinion angle to much?

[geeves]

ok the magic question is how far have others lifted there swb bighorns?
The 540 measurement is from the hub center to guard with no body lift. If this is too much I would rather get this right before the alignment due to the cost of a full monty alignment

[isuzurob]

if its sitting on the top bump stops its to high other than that it will be fine, which will cause the hard riding and bump steer, i have just got a swb 2.8 bighorn that is now 610mm from hub to gaurd front and 620mm in rear with 50mm body lift, had wheel alignment today and only thing out was the toe but it dorve mint before alignment, every truck is differnt, also how are your shocks in the front?

[geeves]

Front end on the 94 isnt much different to the 89 except smaller cvs so your advise is pretty much what I wanted as the body lift not there would mean 570.
Shocks/springs in the front are factory so hd shocks might be on the shopping list which should stop the lurching somewhat If not stiffer torsions to counter the winch.
Looking at it and driving Im sure a few shims will be added. A straight edge ( 3 metre scaffolding pipe) set against both front tyres was parallel to the sills on both sides so the toe isnt far out. The tyres heat up on the outside not inside which matches with a long level put on the side of the tyre suggesting the bottom is tucked in. Can never get my head round positive and negative camber but thats for the wheel alignment guys.
There is a young guy into 4wds at Tonys Porirua thats quoted me $89 for a alignment including shims and after filling out the survey after a free puncture I received a $10 voucher so it will be done as soon as the Wizard is back on the road.
I wish I had the widetrack version but thats life

[nb422]

I had the exact bumpsteer issue you're describing and my caster was out by nearly 2 degrees, be worth getting the alignment done and seeing where everythings at

[MrRevhead]

Positive camber is what you have geeves, the top further out then the bottom: \ /
Negative is this: / \
With massive positive camber and the suspension lift you will be getting huge changes in toe as the suspension moves through it's range, that's what will be causing the bump steer and weird steering.

[geeves]

thanks

[geeves]

wheel alignment with a very slight additional neg camber and I can drive down the road again without ducking and diving everywhere. Might still need stiffer shocks in the front though as it still wallows a bit. Also have ordered a 100mm longer brake line for the rear diff.
Then its just the vibrations. This isnt severe or at least wouldnt be except for the harmonincs of the plastic panels Probably fix 90% with blobs of bluetac in strategic spots. Other 10% will be rubberising all my tools and recovery gear
Tonys Tyres might not be everyones first choice for wheel alignments but the young guy at Porirua Tonys did a good job at a good price even if he does drive a Prado. Every free puncture hes done for me has been good as well.

[danz20]

what shocks did you use for the rear and what did they set you back keen to get some longer ones