A question about lifting

[Heather inOC]

Okay so I want to lift the trac, but I'm not sure if I want to do a body lift or the TT and shackles because I really don't understand what they mean. I get that the body lift lifts the body off the frame, but what does the torsion twist thing do? And shackles? And where has everyone bought their stuff? Thanks a bunch!



-Heather in OC

 

[Ben Poche]

the torsion twist is tightening the front suspension which raises the front you can go up about 1.5 inches and still ride good i like mine better with it this way you can tighten them drive it if you don't like it loosen it if you like it you need an alignment. you have shackles now it holds the rear of the leaf springs to the frame lift shackles are longer than stock. body lift 3 inches lifts body off of frame i will be doing one soon 4.5 inches total

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Heather, same boat, I actually go between lowering it and doing the TT shackle. My first preferance was to lift it but Im very concerned that I will do the damage thats warned of if you go over 2"s. just dont want to screw anything up, actually considering asking someone in san diego that knows what they're doing to help out for some weekend cash. Im concerned because both AJusa and TAG (which are both close by) have told me that they wont even do it to prevent tire rub when they put on wheels. the guy at the goodyear shop said he would lift it 3/4 to 1" to clear it after I put new shoes on it. All of this has me worried that it will look awesome but not be done right. Ive searched the @$%^ out of the site but havent come up with a "idiots complete guide to TT and shackle lift" which would be about my speed

 

[Ben Poche]

you will only damage a 4x4 if you go to high a 2wd their is nothing to hurt what do you need to know about doing a tt lift or drop. you tighten the torsion bolt with the trac jacked up FROM THE FRAME NOT THE SUSPENSION.it is that easy to lift the front. just the opposite to drop it

 

[Ben Poche]

try this

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Ben, you're starting to make my day, what's the best way to approach such a thing?

 

[Ben Poche]

it is easy and minimum tools required

 

[Heather inOC]

Thanks for the info- it's starting to make sense.



What is the damage caused to a 4x4? will a 3" body lift with the TT lift cause damage?

 

[Mitch H]

If you want it to look real nice and not spend too much you can do what I did to my ST. I had 2.5 inch leaf springs added and TT. That all sat on top of my BF Goodrich All Terrain TA 265/75/16's. It gave a nice look over stock, a little more clearance, and didn't kill my wallet. Actually, Goodyear came out with a new tire called Silent Armor. It's Kevlar reinforced. Supposed to be real nice. Here is a pic of my ST down at Gettysburg this past May. This pic is with all the above mentioned stuff.



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I unfortunatly sold mt ST last month. I replaced it with a Jeep Liberty CRD (Diesel). I'm already modding that thing all up. Next week it will have a 2.5 inch lift with bigger tires. In the next couple of weeks, I'll post a few pictures of it. We love it so far. Gets WAY better gas milage than the ST, thats for sure. One thing though, I wish I still had the seats from my ST. They were probably the most comfortable seats in a vehicle that I have ever had.

 

[Mitch H]

OUCH! Checking back to see if it posted correctly and I see that picture. I miss my ST :-( It was the nicest ST I have ever seen.

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Dont remember you selling it! i remember the pics though because my father and I are both civil war buffs. I remember the trip, bummer about the st. my wife drives a 01 cherokee and for a while she was going to liberty it but now I think she's gonna get a mustang. damn that is a good looking trac. Did the adds make it stiff, I know toikio or whatever makes a spring deal for the track, the trailmaster system or something.

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Heather, the body lift wont do anything, other than making it even more top heavy, but the tt can help you tear up the cv's etc. I remember I had a yota 4x when i was young and one of the guys in our little stupid "club" tore up his front end somehow by doing that or something simular. Toddz and a lot of the guys here will help though, sometimes they make more sence than the mech. I take our cars to. good luck

 

[Ben Poche]

correct 4x4 front axle joints can only flex so much 2wd does not have them

 

[Johnny O]

I turned up the bars on the Ranger I had before and the Trac, and I DO go off-road once in a while, never had a problem with the CV's. They turn all the time anyway since the front end is always "live". People who have problems from that almost always have maxed out the torsion bars, which is a bad idea. What you're really doing is pre-loading the downtravel. So whatever you lift it by is how much downtravel you lose. As long as you keep it to 1.5" or so lift you'll be fine. Still, I've got to take mine back to the alignment shop to see if they can dial in some more negative camber as my tires are wearing more on the outer edge. Didn't have that problem with my Ranger. Like bpoche said, you have shackles, but the extended ones increase the distance between the frame and the leaf spring, hence the lift.

I bought the Warrior shackles from 4 Wheel Parts and had a local alignment shop put them on and also do the torsion twist. It was winter and my garage isn't heated.

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