Went wrench crazy on day off. Lift in and more

[LC80Ducati996]

Just put in my OME springs! 850J front and 863 rear.

Wow.. Went up higher than I thought. Stock springs must have sagged a bit over the years..

Will measure and do pics soon..

Driving impressions after new rear rotors and pads come UPS

Also got the hitch to slip in over the frame rail w/o out removing rear crossmember! A trick or two to it.. Not hard..

[sseaman]

i want to know about the hitch

[fj80toyman]

I'd be interested to hear what you think and see some pics.

I'm getting ready to replace the light 851/860 combo with 850J/864's.

How much other stuff do you have, ie weight adding stuff, front/back?

I went with 864's because of so much stuff in the back and I pull a small trailer, hope the 864's aren't too stiff.

Post up your impressions and pics if you would be so kind.

[LC80Ducati996]

Originally Posted by sseaman

i want to know about the hitch

May depend on who made the hitch.. But

1. Remove spare tire.
2. Remove spare tire crossmember and the 90* brackets for it to the frame rails.
3. Trim the horizontal part of the hitch bracket.
a. Cut off part of the forward corner on the passengers side.
b. Cut off part of the aft corner on the drivers side.
4. Put the whole passenger side on top of the frame rail and push it into the pocket behind the fender.
5. Lift and turn the hitch at an angle to line up driverside trimmed area to clear the frame rail and push it up until it clears.
6. Shift the hitch over towards the drivers side so that the passengers side drops down onto the frame.

With the trimming... I first tried to do it with out it.. Then I made a mark on the corner of the hitch where it contacted and trimmed a 45* angle and about 1/4" off the passengers side. Then I trimmed about 1/8" off the driver side and a tapered area behind that about 2" long... Going from edge of 1/8" trim to full width over 2" span.

There is some sheet metal that needs to be trimmed or bent over just above the frame in the back. Where two sheets come together and the seam is at a right angle to the frame. I just cut a line in it on either side of the frame rail and folded it over.

As for weight on the lift.

ARB bull and mile marker front.

Stock rear bumper. 315 Spare sitting on inside floor of truck..

You do have to notch the rear x to slide in the draw bar but not too much. Will do pics soon... Just got done notching.

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Originally posted by LC80Ducati996
Just put in my OME springs! 850J front and 863 rear.

This thread is worthless without pictures. What kind of shocks did you use?

[FredTJ]

Originally Posted by 4x4CPOSEADOG

This thread is worthless without pictures. What kind of shocks did you use?

Yeah, I was just going to ask about the shocks also.
If you didn't replace the shocks and, assuming that the olds ones were stock length, then you really limited your flex.





Fred

[Cruisin'Carolina]

Originally Posted by LC80Ducati996

Also got the hitch to slip in over the frame rail w/o out removing rear crossmember! A trick or two to it.. Not hard..

Are you talking about relocating an existing hitch or installing one ?

[Cj80cruiser]

Originally Posted by Cruisin'Carolina

Are you talking about relocating an existing hitch or installing one ?

I would like to relocate my hitch above the frame rails but having a hard time visualizing his steps.

[d0ubledown]

Originally Posted by LC80Ducati996

May depend on who made the hitch.. But

1. Remove spare tire.
2. Remove spare tire crossmember and the 90* brackets for it to the frame rails.
3. Trim the horizontal part of the hitch bracket.
a. Cut off part of the forward corner on the passengers side.
b. Cut off part of the aft corner on the drivers side.
4. Put the whole passenger side on top of the frame rail and push it into the pocket behind the fender.
5. Lift and turn the hitch at an angle to line up driverside trimmed area to clear the frame rail and push it up until it clears.
6. Shift the hitch over towards the drivers side so that the passengers side drops down onto the frame.

With the trimming... I first tried to do it with out it.. Then I made a mark on the corner of the hitch where it contacted and trimmed a 45* angle and about 1/4" off the passengers side. Then I trimmed about 1/8" off the driver side and a tapered area behind that about 2" long... Going from edge of 1/8" trim to full width over 2" span.

There is some sheet metal that needs to be trimmed or bent over just above the frame in the back. Where two sheets come together and the seam is at a right angle to the frame. I just cut a line in it on either side of the frame rail and folded it over.

As for weight on the lift.

ARB bull and mile marker front.

Stock rear bumper. 315 Spare sitting on inside floor of truck..

You do have to notch the rear x to slide in the draw bar but not too much. Will do pics soon... Just got done notching.

would be interested in seeing some pics too. although im sure it will depend alot on what kind of hitch is there.

i just remove mine until i have to tow..which isnt too often.

[LC80Ducati996]

I relocated the one that was on it after blasting it and repainting it.

Sorry about pics delay. Busy man all weekend had work around the house and a side job fixing a boat in my garage.

[Cj80cruiser]

Originally Posted by LC80Ducati996

I relocated the one that was on it after blasting it and repainting it.

Sorry about pics delay. Busy man all weekend had work around the house and a side job fixing a boat in my garage.

I understand most of what you're saying, I think, but it would be great if I had some pics to see for sure. I'll keep checking back.

[LC80Ducati996]

Originally Posted by FredTJ

Yeah, I was just going to ask about the shocks also.
If you didn't replace the shocks and, assuming that the olds ones were stock length, then you really limited your flex.





Fred

Yes and no.. Depends on what you replace them with. Some shocks have no more droop than stock.

I had not made up my mind on the shocks yet but knew I did not want OME shocks. So I did the lift to get it and caster correction done and out of the way. Just a shock swap is so easy even swaping in eye adapters and shocks is easy..

I will shoot some pics of the hitch today first as I just put her up on stands to do rear brake rotors, pads, parking brake bellcrank pivot fix and parking brake adjustment. UPS ought to be by today with my rotors. Rockauto was $70 cheaper per rear rotor than a local parts chain...

[LC80Ducati996]

From rear no bar installed. Put the trailer connector right into the bumper. Smashed the last one backing up and over a snow bank.. Not gonna happen now!



Passengers side frame



Drivers side frame



Inside of bumper notch. Cut to outside and tops of lower "hitch holes" on the front and up to existing slot on rear of bumper/xmember.



Rear view with 8" drop hitch + convert-a-ball inserted. Tow a couple different boats and a cycle trailer.. Nothing super heavy. I was standing up kind of close on this one so it looks lower than it is. The boat sits level.



Shot showing clearance between bumper and hitch bar. Close but no interference at all.

[sseaman]

thanks for the pics, are the holes there or did you have to drill?

[Cj80cruiser]

thanks for the pics.

[bonfire]

Cool hitch mod.
I was wondering about the lift..... So instead of a full lift package you just installed OME springs?How much lift do you get with just springs? How big are your tires? Is the ride rough? If you get lift from just springs, why would someone opt for the entire lift package? Thanks a bunch.

[LC80Ducati996]

Just springs, extended brake lines and caster correction for now.

Shocks and rear panhard drop bracket to follow.

Much more to doing it right than just springs.

[bonfire]

So I guess my next newbie question is there anything in the kits that you can either do without or can you build the kit cheaper
? How much lift can you get from just the springs? How big are the tires you will run with springs? Thanks again.

[LC80Ducati996]

Um... Look at FAQ.

[LC80Ducati996]

Originally Posted by sseaman

thanks for the pics, are the holes there or did you have to drill?

Holes are not there. Had to drill. I did use existing holes on the bottom of the frame but not the top so I had to drill thru one side.

[grunt001]

Cool hitch mod.

What brand of hitch do you have? OEM, Draw-tite, or other? Thanks!

[LC80Ducati996]

Not sure was mixed black and orange before I put it in a bead blasting cabinet.. Might be OEM

[sandcruiser]

do you think that there is any way to retain the spare tire in the stock location?

[LC80Ducati996]

UM why. The spare hangs much lower than the hitch. Not going to gain anything.

[sandcruiser]

while the spare hangs lower than the hitch, I can take the spare off and throw it in the cargo area in about 3 minutes, for times that I'm offroad.

around town, I don't have much trouble with the hitch nor the spare hitting stuff, but it is cleaner/neater to have the spare down below than in the cargo area (around town).