Castor delima!!

[Cowmeat]

Hey guys!
This is my first post and sadly it’s a question that i think might be pretty easily answered but I’m just not able to find it.
Got my 97’ FZJ80 about a year ago and the radius arm bushings where shot. It has an Ironman 2.5” lift from previous owner so i went Ahead and put the dobinsons 2.5 degree castor correcting bushings on (RB59-522K). Took the arms to get the bushings pressed to spec per instructions and have been running them happily for the last year. My delima is that i recently ordered the Dobinsons 3.5” long travel lift DSSKIT0019 along with all the odds and ends to make everything work (panhard, arms ,etc) i ordered The 5 degree castor plates and I’m not sure what i have to do to make these work with my pre existing 2.5 degree bushings. Dobinson says
“Adjustable during installation to offer 0 to 2.5° of caster adjustment” but i see No instructions on adjustment. Am i missing something? I would Really prefer not to spend money on stock castor bushings if i can the 2.5 degree ones that i already have installed work.

 

[ppc]

Aftermarket bushings historically have a short life span. Seeing that you are choosing to use caster plates the smart move is to replace the bushings with OEM. A smarter move would be to install the Delta Vehicle Systems radius arm for your desired lift. The come with new OEM bushes installed.

 

[Cowmeat]

Aftermarket bushings historically have a short life span. Seeing that you are choosing to use caster plates the smart move is to replace the bushings with OEM. A smarter move would be to install the Delta Vehicle Systems radius arm for your desired lift. The come with new OEM bushes installed.

Something i will definitely do in the future!

 

[77mustard40]

If you are going to run plates to correct caster then you’d be best served to press in new OEM bushings. I ran plates for a few year but finally went to the DVS arms and they are simply the bomb, yeah an extra grand but well worth the investment for me.

 

[Nad Aitch]

I would use these plates if I was using plates-

Caster plates

Plates that mount to the front axle that corrects for caster after lifting the truck. The 2.5 version corrects caster for a lift range from 2" - 3" and works with the stock front drive shaft. The 4.0 version corrects caster for a lift range from 3.5" - 4.5" and works with a Double Cardon front...

landtankproducts.com

You will have vibes, so you'll need a DC shaft or go part time.

I would go OEM for bushings but these may not suck if needing to save a buck- Control Arm Bushing Kit - Fits 1990 - 1997 8x Series, LX450 & 105 Series (SUS80BUSHKITAFT) - https://cruiserteq.com/control-arm-bushing-kit-fits-1990-1997-8x-series-lx450-105-series-sus80bushkitaft/

Did you get the 144/145vt coils? Just be aware, you might get like 5” or more of lift from those unless your rig is fully kitted out.

You'll get at least 4" of lift off the 144vt, which will need >= 7° of correction. You'll be under spec and handle darty with 5• plates.

 

[Nad Aitch]

Five degree plates marketed at solving for a "four to six inch lifts" . If you just want to drive the thing without spending anymore money, your existing 2.5 degree bushings plus the dobinsons plates are pretty close to what you need, despite achieving it in a suboptimal fashion. It should be stable enough, at least until the bushings fail.

Just be aware you will have vibrations that won't be easy to correct unless you part time convert that truck.

Unless you've got sliders, fridge, and stuff out back, you'll probably have poor rear pinion angles as well and may need adjustable rear upper control arms or the fixed length @landtank lower arms. I wouldn't go buying anything except an angle finder until the new gear is on the truck and it's loaded down with your gear

 

[Augustiron]

Plates and bushings together would put the tie rod hard on the trailing arm I would think.

 

[Cowmeat]

Five degree plates marketed at solving for a "four to six inch lifts" . If you just want to drive the thing without spending anymore money, your existing 2.5 degree bushings plus the dobinsons plates are pretty close to what you need, despite achieving it in a suboptimal fashion. It should be stable enough, at least until the bushings fail.

Just be aware you will have vibrations that won't be easy to correct unless you part time convert that truck.

Unless you've got sliders, fridge, and stuff out back, you'll probably have poor rear pinion angles as well and may need adjustable rear upper control arms or the fixed length @landtank lower arms. I wouldn't go buying anything except an angle finder until the new gear is on the truck and it's loaded down with your gear

If you are going to run plates to correct caster then you’d be best served to press in new OEM bushings. I ran plates for a few year but finally went to the DVS arms and they are simply the bomb, yeah an extra grand but well worth the investment for me.

I am On 37’s would it be worth getting the DVS long arms that are 1” longer??

 

[Cowmeat]

I would use these plates if I was using plates-

Caster plates

Plates that mount to the front axle that corrects for caster after lifting the truck. The 2.5 version corrects caster for a lift range from 2" - 3" and works with the stock front drive shaft. The 4.0 version corrects caster for a lift range from 3.5" - 4.5" and works with a Double Cardon front...

landtankproducts.com

You will have vibes, so you'll need a DC shaft or go part time.

I would go OEM for bushings but these may not suck if needing to save a buck- Control Arm Bushing Kit - Fits 1990 - 1997 8x Series, LX450 & 105 Series (SUS80BUSHKITAFT) - https://cruiserteq.com/control-arm-bushing-kit-fits-1990-1997-8x-series-lx450-105-series-sus80bushkitaft/

Did you get the 144/145vt coils? Just be aware, you might get like 5” or more of lift from those unless your rig is fully kitted out.

You'll get at least 4" of lift off the 144vt, which will need >= 7° of correction. You'll be under spec and handle darty with 5• plates.

I am Running a Slee short bus front bumper with winch and have a RTT , fridge , toolbox and all the @Bellfab goodies in the back. Think i would be pretty even at about 4”?
I was Kinda wornfering the same thing about if my 2.5 degree plus the plates would get me to the correct angle and be safe to run as well.

 

[Nad Aitch]

I am On 37’s would it be worth getting the DVS long arms that are 1” longer??

Oh hell yeah - go ahead and part time the truck and do those. The 5L arms are the way to go. Grab the rear pan hard lift while you're on their site.

If you wanted to be cautious you'd install the lift and get an alignment first but 5L should probably work. The slee arms are essentially 6L and would work well too.

Eta- some folks would say correct for 4" and use a DC shaft. Some folks like to correct for more and go part time. This is hotly debated, but more than 4 degrees of caster drives nicely with big tires.

 

[Cowmeat]

Oh hell yeah - go ahead and part time the truck and do those. The 5L arms are the way to go. Grab the rear pan hard lift while you're on their site.

If you wanted to be cautious you'd install the lift and get an alignment first but 5L should probably work. The slee arms are essentially 6L and would work well too.

I do have the rear pan hard lift just haven’t had the time to put it on yet! Thanks for the input.

 

[Nad Aitch]

Drop some pics when it's all buttoned up. Sounds like a nice rig. Those VT coils are tempting - folks seem to love them.

 

[Cowmeat]

Drop some pics when it's all buttoned up. Sounds like a nice rig. Those VT coils are tempting - folks seem to love them.

10-4 it will probably be summertime when i get everything how i like It!

 

[77mustard40]

Drop some pics when it's all buttoned up. Sounds like a nice rig. Those VT coils are tempting - folks seem to love them.

I have the Gen-1 2.5" VT's up front and I am sitting at about 3.5" of lift. I'm bumpered and armored but otherwise lighter than most, I'm running the DVS 4's with a Landtank DC front shaft and everything is happy. I'm on 35's so no experience with the longer arms.

 

[landtank]

My plates for a 4” lift add 7 degrees of caster and align for a DC shaft.

And I now have a carbide 16mm hole saw that makes drilling the plates a breeze. On the set I installed after prepping the axle. The drilling took about 40 minutes with a Milwaukee M12 cordless drill on a single charge.