Cyber build 101 : 80 with 6-8" lift running 38's (1 Viewer)

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Going to steer a bit of the debating going on on the MAF thread into here I hope. The goal is specific, but not sure precisely how to get from A to B.


  1. 1997 FZJ80
  2. 6 to 8" suspension
  3. 6" coils
  4. 1 - 3" body lift
  5. No body cutting
  6. Able to flex and droop as much as possible, BUT
  7. Must retain a majority of the 80's driveability
  8. Must remain a daily driver
  9. Retain a majority of it's stability on the street
  10. Castor corrected
  11. Running 38" rubber
  12. Wheels 10" with appropriate BS or 8"/9" with spacer
  13. Mods must be bolt on for the majority. Weld on within reason (tried and true).
  14. Within budget ($5K)

Currently I run the lift listed in my sig. line. So the build might retain parts of this .. and replace others.

The reason for this thread is to try and form a solid tech thread for such a specific truck. End up with something close to a recipe for it, including parts, vendors, etc. Obviously alternatives will be brought to the table, but hopefully they won't be so diverse that the recipe becomes confusing as hell.


Enjoy,

:cheers:


TY
 
I don't think this is possible for under $5k...the tires alone will be close to $1500 or so....

then you are giong to deal with drive shaft issues ($$$$ ask me how I know) and all of the other suspension components are going to have to change too.

Lots o cash.
-o-
 
Junk said:
ain't gonna happen mr. nonip


Your failure, and lack of stick-with-it-tive-ness does not a consensus make :flipoff2:



Mr 'I'm selling my 80' :princess: , cause I chickened out on the 38" IROKS ..



Now bugger off ... and let the grey matter draw up my recipe.



TY - *Turning my back on Starbukistanaville*
 
beno said:
I don't think this is possible for under $5k...the tires alone will be close to $1500 or so....


Lots o cash.
-o-

True ... so lets drop those from the budget for now. The main thing is to try and get the guts of it working ..




TY
 
I think we should call in Action Jackson on this one...I think he's done all of this Ty.

Check out his website--it's a wealth of information for those who want to really go hardcore in building up a true kick ass rock crawling rig.

Best.
-o-
 
Yup .. I've shorted out a few keyboards doing just that ... mind you his rig is getting a tad big for my liking. I'm trying to gather info to establish a somewhat standardized approach to this level of build. Folks used to get worked up over 35's .. now intelligent builds accomodating 37's are becoming more mainstream. I'd really like to know if this beast is possible , and if we have what we need out there in the way of current vendors to pull it off.


Trying to pull the idea out of the various garages out there, and push it into the limelight, to establish what the commonalities are with each build.



TY
 
No body cutting? You wuss!!
 
As always, I'm going to try and balance asthetics with function. Ah luuvvv ma flares, what can I say? Maybe I could push the axle back 6" and ship some flares in from Iceland. Formverks.... :D




TY
 
Paint and chrome don't get you home!!
 
Is it posible... I have done some and most of that... all depends on what you want ... quality, or quanity.
I think slee of road has a very well thought out lift.... but your looking at 3625+shipping so .. $3800
your rims and tires can go from 1500 for a set of 5 to well over 4000 (2Ktire 2K wheels) so .. $4000
No body cutting (can be done quality 200+ f&r) or $350 3" body lift. +s&h $400

Do it yourself... if you a mechanic or have good mechanical skills... look at about 20 hours of labor for the lift. to be safe. or 2 full days...
2nd ... if you get custom 10" wheels ... and you dont mount one before you buy... you may end up not having long enough wheel studs... so .. Good luck finding someone who can do that in your area... then look at about a min of $100+ per tire to remove old ones... and replace with aftermarket ones.
Then... say for example... you get 10" rims and 37" krawlers...
when you go to fit them on your rear .... the will rub along the sides... not the top. which means ... a 3 " body lift may or may not work (i donno cause i havent tried.. i decided to cut.)
so 20hrs in lift .. + add at least 2hr per tire if you can mount them (beadlocks)
or look at about 30 per tire to mount then you still have to get them ballanced
and get your alignment looked at... so -up to 500 for all that.
Next thing.. the cheep body lift.. 3" for 350.. ok
but they dont tell you you will have to lower everything else on your truck to match again... lower radiator fan fan shroud.. extend your steering shaft, lower extend drive train.. fuel tank fill spout will be short, bumpers will have gaps .. etc.. Ive reserched this all for the last .. lot of years.. and I have finally done my own.
so to recap.

6" lift .......$3800 ($500 core charge minus your cost to ship back)
5 Tires .......$2000 for 37" krawlers (i was able to get mine for 1600)
5 wheels ....$2000 beadlock rims ($50 off for 5)
Alignment & Ballance....$200
Mount ........$150
Fender trimming .....$200 (my quote) ( will beable to keep flares.)
3" body lift $350 + S&H + i would guess $500 in misc charges minimun. and extra custom fab work where needed.
Labor .. 30 hours to do it yourself.. at least 2 days by yourself. less you have an all out shop with everything you need.+ lift. then maybe 20. friends .. ???
If you happen to need longer wheel studs.. .... $500 includes labor. (For me)
Gas milage ... i think i get somewhere between 6-10 (heavy foot) but it did go dwon with the 6" lift.

So you could spend $10,000 or more depending on wheels and tires and un forseen work. (custom)
I spent 8K.. but .. the tires didnt go on.. so $500... tires on.. wont roll.. $500.
need a alignment and ballance (road worthy) maybe $200
ohh.. dont take it to sears.. lol.. they wont know what to do with it. find someone who does it right the first time (search and ask lots of questions)
so my 8K lift is turning in to 10K real fast and I havent been able to drive it since i started it about 3 weeks ago. though it wil be done Tomarrow.

Or you could go cheep.. but you get what you pay for..
6" lift = 3800
that leaves you with $1200 for tires rims and a small 1-1.5" body lift
but i dont know if they will clear the tires.

Im very sorry this is so long.. but .. it gives you something to go off of..
If you want it road worthy.. do it right the first time...
and if you do the lift yourself.. have someone there to watch just incase, anything can happen.. my wife watched me for 2 whole days 8am-12am 16hrs
the first day.
-Ron
 
Ron, good reality based reply. Add some eye candy for us when you get a chance. Agreed .. you get what you pay for .. :cheers:




TY
 
I almost forgot
Another thing you will have to address sometime soon after that .. are gears
the 4.10s are good for 30-32" but the 38"+ will probably need 4.88+ to get you back up to par.
of course the list goes on from there.. and on ...
sorry.. not trying to scare you out of it... but your 10K cruiser will end up being 20-40K after everythings all said and done.. and in another 10 years .. it will only be worth that to you.
But thats why we bought an fj80 and not a rover.
Good luck with with your project.
-Ron
 
Financial constraints aside, I'd imagine a combo of Christo's parts and MAF parts with a creative dash from folks like Jesse at High Angle Drive Lines and Roger Brown of 4crawler.com 'could' yield a functional 8 inch lift that still flexes and won't rattle your fillings out on the road. But I personnaly don't think that the end result would be a great trail rig especially if you keep within the proposed $5K budget. As I see it, the main concern (depending on the type of trails you wheel) would be the shear size of the truck and the high center of gravity that you will have.
I strongly recommend taking your truck out and wheeling it to its limits before you start throwing more money into it. (perhaps buy some armor first.) I seriously doubt you would want a truck that tall after getting yourself a bit off camber.
:beer:
 
Curran .. what do you think about airbags vs coils? Might help on the off camber stuff ..




TY
 
how about just do the body lift with what you already have and see what you've got? Seems to me you might well get 38s in there just with that. It will get you to and from starbucks without difficulty and be decent offroad.

if you plant to wheel it with full flex and usable 8" lift and huge rubber and then you ought to consider whether you are just going to break birfs so add a set of longfields or even portals to your shopping list. and maybe you looking at a crawler box as well as regearing.

for the coils I would look at oz web sites. King for one makes a big set of coils for the 80 and I think they can be bought in north america. if you want custom springs try these guys http://www.dendoff.com/. they will make up a custom set of springs to your specifications. I've talked to them and they know their business. Spendy but not insanely so.

for shocks you might outgrow the Ls or maybe not. I would talk to bilstein usa about custom shocks with modified stud ends.

for caster correction I guess it depends on what your stock caster is. If it was high (e.g., you did not need correction at 2" lift) then you can stick with the caster plates you have got. if not I would say combine the correction bushings with the plates.
 
I'm running 36's with J springs and 20mm of packers at each corner with full armor(no winch currently though) and it all clears just fine. I say throw on some packers and a 2-3" body lift and some 38's.
 
WELL >>> TY lets get started just got my 37s 17s and Slee^6" coils and the MAF kits comeing and 1.5" spacers in the coils I'll let you know on MON.... TIRES 1900.00 TOYO mts and AM raceing wheels SLEE 400.00 springs 1399.00 MAF kit.... were at 3700.00 SHocks 300.00 -4000.00 how we doing :cheers:
 
yellowchaosfj80 said:
WELL >>> TY lets get started just got my 37s 17s and Slee^6" coils and the MAF kits comeing and 1.5" spacers in the coils I'll let you know on MON....


Fawkin A dude .. :D We're going to need some pics Monday nite pronto :bounce:

$4K sounds good .. that USD or Canadian Tire dollars? heh


TY



PS: Is it hot as hell again in Van this summer? Spent last summer out there .. wish you guys installed AC in your houses. :eek: :crybaby:
 

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