Has Man a Fre Stopped Making Caster Drop Brackets? (1 Viewer)

[Barry Lampke]

In looking at all the options for caster correction for a 2.5” OME lift, it looks like their drop brackets are the best and easiest option for caster correction when I don’t do much serious off roading. Both the bushings and the plates seem to require extra labor and special tools, making the brackets same easiest. I also read that those other options seem to present vibration and other challenges.

Because of this, Im thinking of staying with stock height because the lift seems to not be a simple plug-and-play installation.

As another option for a lift, I am wondering if 30 mm spacers alone require caster correction?

Lastly, because I do not have the skills or time to do this, I am wondering what a realistic time and cost is for the lift installation. Any thoughts on any of this?

Thanks!

BB

 

[hawould]

I do have a set of 3" caster drop brackets with sway bar (fnt and rear) drop brackets for sale if you decide to go with a spring lift.

 

[hawould]

$185 shipped

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I tried emailing them weeks ago and they have yet to get back to me

 

[Tools R Us]

May try contacting Dave, @lcwizard, 4PlusProducts | Land Cruiser Parts and Accessories IIRC, he designed, makes/made them.

 

[Dragos80]

I've been chasing a 2" pair for a year now.
They are always out of stock.

I wish someone else, more dependable, would make them.

 

[Cruzilla]

That being said.. I love my 4" set on my rig, I also have the 4" panhard bar drop for the rear!
My rig drives as close to stock as you can with a 4" lift!

 

[Tools R Us]

I've been chasing a 2" pair for a year now.
They are always out of stock.

I wish someone else, more dependable, would make them.

From Dave or BTB/Man It Ain't Free? My understanding; it's not the will to make them, more about, not enough quantity ordered by BTB to make it worth doing. I don't know, never asked, but Dave may have stock on them?

 

[inkpot]

From Dave or BTB/Man It Ain't Free? My understanding; it's not the will to make them, more about, not enough quantity ordered by BTB to make it worth doing. I don't know, never asked, but Dave may have stock on them?

Dave’s kinda sneaky that way!

 

[half k cruiser]

@Barry Lampke I don't know what you mean as far as the other options taking special tools, extra vibrations etc. You can call @sleeoffroad tomorrow and have a set of plates, probably by the end of the week. They don't really require any more special tools or skills than you will have with the drop brackets. They also avoid having that drop bracket hanging down off of your frame which is not only a snag for rocks but looks pretty mehh.

 

[SHREDwagon]

I've been chasing a 2" pair for a year now.
They are always out of stock.

Order a set from Japan?​

 

[cc93cruiser]

Order a set from Japan?​

View attachment 1763281

Those are pretty slick..Black powder coat would be better..

 

[lcwizard]

Order a set from Japan?​

View attachment 1763281

Is that an 80 frame? The frame bracket looks odd. How does it keep from swinging fore and aft?
I haven't made them for Man-a-Fre quite some time. They seem to be dropping a lot of old stuff like
shackle reversals for 40s and 60s. Volume seems to be dropping to the point their fabricators are losing
interest.

 

[Barry Lampke]

Called Man a Fre today and they thought they may have a couple of pairs of 3” brackets coming back from being powder coated. They just called me back and I scored a pair! That leaves one more pair that has not yet hit their website!

I am buying An LX450 on Sunday and decided to pull the trigger on this before I even bought the truck! Stay tuned if I end up not buying the truck-these may be available.

 

[SHREDwagon]

Is that an 80 frame? The frame bracket looks odd. How does it keep from swinging fore and aft?

These are for an 80.

Previous was GR79

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Sweet
Got a link to a vendor?

 

[synapse]

I went with a weld in drop bracket that pushes the radius arm mount 12mm forward and down 2". Will correct for 3-4" lifts. In my case it corrected roughly 5 degrees of castor.

You can buy them off ebay or their aus website 80/100 Series Weld In Drop Boxes - Live Axle Models - Black Mamba Racing

https://www.the4wdshed.com/80-100-series-weld-in-drop-boxes-live-axle-models

 

[sunrk]

Here in Australia drop-boxes for 80's are illegal and no company has ever produced them to suit manual gearbox 80's (which is the vast majority of 80's in Australia). Man-a-fre's only were for auto gearbox 80's since that's how all the LX450's where configured for the US market.

They can't be used with manual gearbox 80's as the crossmembers are different.

 

[Bogart]

I need a set of 2 or 3 inch, I have a 2.5 in one lift with slee bushings but it is not enou*, I was thinking of adding the 2 inch bracket and leaving the bushings in.
Thoughts?

 

[lcwizard]

Quite frankly if it were mine I would use the same concept but make a more permanent mount. The bolt on mounts should be checked regularly as I found the bolts would occasionally loosen.
The "FRAB" , as I had called it, was part of a larger kit that I agreed to design for Man-a-Fre about 15 years ago. They wanted a series of drop brackets that would lift the truck 4" with the 2~4"coils and spacers and not affect the suspension geometry enough to have any handling differences. The kit had front and rear drops, front and rear panhard drops and swaybar drops. Optional adjustable upper rear arms that were adjustable on the truck and 2 1/4 x .375 wall DOM lowers.
The only thing Man-a-Fre was to source was a drop pitman to make the kit complete. That never happened so the kit was never really
complete in my mind. Man-a-Fre decided that the interest wasn't there enough to invest in the pitman forgings and I didn't want to produce a
kit that I felt wasn't complete. Without a drop pitman I didn't like the extra bump steer, especially with soft coils.
At that time 80s weren't being built as much as today. The 40s were still our dominant market. The 80s were still new enough that a lot of owners cringed at the idea of majorly modifying their truck so like fuel injection kits for 40s and 60s in the late 90's the project got shelved.
It was hard to sell a 1500.00 injection kit when gas was still a buck a gallon.