MAF 5" Competition Coil Spring Lift Kit NEED HELP!

[LCReef]

Been doing some research lately on 80's like mine (97-LX450). Ive done a bunch of mild off-roading on stock at local socal courses and i think its time to step it up. Ive come to figure out what specs and changes i would want on my car that would probably suit my personal wants and needs. Can anyone give me any extra advice as to what else i should be adding or changing for an aggressive off-road rig that is also great on-road as well or if this is enough. Im not going to be adding any extra gear/armor except a winch bull bar, rear bumper, and sliders. Here is a list of things i am willing to pay an arm and a leg for first :X

-Man-A-Fre 80 Series Competition Coil Spring Suspension 5" Lift
Consists: OME423 5" Comp coil springs, N73L/N74L Nitrocharged shock absorbers, OME Steering Dampener, 4+Plus front extended sway bar links, 4+Plus front bump stop spacers, 4+Plus front control arm relocating brackets to realign the control arms and caster angle, front and rear adjustable panhard rods for increased flexibility, 4+Plus super HD adjustable rear upper control arms w/spherical ends for realignment of rear pinion angle, Stainless Steel DOT 3-inch Extended brake lines
-BFG All-Terrain T/A 315/75R16 true 34.7 diameter
-1.18" Front Spring Spacers
-Wheel Spacers 1.25" or 1.5" for added stability
-ARB Winch Bullbar

Later:
-Slee Front Double Cardan Drive Shaft (If there are any vibrations)
Are these usually necessary?
-4.88 Re-Gearing
-CDL, 7-pin Mod
-Slee Tube Sliders
-Are Rear Upper & Lower Control Arm Drop Brackets necessary or
any other drop brackets?
-Slee Safari Snorkel
-Necessary Skid Plates - Whats most necessary?
-Are rear bump stop spacers necessary?

Any intell in greatly appreciated... Thanks!

LCReef - Joe

 

[calstyl2]

If your gonna wheel in alot of rocks and ledges, Id skip the front control arm drop brackets and go with bushings, plates and/or new arms, I have the 4+ drop brackets and caught them on alot of stuff on the last Moab trip, the rear upper control arms may or may not be needed, wait and see. You will bend the lower rears at some point.

 

[Bear80]

Later:
-Slee Front Double Cardan Drive Shaft (If there are any vibrations)
Are these usually necessary?

You're joking right? The 5" comp springs are equal if not slighty higher than Slee 6" springs. WITHOUT A DOUBT you will have to adjust the castor to the point a double cardan shaft is required. Tons of info about lift/castor/pinion angle floating around this forum.

BTW, that's a whole lot of lift for 315's. I would suggest the 4" comp springs up front, seen it first hand and it sets well for 315s, bumper, winch, etc.

 

[Darwalk]

I installed the 5" comp kit a few months ago on mine, along with Slee front DS, heavy duty rear lower control arms, and longer sway bar brackets from Slee. The sliders are almost ready.

My biggest complaint is the spring rate on the coils. It SUCKS. If I could afford it, I would call up frankies Off Road and get some custom 4.5" coils. My buddy on here (Vistataco) has the 3"kit and it drives awesome. The coils are progressive just enough to keep the soft feel.

Other than that I haven't had any problems with it.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

A Slee 4 inch "kit" will work well for you. Call them, and ask what you need. I would start with a bit of protection and work from there.

Sliders, and rear bumper first. Lots of great vendors for this stuff.

Skid plate second. You mainly need a good transfer case skid, but the Iron Pig skid covers more territory and is pretty nice.

You will want rear bump stops for sure to prevent bottoming your shocks. The sway bar drop brackets are pretty much mandatory too.

I totally agree that the leading arm and pan harddrop brackets are not the way to go. Use caster plates up front(Slee or Landtank) and adjustable panhards front and rear. If you lift higher than 4 inches, the Slee front arms are the way to go. I just got a set, and they are worth having just to see how beautiful they are.

Overall, Slee Offroad is more interested in 80 series drivers, and far more savy about 80 series trucks than MAF. I would get your advice and buy your stuff from them. They will know what works and what doesn't. More times then not when I call, they try and talk me out of stuff I don't need. They are a very reliable vendor with an excellent reputation and no nonsense.

Could you post up the trails you plan to run? You can cover a lot of territory with just a 2.5 heavy lift and 33 inch tires, and thus avoid a lot of really expensive mods.

 

[Darwalk]

You're joking right? The 5" comp springs are equal if not slighty higher than Slee 6" springs. WITHOUT A DOUBT you will have to adjust the castor to the point a double cardan shaft is required. Tons of info about lift/castor/pinion angle floating around this forum.

BTW, that's a whole lot of lift for 315's. I would suggest the 4" comp springs up front, seen it first hand and it sets well for 315s, bumper, winch, etc.

I agree 100%. The coils gave me more than 6" of lift with no armor on. The 315's look too small right now, but I am not buying new ones

 

[FJBen]

x2 on the Slee 4" kit.

If you want to get it right and complete, and have it ride nice...go Slee. Plus the support he'll give you before, during, after the install is awesome.

 

[LCReef]

You're joking right? The 5" comp springs are equal if not slighty higher than Slee 6" springs. WITHOUT A DOUBT you will have to adjust the castor to the point a double cardan shaft is required. Tons of info about lift/castor/pinion angle floating around this forum.

BTW, that's a whole lot of lift for 315's. I would suggest the 4" comp springs up front, seen it first hand and it sets well for 315s, bumper, winch, etc.

I was really debating about going Slee but the factor i had to put in about MAF is that its 40 mins away i can just pick up the kit with ease. Does the 4" comp spring kit require DC shaft? Was initially thinking about getting the 4" kit but i didnt know the 5" sits high; does that mean the 4" is a true 5"? I was also looking into Frankie's off-road custom parts any comment on those? There isnt much talk about them on this forum compared to OME kits. Seems to me that Blistein triumphs in shock absorbers. Any debate?

 

[LCReef]

I installed the 5" comp kit a few months ago on mine, along with Slee front DS, heavy duty rear lower control arms, and longer sway bar brackets from Slee. The sliders are almost ready.

My biggest complaint is the spring rate on the coils. It SUCKS. If I could afford it, I would call up frankies Off Road and get some custom 4.5" coils. My buddy on here (Vistataco) has the 3"kit and it drives awesome. The coils are progressive just enough to keep the soft feel.

Other than that I haven't had any problems with it.

Hey do you have a picture of your buddies rig on flat surface?

 

[calstyl2]

I was really debating about going Slee but the factor i had to put in about MAF is that its 40 mins away i can just pick up the kit with ease. Does the 4" comp spring kit require DC shaft? Was initially thinking about getting the 4" kit but i didnt know the 5" sits high; does that mean the 4" is a true 5"? I was also looking into Frankie's off-road custom parts any comment on those? There isnt much talk about them on this forum compared to OME kits. Seems to me that Blistein triumphs in shock absorbers. Any debate?

If I could do it all again, I would go with the Slee kit, 4 or 6", the drop brackets for the panhard bar were a nightmare, the control arms drop brackets tore out in Moab on some extreme trails. Being from Socal, I saved a buck with the MAF kit, but didnt get any instructions to their brackets, dont see them on trails talking to you about their products and trucks and wheeling with you. Christo does.
I would take a long hard look at Slee's 4" kit, it solves all the issues early, FYI, put sliders on early too....

 

[Darwalk]

Hey do you have a picture of your buddies rig on flat surface?

 

[concretejungle]

Darrin, are you saying the 5 inch OME comp springs are stiff as a board or they wallow in turns? I need to know as i was seriously considering that spring or slee's 6 inch.

 

[Darwalk]

Darrin, are you saying the 5 inch OME comp springs are stiff as a board or they wallow in turns? I need to know as i was seriously considering that spring or slee's 6 inch.

They are REALLY stiff. You feel every darn bump, and when I am driving down a wash, I can feel the bolts unscrewing under the truck with my @ss on the seat. I am getting sliders and eventually a rear bumper, so I am waiting to see if the added weight does some to soften the springs.

If they don't, I will be trading in the springs for some softer ones. Other than taking the drop down brackets off for the front arms, I won't need to do anything else after. Just not a priority now. I drive it once every 2 weeks maybe.

 

[concretejungle]

thanks, good information. I think right now i'm leaning towards the slee 6 inch springs (light) even though i'm loaded. I heard the stiff springs were really stiff.

Sorry, hijack off..........

 

[MomentRider]

Here is what the LX looks like with 4 inch comps and 315 AT's....I used the Slee swaybar and bumpstomp drop brackets and the Slee brakelines. I did get some vibes so I bought the DC drive shaft and they are now gone!

BTW, the rear is sitting about 1/4 lower then the front....which is odd since the only additional weight I have in the rear is the Slee bumper. If I add a drawer system or sub tank I may have to go to the 5 inch rear springs just to sit even....

 

[concretejungle]

momentrider, how's the ride?

 

[MomentRider]

Concretejungle, I had the 2.5 inch heavies front/ mediums rear before and they were just to soft with all my armor. Lots of body roll, the truck felt unstable at speeds above 25 MPH.
I like the on road ride so much more with the comps. The off road ride is also a huge improvment. A little stiffer but they still flex realy well and I dont get any body squat when climbing. Not to mention they give me a lot more body clearence.

The only thing I dont like is the rear sitting 1/4 inch lower then the front (reverse stinkbug). I may add a spacer or move to the 5 inch for the rear after everything settles.

I basicaly have the Slee 4 inch kit (brakelines, drive shaft, drop brackets, castor ect.) with comp springs instead of Slees. I have not seen any comparison between the Slee 4 inch and the OME 4 inch comps but I cannot immagine they are too different. If I were to start over I would likely just buy the Slee kit all at once and call it a day!

 

[Nay]

I love these threads

Nothing but balance all day long, soft as a baby's bottom on the long ride home, no extra weight. Of course, I did get just barely high centered (really the right rear lower control arm mount got me) at the top of that climb in the first pic on Double Slab

Save your $$$, trim for clearance, there is no reason to suffer a harsh ride in any condition, buying a bunch of heavy armor that you are going to drag all over the place just so your springs don't suck.

I'd be going 37's with any more lift than what I have.

 

[gnx7]

If the truck sees 75% street duty and no real crazy trails then get the OME 2.5" heavy lift/shocks with Slee front 1" front poly spacers and 285's. No need to regear, it drives great (I can rip on the windy roads and brake with ease) and stock driveshafts don't vibrate on my rig. A friend with the same lift and Doesche (sp?) shocks with 285's has a much softer ride. I think the valving in the shocks is better than the OME's. This lift kit after about 5K-10K miles will settle about an inch! Slee is a top notch vendor I agree.

Sliders and a TC skid plate will save the truck and should be a priority with any decent wheelin' in mind. Damaged rocker panels are $$$'s to repair. MetalTech makes some beefy sliders that I've put to the test with just a few scrapes/dents in them to remind me of their value. They totally protected my cats which would have been toast without them. The Slee skid plate is plenty on my truck and has some rash as well.

I recently put on some used 35" MTR's and still running the stock 4:10's in the axles. I'll report back on the gas mileage change but it certainly does affect it in the hills (even at sea level). On the flats it isn't bad. It is mainly a street rig... but I did notice that these hum like a madman, vibrate a lot, and take more braking effort and steering effort in corners. They weigh a ton more than my 285 Revos and make the truck a little less streetable. They look better... and I'm sure wheel better.... but on the street they suck. With the 2.5" OME heavy lift and spacers up front there looks to be plenty of clearance. Haven't fully stuffed them yet.

I've heard good things about Toyo Open Country MT's. Quiet, long lasting, strong sidewalls etc. The main downside is that they are heavy as hell and a bit pricey. They make 285's and 315's which should be on your list.

I'll try to post some pics of my rig tomorrow with the 35's on it.

 

[LCReef]

Re-thinking might go FOR

I love these threads

Nothing but balance all day long, soft as a baby's bottom on the long ride home, no extra weight. Of course, I did get just barely high centered (really the right rear lower control arm mount got me) at the top of that climb in the first pic on Double Slab

Save your $$$, trim for clearance, there is no reason to suffer a harsh ride in any condition, buying a bunch of heavy armor that you are going to drag all over the place just so your springs don't suck.

I'd be going 37's with any more lift than what I have.

Now after viewing FOR's site and Nay's ROTW (nice rig BTW). I like the way your rig is set up with the FOR custom springs and Bilstein shocks combo. I am still planning on adding an ARB bullbar and some sort of sliders/rear bumper for armor regardless which lift kit i get. But im not planning to have too heavy a load so im debating winch or nonwinch cause i will also be taking out my 3rd row seats but i do have 2 x 12" subs with a heavy casing so im thinking a light bumper in the back with no tire mount would fit right. Im hoping FOR can make those custom springs larger to fit the height that i want which would ideally with the armor above be 4-4.5". Wondering what shock length i should goto with Bilsteins cause those seem to be great shocks, leaning towards 14". Im thinking i can just add other pieces after i get this custom kit from FOR thats missing a lot of parts in that of the Slee 4" kit like the DC drive shaft. Might even just go Slee 4" then swap out the OME shocks for 14" travel Bilsteins.