Man-a-fre lift help!!!!

[Big T]

Hey guys I just did the 4 inch safari lift from manafre. I have done them in the past and have been pleased with the kit. I am running into an issue this time around though because after I got everything bolted and mounted up I went to back it out of the garage and there was some major clunking from underneath the cruiser. Got out and looked and the drive shafts are at such a steep angle that the U joints are hitting when they go around.

I need a fix. And a fast one. We are taking a trip this weekend and need to have the cruiser up and running.
Thanks for the help guys!!

 

[Toshi38]

Do you have pictures? I assume that you put the leaf springs in the correct positions/orientations?

Did you get suspension shims with the kit?

 

[Big T]

Yes springs are correct. And I also put the shims in. I have not put shims on the rear springs though. I only got two shims so I out them in the front. Is that correct?

 

[Toshi38]

A few pictures would help a lot.

Depending on the type of drive shaft you might have to shim for the correct pinion angle if you have a CV shaft. That said I still wouldn't really expect your Ujoints to be binding.

Don't drive it like this or you're likely to break a pinion... if it binds at the wrong time.

 

[Big T]

Ok I will have to take some pictures then and post them. I just have the factory drive shafts right now and no I wont drive it until i get this fixed. What about placing a shim on rear springs? Can I do that for a short term fix? or should I avoid that and do the CV axle from a 60 sereis?

 

[lcwizard]

call man-a-fre

 

[MSCruisers]

I'm experiencing the same problem right now as well. No shims were included in mine. So I ordered a set of 4 degree and 6 degree shims to see which one works better. Like you said it's binding the ujoints so bad you can't drive it to an alignment shop to see exactly what shims you need. Interested to see what solution you find

 

[Big T]

Yup exactly. I think the front ones that came with my kit are 4 degree. the ones in back I think will have to me a little more agresive if I go that route. Im loading it up on to a trailer and running it to a shop tomorrow to see what they say.

 

[B y r o n]

Maybe reading this will help.

 

[Toshi38]

you can't just shim it if you don't have a CV shaft... they should be parallel for stock and roughly pointed at the tcase for a cv shaft. Your other option if you don't want to get a CV shaft and they are parallel is to get a DS that is set up for steeper angles.

I used an angle finder to figure out what shims I need but I have a cv shaft.... and a spring over

 

[Big T]

OK thats good info. I thought you could just throw some shims in and call it good. Glad i didnt do that. Thanks for the help on this. I will be looking for some CV shafts it sounds like.

 

[DSRTRDR]

would more weight in the truck help ?

 

[Toshi38]

OK thats good info. I thought you could just throw some shims in and call it good. Glad i didnt do that. Thanks for the help on this. I will be looking for some CV shafts it sounds like.

My understanding (Never tried) is that it will vibrate like crazy if you point the pinion up and don't have a CV shaft, also it will apparently stress the U joints a lot I'm told.

If you need a CV shaft I think the one I'm using came out of a 60 series. I got it adjusted for length for my usage. I'm also lead to believe that you can use a shaft out of a minitruck. Depending what flanges you have on your Tcase/diff you might have to redrill (if possible). The later style flanges where round and could be redrilled 1 or 2 times to match different flange patterns as long as the centering section in the middle matched.

Also I know that Kurt at Cruiser outfitters sells pre-drilled flanges that match a variety of different drive shafts:
http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/lock_pinion_flanges.html

 

[Big T]

Thanks again for the help guys. I jut took it to a shop here in town that knows toyotas really good. He said I need to put some weight in it and drive it. The leafs are to new and stiff. So I'm going to try that and see what happens.

 

[DSRTRDR]

ahem . . .

 

[Speeter]

Good reading while you test with some weight would be the driveline 101's on 4crawler Www.4crawler.com and Tom Wood's Www.4xshaft.com/driveline101.asp
Roger at 4crawler can make custom shims and Tom Wood is the driveshaft expert.

 

[Big T]

Hey guys thanks again for the help. I haven't been able to respond because I live in the black forest here in colorado and I have been evacuated from my house since Tuesday afternoon due to the fire. The good news is I was able to get my cruiser out. Bad news is all of my parts and other cruiser stuff is still in my garage.

On a liter note I was able to pull two of the leafs out of the front springs and that helped a lot. I need to pull a couple out of the back now as well and see if that drops the shaft down to a better angle. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Chamba]

Good luck. My cousin and aunt live in black Forest and were evacuated too. Glad you got the cruiser out.

I've got a 60 series front shaft CV in my rear shaft and love it. I would not use it with a SBC, but with a 2f it is plenty durable.