body & suspension lift & diy snorkel.

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well we got the lift started tonight, thanks to Rob(m99eky) took out 3 of the bolts on the drivers side, back one was a right bitch to do, glad you were there Rob or i would have beaten it to death with a big hammer.:bounce::bounce:
Front bumper & Bull Bars off next, then 2 bolts more on drivers side to remove & steering to disconnect and remove the fan cowling then the drivers side can be jacked up and the new spacers put in and tightened up. then it`s a repeat on the passenger side, reconnect steering & lift the bumpers on brackets and bob`s your uncle,(well in this case Rob is :bounce:)
a body lift of 1.5 inches.
The rears can be a bit of a bitch but there's only a captive nut welded inside and if you spin 2 nuts onto the thread that you can get to then you can lock the 2 together and remove it that way, it's actually a threaded bar if i remember correctly but yours is newer so i can't guarantee that, the longest stock bolt of that thread that i could get (from screwfix in preston) was JUST long enough to do the front and the back pairs of bolts which go into the captive nuts (measure your originals and add the height of your lift blocks, mine was 1 3/4"), the rest i used M10's with nylocs and ground the captive nuts off the washers under the 6 remaining rubber mountings. Don't forget to do one side at a time to avoid the possibility of the body moving. The back end is fine but don't forget to unhook the brake pipes off their last mounting points on the inner wings, to remove the fan cowling (which will need trimming before re-fitting), and to slacken the bolts at each end of the steering bar that goes from the bulkhead down to the steering box. Last but not least you'll have to remove the rubber gaiter from around the gearsticks and be prepared to have to lengthen the 4wd stick and also to re-weld it in a position where it misses the main gearstick AND the transmission tunnel, there's not much room for error and it took me a few times of tacking it in place and testing then breaking and re-welding again to get it just right so it doesn't foul anything, if you cut the stick near it's base you can use a bolt of the same length as your lift (1 3/4 on mine) to extend it to it's original height inside the truck.
a couple of pic`s of one of the very back bolts that had to be drilled out through the body as there is no other way to get at them.


well what a great day, brilliant sun shine all day. i started by removing the front bumper & bull bars and the front bolt for the body lift at 9.30am then had breakfast, Rob turned up as promised at 10am and we got stuck in, 1 bolt left to remove then it was jack her up. i cut through the bolt heads in side the car with a grinder( it`s quicker)
front bolt removed

Rob removing collar and rubber

first spacer in place

front spacer in place

plastic sides to rear bumpers & mud flaps removed

once all 5 spacers were in place we removed the front shocker and replaced it with the ironman(front are diff` to rear pair)

next it was the rear shocker and spring removed

you can see the spacer that sits above the rear axle

nearside spring was broken before removal

the rubber bushes and metal spacer on the bottom of the rear shocker had to be ground to fit the bracket, once we got the rear shocker in place we dropped it off the jacks/axle stands and moved to the off side to repeat the process

again removing the bolts and collars and rubbers on all 5 bolts, again i cut through the bolt heads inside the truck, then it was jacked up and axle stands put in place then it was down to working from the front to the back adding the spacers and adjusting the jack as we went.

we did not need to unbolt the steering arm but we did have to undo the clip on the chassis(drivers side)as it holds 3 brake pipes, we checked all the pipes & cables as we lifted it to make sure all was ok.
next it was the shockers again.
at the rear we jacked and supported but could not get the height to remove the other spring due to lack of travel in the rear torsion bar.
so we have still to fit the new rear springs(spring compressors). the 4x4 gear lever still needs extending, the front bumper needs refitting after mod`ing to fit the new height, and the rear bumper needs lifting and the plastic ends & mud flaps need refitting.
we knocked at 5pm, not a bad days work, bumper/bull bars removed, 10 spacers fitted,4 shockers fitted, 1 spring removed, and wheels back on so it could be moved back up the drive.
well Rob turned up this morning for stage 2, the springs. I was not much help due to being ill in the early part of the week so it`s a BIG 3 CHEERS again Rob for all your help.

well to start it was jacked up at the rear on both sides and placed on axle stands under the rear chassis & the wheels removed. Next the shockers were removed from there top fastenings then came the removal of the rear anti-roll bar, then using spring compressors the 1 remaining rear spring was removed. again with the use of spring compressors the first spring was put into place, to achieve maximum travel on the axle the brake pipe bracket on the axle was released to.
these pictures show the progress as Rob worked from 1 side to the other,






then it was time to tackle the front torsion bars.
Rob losened of the locking nuts on both side and gave them about half an inch of slack, next the bolts were marked with black marker in the top position, starting first by jacking the front end to take the weight off, then turning 1 full turn on the bolts. The jacks were released to see how much lift 1 turn had given the front end, next another full turn was made to both sides and Rob found there was no need to raise the car on jacks for this.
The car was placed on level ground and by turning 1 full turn on each side, then looking at the result we finished with a total of 5.5 turns to raise the front to match the lift on the rear, then the locking nuts were re tightened.
these pic` shows the front end.

next we checked the articulation on the rear by jacking, pic`s


then i replaced the plastic corners on the rear bumper,(not lifted bumper). the corners are lifted by simply re-drilling and bolting and putting spacers under the top section on bumper bracket.

2 jobs left now, the front bumper and 4 low gear shift to extend.:peace::peace::peace:
when Rob and i tested the articulation we found that the shockers are at full extension before much articulation is achieved, i phoned WEST COAST 4X4 about this and it turns out they sent me the wrong rear shockers they sent standard length ones even though i stated in an email with the order and twice on the phone that that i needed extended length shockers to match the 2" lift springs, now because they have been fitted they are offering to exchange them for the correct ones but the cost of the return is down to me.
Well as these are heavy duty i`ve decided to keep them and weld in some new top brackets for the shockers. This will give me 4" extra extension in the shockers from being compressed to full extension on full articulation. I`ll post the pic`s as it`s getting sorted on Thursday (weather permitting)
extending the 2H-4L gear shift after the body lift;
8 x 8m nuts & 1 8m bolt

1 tent awning pole

notch one end of the pole

place the 8 nuts inside on the bolt & bend the notched ends over

remove the bolt until you have enough thread showing to wind on the gear nob

cut the pole slightly longer than the last bolt inside the tube, notch & bend over the nut.
finally use heat shrink tube over the outside of the tent pole

and the screw back on to gear lever
.

no welding involved, taked about 15 minutes & only cost a couple of quid and there you go
well another productive day:) brackets for shockers welded in and what a diff` it`s made.



and the front bumper is now lifted and fitted, not easy with only one pair of hands:peace::peace: but with a bit of help from a broken fence board:peace:


need to wind up the front another inch on the torsion bars now then it`s just a just a bit of cosmetic work on the rear bumper to finish then 6 months road tax and i`m out playing for real

& the snorkel
B&Q Drain pipe % heat resistant subaru intake pipe



total cost of snorkel 30 quid

nice!!

WOW!! Looks gooood!! Can i ask, where did you buy the shocks, springs and the body spacers from? I also want to give my fourtrak a lift. Its the same year as yours. Thanks

lift and snorkel

like lift m8 will get round to copying the snorkel one of these days

body lift

How did you go on with the fuel filler pipe Unknw Did it need extending Unknw Thinking of doin the same to my j reg swb. Body lift is a similar job I think.

I love the lift I have been

I love the lift I have been meaning to do it for ages myself.
Where did you get the spacers from?
Also did the steering need lengthening at all also what about fuel filler etc??

Mud makes excellent Toothpaste.

body lift

could you not have raised the rear bumper to line up with the end caps??