Big lift small tires

so back to how does it look? bigger tires?

 

well this is myn with 8 inch lift and 37's

 

i like that one

 

Gay...

 

Gay because I live somewhere that I actually use and need a lift and tires like this? Yea your right. Gay.

 

hhmmm

 

dont listen to those guys they just like stock trucks( GAY!!!). your truck is beast!!! so when you put those 37's on did you get a gear ratio change to like a 4.56 or 4.88 or just leave it stock?

 

i was meaning the one with 33s yours looks good because yuur tires actually are perportionat to your lift yours isnt gay lol i should jave been more specific

 

oh sorry man and thanks. but i like his cuz the tire to lift is in proportion but if i want to put on bigger than 33's i have to get my gears switch to a 4.56 or 4.88 which is 700 each axel. it sucks so ill probally stick with the 33's

 

44 inch go big or go home man haha =)

 

haha even if i some how fit those( about another 6 in lift) i would have to have 8.56 gears or something

 

The thing that would worry me if it were mine, is those struts.. The thing is they are just that, struts which means they are a wear item.. A discontinued wear item.. So when that item does wear, (which it will) you wont be buyin a hundred dollar strut you will be buying a 1800+ dollar lift kit. simply because the struts wore out. right now its a running driving functioning truck that you could potentially sell or trade or a more usable truck to someone else who might like the tall truck look, for a truck that will last you and has replaceable parts. Other than that ditch the body lift for sure, toss on some bigger tires and you might have a good lookin truck. Just my opinion.

 

ditch the IFS and go with a solid axle

 

Rock on ~ and don't sweat it.... While even Trail Master has given up supporting this kit. I just bought new VW cartridge struts and did the retro fit a few months ago. Replacment cartridge struts will be available for a long while to come.

The 6" trail master lift (THAT YOU AND I HAVE) is the bottom of the barrel for design and quality but it is not gonna blow up just because you lock it in 4wd. Just don't beat on it and you will be Ok. Speed wheeling / Prerunning / or Serious Rock Crawling would kill the kit in short order. It was designed as a first to the market Taco IFS on 35's lift and made just to cruise around and look cool. It will do pavement / sand / mud and mild trails ok. Keep an eye on crossmemeber bolts and wheel alignment. Also try not to top out / over extend the struts to violently as this is known to shorten the strut life.




PS: When the second strut blows / fails then it is just less suspension damping. You still have the original strut for damping. This and crossmember flex are the most common problems. While I'm not a fan of eleminating the upper a-arm, I think it will live a long healthy life as a mall crawler. Welding the drop brackets to the frame and adding a lower bracket to frame support strut bar like on fabtec's kit will help firm up the steering and eleminate excess bracket flex.


I'll pimp mine until someone else wants it, meanwhile I'm collecting trinkets for the SAS.

 

so am i reading right? you found others struts when yours failed???

 

Yes ~ mine are not exact replacments but mine are the ones that the TM tech unofficially recomended. They are not a direct fit as the shaft required minor machine work at the strut mount and the strut mount then needed to be lowered slightly.

I was working thru a vendor with details from Trail Master and I think I can source the exact cartridge replacments ~ just after having my VW's new in hand I called off the search.

 

so how much were the struts?

and how hard is it to make those struts fit?

 

I gave $30 for a pair of NEW Monroe Sensa Trac's + shipping on Ebay and then took them to a machine shop for a quick shave on the lathe. 89-91 VW Golf / Jetta if I remeber correctly ~ just be sure you get the correct strut - you want the replacment cartridge type where (On a VW) you unscrew the top and replace the internals. On the TM 6" kit you unbolt the steel strut casings at the center bolts and drop in the new cartridge assy pictured below.

Basically the grey part below the threads and above the chrome shaft just needs to be trimmed / shaved to a tad smaller OD. This is done so the VW strut fits in the TM strut bearing assy.

 

This kit designed correctly

(If using that term with any DB kit is not an oxymoron) ~

Their would be a strut tower brace (Tower to tower and also attacing to the firewall). The front and rear lower a-arm drop brackets would be welded together (with front to back bracing inbetween) as one assembly and then they would have a bar from them to a mount 30" back on the frame to give added support as the truck hits an obsticle at speed.

 

so basically i should wait untill it fails( hope it doesn't)?