James DUff....help

[z70what]

Well, i ordered my James Duff Monster 3.5" kit and their Extended Radius arms about 3 or 4 months agofor a little over $2,100... It's been sitting in my garage for that amount of time, b/c i decided to purchase and rebuild a 351w AND do a frame off restoration... And now that i'm about ready to install it... I'm thinking... maybe i should've gone w/ the 5.5" kit since i'm wanting to run 36" Iroks or possibly 37" MTRs.... so my question is for the duff's and anyone else who wants to voice their opinion.... Do you think, since nothing has been opened, and all is in original packaging, that i could talk them into swapping me for the 5.5" kit... i think the 5.5" monster kit was only like another 150-200 bucks.. and i'd gladly go that route as opposed to having to buy the 5" springs ($500) and the 5.5" lift coils and new radius arm bushings... or do you guys think i'll be fine w/ the lift i have?? and should just go ahead and install it??
Oh, and i only live about 1.5hrs from Knoxville, TN... Duff's new headquarters.... so i could gladly drive there if they'd do it...
Luke

 

[va bronco]

I don't see why they wouldnt do it. Call 'em up. I bet they'll do it. I think if you want anything bigger than 35" tires you should go with the 5.5" lift. You may reget not doing it if your already thinking about it.

 

[bigmuddy]

The only one I know of that would do that would be Chuck at BCB. But with a change in management (suzie) she might? doesn't hurt to ask but I wouldn't hold my breath. My best advice is to go to a body lift if you don't already have one. the body lift would keep your COG lower that the 5.5 as well.

Ben

 

[z70what]

well, i already purchased a 2" body lift, b/c w/ all of james duff's "Monster" kits.. they require a 2" body lift minimum for their front shock hoops and their rear dual shock mount... so, if i did go to 5.5" monster kit, i'd have to have the 2" BL still, for a total of 7.5".... anyone run this??

luke

 

[mountainview68]

See this current thread. http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92948. Tons of guys run this setup

 

[kntr]

I say run the 3.5 lift 2" body, and Gorilla Flares. You should have some good room for 36" tires.

They will probably make you pay a restocking fee.

If you really want the 5.5", call them and drive down there and swap it out.

 

[Bronco Brian]

5.5" W/H lift 2" B/L 37x14.5x15 Toyos warflares yes they rub at full stuff

 

[Gummi Bear]

Dude, don't swap it out. (yup, you just got the 'dude', I'm that serious ;D )


There's absolutely NO reason to go any taller for no larger than a 37" tire. If I can stuff a 38" TSL into my rear fenderwell, with tired old stock 1973 leaf springs, and a 2" body lift, you should have no problem with an additional 3-1/2" lift and a 36-37" tire. My fenders aren't cut out all that extreme either. I'm confident that a set of Gorilla Warflares would work just fine, if I were to ever go back to flares. If you choose to go with a larger tire, the size of the wheelwell openings are going to become an issue before the lift height. My 38 catches the leading and trailing edges of the wheelwells (they're coming out in the front, and the rear is getting a stretch)

In the last couple of years, the trend in the club (LEBC) I belong to, has been to lower their rigs. I want to get mine a little lower, another guy is 4" below stock, another is at stock height, and yet another is 2" above stock height; they're all on ~40" tires. Keep that center of gravity down for stability. Get real serious, and you can add some track width, and wheelbase for an even more stable wheeling platform.

 

[z70what]

DUDE, i've already got cutouts for it... however they are the bushwacker cutouts from JBG...

Luke

i'll probably stick w/it as opposed to dealing w/ all the hassle... i'm just ready to get it back on the road, but that's still a few months off.. hopefully no more than two..

 

[Gummi Bear]

The Bushwhackers aren't bad. That's what is on my wife's rig. Hers is a 3-1/2" suspension, no body lift on 35's. It seems to do well enough, though I haven't had it out on the trail yet (she makes all the decisions on it, since it's hers, and her decision right now is to let it sit until she gets around to paint.)


In all seriousness though, you should be fine with that amount of lift, and whatever tires you want. I see folks going unnecessarily tall with their lifts all the time, and most of the folks around here wish that they hadn't.

 

[Triggerman]

I would have to agree with Gummi Bear. Stay as low as you can get away with. If the tires rub some a full stuff, so be it. I just installed a 2.5 suspension lift on my 77, but before that I had no lift at all and ran 37 14.50s on 17 x 9 wheels w. 3"s of backspacing (ends up looking almost like full width axles). Also cut the fenders out pretty high. Yea, I still rubbed like crazy all the time but it didn't really "hurt" anything. I installed the lift because the stock springs were completly worn out and I had "Bronco lean" actually caused by the rear leafs!