So thin this young guy brings his new Chevy Silverado 2500 in - 2014 with a 6.6 diesel. He had installed a lift kit, obviously wanting that cool look. Trouble is, he wanted as much cool as he could get, so he torqued the torque bares up all the way too, to get as much height as possible. The upper control arms were clear against the stops - this is not with the truck up on a jack - but sitting on flat ground!! The thing rode like the proverbial log wagon.!.! Of course this put the axle at "quite" a bad angle - (pic 2 shows the left axle, still in one piece) putting loads of strain on it. Ended up breaking the right axle- actually pulled it apart... what a way to go...
Ya can't fix stupid, but with enough duct tape, you can muffle it...
So this is "bad"? ;)
If it wasn't for shade tree mechanics who didn't know what they were doing, you'd loose half your business! ;D
How true, PC. I just thought it was interesting to pass on. It's amazing some of the stuff I see.... :o Half of it is brought on by those illustrious automotive engineers.... like the Trailblazer, with the front axle that goes through the engine oil pan.... now who came up with THAT idea?? Sheesh, they like to make a job hard....
Seems like a good idea to me, then the axle will be getting lub at the same time as driving.........makes sense to me.......
Quote from: CDNRatMan on May 25, 2015, 10:11:46 AM
Seems like a good idea to me, then the axle will be getting lub at the same time as driving.........makes sense to me.......
yeah, but you live in Ontario...... ;D
oh right and that makes what difference Mountain Man or Man Mountain.......
My first true automotive "passion" (still is one of them) was off road vehicles. Some of the stuff you see on lifted vehicles is scary. Full sized trucks seem to be more common, or at least far more noticeable than other types of vehicles. The things that always got me were the torsion bar lifts, the lift blocks on the rear axle, and the huge body lifts (spacers that lift the body off the frame). That doesn't mean they're all bad, but when taken to the extreme, they are. Torsion bar lifts ride horribly too. So stiff. Lift blocks are known to cause axle wrap, sometimes to the point of making leaf springs S-shaped. Thankfully things have gotten better since the jungle gym lifts went out of style (these were trucks mostly that had like 20 inches plus of lift and had so much extra tubing that the suspension resembled a jungle gym). It was pretty common to see lift blocks on the rear axle like 12" tall. It was rediculous.
I know what you mean, GDRudd. we see some really poorly done lifts - they don't even have to be real big to be messed up! Case in point: had a 98 Cherokee in the other day with about 6" lift - the back had blocks - incorrectly installed - so the axle sits at the wrong angle, and now the drive shaft has about a 15 degree angle at the rear U-joint. Front end: Jeeps have a "track bar" that holds the front axle in the right place - Fastens from the axle on the passenger side (I think) to the frame on the driver's side - keeps axle from moving side-to-side. Problem is, with a 6" lift - done improperly - the track bar now has a severe angle, making the horizontal dimension much shorter - so the front tire sticks out past the fender about 3" on one side - but it's flush on the other side..... Not to mention whenever the suspension travels up or down, it now changes the toe about 2-3" Now, THAT'S gotta drive good!!!
Yeah, I don't see as many sketchy Jeep lifts around here, but they are out there for sure. It seems like when they screw it up, they really do screw it up. I used to have a Cherokee, but someone turned in front of me so it got totaled before I could do too much to it, but I still know what you're talking about. 6" of lift on a Cherokee is a lot. I was going to put a 4.5" lift on mine which requires about as much as a 6" lift, but there are a lot of extras to take care of other than the lift. Track bars are a big issue with them too, but ignoring the issue is kind of sad. They have cheap brackets that fix that. Not as good as a new track bar, or changing the suspension to allow you to get rid of the track bar, but not sketchy to the point of being dangerous. I do hate lift blocks though. They can cause so many issues.
I did a 2 1/2" suspension lift on my TJ, and even that causes a noticeable side to aide offset and even causes the Jeep to sit low on the left by a small amount. Was going to add adjustable track bars, but the engine decided to give up on me. There goes my summer allowance..... :'( :D