Manual 80 Series Body lift

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

hi all, just completed a 2" body lift on my 80 series. anyone who would like information regarding any part of this modification please ask.

-dave

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Did it have airbags?

What did you do with the transfer lever?

Was it all fairly straight forward?

Joined: 21 Jan 2008 Location: Australia, WA Perth

erm, where did you get all ur parts from and what was involved in doing it m8.

Cheers Wade

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

i guess I'll just run through it. - don't have airbags.

the lift itself was straight forward enough. all components (other than the bolts) i manufactured myself.

the bolts are high tensile untreated - i had them electroplated zinc cromate (i think). **the standard bolts i removed were in very poor condition. the two front bolts had severe corrosion and 3 others sheared off whilst undoing.

the blocks i made up out of aluminum - 2". from memory the front and rear blocks were a different diameter to the rest.

complications that arose were: steering shaft through firewall, transfer lever, gearstick, radiator, air conditioning bracket and heater hose.

the steering shaft was a hassle as the seal needed to remain perpendicular to the shaft after the lift. unfortunately Toyota changed the design from older LC's to put the second uni joint inside the vehicle. this was catered for by relieving the existing hole, removing the existing anchor nuts and replacing them with re-manufactured ones lower, making a spacer to allow for the original brackets geometry and re-installing.

the transfer lever was easy. i cut the splined shaft just below the upper joint. machined a spacer the same length as the lift fitted and welded it in.

i heated the gearstick with an oxy and bent it to the correct position. **if doing this, wrap the stick with a wet rag to prevent melting the rubber inside.

with the radiator, the two lower brackets were completely remade. accommodating the lift, the radiator was lowered relative to the body by the lift amount. the two upper mounts were repositioned the same distance and were reinforced - they still retain the existing mounting holes on the body including the rubber blocks.

the bracket that supports the air conditioner line from the firewall to the compressor has a bracket that attaches to the top of the shock tower. i just remade the same bracket to accommodate the lift.

heater hose was replaced with a longer piece.

took me 3 full days to do the job properly and with the right tools. i don't know how most people do it without a machine shop.

probably wouldn't take me as long now that i know how to do it **shrugs**

i don't know how to add photos so if you want any just pm me with your email address.

any other questions just ask.

-Dave

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

If you want to put up some photos, email them to me, and Ill put them up for you.

Alternatively you could sign up for a photobucket account, load them there and link them in here.

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Location: central coast down under

Guys i found this page on outer when i was doing my lift the other month, pretty much all you need to know.

http://lbd.end0.net/

Wouldnt advise on round blocks, not enough surface area to spread the weight of body an will punch through eventually.

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

yeah, i found this link and used it until i realised the guy had taken short cuts in a few instances.

i'd never heard of useing non-round blocks, please explain? the ones i machined were original diameter and i kept the factory rubber.

cheers

-Dave

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

djroberts wrote:

yeah, i found this link and used it until i realised the guy had taken short cuts in a few instances.

i'd never heard of useing non-round blocks, please explain? the ones i machined were original diameter and i kept the factory rubber.

cheers

-Dave

Round tends to be better than square. There is a reason all factory body mounts are round! Cool

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

DJRoberts' Body lift pics:

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

cheers mate

Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Location: Newcastle

djroberts wrote:

the bolts are high tensile untreated - i had them electroplated zinc cromate (i think). **the standard bolts i removed were in very poor condition. the two front bolts had severe corrosion and 3 others sheared off whilst undoing.

If your high tensile bolts had a tensile strength greater than 1000MPa (145KSi) ie: greater than Grade 8 or Class 10.9, I'd be removing them and replacing with untreated high tensile bolts with appropriate anti-sieze.

Electroplating high tensile bolts introduces hydrogen to the surface of the bolt, particularly around irregularities and inclusions, causing a reduction in ductility and tensile strength. Commonly known as Hydrogen Embrittlement, it will reduce the strength of your bolts and can cause brittle failure at stresses far below the rated tensile strength.

Just worth keeping in mind whenever using bolts in a highly stressed environment, especially if exposed to corrosion.
I'd hate for your 80 series body to one day depart from the rest of the car, it looks like you've put in a lot of quality work.

Cheers.
Daniel

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

Hi smithie,

thank you for drawing my attention to this. Unfortunately I hadn't considered the idea of hydrogen embrittlement and have since spoken to my electroplater. He informed me that in the cleaning process the bolts are indeed exposed to hydrogen and can cause undue failure. Generally, he said, if they (the electroplater) realise the bolts are high tensile they will de-embrittle them. This is done by cooking the bolts in an oven for about an hour at approximately 200 degrees C - this removes the Hydrogen from where it combined with the Carbon. He suggested I could do this myself however, I am now uncertain of the bolt's reliability considering they have been stressed (torqued) already.

I think the best line of action is to get new bolts and have them treated accordingly ie: throw the old ones out!

By the way, during the nights i was making the lift i had dreams that i had forgotten to tighten the bolts and the body did part from the chassis mid-way through a corner Confused

- maybe a sign??

thanks once again - Dave

Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Location: Newcastle

Your correct in that Hydrogen Embrittlement can be relieved by baking, however it needs to be a controlled process with a number of variables based on the tensile strengh, hardness and the applied electroplating process, (ie: cadmium, zinc etc). For a tensile strength of 1000-1100MPa, and hardness of 31-33HRc it requires baking at between 190-220degC for a minimum of 8 hours (as per ASTM B 850-98)

The catch is that most parts require de-embrittlement within 1-4 hours.

In short, if your bolts were of the grade mentioned previously, I'd suggest replacing them with new ones.

At least you'll be able to sleep better
Glad to help.
Daniel
Smile

Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Location: Newcastle

DJ Roberts how long did this body lift take you to complete?