Hello again!

[bigscarydeathfish]

Hi all,

I have been away for a while but am back now. I managed to find great insurance for the Fronty (Admiral Multicar Policy, AWESOME prices!) so decided to keep her, and boy am I glad I did!!

Took her off roading at Parkwood 4X4 centre on the 28th of December and cannot remember when I had so much fun! Broke the rear offside light assembly, bent the exhaust, bent the side steps but other than that she performed admiralby.

Needless to say I now have the off roading bug big time so have a few questions:

Should I take the tow bar off? It kept scraping like a plough?

Should I take the side steps off? They are very bent anyway?

Is there a modification for the exhaust to keep it clear of the ground? I broke one of the brackets off and bent it so now it's touching the bodywork.

I am going to lift her. She is a Series A swb sport. From what I have read on the site this seems to be reasonably straightforward, just a matter of buying new rear leaf springs and lift shackles fron Milner Off Road and fitting them then winding up the torsion bar. Will I need to lift the body as well?

I have read lots of information on here about tyres. Presently she has 255/75/R15's All Terrain on which were pretty good. Is it really worth chaning to mud terrain tyres? Do they make that much difference off road?. I rarely use her for long journeys on road.

After she has been lifted I am planning to fit 32" tyres. As I understand the tyre terminology 32" refers to the height, is there any mileage in fitting wider tyres as well as higher? If so what would be the maximum width I could go to without having to alter bodywork etc?

Glad to be back and thanks in advance.

P.S. I saw a couple of Fronty's at Tong, was anyone from here there??

[bobbinsjob]

Welcome back mate.

If I were you, the tow bar would go, as with the steps. Muds do make a difference off-road so it's worth having a set of each.
If you are doing the suspension lift and the body lift you will get 32" tryes on no probs and to be honest i wouldnt go much wider than 255 anyway unless you plan on driving on soft sand alot. you will need the extended shockers as well remember or you will bottom the standard ones out on articulation.

As for the exhaust, you could have a side exiting pipe mod, i think woodwizard was looking into it on his truck

Hope that helps

Ian

[bigscarydeathfish]

Thanks bobbins,

Yes I think I had already decided to ditch the tow bar and side steps.

If I do the suspension lift do I HAVE to do the body lift?

Would 32x11.5x15's work with just the suspension lift?

Cheers

[bobbinsjob]

you dont have to do the body lift. you should get 32's in with just the suspension lift

[Drift]

The Milner leaf kit ill bring your suspension up to factory height as it would have sagged with age, new leaf's are a good idea but your best getting extended shackles for a lift.

A nice sized tyre would be 265/75/15 or 16", this will leave room for articulation and reduce any tyre scrub.

You could leave the cross bar of your tow bar on, it makes a handy place to fit recovery points and give the bumper a bit of protection when on steep ground or very deep ruts .

[bigscarydeathfish]

Thanks Drift.

Do you know if Milners sell extended shackles? Would I still need the extended ones if I put new springs on as well? Thanks for the info on tyres, I will have a look at that size.

[Drift]

No Milners dont sell the extended shackles but these look reasonable

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA ... dZViewItem

If you just go with new leaf springs the ride will eventually settle lower

Mine with 265/75/16 Maxxis Buckshot Mudders.

[bigscarydeathfish]

Cheers Drift,

They look the business and not badly priced either.

So would your recommendation be to forget about new springs and just go with the bigger shackles and bigger tyres? Will the front torsion bar wind up enough?

[Drift]

It depends how bad you springs are, you will get a lift with the longer shackles and get the new springs at a later date

The torsion bars will only need to be wound up about 1 1/2" as anymore you will put out your camber and may need a ball joint flip to help rectify it, its a can of worms and trial and error to get right so best left until your prepared for the fiddling around.

The tyres shouldnt catch with that much lift on a Sport but you just might need to trim your front valence and take your mud flaps off.
As shown in this pic.



The tyres alone will give over an inch lift.

[bigscarydeathfish]

Awesome, sounds like a plan. I shall order the shackles now. I think the rear suspension has dropped quite a bit over the years but will fit the shackles now and perhaps do the springs at a later date.

Those Maxxis tyres look great, I have seen them on the Camskill website in 31x10.5 R15. Very reasonably price for a non remould!

[Drift]

Thats why I went for them, Ive had about 5 sets of remoulds over the years, they perform great in mud and even on road but I was finding they where made of soft compound and wearing a lot faster, so the Mrs was complaining about me buying tyres all the time

[bigscarydeathfish]

Right,

Shackles ordered!

Just got to fit them now! (When they arrive)

[Drift]

Keep us posted

[bigscarydeathfish]

Will do.

Do you know if there is a thread anywhere on the forum with a guide to doing it?

[Drift]

Loads

Have a browse through these two areas

viewforum.php?f=5

viewforum.php?f=14

Have a cuppa handy

[bigscarydeathfish]

Hmmmmm.

Very good info, thanks Drift.

So basically I need some big jacks & stands.

Are new bushes necessary? It would seem that new extended shocks are!

[Drift]

Yes new bushes would be best, saves any work in the future, think milners sell them.

I hop you realise your at the point of no return

[bigscarydeathfish]

LOL

It would seem so!

I have to do it, I really want to be able to wade through beeper water and go down the black routes!

Will any extended shocks fit?

[Drift]

No, check the guide here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17236

Im not sure of the size on the leafers.

It would be worth moving you air intake to.

[Road Hog]

Bigscarydeathfish welcome home that is my second favourite (next to my original) username ever