General vehicle thread

[Irving]

I'll have to respond later, but so far it looks like you're over thinking. Everything you described can be done with your stock suburban. Whole the front might look lower, due to independent front suspension, I bet you have the same clearance under both diffs, if not more in the front. Also, you won't really notice losing the down travel. It means you'll potentially lift a tire sooner, but the increased CV axle angles would be a bigger deal.

[Erni]

I'll have to respond later, but so far it looks like you're over thinking. Everything you described can be done with your stock suburban. Whole the front might look lower, due to independent front suspension, I bet you have the same clearance under both diffs, if not more in the front. Also, you won't really notice losing the down travel. It means you'll potentially lift a tire sooner, but the increased CV axle angles would be a bigger deal.

So if I got this right:

1. Stop overthining.
2. Just order the parts with the 2" key.
3. Get ready for frequent CV replacement.

How frequent? 50k, 200k?

[Irving]

So I raised my front end about 2" and haven't broken a CV. It's only been 14k miles, but my vehicle is not a daily driver, so a good portion of those miles have been on fire roads while hunting all over the state. I've done some wheeling, but nothing very technical.

My comment about over thinking was more about getting a 4" lift, because to go that far likely requires a level of custom building that you don't want to do, or pay for, for what you'd get. I think with a full size rig, you'll more often run into fitting on a trail, or dragging your ass end around everywhere.

Just because you lift, doesn't mean you HAVE to lift 2". I'd look at your axle angles now and see what's up. Also look around on line and see what guys with the same vehicle have gone with and their results. Light off-roading like you've described shouldn't put too much of a strain on your axles.

What size tires do you have now? Going from a 31" to a 33" might not bother you all that much as far as gearing. You'll mostly notice that on the street though. Once you are in 4-lo it's less of an issue.

[Irving]

On another note, I got my front Lokka installed.







Have to measure stuff.




Still need inside axle cup. Half the vehicles at pull n pay have the aftermarket. Worked on one for an hour before I noticed it had the wrong damn cup. Now I need another bearing as well from the long side of the front axle. When I finally drop an axle at the pull n pay, I plan to take as many of the relevant parts as possible while I'm there.

[ray1970]

I?ve been lots of places in my truck with zero suspension mods. You just have to know your limits.

One of the most entertaining things I watched out on the trails was a guy with a lifted suburban going somewhere he shouldn?t have gone. He messed that thing up pretty good on some big rocks mostly because of the long wheelbase and the horrible approach and departure angles. Two guys with Jeeps finally helped get his unstuck but not before plenty of body damage.

[brutal]

I see grease on the ring gear.

Doesn't this diff require pinion depth and backlash adjustments once you change things?

[Irving]

I see grease on the ring gear.

Doesn't this diff require pinion depth and backlash adjustments once you change things?

Yes and yes. In this case you remove the ring gear, but you don't touch the pinon which sets the backlash. So everything should be the same. The instructions, and all the install videos, have people using grease to install the locker. I haven't put it back together yet beyond the last photo, so I can still clean that grease off. When I put everything back together, it all spins fine, but feels a little more "sticky" than before. Not sticky like a mechanical interference, just sticky like I wiped a lot of lube off during the break down and it got replaced with grease. I put grease on that ring gear to see if there was a difference, but I couldn't tell. I need to research if I need to clean that all out before I put the diff oil in. Good to point it out.

[Irving]

Side note: Here is how the 4wd is actuated on this vehicle.

The top part is what connects to the outside axle cup, and therefor spins with the CV axle.


There is a ring with a groove in it. A two prong fork slides around that ring.


When you push the 4WD button, the fork is vacuum actuated and slides the ring up over the top shaft, connecting both shafts. This means that the transfer case is ALWAYS spinning the front driveshaft, front diff, and this long shaft, at all times. Only when the 4WD button is pushed are the CV axles engaged. This is also why you don't really save any gas mileage by getting manual hubs. It makes the steering a bit lighter, but you don't feel the increased peppy-ness that you do when you disconnect the front drive shaft.

[hurley842002]

Side note: Here is how the 4wd is actuated on this vehicle.

The top part is what connects to the outside axle cup, and therefor spins with the CV axle.


There is a ring with a groove in it. A two prong fork slides around that ring.


When you push the 4WD button, the fork is vacuum actuated and slides the ring up over the top shaft, connecting both shafts. This means that the transfer case is ALWAYS spinning the front driveshaft, front diff, and this long shaft, at all times. Only when the 4WD button is pushed are the CV axles engaged. This is also why you don't really save any gas mileage by getting manual hubs. It makes the steering a bit lighter, but you don't feel the increased peppy-ness that you do when you disconnect the front drive shaft.

Really enjoy watching your build progress, reminds me of when I used to do a lot of wrenching. Now that I have a garage again, hopefully I can undertake some projects I've been meaning to complete on my Xterra.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[Irving]

If anyone ever sees this car up in Fort Collins, it's my buddy!