front diff drop down kit

[toyota man]

any one know where i can get a front diff drop down kit. i carnt seam to find one for a triton.

[NowForThe5th]

Try Superior Engineering.

[jop]

Why do you need one?

Looking to run bigger than 35's

[stefanos]

..........in Thailand....or built it your self

[toyota man]

just want to return the cv angles close to standard not sure if i need to with only a 2 inch lift.

[stefanos]

With 2" lift you are o.k..........but if you want more than 2"-3",you need crossmember,diff mounts( or modified them) and upper control arms..........(or modified them!!!).....

[RHKTriton]

Just read ad for superior engineering in 4wd mag - only one I've seen - have completed kits by the looks.

[mmaaxx]

These will be available soon through Monster Rides...similar to the ones we have developed for the Hilux...watch this space

[fraz91]

As stefanos has said, for a 2" lift the CV angles will be fine, it's only if you're chasing a 3"+ lift that you will need to drop the diff down a bit, by which stage you'll also need to drop the lower control arm mounts in order to retain a good LCA angle and keep the suspension working properly.

[mmaaxx]

......

[fraz91]

I'm not having a go at the idea of a diff-drop kit for the triton, personally I'd love to be able to fit one to my own vehicle. But there are engineering constraints that need to be met in order to supply a kit that will perform without putting any of the components at risk of being damaged.

[BEN115]

diff drop kit will make u lose any benifit you gained from your lift..... hardened cv shafts and joints if you break the standard ones. . . .

[fridgie]

diff drop kit will make u lose any benifit you gained from your lift..... hardened cv shafts and joints if you break the standard ones. . . .

But then you can run larger tyres like 35" 36" and regain that lift though it does start to run into possible brake upgrades and other 'toughening' of the vehicle to make them reliable enough to warrant them in the first place.

[stefanos]

Our cv shafts and joints are strong.........the extreme angles of the lifts destroy them....
My Triton it was more than 2.5" ......but it's not worked very well because a) the down travel was very small b) damage the inner cv boots from the angle c) wnen I cut the upper bump stop the UCA hit some times my coilover.......e.t.c

Now I believe with my new lift kit (when I'll install it )I'll not have the same problems!!!

[ultimate]

As Stefanos said, you generally do not require a diff drop for a 2" lift. Most CV failures have resulted from Driver error, Front Lockers or abuse. The CVs on the Triton are like a fuse and will fail before major damage is done to the diff and other drive line components. We did look into after market CVs but decided against it after a bit of testing which showed that strengthening the CVs is only going to transfer the stress further up the line.

Personally I believe if you stick with a 2" lift and do not modify the control arms or bump stops, you shouldn't have many problems. I have seen Tritons go through Hell and back to prove it

BEN115 wrote:
diff drop kit will make u lose any benifit you gained from your lift..... hardened cv shafts and joints if you break the standard ones. . . .

But then you can run larger tyres like 35" 36" and regain that lift though it does start to run into possible brake upgrades and other 'toughening' of the vehicle to make them reliable enough to warrant them in the first place.

I agree and don't think you lose out much at all. The whole point of the drop kit is to correct the steering and suspension geometry with a bigger lift and allow larger tyres (hence ground clearance). Raising the vehicle so that it forces the control arms down (providing more under diff clearance) is OK for mud and ruts, but it is not right from a handling dynamics point of view and overall suspension performance. We have been building drop kits for over 15 years and not one of the kits has lower ground clearance compared to the original suspension. What they do have is a larger lift, more wheel travel and improved performance and reliability.

The hardest part with diff drops in Australia is making them legal. You simply can't engineer the larger tyres anymore and most states are not allowing kits over 50mm on an IFS vehicle. We have had our Hilux Smart lift in production for over 4 years now with dozens of engineered vehicles around Australia. Even today we can not sell this kit into QLD as the department of main roads and transport will not allow anything over 50mm on the Hilux. We have gone right to the top and they have told us straight out that they will not even allows an engineer to assess it even though every other state and territory has approved it.

There are plenty of Kits available in Asia for the Triton but virtually none of these kits can be legally approved in Australia. We were about 90% through the R&D on our Australian built kit when we had to put it on hold for this reason. If you are devoted on getting a diff drop, Superior are now bringing in the BTV kits and there are other brands available like Sun, Unicorn and ZAW4x4. Stefanos has the zaw4x4 kit which is pictured below. http://www.zaw4x4liftkit.com/index.php? ... =539312216




We actually did a test fit on one of his kits about 3 years ago when we were starting the R&D on our kit. Here's a few old photos of it fitted.




After a lot of testing, we determined that this kit is not ADR compliant or suitable for Australian conditions.

The RTA and other state departments are finialising all of the new laws which will make it incredibly difficult to engineer anything over 50mm on an IFS vehicle. Even with the current laws, there is a possibility of getting the ML through on a 3" lift but not the MN due to ESC. The legitiment engineers simply will not sign of on it due to so many gray areas and unpredictable elements. I know a lot people say they don't care about engineering and haven't been busted before. I hope you can understand though that it is difficult (both morally and legally) for a company like ours to supply a part which is not legal for street use. Any illegal component which is supplied for a registered vehicle is considered a breach of the Australian Consumer Laws as the product is deemed "unfit for intended purpose". This is dangerous grounds for any business because if the customer can show they "didn't know" about the legalities; the supplier is responsible for all costs involved including the removal or return of the item.

The RTA has also spent a lot of money on the development of a comprehensive database which every police office and inspector will have access to. This will allow quick and easy measurement of everything from trim height, tyre size and wheel track. There is a rough copy of it on the web already. Here is a sheet on the Hilux- http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/perl/338 ... 143436.cmd

I know this post covers a few different topics but hopefully everyone can see how it all ties in together.

[4wd26]

Brendan.

http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/perl/42802_941356_RVD_14Jun2011123045.cmd
Suspension Data for Triton (stock)

Front (mm) 566 Rear (mm) 661
Vertical measurement wheel centre to top of wheel arch opening at unladen mass.

Given the above and a 2" lift kit for the triton (maxing out the front with dobbie 190 springs- generally accepted as the highest) at around 595mm- we still have 20mm further to "legally" lift the front.

The rear- well we generally end up at 660 after 2" lift so again further height can be achieved.

So how can we legally (work within the legislation) and these heights to give a kit with a front height of 616mm and rear of 711mm

[ultimate]

The "standard" triton specs haven't been released yet. That's why I used a Hilux spec sheet. That listing is for Carroll spring's GVM upgrade All of this is still under revision so there will be a few changes over the next couple of months.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[4wd26]

http://myrta.com/rvd/searchRVDResult.do?viewPdfKey=8341&submitValue=view
stock document for MN Triton, we have been able to access this info for a long time- makes good reading for the "newer models" like the hilux upgrade, ranger and VW. The info was available in the database prior to vehicle release

interesting is the remarks.....
Tolerance for suspension data +-20 mm
Tolerance for wheel track data +-15 mm
In case of heavy duty suspension, rear vertical measurement at full bump is 481 mm.
In case of heavy duty suspension for KB4TN (variant 1 & 2), GVM will increase 20kg.
In case of overfender, each wheel arch measurements will decrease 26 to 30 mm

[Hymie]

diff drop kit will make u lose any benifit you gained from your lift..... hardened cv shafts and joints if you break the standard ones. . . .

If you do a 2" lift on a live axle vehicle (whether it is a suspension lift or a body lift) you do not change the height of the diff from what it already was.

If you do a 2" suspension lift on an IFS vehicle you raise the diff by 2" as well hence the problem with CV angles. The only way to correct this is to drop the diff back down hence the reason for a drop down kit.

2" was probably a bad example as generally you won't need to correct the CV angle as it is still within its limits.

To say you lose any advantage you have got from the lift by dropping the diff down well what is the difference with a live axle. The only way to get a live axle further off the ground is to fit bigger tyres. By fitting a drop down kit you not only correct the CV angle but you give yourself more room between the axle and the guards to fit bigger rubber.

The fact that the Qld government is anal about the whole subject comes from the same lobbyists that want to ban bull bars and 4wds and trucks from the cities.

[ultimate]

http://myrta.com/rvd/searchRVDResult.do?viewPdfKey=8341&submitValue=view
stock document for MN Triton, we have been able to access this info for a long time- makes good reading for the "newer models" like the hilux upgrade, ranger and VW. The info was available in the database prior to vehicle release

interesting is the remarks.....
Tolerance for suspension data +-20 mm
Tolerance for wheel track data +-15 mm
In case of heavy duty suspension, rear vertical measurement at full bump is 481 mm.
In case of heavy duty suspension for KB4TN (variant 1 & 2), GVM will increase 20kg.
In case of overfender, each wheel arch measurements will decrease 26 to 30 mm

Yeah they still need to separate it into different models to take away the calculations. Going off the last line for anybody with a flare: the front trim height would be reduce from 566 to around 540. That would make 595 illegal by 5 mm

They are still working through it all and it will be interesting to see the end results.

If you do a 2" lift on a live axle vehicle (whether it is a suspension lift or a body lift) you do not change the height of the diff from what it already was.

If you do a 2" suspension lift on an IFS vehicle you raise the diff by 2" as well hence the problem with CV angles. The only way to correct this is to drop the diff back down hence the reason for a drop down kit.

2" was probably a bad example as generally you won't need to correct the CV angle as it is still within its limits.

To say you lose any advantage you have got from the lift by dropping the diff down well what is the difference with a live axle. The only way to get a live axle further off the ground is to fit bigger tyres. By fitting a drop down kit you not only correct the CV angle but you give yourself more room between the axle and the guards to fit bigger rubber.

The fact that the Qld government is anal about the whole subject comes from the same lobbyists that want to ban bull bars and 4wds and trucks from the cities.

I agree. The transport authorities argued with us for a long time saying that a 4" suspension kit is dangerous on road due to the increased centre of gravity. While we agree that some kits are, others have been engineered to improve the safety and handling at the same time as providing additional lift and off road capability. This video proves it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klbBd5_x2dg

I do also believe that the drop kits cop bad publicity because people only see a “lowered” Cross member and don’t understand what it does. Basically as you raise the vehicle up, you need to drop everything else back down for it to work properly. Relocating the control arms by the use of drop cross members and hub extensions (for the top arms) allows you to fit a longer strut tower and maintain or improve the steering geometry. With our Hilux smart lift, the steering axis inclination and Ackerman geometry is perfect. This is a result which I do not believe is possible without the extra modifications. Anybody who has been involved in racing or building a track car will know exactly what I’m talking about.

The other important point to note is that only substituting the top control arm with a longer version can also cause issues as it disrupts the ratio between top and bottom arms. This in turn throws out the steering axis inclination and will put more strain on other components like the top ball joints. I would strongly consider this before substituting control arms and it should be noted that replacing the arms is not covered under “owner certification” even if the overall lift is within 2”.

In my opinion you can’t go wrong with a 2” kit. It is safe, cost effective and more than capable for the average four wheel driver.

[fridgie]

Agree, but......


What about those of us wanting more as 26 said and still be legal. Are we looking at a diff drop? And are you able to supply?

[chick_magnet_0001]

Agree, but......


What about those of us wanting more as 26 said and still be legal. Are we looking at a diff drop? And are you able to supply?

Its a triton fridgie..... not a comp spec patrol.....2 more inches isn't going to make a difference until you learn how to drive the thing properly

[reeldreamer]

I'd love a bit more lift to clear 33's comfortably. Extra lift is never a bad thing plus it looks great! Why should hilux's have all the fun?

[4wd26]

don't know about you guys but you can fit 850mm tyres (34") on a 2" lifted triton I have done just that
need to pick your wheel offset and tyre width and remove the front mudflaps.

extra lift without changing other things will provide clearance for larger tyres- but no movement in the suspension, droop which is just as important.

Its the "full" suspension solution we should be looking for.

I agree and don't think you lose out much at all. The whole point of the drop kit is to correct the steering and suspension geometry with a bigger lift and allow larger tyres (hence ground clearance). Raising the vehicle so that it forces the control arms down (providing more under diff clearance) is OK for mud and ruts, but it is not right from a handling dynamics point of view and overall suspension performance. We have been building drop kits for over 15 years and not one of the kits has lower ground clearance compared to the original suspension. What they do have is a larger lift, more wheel travel and improved performance and reliability.

http://www.newtriton.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8720#p210917

[Steane]

I'd love a bit more lift to clear 33's comfortably. Extra lift is never a bad thing plus it looks great! Why should hilux's have all the fun?

Hiluxes need 50" of lift just to get decent tyres to fit. Have you noticed how odd they look with their little wheel arches and big tyres that clearly don't / won't fit in them?