I'm really struggling with a lift decision. I was looking at the Cal offroad 3" kit and was almost there with this and I'm most certainly going to run with Billies and maybe king springs coils front. I've got a dilemma because I've been given confliction information about the Billi struts. Maybe some of you guys can shed some light?
I’ve heard from some suppliers that an extended brake bias valve lever arm is required but the Cal kit doesn’t include this. Who has this mod?
There seems to be more than one Bilstein strut available for the Hilux 150, it seems that there are a few variants.
Standard Bilstein BE5 D563 (front)
The cal offroad varient (I think it’s the same one with a revalve and more grooves cut)
There is another from a Bilstein importer called quadrants which is a high lift model. (this might be the same as the Cal version)
Now I believe the high lift models are changed so that they are better suited to operate at the top part of the stroke which is what happens when these have groove cut higher and the springs sitting higher on the shock outer body.
Or buy them of cal as a kit or separately for quite a bit more. I'm in WA and Cal is in Vic so shipping also adds to it.
My struggle is price versus value. I can get the standard ones quite cheap on this site
http://www.4wddirect.com.au/cgi-bin/shoppingcart/cart.cgi?action=search&category=TH4 If it's only more grooves, I can get my machinist to do this for me for about $60
I also think I can save heaps of bucks buy just buying the parts I need and fitting them myself which is what I’ll do…
I think I really only need shocks and struts and front springs to start with, then look at the rear springs, bushes and shackles with a matching height if necessary match. (2.5 – 3 inches). What is the consensus on Poly bushes versus leaving the factory rubber in place? I had Poly on my land cruiser and found them squeaky and fast wearing.
I really need tyres, dual batteries and a fridge too so any saving on the lift will be a huge help on finances.
The another thing I’ve heard is that with 3” or more lift, there can be trouble with camber adjustment. Max, Twisty, how are yours for alignment any probs there?
If anyone who has standard Bilsteins or cal’s 3” kit and can give input I’d like to hear it.
I know some of this is covered in various threads, but I have read heaps of stuff and am taking a bit of liberty on my own build up thread.
Cheers for any input and I’ll certainly let you all know how I end up.