Jd's build thread.... REKON fitted. now SOLD..

[jdnkimsr5dc]

The stars have finally aligned and I will be fitting the REKON gear tomorrow !!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!

[Hilux Max]

great news....looking forward to it.

[danmcccc]

gonna look massive bro

[jdnkimsr5dc]

OK so today didnt go all to plan... of the two mechanics in the shop where I was getting the susp done, it was obvious neither were interested in doing the hilux today. Didn't realise they weren't gonna touch it til after 10 this morn, so pissed that I was ready to go and waiting to start at 7am. So I threw it on the hoist and hooked in myself. got the shocks in, not easy. UCA's are on (one bush was undersize so luckily there was a lathe i could emery paper it out with) and I have the wheels back on so that I can swap the diff cradle. Worst part was that the passenger side CV popped out. Got it back in and put some weight on the wheels so that it stayed in. Tomorrow I will finish the diff cradle and I guess I will leave the new brakes for another day... So pissed that I booked it in with a mechanic to do the work and I help out just so that I didn't impose by scabbing a hoist and end up flying solo anyway. ruined my weekend plans...

So I'm seeking advice from my wise forum peers... is there anything I need to worry about check with the cv? I kept it clean and Ill have to get a good stainless hose clamp to keep it on, seeming I think I'll have to cut the old one off to get it fitted back on. I need a beer...

[danmcccc]

come on man it was friday haha no thats really lazy of them

[jdnkimsr5dc]

yep major...

[jdnkimsr5dc]

So started fitting the diff kit this morn... (after buying a banding tool for the inner boot from RIPco), got the driver side bracket on and the rear. When fitting the pass side the diff would not come down low enough... after inspection realised that the cv was jammed and was pushing the diff up. BECAUSE......one of the rollers had fallen off and was laying in the boot. So thankfully last nite I did some searching for popped cv's and found jack's thread and thanks to Maxxx for throwing the link up for cv replacement. Wife printed it out and whipped it down to me.. Not so difficult. So now I have both cv's back in place(properly this time) the brackets should be a breeze (hopefully). Gotta wait til monday til I'm allowed back in the shop... I'd love to know where I went wrong to have the cv jump out I am open to criticism just this once .

[Hilux Max]

JD,

when replacing the diff brackets, did you have the diff itself supported by a Jack? (no, not Jack S )

I fitted the rear mount first onto the diff housing but did fit the bottom bolt onto the chassis crossmember. so have it just sitting there.

The the front brackets I mounted onto the diff housing first and then moved it around until the front diff brackets mounts alignned with the holes in the crossmember.

rear mount was tightened last.

atleast that was my method, didnt have any cv problems doin it.

[jdnkimsr5dc]

Thanx max, I wish I had asked the forum earlier.. I stuffed up by not dropping the lower control arm from the hub/lower ball joint to fit the strut. I did however drop this off later to refit the cv. I had the diff supported by the jack, its just that on the first attempt I hoisted the vehicle rather than usung it's weight to my advantage. Learnt a solid lesson. The shocks are gonna need a real flogging to bring them down. As for the brackets I used the same method as yourself. cheers again.

[Bull]

As others have said, the front shocks settle down to their ride height as soon as you move the car. Just be sure to check the toe before you need to reverse. You can easily adjust it yourself until you get a wheel alignment.

[jdnkimsr5dc]

REKON is in here are my heights,
Before After
Dr/side Pas/side Dr/side Pas/side
Ground to guard 860 855 970 970
Wheel ctr to guard 485 480 590 590
Top of headlight 1080 1075 1210 !!!

Tyres are 265/75/16 Kevlar's

Got it to settle 10mm this arve after searching for as bigger potholes as I could find and driving in and out of drains on cane farms and up mounds of dirt and ruts at a sub division next door... be good to find some more sag. Got a 1000km road trip this weekend and will take as many back tracks as I can and I'm sure Mr Bruce, Australia's finest highway, will lend a helping hand...

[Danslux]

REKON is in here are my heights,
Before After
Dr/side Pas/side Dr/side Pas/side
Ground to guard 860 855 970 970
Wheel ctr to guard 485 480 590 590
Top of headlight 1080 1075 1210 !!!

Tyres are 265/75/16 Kevlar's

Got it to settle 10mm this arve after searching for as bigger potholes as I could find and driving in and out of drains on cane farms and up mounds of dirt and ruts at a sub division next door... be good to find some more sag. Got a 1000km road trip this weekend and will take as many back tracks as I can and I'm sure Mr Bruce, Australia's finest highway, will lend a helping hand...

did some calcs on your heights. kept on coming up with 'tuff lux'.
Throw some pics up when you can!!!

[danmcccc]

you have almost an inch on the front over mine

[Hilux Max]

Just for the record and future reference guys......

Standard SR5 Height (center of wheel to guard directly above) is 500mm

Therefore you have a bees dick under 4" with 4" being 600mm.

Mines settled on the lowest setting to 575 - 580 which is exactly 3"

Id personally reccomend to those fitting the rekon to leave it at the lowest setting for a week or so to settle the front end then raise it to the height you want (note: jack vehicle off the ground when adjusting to get the weight off the front) and then get a proper alignment.

[jdnkimsr5dc]

So I don't know jack about wheel alignment's so I'm throwin this out there for comment and because I'll prob lose the original piece of paper...

[Hilux Max]

thats a shitload of castor

more than what i had by abit......

[pisso01]

Looking nice mate.. Its amazing how much lift you guys are getting with these reckon kits without CV issues..

I was at jax in mackay last friday getting my new rear springs fitted.

Cheers,

Chris.

[danmcccc]

yer is that castor within factory specs??? seems like alot to me

[ultimate]

The specified reading is on the left (1.48 degrees with a tolerance of + or - 0.5 degrees).

[Hilux Max]

yer is that castor within factory specs??? seems like alot to me

Dan,

No, the Castor figures are not within Factory Spec's but they are within spec.

The factory specs are based off the factory Upper Control Arms. Theres only so much castor you can get out of the factory arms. These Monster Rides Upper Control Arms have alot more castor built into them so if the alignment blokes know what they are doing they can wind up alot more castor whilst still keeping the camber and toe figures within factory specs.

Does that make sense?