IamWeasel's Renegade

[iamweasel]

went to a 4x4 game reserve yesterday in an area called De Wildt (the wild). Was pretty cool, apart from having to get 'rescued' by my mate in his Hilux. Yes, there was much gloating.
anyway, here are some photos and videos. Enjoy! not too many pictures of my Heep because there were only two of us...

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I'm pleased to say I made it up this 'sans ABS fuse' (no traction control)

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Saw a few Kudu

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This climb was pretty hectic. Those bumps in the rock are much bigger than they look

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Not very deep:

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Pretty damn deep (that's the same 4' stick):

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Look how pleased he is!

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Here he is showing off:
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[iamweasel]

oh yeah, a mate of mine who owns a 4x4 suspension company offered to lift my Jeep at cost! He saw the video of me getting stuck and said it's time I get some more ground clearance

I asked him ages ago if he does a kit of the Jeep and at the time, he didn't.
so he's gonna develop a kit for the Liberty, based on my Jeep. Fully adjustable dampers too
The company has been around for years making lift kits and has a good reputation here.

Gonna cost me about R4500 (+- $550). That's a third of that EFS kit I was looking at and a QUARTER of an OME kit (R17000 or $2000)

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Right on Adam, look foreword to seeing your ride when it's done.

 

[iamweasel]

Me too
Gonna leave the Jeep with him for a couple of days to do some development and measurements etc and should hopefully have the kit installed in a month or two (when I can afford the cost price )
I'll definitely post before-and-after photos...

 

[iamweasel]

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[iamweasel]

Took it in to have the suspension measured up for the new coilover kit.
After having it for a couple of days, he sent me the following SMS yesterday:
"Hi, there is something wrong with your jeep, we did the front suspension and the whole drive shaft pulled out by the CV joint. I'm gonna have to send it to Jeep so they can fix it"

Imagine my dismay! My mind immediately shotback to hearing a loud knock while reversing round a bend after putting it in 4WD (while stationary) on the driveway.

...minutes later he phoned me to tell me it was a joke and that everything is going very well. pheeeuuuuuwwwwwweeeeee!!!

He reckons 2.5" of lift will be a reasonable target. Exactly what I was hoping for :smokin:
He'll confirm that once he's finished all of the measuring and done all the necessary calculations.

Now it's just the looong wait until the newly-developed kit is ready to be fitted (followed by the obligatory photos on here :happy107: )

once that's done, the plan is to fit 15" steelies with 30" or 31" muds. Don't want to re-gear, so will probably do 30x9.5 on 15x8 rims (or 15x7 if I can find them here)

 

[iamweasel]

Good news! Instead of just taking measurements now and then manufacturing the springs and shocks over the next month or so, they decided to devote all resources to my Jeep and have three of the four corners completely done already!

So far looking good for 65mm of lift after settling.

They be finishing the right-front tomorrow and then test-drive time

He said he'll send me photos tomorrow.

 

[SabaII]

I wish I could find a company to design a lift kit for me! Pics when its done.

 

[Dave]

Nice jeep and pics.

Dave

 

[iamweasel]

Thanks Dave

Well it looks like I'll be posting pics far sooner than I thought - my mate phoned me yesterday and said that they had decided to focus on development of the kit while they have the Jeep with them - rather than just measure and then develop at their leisure over the next month or two. (he's doing this for me at cost as a favour, so that he'll have spec for any future KJ owners wanting a kit)

So the kit is already almost completely developed and fitted! yeeehaaa!

He said it's currently at 80mm lift at the rear and 75mm lift at the font, but stated that this will settle by about 10mm after alignment etc. so I should be looking at about 65mm front and 70mm rear.

Because I was only expecting the kit to be fitted in a month or two, I didn't take any 'before' photos, but I dug out my fender heights from here so at least I'll have that for reference:
18.8" both right
18.7" both left

He said he'll send me pics today. Feel like a kid on Christmas eve (woot)

 

[iamweasel]

Liftedddd

And here are the pics. I haven't measured the fender heights yet, but I'll post those measurements soon. I'm really happy with it

Before

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After:

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Not sure why they left the old rear springs in parallel with the new ones

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[iamweasel]

Got the alignment done this weekend and the lift has settled at about +60mm (2.35")
Fender heights before:
18.8" both right
18.7" both left

Fender Heights after:
LF: 20.87"
RF: 20.87"
LR: 21.65"
RR: 21.06"

 

[Pippobug]

Hi
I looks Great!! I do like you rear shocks, I suppose they had to leave the original coils to support the body of the vehicle.
How does it ride now? a bet a lot better than before..
Fil.

 

[badkittystt]

Congrats! Looks awesome! I'm so jealous But yay for you! hahaha

 

[first&lastKJ]

Looks real good! Front coils look beefy.

 

[iamweasel]

Thanks guys.
The ride feels pretty similar to be honest. Apparently Camil Suspension systems are a marginally firmer on-road, but significantly more comfortable off-road.

The front coilovers can support the weight, I guess with the rear springs it comes down to where the weight is support and the angle at which it's supported.

ITCHING go get off road and test it out properly. My mates are going to Serendipity again (see photos a page or two back) and I can't make it :favorites68:

 

[iamweasel]

Hey guys,
not sure if any of you are aware of a charity initiative called Movember, but I'm growing a 'tache during the month of November to raise money for men's health. Last year they raised millions of dollars!

Please find it in your generous hearts to donate a couple of bucks. even if it's literally $2 It's only during the month of November, so if you're reading this after Dec 1st 2012 don't worry
Click here to visit my Movember page

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