De Lifted High Lift

[bakaguyjean]

Any body lowered the F350 chassis as with the Hilux coming out i am think of getting one of these but would like to lower it. Im not in to crawling and i dont really like the look of big 2.2 tires pooking out the side. Do you guys think i could simply change the shocks and do something with the leaf springs?

Or has this been covered before somewhere else.

Thanks

[mobias]

Well thats a first - somebody wants to lower a High Lift rather than raise it. Could you not just put the leaf spring attach points slightly higher on the chassis rails?

[Blacque Jacque]

You could shorten the shackles or look for springs with less curve in them, maybe original Hilux springs ?

I shall be doing this when I get my hands on one.

[MFrV1]

You could 4-link the suspension, then fit shorter dampers & coil springs.

[igbandy]

Or you could try and mount the axles above the leaf springs.

[bakaguyjean]

Or you could try and mount the axles above the leaf springs.

Looking at the chassis the axles over the springs looks pretty simple. Do you thing the drive shafts from the transmission will need to be shortened. And how about that skid plate under the transmission can the truck be run without that plate? And do you guys think any of the linkages for the steering would hit the chassis rails if lowered by putting the axles over the springs.

Im not thinking about low rider just lowering it enough to make it look a little more realalistic. The F350 look spretty good stock but i was thinking maybe a inch lower would look a little better.

Just ideas, its is such a scale truck allready that most of the mods we are talking about are what you would do to a real truck.

[Shodog]

The problem you will run into is that the axles are pretty wide and the tires stick out of the wheel wells quite a bit. It's not as noticeable when the truck is stock height, but lower the body closer to the tires and they will stick out like a sore thumb.

[bakaguyjean]

The problem you will run into is that the axles are pretty wide and the tires stick out of the wheel wells quite a bit. It's not as noticeable when the truck is stock height, but lower the body closer to the tires and they will stick out like a sore thumb.

Im looking more toward the Hilux lowered a bit.Some people have said the Hilux is slightly wider then the 350,i dont know as i dont have either one,so i could be dead wrong. Im not really looking for the wheels to be inside the wheel wells. Just a slightly smaller gap between the tires and wheel well and a little better look head on. Plus a lower COG. Looking at a F350 head on looks like a monster truck with transport wheels on. If the whole chassis could drop a inch on the axle`s it might help the looks a little bit.There wouldnt be a MFU in my truck so i wouldnt have the extra weight to help lower the truck.

I have looked at alot of the F350 on Tamiya club and all of them look great,but the just lowering it a bit would be fine with me as i will not be rock crawling and i would use the truck on a dirt circut. I think that there might be a magic height to get the truck a little lower with out dragging the transmission over the crest of a jump or losing that much of the suspension travel. I know the F350 chassis isnt a staduim truck but i think it would be pretty fun to drive with a little bit agression behind it.

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

Im looking more toward the Hilux lowered a bit.Some people have said the Hilux is slightly wider then the 350,i dont know as i dont have either one,so i could be dead wrong. Im not really looking for the wheels to be inside the wheel wells. Just a slightly smaller gap between the tires and wheel well and a little better look head on. Plus a lower COG. Looking at a F350 head on looks like a monster truck with transport wheels on. If the whole chassis could drop a inch on the axle`s it might help the looks a little bit.There wouldnt be a MFU in my truck so i wouldnt have the extra weight to help lower the truck.

I have looked at alot of the F350 on Tamiya club and all of them look great,but the just lowering it a bit would be fine with me as i will not be rock crawling and i would use the truck on a dirt circut. I think that there might be a magic height to get the truck a little lower with out dragging the transmission over the crest of a jump or losing that much of the suspension travel. I know the F350 chassis isnt a staduim truck but i think it would be pretty fun to drive with a little bit agression behind it.

The High lift is great fun with more "aggression" behind it. I run mine with a 21 turn motor, but mine is also lifted by 25mm with 2.2 wide offset wheels.

I've thought of building up my second high lift as a low rider style truck, but as shodog says, the axles are too wide, even for a mountaineer shell. Mounting the leaf springs below the axle will work, but suspension movement will be very small. I've stolen the transmission from the kit for another project - the center skid makes no difference if you take it off, as the transmission sticks down just as far. Making it lower will cause the truck to get stuck very easily, and won't look too good either in my opinion. i was thinking of using a gearbox from something else, but i doubt i'll go for a low rider look now as so much of the kit will be wasted.

I agree that the toyota shell would look good with a similar stance to the original tamiya hilux. A simple fix would be to unbend the leaf springs and not use the plastic "lift blocks".

[Shodog]

One thing you might consider is taking a XC chassis and stretching it to fit either an f-350 body or a Mountaineer body. the track is much narrower

[bakaguyjean]

One thing you might consider is taking a XC chassis and stretching it to fit either an f-350 body or a Mountaineer body. the track is much narrower

I just got rid of a CC01 chassis as it just didnt fit in with my other cars. I see the high lift as having more possibilities haveing a 3 speed and all. Plus the chassis isnt a big piece of plastic that gets in the way of everything fun.

One thing about the F350 is everyone says that it looks bad lowered but i havent seen a picture of one lowered. Not even a half an inch or anything like that.

If someone know where a lowered one is please let me know and i can check it out.

I know i have seen some aftermarket chassis rails that are curved like a classic three speed. MIgh get some of the suspension travel back. Maybe the combination of all the lowering ideas and some curved up chassis rails would get just about everything where it needs to be.

I was just taking a closer look and the skip plate is a good idea. I better plan on haveing it there

All of these ideas have been great. Thanks for the help. keep them coming if you got something else up your sleave.

[billg4]

one thing not mentioned yet

DRIVESHAFT

At stock height it is almost to long

Lower it and you will HAVE TO shorten it, no question about that. Some have even reported built stock it binds, yet all those raising the HL don't have binding issues. The driveshaft is at least 10mm to long IMHO stock.

[Blacque Jacque]

That's a problem best left to Mr Hacksaw or Dr. Emel methinks

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

one thing not mentioned yet

DRIVESHAFT

At stock height it is almost to long

Lower it and you will HAVE TO shorten it, no question about that. Some have even reported built stock it binds, yet all those raising the HL don't have binding issues. The driveshaft is at least 10mm to long IMHO stock.

Yea thats right. My trucks drive shafts binded at stock height.

But because of the way the leaf springs mount to the chassis, they swing the axles away from the center gearbox as the suspension is pushed down. I sorted out my binding problem by actually making the truck slightly lower, by unbending the leafs a little. This made the wheelbase slightly longer, fixing the binding problem. But that wont work if the axles are mounted above the leafs to lower the truck. I've lifted my truck on lift blocks now so the drive shafts are perfect. I agree that the stock length is too long.

[Mouton]

I look forward to see your finished result! It will no doubt stand out much more than all the lifted ones! Most people apparently use their's for crawling and then highter is better.

I have played with the thought of lowering mine a centimeter but never gotten around to it. But then I rarely find the time to see a project thru so I refrain from starting any in the first place. (However, that Kyosho Blizzard must ge a plough this winter!)