2.5" coil spacer, Don't you need a diff drop bracket for something that high?
ditto...
nah, you dont need to have anything, but its good insurance, sort of, if you do.
the reason why i havent made my drop brackets yet, is that i havent really found the need to. i'm still running the stock aluminium front diff, and i've broken 2 outer CV joints in the time i've owned my vit. i have a feeling a 3rd is on the way, but its not due to the angles of the CV joints.
when i break my front end, i will look at how it broke, and why it broke, and then fix that. also, i will get a steel front housing and 3rd. as it is, the front diff gets too close to the ground, and the reason i stay IFS is the clearance i get. so everything up high and off the ground is good for me.
i know how to drive with a delicate front end, as in, i dont gas it when full lock AND full droop, and i dont keep on the gas when the wheels land, and i sure as hell dont give it any when reversing up! so i have adjusted to driving like a wuss, but i still dont have much competition. reasons being, i have a very good side slope/tip stability, and i have a lot more ground clearance under my vit than the sierra/sammy counters.
i'd rather drag my rear diff, than plough with my front diff. if my back diff gets centred, my front tyres can pull me through, but if a sammy has both diffs centred, good luck buddy!
the ONE major cause of CV joint failure is..............
.............. split CV boots!!!! mud, water, rocks, and crud get into the Joint, and starts flogging it all up. sorta like running really fine sand through your motor oil. so always make sure you have new CV boots, or they are in good and flexible condition. otherwise they wioll split of tear, and the grease inside mixes with dust and stuff, and it becomes a mix of cement so to say.
other factors are.........
............. not giving a sh!t about it, and giving your vit/track/kick gas all the time everywhere, over everything and through everything. some people are scared to break CVs, so they will ask for all the info and look up all the stuff they need to prevent it, but i say, to really understand whats going on, is to go out and break one yourself. not necessaraly on purpose, but you will not know the limits, or how much the CV joints can and will take.
its not hard to change CV shafts and so on, so one broken is one to learn from, and not to mention, one to brag about..... hehehe.
so yeah, i can make drop brackets for my front diff, and be a little safer with the CVs, but it will only make me go harder than i already do, and maybe do more damage. i will also lose a bit of clearance, and i know i hit my lower arms on a lot of things already.
i have cracked a free wheeling hub, so dont think that the CV joints are the weakest link. free wheeling hubs, or lock outs, are aluminium too, and with a welded front diff, if your tie rod ends dont pop out, and your diff housing holds up, and the CVs and shafts dont break, then obviously the free wheeling hubs have gotta give way.
its all good, in the name of muddy goodness, and fun wheeling. its not wheeling if you're not having fun!
