Advice needed on mods to my Pathy to make her more offroad worthy

[russianfront]

 

I have a pretty much stock 1991 Pathy XE V6, 5 speed manual.

 

I want to upgrade it and here is what I am thinking about:

 

1) 4" Trailmaster body lift

2) 33 x 10.5 R15 tires

3) ARB airlocker in the rear

 

Anyone have advice for me as to the above?

Who has these? If you do they work for you?

Is this the best body lift to buy?

Thanks

[nige]

body lifts are good if you want to fit bigger (32"+) tires. I got mine from 4x4parts.com for about $200cnd to my doorstep.

 

If i had to do mine all over again, i would have kept the 31" tire size and bought/made some sort of skid plates to protect the oil pan, trans pan and t-case. next would be some nice tires, but it looks like you have some good ones on there already. It looks like you run rocky terrain, so if you don't have the clearance, the skidplates will allow you to drag the chassis over obstacles. I would get some rock sliders too if you find you are getting close to punching a rocker on a boulder or something.

 

If you put bigger tires on, you should build up your steering too. The stock steering on these trucks don't like big tires (so they say).

 

ARB airlocker would be nice, but a lockrite or powertrax locker would be a much cheaper alternative to the arb at the expense of selectability.

[glenn]

When I started to mod my Pathy I went to 4wheelparts to get Trailmaster lift. Although they carry Trailmaster the manager said that they had so many problems w /trailmaster lifts that he advised me to go elsewhere and get from a different lift from another store. It was pretty impressive to me that he would rather lose the buisness then have to deal with the Trailmaster. I eventually went to local lift shop and got Calmini 3" suspension lift, which I am happy with.

 

I have 32x11.5 " GY MTRs and I had to do a bit of fender trimming to stop the rubbing; be prepared to do quite a bit more for 33s with a 3 or 4" lift

 

I really like my ARB lockers and they do make quite a bit of traction difference.

 

On the other hand, I have to agree w/ Skrilla, until I got full skid plate protection for my undercarriage I would break something nearly everytime I went out. The deciding moment was when I tore a slow leak in my tranny pan and had to transfuse ATM fluid every 50 miles until I got home [200 miles]. I tore it 25 miles off road in Death Valley backcountry and had the tear been a little bigger I would have became a permenant resident there. Good luck. -- glenn

[unccpathfinder]

Nothing is needed

 

The only issue with the TM lift is it drops the Tbar anchor points so you don't gain any additonal ground clearance if that is what you're after (sorta true but it just makes them more vulnerable to damage and getting stuck)...theres good advice above and sure there will be some to come below...

 

I would say find your budget...find what kind of offroading you will be doing and build to suit...for example if you're going to be swampin waterproofing the ECU/engine and a snorkel is where I would go 1st

[russianfront]

I think the responders are taling about the Trailmaster 3" Suspension Lift? Well I'd do that but it would cost me a lot more money. I plan to pick the entire truck off the ground by 1" by adding 33" tires (have 31" now).

 

Also who usually can do skip plates? Any welding shop? Don't they interfere with repairing the truck (or are they bolt on?)

 

If I was to run the same width of tire (10.5") but add 2 inches of height - 31" to 33" I would assume that rubbing would not be a problem?

[glenn]

my skids are bolt on,which is what you need or else you will have trouble doing maintenance.Moine were from "Black Panther"; I'm not sure if he's still in buisness, but the skids are great.

 

I can't tell you if keeping the same width but changing height of tires will avoid rubbing problem, but I would doubt that you/ll get away with out some trimming

[eglaisi_91pathy]

Any local welding/fab shop could make up some skids fairly easy, and yes, completely bolt on so you can take off for maintenance etc. Usually it's not the height of the tire that rubs, it's the width. IMO the difficulty of trimming is overrated. All you gotta do is see where it rubs by turning the wheel until full lock, then cut where needed. If you want to venture north a little ways one weekend for some wheelin', lemme know before hand so I can insure my rig.

[ISlandBoy]

what kind of off roading would you be doing? Snow? Mud? Water? Rocks? different priorities for each one.

[88pathoffroad]

Trailmaster makes a 4" suspension lift and they used to make a 3" body lift. Not too sure if they still make the body lifts.

 

To run 33's you usually need at LEAST 3" of lift one way or the other. Simply running a 3" suspension lift likely isn't going to keep 33's from rubbing but some people say it works. Personally, I had to trim the CRAP out of my front fenders after a 3" BL and a 3" SL to run 33's. I started out with a 3" body lift, got 33x10.50's and they still rubbed, so I went with the SL too and they barely touched at times. Now I have 33x13.5's and it takes quite a bit of work to get them to rub.

[Precise1]

When was it that you upgraded the tires Aaron??

 

B

[88pathoffroad]

I went from 31's to 33x10.5's after a 3" body lift, then added the 3" SL and got the 33x13.5's. I don't remember the date I got the 33x13.5's. It was some time ago.