Lifting Datsun 620.

[Aron 77]

hey guys so I lifted my truck just by removing the lowering blocks and raising the tortions bars all the way up. But the tires I put on need 1 to 2 more inches of clearance. Any ideas how to achieve that 1 to 2 inches in just the front of the truck without major modifications.?

[Crashtd420]

Did you index the bar or just tighten it all the way?

[Stinky]

What size do you want to go to?

 

Body-lift...3"  easily done and you can make ur own.

 

Cut the rubber pads off the A-arms that prevent the arms from going all the way down.

 

Crank the T-bars...which I dont recommend as the parts are not designed to function at those angles.

 

Get stock rims for a 4x4 720.  I assume that you have rims w.a bunch of off-set.  That is bad for clearance.

 

I have 205/70-15s on my 720 w.stock rims and pretty much stock height.  On my 1st 720, my stock 195/75 14s would rub...I had chrome spoke rims on it.

 

In the olden days, they used:

Use a ball-joint spacer (this lets you cranks the T-bars more)

Roll the frame...the was done by a frame shop...I dont know what they did.

[datzenmike]

Tires need clearance?????? From what? There's tons of room under the fenders. Did you replace the rims then? Maybe something that has too much negative offset and the body comes down on the tires????

 

 

[Aron 77]

Datzenmike its the floor board rubbing with a full turn. I'll post some pictures in a bit.

[Stinky]

What size tires?

 

Let me guess...when you turn to the left, at full lock, the left tire's outside edge rubs against the backside of the fender...on the other side of where the clutch pedal bottoms out....as DatzenMike is talking about.

 

That is the sort of thing that aftermarket rims, w/incorrect off-set causes.

[datzenmike]

Exactly. This fucks up the scrub radius. Tire and rim are too far out and instead of rotating in a circle it's swinging in an arc like a door.

[Aron 77]

Offset is about 4 and tire size is 235 75 15  

[datzenmike]

Well there's the problem not only too tall by over 5" also too wide at 9.25". This will perform like a pig. Going from a 23.65" tall tire to a 28.9" tall is the same as taking your 4.375 differential gears out and replacing them with 3.66 gears. I assume the tires are for off road? With 3.66 gears it will be very sluggish on the trails.

 

What you should have are tires the same height such as 235/45R15. These are 9.25" wide and 23.33" tall so you crawl speed is slower and torque much improved.

 

Or replace the rear gears with 5.30 ratio if keeping these taller tires.

[Aron 77]

They are all terrain. Just trying to find a way to get the front end up without emptying my pocket.the rear end is a 3.90 not worried about performance just more clearance.

[datzenmike]

Unless you changed it the lowest the 620 ever came with was a 4.11 on some of the '79 trucks. Tires are too tall and gearing too low. 

 

A body lift is a poor idea. The steering column and box are one piece so the steering wheel end is bolted to the cab and the box end to the frame. If you raise the cab the steering column begins to bend upward.

[Crashtd420]

1 hour ago, Aron 77 said:

They are all terrain. Just trying to find a way to get the front end up without emptying my pocket.the rear end is a 3.90 not worried about performance just more clearance.

 

Are you trying to get back to a stockish ride height or actually lift it?  

Sounds like your just trying to undo the lowering job done by a previous owner....

You said in the rear you only removed the blocks.... so if that's the case you can remove the torsion bar and index it to get a little more height in the front.....

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Crashtd420

[Stinky]

Those tires will fit...not sure if they will w/o a body-lift though.  And, as mentioned, the body-lift does come w/some "baggage."

 

Back in the day...when your truck was new.  I had 2 friends w/L78s on their 620s.  There was a whole pack of teens running jacked-up 620s.

 

IMO...not sure that that adds up to much... get the stock 15" rims (which don't look bad, and do come in chrome, from a Pathfinder, or Xterra) or body-lift.  Otherwise those tires won't fit. 

 

I was thinking that 620s also came w/a 4.37 ratio...and I am pretty sure that I saw one, in Denver, a week ago.

[datzenmike]

All standards were 4.375 except the '79 which came with a wide ratio 4 or 5 peed and a 4.11 differential. A 4.375 was an option that year. If he really has a 3.889 then gears that low are not so bad with stock tire diameter if used primarily for a commuter but a very poor choice for taller tires and a terrible choice if you go off road.

[Jersey]

I did a body lift kit on one of my 620s in the ‘80s. If I remember correctly, just like with the radiator, the steering column drops down. You then put spacers to bridge the gap and longer bolts: So the column doesn’t bend or have any stress on it. Now, where the column comes through the firewall, you do have to notch that area out, as the cab lifts, it hits the column. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Jersey
For clarity, I added the word: body.

[datzenmike]

No room for legs.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

23 hours ago, Jersey said:

I did a lift kit on one of my 620s in the ‘80s. If I remember correctly, just like with the radiator, the steering column drops down. You then put spacers to bridge the gap and longer bolts: So the column doesn’t bend or have any stress on it. Now, where the column comes through the firewall, you do have to notch that area out, as the cab lifts, it hits the column. 

That sounds like a body lift. For some people, the goal is to fit larger tires, but for me, I want under frame height too. Body lifts usually cause some problems (like relocating radiator) but relocating the column is not one I would deem reasonable. You could always build a custom column, but the juice aint worth the squeeze.

 

My brother and I had a lifted 510 wagon years ago. It had a roof rack with KC Highlighters on it and we ran actual rally tires with full knobbys. That car was a blast to run around the dirt roads at full throttle.

[datzenmike]

Eventually I had 15" of lift. 4" body, 33" tires, re-arched F-150 leaf springs on 4 corners above the rear and front SAS. Used an articulated 720 steering column and box. It was never ending and eventually I sold it.

 

[murdrdatsoon72]

I am interested on some info about your lift on the 510 wagon. Was it a hard build? What size tires were you running? I saw a picture of one on the web, is that yours? I really like that stance.

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

20 hours ago, murdrdatsoon72 said:

I am interested on some info about your lift on the 510 wagon. Was it a hard build? What size tires were you running? I saw a picture of one on the web, is that yours? I really like that stance.

 

 

Man, it was sooo long ago. Back in the late 80's. I think it had coilovers in front and re-arched leafs in the rear, or maybe it was just a shackle lift. The total lift amount was maybe 2-3 inches.

 

The tires weren't huge. Something like this - https://www.rallynuts.com/14-inch-gravel-rally-tyres/dunlop-sp85-gravel-rally-tyres.html

[Jersey]

On 4/18/2020 at 11:34 AM, datzenmike said:

No room for legs.

Plenty of room. 

[Jersey]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:34 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

That sounds like a body lift. For some people, the goal is to fit larger tires, but for me, I want under frame height too. Body lifts usually cause some problems (like relocating radiator) but relocating the column is not one I would deem reasonable. You could always build a custom column, but the juice aint worth the squeeze.

 

My brother and I had a lifted 510 wagon years ago. It had a roof rack with KC Highlighters on it and we ran actual rally tires with full knobbys. That car was a blast to run around the dirt roads at full throttle.

Yes, it was a body lift. It came with drop down brackets for the radiator and spacers for the column. Now, the column was not relocated, it stayed in its exact factory location. The body just lifted up away from the column, and then the spacers and longer bolts could be installed. It steered exactly the same. It also came with a piece to replace the stock firewall/column rubber. 

[datzenmike]

Maybe the buckets I had, there was no room to drop at all.

[Stinky]

Or...you can leave the radiator as stock, and go to an electric fan

 

[datzenmike]

The rad hoses won't stretch enough. If you have a '78 and up the gas tank filler hose won't either. Front brake lines need to uncoil downward some and I put a longer rear flex line down onto the axle.