redraif, YOU ROCK!!!!
I had droped the '99 off at the dealership Tuesday to take care of a couple misc things before I started tearing into it. The tech that does all my work agreed to do the 2" body lift on his own time when he could. I figured it'd take a couple weeks but he stayed after work last night and got the whole body lift done in one evening. WHOOHOO!! There is some major benefit to having someone who makes a living working on Mitsus doing the work.
For thems who might be reading this, redraif's information was spot on. I got my complete body lift from 4Crawler and it went in without a hitch. Again, thank you redraif! Your experience made this a dirt simple, quick project.
The body lift was done on a a Gen 1 '99 Limited 3.5L. Here are some notes from the lift ...
The ABS wheel sensor wires at the wheels had to be detached at the last mount point at the wheels. The wires were too short otherwise, but are the perfect length now.
There were a few places where the wiring harness goes for the frame to the body where the harness at the last attaching point on the frame had to be disconnected. It really was 'a few'. Like three or four.
I think he said three.
The front brake HARD LINES - as redraif pointed out - needed to be tweaked a little. There was way more than enough coiled up for the little that was needed. It took more time to readjust the hard line to sit in the middle of the grommet where it goes through the fender wells.
There are two steel 'bumpers' that mount to the radiator support behind the OEM fascia that must be removed. When the fascia goes up with the body lift the fascia is tweaked up against the 'bumpers'. These are basically a 'stop' behind the fascia that prevents the fascia from being pushed into underlying pieces and parts. If you have an ARB bull bar, there's nothing to do here as these would long since have gone away.
The fuel filler hose that redraif used - the same that I supplied the tech - is the same diameter on both ends. The OEM Mitsu filler hose is not. Stupid.
One end fits fine but the other end is a little over sized and requires that it be clamped down pretty good to get it to seal. The tech is concerned that this may lead to a evap leak. Time will tell. There are a couple ways to fix this that we came up with, but we're going to take a 'wait and see' approach here.
Ah, yes, and then there's the negative battery cable .... redraif and I have been over this several times. Her negative cable required a slight adjustment but was otherwise reusable. Mine was not. The length from the frame to engine block was too short - apparently it ended up like a guitar string, so it was in no way, shape or form usable. Before anyone asks - yes, it was the OEM cable with the OEM part number still attached, so its not an aftermarket piece. I purchased a new OEM neg cable a week and a half ago using the '99 VIN - I think - to get the length and bolt sizes as well as a spare for my stock Sports. I tossed it in the '99 in case the tech needed it - everyone pretty much knows how the neg cable looks after 170K+ miles, so ....
When the cable length thing came up, the tech just assumed I'd included the appropriate - LONGER - cable 'cause I knew he'd need it. Sure, right, except I'd done no such thing. Apparently the cable I supplied him with is about 2-3" longer between the frame mount and the engine block mount - coincidentally, the EXACT length needed for a 2" body lift.
I have absolutely NO idea what is going on here. The Mitsu part number is different for the two parts - off by the trailing digit. They appear visually identical and are functionally identical. I was under the impression that the neg cable was the same for all the US v6 Sports, but that appears to not be the case. The tech said, other than than needing the extra length, it was just a direct bolt in.
I will get the vehicle back tomorrow and he saved the old cable with its P/N and the P/N of the new cable so I'll look into this more this weekend. I guess maybe the good thing out of this is we have a OEM P/N for the negative battery cable that is a drop in part to go along with the 2" body lift. Maybe.
No changes were necessary to the steering - also pointed out by redraif.
According to the tech, the only 'bad' part about the entire body lift was the fact that half the interior has to come out.
He was otherwise impressed with how relatively easy and simple the entire process was.
Anyway, he's already driven it and all appeared well. I'll get it back tomorrow afternoon. This should be interesting. I did walk out to the back lot and took a long and got a pick. I think this thread should be renamed, "How to make your brand new 31" tires look like roller-skate wheels!"
Before ...
After ...
Again, thanks redraif!
Edward