Composite lift riser failure?

[GTS104]

Has anyone had any real world experience with these pucks breaking. It seems like on the rear at full droop in a twisted up situation it would just break the thin amount of plastic between the bolt and the strut. I bought a cheap Zone off-road kit just to add the 1 in spacer in the rear to level out my overlanding ride due to the additional weight from all the gear.

Sponsored

 

[Tricky Mike]

Sounds sketchy. I ripped apart a welded metal one in the rear.

 

[5GENIDN]

Has anyone had any real world experience with these pucks breaking. It seems like on the rear at full droop in a twisted up situation it would just break the thin amount of plastic between the bolt and the strut. I bought a cheap Zone off-road kit just to add the 1 in spacer in the rear to level out my overlanding ride due to the additional weight from all the gear.

You need to remember, they are only under compression.... There is no lateral loading on them. Are they solid? is there a honeycomb structure to them? I have not heard of them breaking but that does not mean one hasn't...... My guess is they should hold up fine.

You have a steering rack there as well.... but it does not look like it is out of a Bronco....

 

[GTS104]

Sounds sketchy. I ripped apart a welded metal one in the rear.

That is exactly what I'm worried about heading out to Moab in a few weeks and don't want to be stuck in the backcountry with a broken spacer!!

 

[GTS104]

You need to remember, they are only under compression.... There is no lateral loading on them. Are they solid? is there a honeycomb structure to them? I have not heard of them breaking but that does not mean one hasn't...... My guess is they should hold up fine.

You have a steering rack there as well.... but it does not look like it is out of a Bronco....

Under full droop and twisted up I doubt they'll be any lateral but they'll definitely be tension and pulling downOnce the shock is fully extended inside the strut the force is going to be on those bolt connections on the spacer not to mention the unsprung weight which in itself probably isn't that big of a deal since it's on my lift right now being supported. And yes that is a hoss 2.0 rack that had to go!

 

[Tricky Mike]

That is exactly what I'm worried about heading out to Moab in a few weeks and don't want to be stuck in the backcountry with a broken spacer!!

That's where I broke mine. Another guy there broke one too so I gave him my one good one and did the Carolina squat the rest of the trip.

I would go metal on these, solid preferably or do some extra welding if they are multi piece.

 

[GTS104]

That's where I broke mine. Another guy there broke one too so I gave him my one good one and did the Carolina squat the rest of the trip.

I would go metal on these, solid preferably or do some extra welding if they are multi piece.

Thanks!! Thats what I neede to hear. Going to send em back and save the hassle!
At this point it's cosmetic more than anything just trying to find a quick cheap solution instead of having to do a bunch of fabricating.

 

[5GENIDN]

Under full droop and twisted up I doubt they'll be any lateral but they'll definitely be tension and pulling downOnce the shock is fully extended inside the strut the force is going to be on those bolt connections on the spacer not to mention the unsprung weight which in itself probably isn't that big of a deal since it's on my lift right now being supported. And yes that is a hoss 2.0 rack that had to go!

Yes and a 74 weld rack!!!! NICE..... Looks familiar!
Actually that spacer should not be under tension even at full droop... The bolts will be. The bolts will be under considerable tension when the tire is off the ground.... but not the spacer.

Do not know how Tricky mike broke one(or someone he knew did) but it had to be under compression.... is the inside of that thing just a honey comb??? It must not be solid unless it broke in half somehow.

 

[5GENIDN]

That's where I broke mine. Another guy there broke one too so I gave him my one good one and did the Carolina squat the rest of the trip.

I would go metal on these, solid preferably or do some extra welding if they are multi piece.

So Mike... is it a honeycomb that crushed or is it poor material choice? did the thing break in half? --- across the diameter.... Is it a solid?


Okay reading through this am I misunderstanding? Don't the bolts extend all the way through these?

 

[5GENIDN]

Okay I am going to go crawl under a rock now.... I obviously thought I know what we were talking about base on spacers I have had on other vehicles.... obviously not the same design going on here.... Please disregard everything I said and forget I was ever here... Sorry.

 

[Tricky Mike]

So Mike... is it a honeycomb that crushed or is it poor material choice? did the thing break in half? --- across the diameter.... Is it a solid?


Okay reading through this am I misunderstanding? Don't the bolts extend all the way through these?

As near as I can tell, at some point during full droop it ripped the thing in half. The bolts don't go all the way through, if they did it would also solve the weakness I think. They used to look like this.

 

[Oldhippie]

I have the ”plastic“ zone 3” kit… so far so good…but I would have gone with the Ready Lift metal kit if It was available at the time…I have heard of one Zone spacer failure…

 

[5GENIDN]

As near as I can tell, at some point during full droop it ripped the thing in half. The bolts don't go all the way through, if they did it would also solve the weakness I think. They used to look like this.

That makes sense why they would be under tension then..... I have used them on an entirely different vehicle where the bolts went all the way through... The bolts were in tension. Spacers were for compression only. Not sure why you would place those in tension.... probably some good reason.....

 

[DewarT]

An alternative option here... why not install a limit strap on the suspension? This would ensure no damage to the lift puck, or more importantly the shock... The shock shouldn't be the limiting component in a good system- it's the most expensive part.

 

[GTS104]

An alternative option here... why not install a limit strap on the suspension? This would ensure no damage to the lift puck, or more importantly the shock... The shock shouldn't be the limiting component in a good system- it's the most expensive part.

That's the solution but it is too much work to compensate for a piece that needs to be billet Aluminum. Broncbuster makes some 1.5" and I only need 2 but they are $250 for the pair.

I ordered this cheap front level kit and will just stack two of the per side on the rear. I will need to compress the struts and install longer bolts though. Only has enough room for 1 shim before threads run out.

Sponsored