What's needed to lift my car? - Page 5 - Suspension and Brake Forum

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Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, October 31, 2013 4:55 PM
the whole barely fit in the stock suspension thing did come to mind... as I usually have to man-handle the stock suspension in place because it seems a little too tall.

hoping this works out. I'd really like to have a bit more ground clearance in this car just for ease of jumping curbs or whatever when the time happens.

NJ doesn't get snow too often, but I've even thought about having a set of chains in the car in case we get a white out condition (has happened more than once in the past few years)






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, October 31, 2013 5:34 PM
Either way I think if you do just the front to start it'll look pretty cool leveled out. I wanted to do basset wheels SO bad on my last J, it was the perfect platform being a white base model and all..



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, October 31, 2013 7:53 PM
I was actually just going to suggest a larger tire but PJ beat me to it, haha. I'm running 205/70r15's on my GLI for the winter, stock size is 225/45r17. So it's about a 1" larger diameter tire, giving a half inch lift to the whole car, and it fills out the wheel wells nicely. I'm also running Pro-Kit springs, so it's a decent option for a bit more ground clearance.







Paying someone to install parts and bragging about it being fast, is like watching someone bang your wife and being proud to raise their kids.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Sunday, November 03, 2013 11:03 AM
Talk to the guy at 1:00





On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, November 04, 2013 3:31 AM
PJ, something came to mind, and since you're possibly going to be actually trying this, I'll throw it out to you:

Stock, our cars sit with the control arms and axles somewhere around 15-20°....with lift it could get up to 30°+ pretty easy. This is going to raise potential issues with the CV joints, and the ball joints. Your idea of dropping the control arms is a good fix for the ball joint issue, but without the trans/engine dropped by the same amount, I see serious potential for axle problems, including having it pop out of the trans. The thing that'll make dropping the drivetrain a challenge is the axle/subframe clearance.

Some food for thought.






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, November 04, 2013 9:27 PM
Mr. Quick wrote:PJ, something came to mind, and since you're possibly going to be actually trying this, I'll throw it out to you:

Stock, our cars sit with the control arms and axles somewhere around 15-20°....with lift it could get up to 30°+ pretty easy. This is going to raise potential issues with the CV joints, and the ball joints. Your idea of dropping the control arms is a good fix for the ball joint issue, but without the trans/engine dropped by the same amount, I see serious potential for axle problems, including having it pop out of the trans. The thing that'll make dropping the drivetrain a challenge is the axle/subframe clearance.

Some food for thought.


hmm a valid concern.

I was thinking about this, and a simple solution (possibly) is to rotate the engine in order to drop the differential side of the transmission a bit lower in order to ease the angle on the axles.

a simple way to do it would be to space the three bolts on the firewall side transmission mount, since the other transmission mount would act as a pivot...and if going this far, potentially spacing the entire drive train downwards to reduce that angle.

another solution would be to find slightly longer drive shafts that would refrain from pulling themselves free of the trans..

this is quickly getting complicated >_< lol




Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, November 04, 2013 10:18 PM
Couldn't you just get longer axles and use a custom drop spindle to raise the car and or custom ball joints. I kow they make ball joints to lower a car an inch or some so why not ones to raise it.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 3:34 AM
Rob Dotterer wrote:Couldn't you just get longer axles and use a custom drop spindle to raise the car and or custom ball joints. I kow they make ball joints to lower a car an inch or some so why not ones to raise it.
There isn't enough room on our knuckles for such a thing. When you see lift spindles on a truck, it's because it's 2WD, and it's literally just a spindle, with no axle going through.

PJ, instead of rotating the drivetrain, why wouldn't you just lower it a couple of inches? Also, your theory of the front tranny mount being a pivot point wouldn't work because the engine doesn't have a matching pivot point on the other size of the vehicle. The main issue I see with this is that you are going to have a clearance issue with the axles on the subframe once the axles are sitting lower. Nothing a little fabbing wouldn't fix, but as you say, it's quickly getting more complicated. LOL






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 4:03 AM
Either way we don't know what kind of problems we will run into until someone actually tries it. I still think that with the stock ride height being so ridiculous you could get away with even 3/4" more in the front and it would still be noticeable.

And if you're going that small I think a custom spacer on top of the mount is the easiest way to accomplish this.



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 4:18 AM
We don't know for sure, but I can tell you from a few different experiences. I'm very familiar and experienced with lifting IFS trucks, so I know the obstacles to get over, and how they are typically delt with. Also, I've had an axle actually pull out of my J-body just having it jacked up and the suspension extend. That wasn't even under driving conditions. I wouldn't want to have it happen on the road and leave you stranded.





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 1:48 PM
Why not run a spacer between the axle and hub? There is plenty of threads past the axle nut when tight that you should be able to space it in some.






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 2:10 PM
zsquee24 wrote:Why not run a spacer between the axle and hub? There is plenty of threads past the axle nut when tight that you should be able to space it in some.
Not a bad thought process there, but there are multiple reasons to not do this.

First, the splines that drive the hub don't go past the hub, so you would be reducing the driving surface

Second, the pivot point on the axle would no longer line up with the turning point of the knuckle, causing lateral forces to increase on the outter axle shaft.

Third, the ABS sensor reads the teeth on the axle, so yo would have to space that out as well, but during a tight turn, it would swing into the CV joint.


I really think the thing to do would be to lower the engine, mounting the control arms on new mounts below the subframe, and then deal with the axle clearance on the subframe. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't a huge undertaking.






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, November 05, 2013 11:12 PM
well just to document what I've been up to in regards to this

I took measurements of the body today, and it looks like 28" is the absolute MAXIMUM diameter tire I can run without serious invasion into the body.

I found the tires and the rims I want to run. the tires will be 27.75" so I should be filling up the wheel wells front to back completely. I have no idea if I will have rubbing issues in the front with turning (probably)

this alone should lift the vehicle 3-4" so the nominal diameter of stock 195 70r14s is around 23". I am going to do the rims/tire treatment first, then start worrying about extra ground clearance if necessary.






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Wednesday, November 06, 2013 3:45 AM
What about the front spring perch? Isn't that tall of a tire going to run right into it?




PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Wednesday, November 06, 2013 8:21 AM
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:well just to document what I've been up to in regards to this

I took measurements of the body today, and it looks like 28" is the absolute MAXIMUM diameter tire I can run without serious invasion into the body.

I found the tires and the rims I want to run. the tires will be 27.75" so I should be filling up the wheel wells front to back completely. I have no idea if I will have rubbing issues in the front with turning (probably)

this alone should lift the vehicle 3-4" so the nominal diameter of stock 195 70r14s is around 23". I am going to do the rims/tire treatment first, then start worrying about extra ground clearance if necessary.


Going from 23" to 27.75 will only raise you maybe 2-3" at most. Its half the overall dimension difference. You also have to account for the tire compressing under the cars weight.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Wednesday, November 06, 2013 7:46 PM
Sort of off topic, but sincei had a cage kit laying around i couldn't use....



The start of the push bar/ grille guard for the @!#$fire





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Wednesday, November 06, 2013 7:50 PM
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:Sort of off topic, but sincei had a cage kit laying around i couldn't use....



The start of the push bar/ grille guard for the @!#$fire


We're on very similar paths this winter... needs Hella 500's



Paying someone to install parts and bragging about it being fast, is like watching someone bang your wife and being proud to raise their kids.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, November 07, 2013 2:35 AM
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:I found the tires and the rims I want to run. the tires will be 27.75" so I should be filling up the wheel wells front to back completely. I have no idea if I will have rubbing issues in the front with turning (probably)

this alone should lift the vehicle 3-4" so the nominal diameter of stock 195 70r14s is around 23". I am going to do the rims/tire treatment first, then start worrying about extra ground clearance if necessary.
THe 195/70/14's are over 24" tall, so you're going to gain about 1.5" of height that way.

Also, MD is right, you're going to have to pay attention to the spring perch. I get the feeling you're going with a lower offset rim, so this may take care of the problem.


I love the bull bar idea! This car should be fun!





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, November 07, 2013 2:47 AM
Mr. Quick wrote:
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:I found the tires and the rims I want to run. the tires will be 27.75" so I should be filling up the wheel wells front to back completely. I have no idea if I will have rubbing issues in the front with turning (probably)

this alone should lift the vehicle 3-4" so the nominal diameter of stock 195 70r14s is around 23". I am going to do the rims/tire treatment first, then start worrying about extra ground clearance if necessary.
THe 195/70/14's are over 24" tall, so you're going to gain about 1.5" of height that way.

Also, MD is right, you're going to have to pay attention to the spring perch. I get the feeling you're going with a lower offset rim, so this may take care of the problem.


I love the bull bar idea! This car should be fun!


now that the perch issue has been brought up, I will be paying closer attention to it

however, I have thought about upgrading to konis and during that process adapting to a 2" spring that way I can fine tune the spring rate and the length of the spring depending on how much lift I want to try and accomplish... will also give me a ton of clearance for tire if I need it.

I also thought about putting a spacer below the koni shock in order to increase the overall length of the suspension, even tho technically I'm not increasing the travel (kind of lame). I'm still thinking about how exactly I'm going to approach this.

this car is turning into a fun stupid project... once I get some more pictures I'm probably going to start it's own thread and possibly rename it something a bit more appropriate since it's going from beater to superbeater

so far as the bull-bar, just you guys wait... I fully intend on fabricating a rad support replacement out of square tube steel, tying the bar into that either by welding it directly on or making it bolt on. I may also tie the bar into the actual crash bar underneath the bumper through the sunfire grille openings. I'm not 100% sure just yet, but the bar WILL be tough, and WILL be capable of shoving @!#$ out of my way if I need it to.





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, November 07, 2013 4:14 AM
Sun-Uva-beater


Best name I could think of off the top of my head...






PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, November 07, 2013 11:24 PM




one more bar welded in the front (near the bottom of the bumper) and I'm gonna beef the rad support up to provide a good anchor to the bar.






Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 08, 2013 6:00 AM
How about attaching a bar on each side going through the grill holes in the bumper and welding or bolting it to the bumper support bar?





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Saturday, November 09, 2013 1:37 AM
tired of thread jacking..

My new stupid project... Trailfire





Re: What's needed to lift my car? www.liftabrand.com
Monday, December 16, 2013 8:11 AM
We have extended struts for most FWD car to allow up to 3 inches of lift. ANy farther then 3 inches of lift you usually run into problems with not being able to bolt your CV drive axles back into place.
We can also make custom built strut spacers for any vehicle you just have to make sure that the rim and tire combo your trying to utilize will clear your spring perch. We have built tons of these for cavaliers, sunfires, vw's, impalas, caddys, bmw. infinity, and many others.

Give us a call at 877-995-4382 with any questions at all we can steer you in the right direction. Otherwise check us out at www.liftabrand.com

Re: What's needed to lift my car? www.liftabrand.com
Monday, December 16, 2013 10:10 AM
If you built tons of them....can you post some pictures.




PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
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