What's needed to lift my car? - Page 6 - Suspension and Brake Forum

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Re: What's needed to lift my car? www.liftabrand.com
Monday, December 16, 2013 10:23 AM


/countertroll



"In Oldskool we trust"

Re: What's needed to lift my car? www.liftabrand.com
Tuesday, December 17, 2013 4:47 AM
^^^I'd skip the pics and go straight to GTFO. They've already spammed this thread once.





Re: What's needed to lift my car? www.liftabrand.com
Sunday, March 02, 2014 1:43 PM
i love this. thinking about lifting mine a bit, what has people built for splash sheilds? mine are just fuggin dicked. i see mud, water snow bank, i hit that sh!t. i get lot of snow jammed all up underneith.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 12:08 PM
Can't let this tread die!

So what was the issue with longer springs and strut spacers like the MOAB allegedly used?



Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 12:31 PM
pvtmcmuffin wrote:Can't let this tread die!

So what was the issue with longer springs and strut spacers like the MOAB allegedly used?

We don't know exactly what they used for the moab. Supposedly they used lumina struts in the front but that's unconfirmed. I still think the rear is high enough on stock struts that if you just bring the front up .5"-1" with some sort of spacer it will look drastically different; especially with no z24 or lss skirts and bigger wheels/tires.



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 12:35 PM
I might give that a try when/if I do the rest of my suspension in the summer.



Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 2:33 PM
There are some subaru guys that lifted some outbacks and old gl's and loyales with these lift blocks

http://zoneoffroad.com/product-acc?ki=402&gr=4

All you need are one block for each bolt on the strut and grade 8 hardware to replace the original strut bolts. This is the thread with the info

http://offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=3269

The biggest issue with lifting though is the cv joints some aren't good with lifts so you might wreck them if you lift to much


2002 Pontiac Sunfire SE Sedan 2.2l Ecotec 4 Speed Auto.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 3:25 PM
so since no one has lifted they're J before(that we know of), we aren't sure how much of a lift the CV joints can handle?



Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 3:31 PM
Correct. It won't be much though that's for sure. That's why a lot of the subaru guys space the cradles down.



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, March 17, 2014 4:15 PM
For the outback 4 inches is the max lift before stuff starts breaking 1-2.5 inches is the common lift for those of course that applies to the legacy as well. That is for the 95-09 years there hasn't been many people lifting the newer outbacks yet.

Pretty much any car can handle a 1 inch lift which makes more of a difference that you would think. As a guess I think a j body could hande up to 2 inches with out any issues.

The nice thing about the lift block setup is that it's only about $30 so you could always buy 2 or 3 different sizes and test what the car can handle


2002 Pontiac Sunfire SE Sedan 2.2l Ecotec 4 Speed Auto.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 7:45 PM
Can someone post links to all the parts needed for a 1.5" lift? as cheap as possible without re-using old parts. I had posted in the other lifting thread that I wanted 2-3" but I am now worried of CV issues. Will lumina shocks and struts get me 1.5" or more? or should I just get new oem j-body suspension but with 10" springs? And I want to lift front AND rear equally, no leveling bs, the rear has to be higher for when I load cargo and of course to counteract weight shift when I do my 1/4 mile takeoffs....lolz

@PJ, you have the same Idea I first got when I got my cav. I can't wait to get mine on the road again, It will quickly have lights and a cargo basket even if I have to solder one up out of conduit(jk, I would pop rivet it, lolz). I have 1.25" antenna tubing for a pretty much asthetic for now grill guard. I will probably fill it with expanding foam for ridgidity. It will definitely be removable and the mounting tubes will go through existing holes in the bumper. I have 28' so I should be able to make a matching one for the rear. I also want to get a spare rear bumper I could add plate steel to the top of with a vise like work trucks have. removable running boards would be a must and new ford trucks have these schweet pop out steps that you just kick.

As far I am concerned if people can spend three times as much on apple computer that has the same hardware because it's an apple then I'll be damned if my cav can't be my dream car. Growing up I wanted a gtr34 vspec but I am quickly realizing my cav can/is be just as awesome. The skyline is cool but conformance is for people who care what others think of them, I'm too much of a rebel, I eat my soup right out of the can.

My sig- "Doing what needs to be done, although satisfactory, is a far cry from what can be done."

Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, December 12, 2014 11:49 AM
Not lifted to my desired height yet but once i have the spare $$ to get some new front struts, il be putting in the spring spacer between mount&spring. Right now, im using spring inserts all around to keep the spring from compressing completely. ride quality isnt affected much, if at all.







"If I'm not back in 5 minutes...just wait longer"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Monday, December 15, 2014 4:39 AM
If Gorman, wants to finish his lift, the plan is to run 1-2" spacers between the strut mount, and the body.




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, July 23, 2015 4:46 PM
So i stumbled upon this place after trying to figure out how to lift the front. I believe im going to try the strut spacer idea.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Thursday, July 23, 2015 4:57 PM
Be sure to post your results. I'm still planning on this eventually.



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 20, 2015 11:26 AM
Well it seems that many of us have the same plans to lift a Cavalier at one time or another. I went to Universal lifts and bought the universal lift kit for strut based FWD cars. Basically a set of blocks that you press out the bolts of the upper strut mount and replace with new longer bolts and the spacer. The idea seems simple enough and I dont think it would be to much of a hamper on the joints. My main reason to was for winter and bigger tires but would like to go back in the summer.
What Im wondering is could you go with the lowering struts that have a camber offset adjustment mount the spacers leave them at there full height and install. Then you will have your 2 inch lift with camber adjustment and would be able to install larger tires and probably end up with 3 to 3 1/2 inches then when summer rolls around change over the tires lower the springs and have a normal ride height. Heres a picture of the lift kit which Im not a great fan of I think I'd rather have a ring made of delrin and have machined holes threaded for secure mounts and then bolt in place.
Yes I was going to build one and the car I had blew the motor(it was my daughters) and I put it on the back burners but Im thinking about revisiting now that I see other like minded people. I have a few little other tricks that I want to make a crossover persay .
Terry
Attachments
IMG_0979.JPG (113k)
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Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 20, 2015 1:05 PM
You'll want grade 8 or better bolts not grade 5.
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 20, 2015 3:21 PM
don't like that lift setup.


puts too much stress in localized areas on the strut tower.

the other thing is when you change ride height you drastically change toe. The car needs to be realigned when you change the height that much, so flipping back and forth is not as easy as you think.





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 20, 2015 3:38 PM
Subaru guys use that style spacer to lift all the time with no issues. It would be best however to space the subframe down to maintain proper suspension geometry and cv angles.



Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Friday, November 20, 2015 8:50 PM
strat81 wrote:Subaru guys use that style spacer to lift all the time with no issues. It would be best however to space the subframe down to maintain proper suspension geometry and cv angles.


the problem here is that spacing the subframe down is impossible. The holes are not aligned straight with the body. If you space it down on 4 holes (the fronts and mids) ASSUMING they're on the same plane, the rearmost bolts will not line up because they're on a different angle.

furthermore, the drivetrain is still located in the same space. So, bringing the suspension down to keep suspension geometry relatively the same does not help the CV angle.





Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Saturday, November 21, 2015 12:41 PM
Its strange though that on my dodge dakota truck I put leveling spacers that you buy on ebay for 30 bucks under the front coils and got almost a 2 to 2 1/2 inch lift with out any change to the front end. The spacers were about 3/4 of an inch tall. Ive been running them for almost a year now.
Most of the basic lift kits for like Chevy Trackers and Sidekicks use the strut block on top and a spring spacer in the rear. So I really think this is do able with out to much worry unless your going hill climbing or off roading compared to just getting more clearance and a little bigger tires for winter. I think if I did this I would probably leave it at height but the thought of going back and forth is still something to explore for me.

Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Saturday, November 21, 2015 3:31 PM
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:
strat81 wrote:Subaru guys use that style spacer to lift all the time with no issues. It would be best however to space the subframe down to maintain proper suspension geometry and cv angles.


the problem here is that spacing the subframe down is impossible. The holes are not aligned straight with the body. If you space it down on 4 holes (the fronts and mids) ASSUMING they're on the same plane, the rearmost bolts will not line up because they're on a different angle.

furthermore, the drivetrain is still located in the same space. So, bringing the suspension down to keep suspension geometry relatively the same does not help the CV angle.


the spacers would have to be custom made but I think you could still do it if you designed spacers that bolted the spacers to the car first and then the subframe to the spacers. (not sharing the same bolts to mount between the spacer/chassis and spacer/subframe)

I did however forget that the trans mounts are on the frame rail so you are correct on the cv angle.




Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Sunday, November 22, 2015 10:02 AM
strat81 wrote:
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:
strat81 wrote:Subaru guys use that style spacer to lift all the time with no issues. It would be best however to space the subframe down to maintain proper suspension geometry and cv angles.


the problem here is that spacing the subframe down is impossible. The holes are not aligned straight with the body. If you space it down on 4 holes (the fronts and mids) ASSUMING they're on the same plane, the rearmost bolts will not line up because they're on a different angle.

furthermore, the drivetrain is still located in the same space. So, bringing the suspension down to keep suspension geometry relatively the same does not help the CV angle.


the spacers would have to be custom made but I think you could still do it if you designed spacers that bolted the spacers to the car first and then the subframe to the spacers. (not sharing the same bolts to mount between the spacer/chassis and spacer/subframe)

I did however forget that the trans mounts are on the frame rail so you are correct on the cv angle.


I had the idea of moving the control arms down and leaving the subframe in it's stock location.

Almost like a flip kit for a truck, but in the opposite direction. Remove the control arm, bolt on or weld on something to the bottom of the subframe, then reinstall the control arm in the new location. Would result in at least 1 or 2 inches of extra suspension height.

But again, the CVs hold us up.

Only way I could see to easily fix that would be to rotate the engine downwards to keep alignment somewhat ok.

Of course, dropping the control arms downward also messes with the tie rods, so not sure how they'd like the new home.. they have more 'give' going upwards (lowering) vs. downwards (lifting).
Spacing the subframe down would also mess with the intermediate shaft grabbing onto the steering rack. Could space the rack up, but again with the tierods...

there's a ton of 'what-ifs' and a lot of problems. But I've been staring at my sunfire for a while trying to figure out how to do it and there doesn't seem to be an all-encompassing single answer.



Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Sunday, November 22, 2015 5:43 PM
Its pretty bad that they make a 2 inch lift for a Smart Car grrrrrr...
Re: What's needed to lift my car?
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 6:23 PM
Hey guys! sorry to revive a very dead thread, but I wanted to let you all know that I found the secret sauce for lifting our cars. The answer is basic and simple but effective. I used Daystar universal leveling spacers for trucks and extended the studs on my struts to fit the spacers at the top hat. If interest shows I'll go into detail about the build.
My build is solely on Instagram as of right now @the_lifted_sunfire
Pictures for proof:
http://imgur.com/gallery/hlL79
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