Roundeye Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 What have some of you guys done to get a mild (cheap) lift? I have a rusty '85 4WD D/R Wagon to beat on and it needs lift....a couple of inches. I am picking up another 4WD wagon this weekend and yet another wagon (2WD :-\ ) soon after. Out of all of these, I plan to build one really good one with mild lift and slightly larger tires. Nothing too crazy as it will see much road use as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 I wouldnt put a block lift on any rusty car. Asking for trouble there. But a set of 14" or 15" Pugs with some swampers on them, then you will have some lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 also, the FRONT springs off an '86-'89 honda accord (prelude too? haven't tried it yet, but I got a set for free and they look similar) will lift the BACK of your subie about an inch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subawoohoo Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 the best cheap way to raise your vehicle would be to install bigger rims/tires. A lift just raises your body off the suspension components so it wont give you ground clearance. Since your looking for a cheap lift i dont suggest any shock/"suspension" lifts because they decrease the life of your cvs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzician Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 also, the FRONT springs off an '86-'89 honda accord (prelude too? haven't tried it yet, but I got a set for free and they look similar) will lift the BACK of your subie about an inch I got a bit of a rear lift on my 89 GL10 Turbo, I believe via springs, and it looks like the bottom of the wheels is slightly more medial than the upper aspect of the wheel/tire. It is very slight. The tires are wearing very quickly on the inside tread of both rear tires. I bought the car off a guy that did a bit of a Frankensub job so I'm not sure what needs to be done in addition to changing the rear springs when you need a bit of a lift. Maybe a bent rear axel? I know that lots of other people lift the rear end of their subs but I haven't seen anything like the bottom of the wheel/tire closer together than the top. The difference is slight but the tire wear indicates that it is an obvious problem. Simon James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 two words air bags pump em up - go play (my recco is indepently plumbed and carry a 12v comp.) bleed em down - drive home May blow CV's if you're too ruff but the bags can easily be swap'd into your next beater The bay of E is your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 the best cheap way to raise your vehicle would be to install bigger rims/tires. A lift just raises your body off the suspension components so it wont give you ground clearance. Since your looking for a cheap lift i dont suggest any shock/"suspension" lifts because they decrease the life of your cvs. I totally agree here. Tires = clearance; not lift kits. Lift kits just enable you to fit larger tires more easily. You can get atLEAST 27"x8.5" tires on there with no lift at all. If you are not worried about cutting and bashing to make room you can go larger. Less backspacing at the rims will also allow for wider than 9.5" tires. Sounds like 27"s or 28"s would be perfect for your application of light offroading and mostly street driving. I wouldnt worry about a lift if thats all the bigger you want to go. Might need to swap on less worn out strut assemblies if they are sagging bad. Those can be had from junkyards for real cheap. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 None of these guys have answered the question youve asked. Your 85 GL wagon has adjustable struts in the front, and adjustable coil-overs in the rear. You can gain a little over an inch on the front and 2 or more from the rear. That would be a "mild" lift. I totally agree here. Tires = clearance; not lift kits. I kinda-totally disagree. For my first 2 offroad hatches, I refused the lift kit, and followed Qman everywhere he went in his 4 inch lifted hatch. But one day when we went to drop off a big rock face, my front bumper caught, causing me to teeter on 2 wheels, stuck. Qman barely nudged his front bumper on that same rock because of the clearance afforded by the lift kit and drove right down with no problem. Exact same line, I have it on video. He sported 28 inch Coopers, I had 28 inch Swampers. That day sold me on the advantage of a lift kit. Big tires will give you clearance under your Y-pipe, but clearance under your bumpers and rocker panels is good to have too. High-centering is a bitch, even with 28s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 two wordsair bags pump em up - go play (my recco is indepently plumbed and carry a 12v comp.) bleed em down - drive home May blow CV's if you're too ruff but the bags can easily be swap'd into your next beater The bay of E is your friend I see the simplicity of the quickie/cheapie lift with air bags. But, I've found that the best results off road are to be had with the suspension dialed all the way down and the sway bar removed. The more movement the suspension has, the better chance it has of keeping wheels on the ground. Wheels on the ground = traction. Traction is good. I'm even against "clocking" the torsion bar because it makes it too stiff in the rear. And yeah, what he said about the cvs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 None of these guys have answered the question youve asked. Your 85 GL wagon has adjustable struts in the front, and adjustable coil-overs in the rear. You can gain a little over an inch on the front and 2 or more from the rear. That would be a "mild" lift. I kinda-totally disagree. For my first 2 offroad hatches, I refused the lift kit, and followed Qman everywhere he went in his 4 inch lifted hatch. But one day when we went to drop off a big rock face, my front bumper caught, causing me to teeter on 2 wheels, stuck. Qman barely nudged his front bumper on that same rock because of the clearance afforded by the lift kit and drove right down with no problem. Exact same line, I have it on video. He sported 28 inch Coopers, I had 28 inch Swampers. That day sold me on the advantage of a lift kit. Big tires will give you clearance under your Y-pipe, but clearance under your bumpers and rocker panels is good to have too. High-centering is a bitch, even with 28s. His question was answerd with several suggestions. I spose I should have been more specific. You do gain clearance from lift kits as you noted. The majority of your ground clearance however is achieved with larger tires. It's not just 'y pipe' clearance its clerance for everything under there. Putting on a lift didnt raise my rear diff to 12"s off the ground; putting on big tires did. I agree a lift kit is the way to go; or I wouldnt have bought one. However he does not appear to want to spend that kind of money. Although putting on bigger tires isnt going to be cheap either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 I kinda-totally disagree. For my first 2 offroad hatches, I refused the lift kit, and followed Qman everywhere he went in his 4 inch lifted hatch. But one day when we went to drop off a big rock face, my front bumper caught, causing me to teeter on 2 wheels, stuck. Qman barely nudged his front bumper on that same rock because of the clearance afforded by the lift kit and drove right down with no problem. Exact same line, I have it on video. He sported 28 inch Coopers, I had 28 inch Swampers. That day sold me on the advantage of a lift kit. now I kinda-totally disagree, well, not really you are right, but go back to that same situation and put stock tires on Qman's rig, now who has the advantage? I think that was the point morgan was making, if you want clearance, and don't want to do a full lift AND big tires, than the tire size will give it to you faster than a lift will. and good point, crank those adjustables down, that's the only "modification" done to mine, and it'll go places some stock trucks and jeeps can't!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 now I kinda-totally disagree, well, not really you are right, but go back to that same situation and put stock tires on Qman's rig, now who has the advantage? I think that was the point morgan was making, if you want clearance, and don't want to do a full lift AND big tires, than the tire size will give it to you faster than a lift will. and good point, crank those adjustables down, that's the only "modification" done to mine, and it'll go places some stock trucks and jeeps can't!!! Yeah thats pretty much what I was getting at. If he's not gonna do both. Which is gonna give him more clearance; just a lift kit or just big tires? Big tires... just putting on a lift with stock tires is gonna look silly and perform pretty weakly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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