AA Lifts, how are people liking them?

[Knichol]

Do people have any complaints about the AA lifts? For those who have them do they...

 

1) Actually require change to the Radiator hoses? Or do stock hoses work?

 

2) Do you need to go get an alignment after the install?

 

3) Are you happy with the lift or do you wish you would have stayed stock?

 

 

 

Did most of you go with the High lift version or the moderate lifted version?

 

 

 

Thank you to those of you who take/have the time to respond!

[torxxx]

Raid hoses will have to be changed. You will need a longer pitch stopper

You will need to unbolt the parking brake cable from a few spot because the body will be lifted.

 

I did not get an alignment job after the lift because:

 

1. The Geometry of the front end stays the same because you arent extending anything on the IFS.

2. The rear has no real alignment as far as camber in and out.

3. The rear tires get "raked" forward because of the rear strut extentions, so they are going to be out of "factory" alignment and that is going to throw the alignment shop off when they go to do the back.

 

My car drives fine down the road. I do not regret the lift at all.

I went with the high clearance lift. AA tested the axles upto 10,000 miles with the high clearance lift and they held up. I've done a bunch of rallying on used rear axles and mine still dont make any noise. One this that was said about the lift was that the angle of the rear axles was increased a lot. Mine actually sit right where they need to be. Before the lift, my axles said almost flat from the hub to the rear diff. Now it looks like it should.

 

Installing the lift was the only thing that pissed me off. I got the wrong steering shaft, so I had to spend more money getting my original shaft cut and rewelded. Not to mention I was told the wrong length the first time I talked to AA about the problem with the shafts. So I ended up spending 75 bucks in welding fees.

 

All in all... I love it. With VLSD in the rear and 25.5 inch tires, I've followed trucks with 33" tires on em down trails and had NO problem.

[Numbchux]

pm replied....but for future reference, I only changed the lower rad hose due to the lift (the upper one broke shortly after, but I replaced it with a stock one and it works fine)

 

also....I don't know how I did this....but I'm using the stock pitch stopper....just fine....I dunno

 

I've also got the origional high clearance, love it to death!!

[Island Roo]

im using stock rad hoses and pitch stopper but i raised my engine 1" but i do have shifter bind and lots of wheel hop when the turbo kicks in

[Scott in Bellingham]

i raised my engine 1"

 

are you saying you have 4" lift on the struts, and 3" on the engine crossmember, If so keep us imformed on the performance of axles etc. thanks SJR

[Island Roo]

will do!

[DrKrazy]

I'm running the moderate 4" lift (but seems like the high clearance, the car is huge!), and I love it but have my problems with it. I used two brand new radiator hoses and cut them to fit, that's not a big deal at all. I'm currently running with no pitch stopper, need to get one made that's a tad longer. I haven't gotten an alignment yet, but was waiting for my new front strut extentsions to fix my camber issue. Well I got the new ones and nothing has changed with the camber which is my problem with the lift. I have a feeling the camber issue has to do with my adjustable struts even though they are cranked all the way down. I may just slot the mounting points so I can adjust the camber while on the alignment rack. I will take it in for at least a front end alignment (since it's free for me) but I doubt it will be off much at all, car drives almost perfectly straight down the road. Though it's hard to tell without the sway bar. Overall the lift was built really well, welds were all really good, it bolted up fairly easily, and since I got in on the first group buy the price was unbeatable. I have yet to truly test it off-road, only played around a tad. My AA lift gets 3 1/2 out of 4 stars, would get 4 except for the camber, and having to do my front strut extentsions a few times in all different positions etc only to have the same problem or make it incredibly worse.

[spanky_pete]

I have the moderate(non-rear coilover) ea81 lift, and I love it. Installation was easy, and the parts are nice and durable. It was just what I need to get my swampers under there. And unlike the last kit I installed, my shifter doesn't hit the body and didn't have to be bent.

 

I'm using my stock hoses, just had to shorten the lower one. I did have a couple ground wires that had to be lengthened, and my pitch stopper is now too short. Then again, I'm also using a motor out of a different car.

 

Haven't done an alignment, but it really doesn't seem to need it.

[kingbobdole]

Do people have any complaints about the AA lifts? For those who have them do they...

 

1) Actually require change to the Radiator hoses? Or do stock hoses work?

 

2) Do you need to go get an alignment after the install?

 

3) Are you happy with the lift or do you wish you would have stayed stock?

 

Did most of you go with the High lift version or the moderate lifted version?

I got the moderate lift on my EA82 wagon.

1. I did have to change the rad hoses, the lower one I just cut to fit, but the upper one I got a flexy one and it works better then the stock one. I also had to get longer fuel lines and ground wires to some things...

2. I have not gotten an alignment, but need one, my car always had a pull in it and its also usually a good idea to get one if you mess with the suspension components.

3. As far as having a lifted car, I love it, but I had a few issues with the components, install and AA its self. When I first got my lift 2 things were big problems... my tranny crossmember/strut rod drop mounts were wrong... I had to drill them out to get them to work. My front upper camber block were also very wrong... AA sent me new upper mounts, but my camber is still off, and I dont care to try anymore. Other things I did was to make a pitch stopper cuz mine was too short... I cut it in 2 threaded both end(one LH one RH) and made a sleave and blind nuts for it, so its adjustable... which in hind sight I shoulda just cut 2 apart and welded them back togather... I also cut my shifter linkage apart and added a nut and welded it back togather cuz I had issues where the car would kick its self out of 1st and 3rd gear. I also had some shift linkage problem, but figured it out eventually... I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars... love the lift and the huge wagon on 29's... like the welds on the part, but the correctness of the parts is questionable... I didnt have any trouble with the Rear BTW.. that was an hour job... very straight forward. ohh last thing. the instructions suck. Dont depend on them for anything, like part alignment or anything, if you dont know what a 1" drive line extensions look like, you just have to assume your doing it right. It also never tells you to disconnect your grounds or spedo cable... they just need to be more complete. [/rant]

[torxxx]

so from what it sounds like, AA had to send out newer updated strut extentions?

 

James, how does that work for us who've already bought a lift kit? From the way I see it, AA owes me 75 bucks for the welding I had to have done on my steering shaft.

 

I wouldnt reccomend a AA lift just because of all the trouble I had getting mine, and getting the right parts. My tranny xmember triangle brackets were not lined up also. I had to file down some of the holes to get them to all line up.

[Numbchux]

so from what it sounds like, AA had to send out newer updated strut extentions?

 

James, how does that work for us who've already bought a lift kit? From the way I see it, AA owes me 75 bucks for the welding I had to have done on my steering shaft.

 

I wouldnt reccomend a AA lift just because of all the trouble I had getting mine, and getting the right parts. My tranny xmember triangle brackets were not lined up also. I had to file down some of the holes to get them to all line up.

 

that's too bad man I had great luck!

 

 

I'd also like to say that my high clearance lift uses 3" engine/tranny xmember blocks, and 4" strut extensions....which works very well with OEM axles, it eats reman'd axles, and if you get excited with adjustable struts, it eats any axles.....trust me, I went through 4 front axles in the first couple months....then I put the struts back down to 'stock' height, and replaced my last reman'd axle with a junkyard OEM one (with a new boot), and have about 5k miles on that setup...

[singletrack]

IT should be noted that the "problems" mentioned here are gonna happen with any brand of lift, ie; hoses, camber, pitch stopper and whatnot.

 

 

Also, if you're gonna wheel a Subie, things like "alignment" just go right out the window. I've got steering and suspension components from like five different cars, don't need no stinkin' alignment.

[torxxx]

what you said about its going to be the same with all lifts is NOT TRUE

 

AA lift has the problemn with the rear tires being raked forward because of how they lifted the back. They did not drop the swingarm brackets like a ozified lift does. All the AA lift is taking the extra downward movement out of the control arms. ozified drops the swingarm bars so you aren't maxing out the movement of the control arms.

 

thats funny that everyone is having problems with eating axles... Hahahahahah.. I've rallied the ************ out of my car with the lift and had no problems.. havent broke anything yet.. knock on wood

[singletrack]

what you said about its going to be the same with all lifts is NOT TRUE

I didn't say anything about the rear end. What I sez is that all traditionally lifted cars need longer hoses and pitchstopper, the p-brake lines are too short, and that the inherent Subaru camber goofiness will become more apparent. That stuff is just par for the course with any lift.

[Numbchux]

AA lift has the problemn with the rear tires being raked forward because of how they lifted the back. They did not drop the swingarm brackets like a ozified lift does. All the AA lift is taking the extra downward movement out of the control arms. ozified drops the swingarm bars so you aren't maxing out the movement of the control arms.

 

that is just NOT TRUE....

 

maybe it's because I ran with the rear suspension adjusted up quite a bit for awhile, but my downflex is not effected. and the forward rake doesn't effect anything, there's plenty of room to trim the fender there if you'd like, and the tire can't get any closer, so you don't need as much clearance there as you would for an ozified lift...it's just not a problem

 

and like singletrack said, the 'camber' issue, isn't any better or worse on an AA lifted car vs. any other lifted car, beleive it or not, it's virtually stock, just looks a ton worse with big tires on it. as a matter of fact, the camber on MorganM's old 3" BYB lifted wagon on 29's was WAY worse than mine!

 

EDIT: torxx...I just noticed that you said you're using a high clearance lift, but the front geometry is the same......what?....the high clearance 4" lift uses 4" strut extensions, and 3" engine tranny xmember blocks (or at least mine does)...also, do you have the adjustable extensions in the rear, or the 4" relocation plates on the top?

[torxxx]

I didnt measure the blocks, but the engine x member and strut spacers were the same depth. No adjustable shocks.. its got RX struts in the back and wagon struts in the front.

 

Either way you look at it, the alignment in the front will stay the same except for the camber.

 

The back is the 4 inch drop down brackets for the struts and the 1 inch mustache bar spacers

[cmiller]

This was my first lift ever...

 

My AA lift went in easy with no problems what so ever. I have had no issues with the camber, stayed stock from what I could tell. I did an alignment because it was needed before the lift and they said camber was fine. No issues with the rear axles or tires too far forward. All of my parts were well built and labled fine. The intstructions were helpful and ok to follow, not the best but ok. I knew that ground wires, pitch stopper, and radiator hoses etc... would be affected going in to a lift so that didn't bother me. When you modify somthing like this you have to expect a higher level of maintainence needed. Thats just how it goes with anything changed from stock...

 

Anyway I would recommend my AA lift to anyone because it was well built and AA answered all of my questions when I needed help. I think its a pretty dang good product for what it is. Thats why we pay only a few hundred dollars instead of a thousand dollars for a lift like for any other rig. I think its sweet that someone is taking the time to think up ways to make things better and make products like these. I would love to see more people doing it! Thats why we are all here. Because we...

 

Love having a Soobie!

 

-Chris

[torxxx]

\

 

\ Thats why we pay only a few hundred dollars instead of a thousand dollars for a lift like for any other rig. \

 

\

-Chris

 

No sooby lifts are cheap because they are a body lift. Hell you can lift a pickup 4 inches with hockey pucks and longer bolts. You start getting into suspension lifts for a Ford or Chevy You pay 1800 dollars for a 6 to 8 inch lift for a new truck, but its because you are getting springs, shocks, shackles, longer raduis rods or trailing arms what ever you want to call them. All our lifts are is essentially blocks of metal.... Thats why they are 400 bucks. A 8 inch suspension lift for a subaru would cost 2 grand because its not just dropping your solid axles down 8 inches and adding longer shocks and springs. You'd be looking at longer control arms, steering arms, longer cv axles.