Lifting advice ...

[Jackass]

Okay Newbie to the site so please be nice !

Im new to Frontera ownership, last Aug my dad gave me his 1998, 2.2, LWB, B series, automatic, to sell for him and havent got round to it yet, loving the 4x4 !

I need some advice / words of experienced wisdom from those who have done or about to attempt a lift. Firstly I dont have a budget and I dont use the car off road. The suspension doesnt look as high as it used to be when my dad brought the car in 1998 and I like looking down on my fellow car owners.

So what can be done ?

I have read that you can lift the body ... ?

Could I have my shocks re gased to lift it a little ?

Im a total novice to this so any help and advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[meooo]

keep your back straight and use your legs to lift

[Jackass]

Ha ha tried that, even got my misses to lift the back at the same time but then I got hungry and asked her to make me a sandwich ... all went to pop then !

[Drift]

Seriously.... do you want it back to original spec or a small suspension lift over spec?

[Road Hog]

Firstly I would apologise for the first reply,I can only presume that the poster thought he was in the Lounge where that would have been a vaguely acceptable reply.

If you are looking to get it back to original height I have just changed my rear springs to Heavy Duty the originals are in the garage doing nothing

[jmc]

I have the opposite problem The new springs from Milner jack the back up too high so now I have a dragster affect.I'm thinking of making shorter shackles to ,wait for it, lower it so that the roofline is level. Sounds like a good offer from A friend.

[Drift]

jmc, if you fitted new leaf springs give them a month or so to settle, your torsion bars on the front could have settled a little over the years, you will benefit from tightening them up about 4 full turns each, this will raise the front to factory height and stiffen the ride a bit and take out some of the wallowing on bends.

[jmc]

Oh wow, I had no idea that the torsion bars could be tightened up.That is definately something worth looking at.The boys at the garage think its a bit funny with the replacement springs on! The new springs have been on for nearly two years but its only recently that I noticed because I've been trying to get to grips with tyre sizes and found to make matters worse the tyres on the back are smaller so there is more of a gap between the top of the wheel and the arch making it look worse visually. Thanks again for the avatar its quite a classic black and white photo!

[gregster]

Word of advice...loads of wd40 on the torsion bar adjusters in advance, will make life a lot easier for you. Look underneath about 1/2 way along the front doors and you will see them.
Then 27mm socket (i think....someone correct me if i'm wrong) nice long rachet (breaker bar for first 1/4 turn!!) or rachet with tube over it and sit next to the car on the floor and "row" it up into the clouds!!

Laters

Gregster

[alex]

I sued to jack the car under the chassis before winding, but TBH with a long bar on the breaker, its the same effort, or feels that way if its jacked or sat on the wheels. Prepare for a bit of gruntin and grumpin. Oh and have someone to count for you, I never keep count...

[jmc]

Thanks gregster for your advice, I will have to borrow the breaker bar, and I love your description of rowing to the clouds .Alex thanks for your thoughts and for somebody to count at work if I'm doing a batch of forgings, I have to have them in groups of five on the floor otherwise I lose track completely.

[weave67]

a spray of wd40 on the threads on the 27 bolts will help ,(but not much)

[tez1963]

just a quick point jmc, don't use ya 4 wheel drive till youve got all the same size tyres on, it'll cause wind up and poss damage your diffs!!

[jmc]

Thanks weave for the wd40 advice looks like people have done torsion bars.Thanks for the advice tez the difference is under an inch over the diameter of the tyre.I'm afraid that in ignorance I've used it several times briefly already over the last two years, even on tarmac.I met a chap recently who does landrovers and mentioned this to him(having found out about the tyre difference and somebody warning me) he reassured me somewhat by saying that the because of the system on fronteras I wouldn't damage it by using it in four wheel drive.I would however be happier with the tyres the same size. The green,frugal side of me says" wait until they wear out",the wanting to have a better looking frontera side of me says "get some new tyres".

[frontydan]

[gregster]

Hiya matey ,
Your landrover mate is WRONG with regards to the Fronty...
Landrovers are permanent 4wd in the main, and have an open dif in the tf box, and the driver has to manually select diff lock to lock the centre diff, hence locking the front and rear together.
On a fronty when you select 4wd it locks the front to the rear, so if you are running different rolling radius front and rear it will bind up and break something if the tyres cant slip.
Only time I would consider using 4wd at the mo, is if you are stuck in mud and the rears are spinning. You can get away with using 4wd to get you unstuck, but as soon as you are free get it straight back into 2wd...the tyre slippage when stuck will loose the front/rear difference in rolling radius.
Hope this helps you to see why it is important NOT to use your 4wd until your tyres are the same size.
Check out the classifieds on here, you might get a pair nice and cheap for now.

Laters

Gregster

[Drift]

[nitromotor]

Agree with above, Ste has hit the nail on the head.

[jmc]

The times I have used it on tarmac were when it was icy or snowy and then a bit of clear tarmac and as soon as I got to the bit of road that was clear went back into 2wd.But I have had it in 4wd slowly down tracks around my forge yard, and to get out of soft verges. Thanks for everybody's concern.

[gregster]