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2" Overland Van Lift on 98'

27K views 94 replies 22 participants last post by  ralphstudders 
#1 ·
I finally got around to starting the install of a 2" Overland Van lift on my 98' AWD. The plan is to go with 235/75/15 tires after the lift is installed. I started out struggling to get the van high enough in the air. My 2 ton jack stands were not tall enough. I would up setting the jack stands on top of 4 x 4's to get some extra height.

Rear shackles install: The shackles look really nice and I like that they have grease fittings on the body side bushing. I had to drop the spare to get access to the upper frame bolts. There is a pretty good size access hole on the inside of the frame rail to access the top bolt. Both top bolts came out reall easy. The bottom shackle to spring bolts were a PITA! The nuts came off no problem but the bolts were really were rusted pretty good. Lots of liquid wrench, a little heat, and lots choice words, and a little muscle finally got the bolts out. With the top bolt thru the shackle and snugged up, I had to use a 2" x 2" about 2' long to pull down the spring to line it up with the shackle to get the bolt thru. I had my jack under the differencial and lowered it a far as I felt I could without ripping the rear brake hose and the diff vent hose off.

Front sub-frame spacers install: The front end and bumper all came off pretty easy. I did break one bolt off on the passenger side front fascia strut mount. The strut has a M6 threaded weld nut on the bottom and was really rusty. Next thing to come off was the air cleaner and fan shroud. I have to say that removing the fan shroud is the thing I hate the worst when working on these vans. I have already had mine off three other times for a trans cooler install and intake manifold gasket job and I hated it every time I have to take it off. Then I proceeded to stuggle trying to get the lower section of the fan shroud out and around the fan. Lots of choice words and a few crushed radiator fins I gave up. My next least favorite thing is to pull the fan clutch off. Ugh. Oh, well I cant turn back now. Anyway's, 5 of the front subframe bolts came out with no issues. The middle one on the passenger side wouldnt budge with my impact wrench or leaning on a 1/2" breaker bar. So more heat and liquid wrench and I finally busted it loose. I jacked the body up per Overland's instructions with a 4 x 4 on my jack. You just need to be careful and position the 4 x 4 to clear the lines under the front body crossmember. I slid the 2" spacers on top of the sub-frame and hand started the bolts without the washer and grommets on the bolts to get everything lined up. I then dropped the body down and removed the bolts to add the locktite and reassembled them with the washers and grommets. All went good until I couldnt get the center bolts on both sides to thread into the body nut plates. I messed with for a while and thought that the nut plates were spinning in the body. Not good. until I realized that the center bolts I got with the kit were not the right thread diameter. So I need to get some different bolts for the center mounts and as long and I didnt screw up the threads in the nut plates, I should be good. This is were I called it a day. More to come. G.B.
 

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#3 ·
astroturf said:
Looking good Blue. After pix tomorrow? Good luck on those center bolts. Thanks, Jim
Yep yep. I am not sure I will be able to find bolts tomorrow. I might have to go to my favorite fastener supply house on Monday but I will give it a go tomorrow. Thanks, G.B.
 
#6 ·
wizical said:
yup lookin good man

and bowtie
i got 235s with no lif and no probs
I know I probably could, but I want that added look from the lift that keeps that guy in the Jeep next to me thinking "does that Astro have a lift....holy shat!!!" :lol: :rockon:
 
#9 ·
Thanks to all for your comments. I figure that with the 2" lift and 235 tires the van might make you think something is different but not sure what it is. I couldnt find any bolts today so it will be tomorrow before it is finally together. I did install the lower modified fan shroud and put on the fan clutch today. It is amazing what the extra 2" of clearance on the top of the motor looks like. I also installed the new parking brake cable and bumper relocation brackets. I had to remove the parking brake cable adjuster to install the bracket but the adjuster was rusted solid. The cable end twisted off the adjuster when I tried to get it a part. It looks like I will be replacing some cables when I do the rear brakes inorder to get the parking brake working. I zip tied the rear cable to keep it from flapping around. I took advantage with the front bumper being off to touch up the only visible rust on the van. This was the front edges of the front wheel openings. I sanded the rust and dabbed some rust encapsilator primer on the areas. I need to sand the primer and shoot the areas with some body color spray paint.

These are the tires I am going to have put on next week. I am going with 6 ply load C rated 235/75/15's.
http://www.coopertires.com/html/product ... overer_atr

Thanks again, G.B.
 

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#12 ·
grandamle91 said:
I will be doing the same lift on my front and just woundering what to all look for, i dont have the belt driven fan any more or ac :ty:
grandamle, other than what I have noted in this thread so far, you will want to check the clearance of the transmission lines to the serpentine belt near the tensioner. You might have to bend the lines a little with your hands. I think the power steering lines on the other side only come close to the engine drive fan. Other than that you should be good to go.

I need to finish my lift install this weekend as I am planning to have the 235 tires installed Monday. More info and pics to follow. G.B.
 
#13 ·
Gone Blue said:
grandamle91 said:
I will be doing the same lift on my front and just woundering what to all look for, i dont have the belt driven fan any more or ac :ty:
grandamle, other than what I have noted in this thread so far, you will want to check the clearance of the transmission lines to the serpentine belt near the tensioner. You might have to bend the lines a little with your hands. I think the power steering lines on the other side only come close to the engine drive fan. Other than that you should be good to go.

I need to finish my lift install this weekend as I am planning to have the 235 tires installed Monday. More info and pics to follow. G.B.
Ok thanks, everyone says they have problems with rubbing with the 235 mine bearly rub mostly at really sharp turns
 
#14 ·
Just put 235 tires on my '92 and only the front driver's side was rubbing in tight turns. I got this BFH that fixed it no prob! :lol: Even though the Van is rusty....think I might do a 2" lift on her as she looks tough with the 235s on it now.

I want more pics of your guys Vans with 2" lift!!! Need some inspiration... :rockon:
 
#16 ·
I am getting close to wraping up the lift install. I installed the longer center bolts I bought and torqued all 6 to the specs listed in the Overland kit. I found out that I did not install the bumper replocation brackets with the right mounting holes. You can see in the pictues that the brackets mount as high as you can get them. I had also marked the washer locations on the bumper beam before I took the bumper off. This didnt help much as the bumper beam mounting holes on the new brackets are wider than the stock ones. When I put the bumper beam back on It worked the best when I snugged the bumper beam to bracket bolts and kept the bumper bracket bolts to frame kind of loose. I then set the bumper cover on to check the fit. I found that I needed to slide the bumper beam about 3/8" to the passenger side. I put the bumper cover back on to check the fit one more time.

After all of this bumper fitting, it was time to paint the front fender corners before I re-installed the bumper cover. I bought a can of spray paint from this web site. http://www.automotivetouchup.com/ I wasnt too sure that the paint would match all that well since the original paint more than likely has faded. As it turns out the paint matched pretty well. 3 light coats and a shot of clear and it looks great.

So tomorrow I will be installing the bumper cover and and going for a test drive. Then Monday it is off to the shop for new 235 tires. Fun fun. G.B.
 

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#17 ·
I forgot a couple other things that you are going to have to watch out for if you do a 2" sub-frame spacer lift. You might have to relocate the acclerator cable so it sits on top of the A/C line. If you look at my extra engine clearance picture above that has the oil filler in it, you can see my acclerator cable is kind of stressed as it runs under the A/C line. I will see how mine works with a test drive and will move it on top of the A/C if it looks like it will cause issues with the accelerator cable. It also took me a little wrangling to get my air cleaner assembly onto the fan shroud posts. The air cleaner is tipped back a little because of the motor being 2" lower than the fan shroud. G.B.
 
#18 ·
Gone Blue said:
I forgot a couple other things that you are going to have to watch out for if you do a 2" sub-frame spacer lift. You might have to relocate the acclerator cable so it sits on top of the A/C line. If you look at my extra engine clearance picture above that has the oil filler in it, you can see my acclerator cable is kind of stressed as it runs under the A/C line. I will see how mine works with a test drive and will move it on top of the A/C if it looks like it will cause issues with the accelerator cable. It also took me a little wrangling to get my air cleaner assembly onto the fan shroud posts. The air cleaner is tipped back a little because of the motor being 2" lower than the fan shroud. G.B.
can we get some pictures of the whole side of your van, i want to see how much it lifted
 
#23 ·
Ok guys, here you go. I was waiting to post completed side pictures until I got the front bumper cover on today. I just finished up. Although I am not happy with the of the bumper cover fit. The bumper beam is still too high. You can see that the bumper cover is tipped up in the close up picture. I found out I had an issue when I had the complete front end on and could not get the park/turn lamps to fit. They were crashing into the bumper cover. So I took everything off and lowered the bumper beam as far as it would go and it still is not right. It will be what it is for now. My driving lights are what makes taking the bumper off a PTA. The van also seems to sit up a bit in the rear. I am afraid if I go one hole lower on the shackles it will droop in the rear. I am sure that it will be level all loaded up with a trailer. I will post more pictures after the 235 tires go on tomorrow. Let me know if you guys have any questions. Thanks for the postive comments and support. G.B.
 

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#26 ·
I don't know anything about these lifts kits but as you said, the tail end seems up quite a bit more then the front, seems like one hole down would do the trick :shrug:
But you got it back together for the week. So get out a lawn chair and have a few beers and admire your work :mrgreen:

Looks good Blue :thumbup:
 
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