2" OLV Lift Install '04 AWD to 4" Lift to 5" Lift

[Corsemoto]

Got the front part of my Overland 2" lift installed yesterday then the heavy rains came and disrupted as I was finishing bumper bracket, bumper, etc.

While looking for tight lines, cables, etc, I noticed the upper radiator hose and throttle cable are a little tight so will probably try and re-route those and maybe trim the lips off the upper shroud that keeps the upper hose from moving. Also, the lower rad hose is fairly close to serpentine belt so I'm going to play with that and see if I can space it further away. Other than those few items, everything looks good, pretty straightforward install, no pics from that part as I was in too much of a hurry trying to beat the rain.

Today, I finished up the rear with the Overland lift shackles. I bought the kit used from a member on here and the shackles needed new bushings which I sourced from airbagit.com. With new bushings installed and fully greased, the original shackles came out with ease and slotted the lift shackles in place.





The Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S 235/70-16 tires (29.2") actually rub more with the lift installed as the front bumper lower is moved closer to the centerline of the tire. So, I still have some bumper cover trimming and bracket relocation to perform and replace broken rear e-brake cable.

I adjusted the driver's side torsion bar one turn (approximately 1/4") to even out front ride height. I don't ever drive with any rear seats in the van and the fuel tank is next to empty right now. The rear driver's side started out 1/4" higher than passenger side, so drive it some and see if it settles and make adjustments from there.

Front measurement:


Rear measurement:


Here's the van pre-lift with new tires:


Lift installed:


Pre-lift:


Lift installed:






Next up I need to replace passenger side wheel hub and then I'll do add-a-leaf springs for the rear to firm up the back to better support load without sag.

[Jasen]

[Shad0wXCalibur]

Not a big lift but just enough to make it look tougher. I like. I still have some add-a-leafs I'm not using. If you want them, I'd be willing to ship them.

[Corsemoto]

Thanks, would like to do additional lift at some point but with new tires and alignment will keep as-is - for a little while anyway! Previous to alignment I added just under an inch of front ride height via torsion bar preload, due to sag in front and even out with rear.

I''ll pm you on those add-a-leafs.

[Lumpy]

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Thanks for taking the pre and post lift shots.
That's always very helpful, I think. Lets the guys with the non-lifted
vans know how whimpy they look...


Lump

[Corsemoto]

Was in a hurry yesterday or I would've taken some pre-lift height measurements.

Headed to Lowe's to pick up a few more Dremel accessories to trim bumper cover.

[Corsemoto]

Got back from an around town and highway test run, I really need to trim the bumper cover in the morning so I don't scare everyone at the gas station pulling up to the pumps!

More serious, I have a vibration from take-off up to about 20mph or so. I'm going to take the one turn of preload out of the driver's side torsion bar I added to even out ride height and test drive in the morning. This feels like it's coming through the front drivetrain, not the rear and while the passenger side hub bearing has a slight amount of play it wasn't vibrating before lift install.

[Shad0wXCalibur]

Wonder if the CV axles are being funny. Have you checked those?

[Corsemoto]

Yep, when I was looking for the source of play in right front wheel I noticed some light colored grease flung off of inner cv and thought it was the Amsoil grease I used to lube chassis and some ended up on the cv and got flung off. I looked at the passenger halfshaft again today when trimming bumper cover for tire clearance and think the grease might be coming out the end of the inner cv boot (towards center) and maybe the clamp is loose. Also noticed the axle seal I replaced not too long ago is leaking again so gotta check fluid level in front diff in the am.

So... looks like I may be doing passenger side wheel hub, cv halfshaft and axle seal. Probably gonna replace axle housing tube that bolts to front diff as well because I tried to clean up a little nick/gouge in the housing where the seal seats and think that may be the source of the seal leak.

[Hank]

Lift looks damn good, glad it all worked out. Strange twist of fate, I need adjustable shackles now. lol

[Corsemoto]

Thanks Hank, everything in the kit was just as you described.

What are you planning with the lift shackles?

You can get them from airbagit.com, it's where I got the replacement bushings for the ones you sold me.

http://www.airbagit.com/product-p/sha-as8400a.htm

[Hank]

Thanks for the link, those are nice shackles and a little less expensive than Overland.

It confused me though, a lift shackle in the lowering shaclkes section of the website..

I was thinking of getting a set to help tweak the van level but it looks like I was crooked when I measured it. Must have been me with my new short leg..

But now with the torsions and KYB's I think I'm going to raise the front up 1-1.5"

[Corsemoto]

From searching another thread here: viewtopic.php?f=40&t=11591&p=127905&hilit=airbagit#p127905
those shackles are the ones Overland supplies in the kit and the replacement bushings I ordered from them are the same. Yes, it's a little strange they are in the lowering section of the site. Overland had the bushings in stock as you told me but were a little slower in responding to my inquiry so I ordered the bushings over the phone from Airbagit as I wanted to make sure I was getting the right parts. They were pleasant to deal with, reasonable price on the bushings/shipping. You can possibly get a 5% discount or so if you mention Twitter or something too...

[Corsemoto]

So...

I installed add-a-leafs to my spring packs, I picked up the Fabtech FTS202's that Shad0wXCalibur didn't have any use for since he went with S10 heavy-duty leaf spring packs. I noticed recently how sagged out my leafs were even unloaded and really bad even with moderate loads so decided to try the add-a-leafs as they were the cheap solution to my sagging leaf springs. I'll get into the install when I have time, I figured you'd rather see pictures in order to get an idea of what they do.

Previous to FTS202 leaf spring install with OLV 2" lift, shackles in highest position these are the measurements (ground to fender):

LF 33"
RF 33 1/4"
LR 34 1/8"
RR 34"

With FTS202 leaf springs installed:

LF 33 1/4" (+2 turns preload - I noticed this side was sagging again, same as pre-lift)
RF 33 1/2"
LR 35 5/8"
RR 35 5/8"

I then added lift to front in order to even out with rear via torsion preload and kept track of how many full rotations (if need to return to previous setting):

LF 34" (+4 turns, approximately 2 turns remaining before bolt bottoms)
RF 34" (+2 1/2 turns, only 1/2 turn remaining before bolt bottoms)
LR 35 5/8"
RR 35 5/8"

So the add-a-leafs added approximately 1 1/2" of lift in the back, the front is max lift with stock torsion keys and the vibration that appeared after the original 2" lift install has disappeared.

Still sorting out some things with shocks and shock mounts but looks like going to be welding new shocks mounts on rear axle.





Here's an animation showing the the evolution of lift:

[Hank]

Looks damn good!

[Shad0wXCalibur]

1 1/2" is pretty good. I wasn't sure how much they would lift because they look a little on the thin side but Fabtech says they design their add-a-leafs like that for comfort.

[Corsemoto]

Yeah, it rides really nice even over bumps, though I'm still going to replace them with the heavy duty S10 leaf springs down the road.

My van is now 85" tall at it's highest point - top of roof rack in the rear. They grow so fast...

[Mr_Bowtie]

That is one nice looking Van, the lift looks awesome! Its just the inspiration I need for my next day off when I am planning to install my front lift blocks!

[Lumpy]

That looks really good, Corse. Just enough rake so it doesn't look 60s Rat Drag.
Nice touch on the animation image. How do you do that?


Lump

[Corsemoto]

Thanks guys, I'm really satisfied with the outcome and sorting through shock options now as my original plan didn't pan out. I'd like to sell these tires and pick up some 265/70-16s but that's not in the cards right now. It'd look right though, that's for sure!

I loaded it down with toolbox, jacks, jackstands, storage bins, misc parts, etc and lost about an inch of height in the rear so it's sitting about 1/2 higher in rear than front right now.

Lumpy, I googled "create gif" and went to the first one on the page http://picasion.com/ and uploaded pics. Genius, pure genius.