Overland 8" lift?

[ejohns4563]

Wha happened to it? I remember seeing it on their website not too long ago but now it is not there. Is it being redesigned or something? If it is not going to be available anymore, does anyone know how they got the extra 4" of lift on top of the 4" lift they sell? By the way this is for an AWD van.

[trapper20]

I think it had something to do with being way too expensive to market - like $3k or something. I just added a welded pipe lift and 4" blocks to the OLV 4" kit, and it works great for me.

[ejohns4563]

What about brake lines and such? Any of those need to be messed with? You wouldnt happen to have any pics of your setup would you?

[trapper20]

No, I don't have any pics, even my profile pic is outdated. I will try and get some up soon here. You will need to do something with the rear hose, but nothing needs to be done with the others except loosening them from their plastic brackets.

[AstroWyo]

I'd looked at the 8" lift a while back and was thinking 6" without the torsion bars cranked might be a good idea. Dan had come up with a cradle for the front lift and, maybe it's obvious, but the white van in the website pic has it. Here's what Gerald wrote when I asked him about the cradle lift:

"I'm not a big fan of the cradle kits I'm assuming you have an AWD. The
torsion bars stay as low as they were stock and are going to scrape on
the departure angle going over bumps. Once you get your front wheel over
a bump and you're coming down the back side of the bump your torsion
bars could contact the top of the bump if it's deep enough on the back
side."

So, he didn't like selling them.

He's always said he doesn't have much time for R&D. He was talking about a SAS kit but never has done it. Maybe he's just focusing on the big sellers.

[Lumpy]

There's a couple of big lifts here on this forum. Several more moderate lifts. Most of them not AWD. Nearly every one of them different. There are a lot of methods to lift. The one thing that seems pretty universal is to lift a little bit from each lift possibility. ie, to get 8 inches, lift 2 body, 2 springs/tortion bars, 2 this, 2 that etc. Same with the rear. Little bit on the shackles, little bit of block, little bit of this and that. If all the lift goes into just one spot, tortion bars or shackles for example, the geometry of everything is more radical than if it's spread out over all the components.

And don't forget to factor in the lift of your new tires. My 7" of lift plus tires gives me a big 9" lift. In the front that translates into 5" springs, 2" body pucks, 2" tires. In the rear it's part leaf pack THICKNESS, part leaf ARCH, part shackles, part spacer shim. Not exactly sure how much each rear component adds to the mix.


Lump

[trapper20]

Here are pics of the body lift and the van as it sits right now. Body lift is a 3" welded pipe lift and 2" OLV spacers and hardware. Van has about 8" total lift with 32-11.50R15 Dunlop Mud Rovers.

[EDIT] That is 8" plus the lift from the tires. Stock tires are 28", so I have around 10 inches total. Haven't actually measured next to a stock van, haha. 33's are possible, but you will have some serious trimming to do.

[ejohns4563]

Thanks for the pictures trapper20, when you bolted the subframe back to your van did you use really long bolts or does the bolt's head rest against the new 3" pipe addition? I hope that was clear enough of a question.... I confused myself typing it.

[trapper20]

Yes, that is the advantage of a pipe lift. You can re-use the stock bolts, or as I did you can use the hardware that comes with the 2" lift. My stock bolts were in no shape to be re-used. So, the bolts I used are 2" longer than stock. Basically, the pipe lift becomes an extension of the subframe. Anything over a 3" body lift you should do a pipe lift rather than a puck lift. Make sense?

[trapper20]

Look up $uperjoe's build thread. He had a 4" pipe lift as part of his monster lift. I did the same thing for mine, with one exception: he cut the mount holes in the subframe larger so that he could get the body mount cup and bushing out. I did not do that, so my hardware is stuck in the pipe. If I ever need to replace the bushing, I will have to grind the pipe off.

[ejohns4563]

Yeah makes sense and I just spent an hour going through his build... I am much more in the know now. Now just to get the parts together and do it!

[trapper20]

So how high are you going and how are you going to do it? Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[ejohns4563]

I was thinking 7-8" plus the lift of the tires... I'm thinking 32" tires on a 20" rim. Maybe 33" if I can fit it.

[trapper20]

So are you going to do reindexed keys and a big body lift or something else?

[Lumpy]

I was thinking 7-8" plus the lift of the tires... I'm thinking 32" tires on a 20" rim. Maybe 33" if I can fit it.

Suggest you read through the threads by me and by CargoCrawler re larger tires. We both have 31s now. He has 33s in the works. We are both presented with clearance challenges in various places.

I build cardboard mock ups of 33s to verify that they would not fit my van without hitting steering components. They hit.

Cargo has wheel spacers. We both have trimmed fenders. I have a trimmed slider door.


Lump

[trapper20]

I was thinking 7-8" plus the lift of the tires... I'm thinking 32" tires on a 20" rim. Maybe 33" if I can fit it.

I would go with the 32's. I am glad I did, as I did not have to do any massive trimming. One thing 97cargocrawler has going for him is that he does not do any serious wheeling. If you go crazy places, you will have to do crazy trimming. When you are on uneven surfaces your axle can wrap forward, so you should have at least an inch of clearance forward of the wheel when the suspension is compressed. In the front you will have to take a significant amount of metal out and hammer more, even with the 32's. 33-12.5's would need drastic trimming. 33-10.50's would probably need about the same amount of trimming in the front as 32-11.50's would, but more in the back.

[ejohns4563]

Redindexed keys give me about 2" of lift correct? If so then it will be new keys, 4" pipe lift and a 2" puck in the front. The rear will be new shackles, 4" lift leafs, and 2" blocks. I already have the wheels and plan to run BFG Rugged Terrains in the 275/55r20 variety.

[trapper20]

If you are planning on a body lift, go all pipe. No reason to do pucks as well, I just did because it made sense in my situation. 5"-6" pipe lift would be better.

I got about 3" out of the re-indexed keys without maxing them, it all depends on how much you are willing to let your steering geometry be affected. The farther you go on the torsion lift, the more angle on your tie rods, which means that after you get the vehicle realigned, as you add or reduce weight in the vehicle or go over uneven surfaces, your toe will flex in and out as your suspension travels up and down.

[Lumpy]

If you are planning on a body lift, go all pipe. No reason to do pucks as well...

I agree. You'll also be able to re-use the existing bolts unless they're wonked out for some reason. Those six bolts are pretty expensive and can be hard to find as they get longer.

You'll need to raise the front bumper somehow. It's attached to the subframe. Once you raise the body with pucks or pipe, the bumper is still down where it started.

Then there's the whole question of raising the rear. I think with that much lift I'd explore the idea of fabbing extended front leaf hangers as well as longer rear shackles. Plus I'd add some lift as blocks, some as thicker leaves. You may need to extend the drive shaft. You will need to move the lower shock mounts which is actually pretty easy. Or find new longer shocks. Or ideally both.

Spread the total amount of lift over as many points as practical/possible.

And take as many pics as practical/possible..


Lump

[trapper20]

No need to extend the driveshaft with that much body lift. It keeps the drivetrain low so angles aren't affected much. You might not even need to adjust for pinion angle.