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Overland 8" lift?

5K views 35 replies 7 participants last post by  nog00der 
#1 ·
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.
 
#2 ·
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.
 
#4 ·
No, I don't have any pics, even my profile pic is outdated.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.
 
#5 ·
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.
 
#6 ·
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
 
#7 ·


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.
 
#9 ·
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?
 
#10 ·
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.
 
#12 ·
So how high are you going and how are you going to do it? Looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
#14 ·
So are you going to do reindexed keys and a big body lift or something else?
 
#15 ·
ejohns4563 said:
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
 
#16 ·
ejohns4563 said:
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.
 
#17 ·
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.
 
#18 ·
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.
 
#19 ·
trapper20 said:
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.. :thumbup:

Lump
 
#20 ·
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.
 
#21 ·
trapper20 said:
ejohns4563 said:
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.
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. .
I would argue that because the wheels tilt inward during articulation that I have better clearance with the little bit of trimming I did simply because my wheel is further out with the spacer. I have more room for it once it tilts in. I don't know what kind of crazy places your gonna go in an Astro van but I have never seen any crazy articulation with anything other than an SAS conversion.
 
#22 ·
I didn't think about the rear spacers. I was just going to fab some long bump stops, but spacers sound like a good idea. As for articulation, I will try just about any mud hole or hill, and have had my wheels rub where you would never think they would. I found that with the 30's and V6 my rear tires occasionally rubbed the front of the wheel well when I was on real uneven surfaces, and I had about an inch or of clearance in front of the wheel. In the front, I find that the tire needs to clear the rear of the well at full lock by three inches or more to clear during a hard compression and turn. A lifted AWD Astro can go some pretty crazy places. I'm not talking about driving I've boulders, but power line wheeling, mudding in deep holes, and hill climbing. If you don't do any extreme stuff with your van, you can get away with less trimming. And I like the spacer idea.
 
#23 ·
I have spacers to even out with the front 1500 series spindles that created a 3" wider track width. My track width and geometry is far different than anyone else's. I still have yet to see anyone else with a spindle lift on either forum.

I think the 8" lift kit was very likely a slightly modified pre-existing kit for another truck. I wonder if Dan formerly of Overland would hint at where it came from. Especially since the other guy isn't gonna sell them. I remember seeing the sales pic, it looked like a Rancho or Superlift kit or something like that.
 
#24 ·
So are those spindles the ones sold by OLV?

Also, have you ever seen a vehicle with a wider track in the rear than the front? I am wondering because the idea of rear spacers appeals to me. I lost some articulation with the larger tires as they will hit the frame, and would like to get some of it back if possible. I do not want to put spacers on front because of accelerated front end wear, extra fender trimming, etc. It seems that a wider track in the rear would negatively affect handling and look stupid, though. Just wondering if there were any vehicles that come stock that way or any that you or anyone has seen that were modified that way.
 
#26 ·
Spindles are for 2WD vans so far. There are spindles for AWD-4X4 Chevy trucks but as of yet nobody has ventured there. You'd definitely have to swap in other Chevy front end parts like I had to and probably rework the CV axles etc. I don't even know which trucks have IFS but I have seen the spindles with a big *** hole in the center where your shaft pokes in.

I don't think my van looks stupid with spacers in the rear. But hey, I guess my opinion is slightly biased. :mrgreen:
 
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