another lift question...

im new to the VX scene ... dont even own one yet.
ive read all the forums about lifting the vx and there seems to be a general consent that the safest maximum lift up front is 3 inches... without major modifications... looking at rocky-road.com i noticed the amigo has an ome lift torsion bar available for it... im assuming that they are just longer then stock. so my question is would it be possible to lengthen the vx torsion bars to compensate for the cv axle pressure? if so how?
just wondering beause im getting a vx in the near future and the first thing i plan to do is lift it. and it would be awesome to get 4 to 5 inches of lift instead of 3...:smilewink

thanks all,
Xman

Hey Man, and Welcome...

The Torsion bar upgrades are actually just stiffer. (from what I understand)

The only safe way to achieve the lift you're after is: (IMO)

2" Drop Brackets for the CV
Reindex and Major Crank of Torsion Bars
2" Coil Spacer
OME912 Springs
Shocks of your choice (probably need longer, I'm not sure if stockers can extend that far)
Longer Brake lines
And some major trimming :D

Mine is probably lifted 3.5" over stock maybe a little more including tire height.

Search for the lift wiki, it contains links to drop bracket threads, as well as alot of info on different options for lifting.

Good Luck!

alright will do... thanks for your help

xman, there is a member (Nerve_Gas) here with a VX lifted something like 5" - he fit 36" tires. The tires cause problems and the excess lift causes problems. A couple of people have built a body lift for the VX with no evident problems. So I guess you could go up to 8" lift. In either case, I wouldn't recommend lifting a VX that high unless you swap in a solid front axle and can justify the mods needed to do so.

The way 99% of the peope with Lifted VX have done the lift is by simply "adjusting" the torsion bars such that the normal riding position of the front tires is lower... and then adding larger springs in the rear to compensate.

keep in mind that doing this doesn't actually change the amount of travel in the suspension...

imagine that the suspension in the front can normally be compressed such that the tires can go up 5" from the normal riding position and go down 5" from the normal riding position... allowing them to absorb both speed bumps and pot holes. (I don't know the actual amount of travel, this is just an estimate)

cranking the torsion bars moves that center point down... say you give your self 3" of lift by doing this... in effect the suspension can now go up 8" from normal riding position but can only go down 2" from normal riding position. and since your put bigger tires they bite the body if you hit a speed bump too hard and the truck essentially falls into potholes because the suspension isn't able to absorb it.

also because the wheels are now further away from the front differential, and utilizing more of the lower extremes in their range of motion, the CV joints in the front axles wear out much quicker than they normally would from being at such an extreme angle.

from what I understand 3" isn't all that bad in terms of suspension adjustment... but you get an idea of what's going on. and by flipping your ball-joins and adding some diff drop brackets you gain a little bit more down-travel and put your CV joints at a less extreme angle.

a body lift wont effect any of this stuff because it raises your cabin higher off the frame, your engine and suspension don't move at all... though you'll need to be weary of things that attach from the frame to the cabin such as your shifter, gas tank inlet, steering column, and radiator (which typically attaches to the body rather than the frame) most of these can deal with a 1-1.5" body lift without much issue... beyond that you'll end up building new mounts and lengthening things.


.... keep in mind that most of this is from my experience lifting a half dozen various other vehicles including other isuzus... I've never lifted a VX :cool: