What Is a Suspension Lift?
A suspension lift could rejuvenate your car. This modification causes the vehicle to ride higher above the wheels, which means you have more road clearance, can drive on steeper grades and can have bigger tires.
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Blocks
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The simplest way to do a suspension lift is by putting a wooden block in the suspension leaf springs. This has a couple of disadvantages. It makes the ride rougher. It can also be dangerous -- especially for blocks in the front wheel leaf springs. If the blocks slip, there can be a sudden and dangerous loss of steering control.
Adding a leaf
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A better way to do a suspension lift is to add an extra leaf spring to the existing leaf springs. This is certainly safer because there is no block to slip. The problem is that you are adding something that is not part of the original design, and the leaf you are adding is newer than the extant leafs. For example, a lift that should provide 3 extra inches may provide only 2 inches if the one new spring is working with five old springs.
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Lift Kits
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The best, and most expensive, suspension lift is with a lift kit. For every Jeep and SUV there are sets of suspension leaf springs with different levels of lift -- because the leaf springs are over sized. You can buy a complete set of suspension leaf springs that are over sized to provide the lift you desire.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit trailer's suspension image by Diana Mastepanova from Fotolia.com
