I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject of lifting my cruiser and I still seem to be confused.
When one talks of lifting ones cruiser do they mean a body lift which I understand to be the process of inserting spacers between the body and where it bolts to the chassis. I understand this can be any thing up to about 50mm but cant for the life of me work out whey you would want to lift the body from the chassis as one does not gain any further ground clearance but only increases the centre of gravity.
OR
Is it the process of installing longer shocks and springs?
If it is the latter then do the longer shocks increase both up and down travel or is it only up travel which I assume is still governed by ones upper control arms and so does this mean you have to change them as well and when do you need to have straps installed?
Does one need to change both shocks and springs if raising my car 1.5” or 2.5” or are the springs all a constant length but differ in load rating and spring rate or is the rate the spring rebounds governed by the shock you install?
Lastly when one talks about raising ones car 1.5” or 2.5” from what height are we measuring? All the questions are in relation to my stock standard 2003 100 series still with automatic height control. Is the distance I raise my car measured from when the car is in low or normal or high because if I was to raise my car 2.5” from the high setting I may need a stepladder to get in.
Is it only possible to raise ones car either 1.5” or 2.5” or could I raise it 2” if I wanted and at what point do I need to start worrying about diff drops and increased wear on my CV joints as well as caster correction bushes.
At what stage do I need to think about changing my front torsion bars or are they not related to the suspension but rather the weight of the vehicle?
Sorry for all the questions but it would give me a good idea of how it all works.
When one talks of lifting ones cruiser do they mean a body lift which I understand to be the process of inserting spacers between the body and where it bolts to the chassis. I understand this can be any thing up to about 50mm but cant for the life of me work out whey you would want to lift the body from the chassis as one does not gain any further ground clearance but only increases the centre of gravity.
OR
Is it the process of installing longer shocks and springs?
If it is the latter then do the longer shocks increase both up and down travel or is it only up travel which I assume is still governed by ones upper control arms and so does this mean you have to change them as well and when do you need to have straps installed?
Does one need to change both shocks and springs if raising my car 1.5” or 2.5” or are the springs all a constant length but differ in load rating and spring rate or is the rate the spring rebounds governed by the shock you install?
Lastly when one talks about raising ones car 1.5” or 2.5” from what height are we measuring? All the questions are in relation to my stock standard 2003 100 series still with automatic height control. Is the distance I raise my car measured from when the car is in low or normal or high because if I was to raise my car 2.5” from the high setting I may need a stepladder to get in.
Is it only possible to raise ones car either 1.5” or 2.5” or could I raise it 2” if I wanted and at what point do I need to start worrying about diff drops and increased wear on my CV joints as well as caster correction bushes.
At what stage do I need to think about changing my front torsion bars or are they not related to the suspension but rather the weight of the vehicle?
Sorry for all the questions but it would give me a good idea of how it all works.
