6" 2wd lift pics please

[winmag4582001]

Going to get an Action Vans lift for mine in the next few weeks.
Looking for user pics of your van after the lift.
Only looking for extra ground clearance and bigger tires. I plan on gearing to 4.10. I'm not doing any hard core off roading, just driving to trail heads. Currently l have a Maxx Lift 2" front lift and I put on coil over shocks in the rear to lift it about 1.25" and just need more.

Thanks for any reply's.

[daveb]

After lifting my van by going with Deaver springs I had to replace my tire size (285-315) just so the van looked right. YMMV. The 285's were brand new plus I have a trailer with the same rims/tires so it kinda hurt my wallet having to replace 8 tires.

[MountainBikeRoamer]

Very cool. I've got one of the Action Van kits installed on my '95 RB.

Like daveb said above -- I also immediately went to larger tire, a 285/70R17 (33" diameter.) Most of the photos on my forum "garage" page are from before the lift was installed, but there are a couple where it's shown with the lift....here's a couple with the lift kit installed from my gallery:




Also....you've probably already looked through them, but Action Van has a page on their website with **tons** of photos of lifted Ford vans with their kits:

Photo Gallery for Ford Van Lift Kits
Action Van Suspension - Photo Gallery - Ford van lift kits

Something to remember:
A lift that's indicated as "6-inch" won't actually/always lift your vehicle a true 6 inches. It's probably more between 4 and 5 inches of measured "lift."

And that's because:
As far as I can tell, the "6 inch coil" does have 6 inches more height to it than the OEM coil....but that's if you put them next to each other out of the van and measured them uncompressed. But --- these lift coils are spec'd such that your van's weight will "settle into them a bit more" than the van will on the stock coils....they compress an inch or two more than the stock coils do once the van is back on its feet.

So --- you're effectively getting 6" more overall suspension travel, but some of that is given to you in the form of extra "sag."

(And this is a good thing --- mountain bikers and off-road motorcyclists know this.....sag is what allows your suspension to extend DOWN into a deep chuck-hole when you're traveling along at speed, maintaining wheel/tire contact with the ground as continuously as possible while allowing the bike/motorcycle/van to carry on and be impacted as little as possible.)

Ok that was long-winded....as usual, sorry...

The takeaway --- Action Van kit = good!

Just don't get out your tape measure and expect to see six inches of actual height difference before/after....at least not before you bolt on your new, taller tires you're going to be installing....which will add more ground clearance of course too.

[mikracer]

I didn't think you got extra suspension travel with the Action Van Kit since it is a drop bracket kit.

[MountainBikeRoamer]

Originally Posted by mikracer

I didn't think you got extra suspension travel with the Action Van Kit since it is a drop bracket kit.

No, you absolutely DO get more travel.

It's a taller coil, and the front suspension can soak deeper into it. (They claim 10" of front wheel travel.) The drop-brackets are used to control the camber (instead of heat-bending the I-beams (as Camburg and WeldTec do)), but in both design arrangements you are definitely increasing suspension travel.

Where you **don't** get more travel is in the rear....since the lift is accomplished by stacking lift blocks under your original leafs. To get more rear suspension travel, you have to go to custom leafs.

(Which is what I ended up doing later.....went to WeldTec and had them build/install a custom set of long-travel (much greater arc!) rear leafs that have the same lift height as the Action-Van kit created, but these don't use lift blocks at all to do so.)

[winmag4582001]

I saw Actions website said 4 1/2 to 5”, I’m assuming I’ll end up with 6+” after going with bigger tires...

I saw the pics on their website but I was wanting to see actual buyers final results. I’ve looked at Camburg and Weldtec but that’s a crazy amount of money for some jig welded and bent metal. IMO

[MountainBikeRoamer]

Is the total (parts+labor) price really that different between Action Van and WeldTec?

WeldTec's quoted prices on their website (in some cases) might reflect the inclusion of the installation charge. Action Van's individual kit prices listed on the website don't include labor for installation. Would be really interesting to see how the two shops' total (installed) prices truly compare.

It's kinda tough to do an apples-to-apples comparison though....Jeremy at WeldTec has custom-bent I-beams in his kits (as does Camburg), and Jeremy also often puts together some versions of his lift kits to include the custom rear leaf springs instead of lift blocks, so those are definitely gonna be pricier than the lift-block rear spring solution that Action Van includes in their kits.

Action Van can reportedly do custom rear leafs on request too, though i haven't heard of anyone's experience with them going that route.

In any of the lifts though....even a "simple" 2WD lift....there's unavoidable extra costs, no matter what shop does the lift. Parts/labor of re-gearing the rear axle (to a 4.10 ratio in most cases) isn't cheap, and the upgraded/upsized wheels/tires are a fixed cost, no matter who does your lift....

[caideN]

Here is my 6" 2WD

[86Scotty]

Mike, not sure that I've ever seen a good pic of your van before. Nice!

[winmag4582001]

MountainBikeRoamer: Thank You! Like your setup.
caideN: Great setup also!

I will be doing the install myself. I've got an idea of the tires I want to run and I will do the gearing myself. It's been years since I've done a R/P but I'm too stingy to pay somebody $1,000 when I can do it myself for $300.