AWD 2" lift with some mudders.

[Tito]

Howdy Ya'll. Hust wanted to post a picture of my 94 Previa AWD with a 2" lift and 29"
mudders. CHeck her out!3586

[93_Previa]

Awesome!!!!!

Do tell...how did you do the lift? My wife and I own a 1993 Previa Alltrac (AWD) and use it for all our outdoor adventures (sweet kayak racks by the way, too!) and the only thing that really prevents us from taking our Previa to some of the more remote areas we want to go is the poor ground clearance. We're afraid it'll won't take much to knock that oil pan.

Is the lift a custom, homegrown lift that you did yourself? Or was it a kit that you modified? About how much did you spend total to do this lift?

We've been drooling over a good-looking, well balanced (and proportional) lift like this...so please share some of the details! Do you have any tire rub at any point? I know that the with stock struts/shocks that the plate causes some issues with larger-than-stock tires. Did you modify this as well? How?

Thanks for posting!!

[Tito]

I used Tim's method for lifting 2" with the mustang coils on the rear. I had to "massage" with a 5lb hammer, the strut lip so the larger tires would fit. I get a little rub in the wheel well on tight turns but not a lot. The clearance is great for the hills and the ride is still smooth.

[93_Previa]

And did you have to regear at all for the larger tires? From some research it looks like supercharged Previas had a gear ratio of 3.73, while non-supercharged had a gear ratio of 4.30. I've got the latter (non-supercharged Previa), so I've already got the lower gear ratio. Just wondering if acceleration/speed-wise your larger tires caused any issues.

[Tito]

no gear reduction, and I still have plenty of acceleration. cruises comfortably at 70.

[Leppah]

Dude, that thing is pretty sick. Did you have to get adapters to run those Jeep wheels?

[Tito]

I put 1" spacers on the wheel to bump out the tire enough to not rub. The bolt pattern was identical to the Toyota's so no adapter plate had to be used. My lug studs were long enough I didn't have to change them, but I've heard some people have had to lengthen these to accommodate the spacer. Not sure if the previous owner tapped in longer stud bolts or if they where stock and I got lucky.... :thmbup:

[Steve C.]

That thing is BEAST! Tell me about that boo-bar up front. Can you run one of those but still keep the front bumper on? Did you make it?

[Tito]

It's a pretty standard SmittyBilt Bumper. I've seen them on Toyota 4 Runners. I just welded on mounting brackets and built a radiator guard because of the difference in clearance from the stock plastic bumper. I actually used the front of a pellet stove, that I braced with a couple round stock bars I cut to length and bolted to the differential mounts and to the guard. I also fabbed a grill for the super charger cooler. It's bolted to the front of that. I wouldn't bolt up this bumper to the existing bumper, It'd stick waaaay out and look odd. But that's my opinion. I welded on a hi lift jack mount as an afterthought. Will try to post pictures, but am having no luck with the uploader.....TIMSRV? Any solutions?:dizzy:

[Steve C.]

Well to make this a really good story: my co-worker bought this van from you last Wednesday and was just telling me about it and showing me photos.

[Tito]

HAHA.... Small world for us Toyota guys. Hope he has many adventures with it!!!:thmbup:

[timsrv]

Will try to post pictures, but am having no luck with the uploader.....TIMSRV? Any solutions?:dizzy:


Are you clicking on the picture of a tree in the tool bar, then following prompts? You're not the only one complaining about uploading pics, but I cannot duplicate problem, therefor I cannot troubleshoot/repair. Please give details about where the process fails. Tim

4507

[Leppah]

I'm starting to piece together a lift for my previa. I have a few questions though. On the brake lines, do you have to replace all 4 of the upper lines with the longer (12.75") lines from Napa? Or do you just replace the front ones? The Zenseeker doesn't say how many to replace, and I'm a noob when it comes to lifting. I've only lowered vehicles.
Do I also have to replace the lower lines?
I'm going to get the pipe for the spacers this week, and I'm going to order the additional upper strut mounts along with the mustang springs. Are those all of the parts I'll need? (mustang springs, pipe, 4 upper strut mounts, brake lines).
I just replaced one of my rear shocks yesterday (the shaft on one of them broke). I bought Gabriel brand and it's WAY longer than the Monroe that was on the van. I think they'll be plenty long enough to handle the extra 2" of lift when I get around to installing it all.
Any info is appreciated.

[timsrv]

Just the front, but if you're going to lift, you might want to do the front with coil-overs so you can put bigger tires on it. Here's a good thread: http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/showthread.php?2660-Front-strut-coilover-project-to-allow-taller-tires/page2

[Leppah]

Just the front, but if you're going to lift, you might want to do the front with coil-overs so you can put bigger tires on it. Here's a good thread: http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/showthread.php?2660-Front-strut-coilover-project-to-allow-taller-tires/page2

I'm going to keep it cheap and simple for now. I ended up going with slightly bigger tires and wheels recently. I went with slightly bigger tires recently. I went with some Yokohama Geolanders in 215-65-16. They rub a tad on the inside of the wheel well. The wheels I'm running are Mustang 16" wheels. They have slightly less offset than stock previa wheels, so they stick out just a tiny bit. I didn't want to go too big on tires because I figured it's already an under-powered minivan. I didn't want it to struggle too much once i start taking it up into the mountains.

Thanks for the info Tim. i appreciate it. Once I acquire the parts and get it all put together, I'll see if I can figure out how to post pics.

[Leppah]

I finally got my lift on last sunday. Now I need to figure out how to post pictures on here.