'93 LiteAce lift 4x4

[Andywear]

I finally did it after years of waiting and reading.
read the threads, two or three times & took notes. Tried not to ask to many questions because its all been done before. Thanks to all of you

Front, used:
2270-FS - SENSEN Shocks Struts
qty.2 on Amazon for $60 pair
You have to grind down the lower end of the shock bolt bushing to fit into the shoulder part (??).
Torsion bar crank:
Breaking the locknut was the worst part on the torsion bar/lever looking thing. I used a 7/8" wrench and a 22mm deep socket 1/2" drive on my impact.
1/2" up on the passenger side (left side)
5/8" up on the driver side, (right side, has the gas tank on that side, I'm guessing that's why it needed more )

On full turn it hits up front of the wheel. Thinking about grinding it down because its not the frame but rather a support bracket that has a little extra over hang.

rear, used:
Sensen 1214-0190
qty. 2 on amazon for $34 each
You have to grind down the lower end to fit into the shoulder part
Daystar, KT09100BK
qty. 2 on amazon for $50 pair
rear was super easy, don't forget to loosen the bolts that holds the e-brake line so when you drop the axle it doesn't pull on it unnecessarily.
I used a grinder on the Daystar spacer so the original top side spring cushion would fit inside.
I reused the old cushions on the bottoms of the springs, I'd like to find new ones to drop in there. but oh well.
You have to grind down the lower end of the shock bolt bushing to fit into the shoulder part on the rear axle.
The shocks top bolt is a bit too long and will poke a hole in your carpet, so after tightening down I used a hack saw and cut off the excess, seemed to work great. I did have to remove the rear seats to get to the top shock bolts on the van body.
Don't forget to add a bracket for the rear brake adjuster thingy that is on the rear axle.

I also had installed General Grabbers, 27x8.5 R14
Discount tires at $154 each

Before lift van sat at 28" to the top of the fenders, all the way around.
tires were 205/70/14 which measured 24" tall

Now the fenders sit at: 30-1/4" roughly all the way around.
Grabbers measure at 26" tall

My shocks looked to be OME and were toast. I wish I would have swapped them out years ago.
Bumps are much better now.
Ill get a few pic posted later.

[89MasterAce]

Congratulations!

[Andywear]

https://youtube.com/shorts/zg9q2d1byNQ?feature=share

To show where it’s hitting at full turn.
I hear that there is a steering adjustment I can do so it stops before it rubs. I’m going to look into that to correct this.

[Andywear]

Instead of loading all the pictures thru the site I loaded them to a youtube vid. was much faster... maybe

https://youtu.be/sOYBhwYfGHA


I am still trying to figure out what steering adjustment to make for the front rub.

[Andywear]

https://youtube.com/shorts/zg9q2d1byNQ?feature=share

To show where it’s hitting at full turn.
I hear that there is a steering adjustment I can do so it stops before it rubs. I’m going to look into that to correct this.

found in the FSM ('87 manual)

FSM.FA.31.jpg


PDF: Of that page.
FSM.FA.31.pdf




At least I wont have to grind on the frame.

took me 2 years to get the courage to do the lift, how much longer till I adjust the steering.....

[gringo-gaucho]

Does the extensive info on lifting a US market 4wd van apply to the later 1990's JDM diesels- liteace, townace, etc?

The above listed sensen part numbers no longer exist. Per reading all the threads I can find on the subject, and back checking the part numbers above, it would appear that for the fronts, we can search shocks that fit a 2000 dodge durango 4x4, and for the rears, the above numbers reference a 2000 ford f150 rear wheel drive.

There is also information out there on using tacoma bilsteins- and the most recent part number listed is BSN-24-186056. I cannot find a reference for what tacoma this is. Anyone know-does this shock work on the JDM vans, or what Tacoma is it for?
Once I get this successfully completed, I hope to make a thorough post on the process for JDM owners with up to date parts numbers.

Thanks all!

[gringo-gaucho]

So I lifted our 96, with extra confidence in parts ordering- thanks to this thread and others on this site. It seems that the suspensions didn't change much between the US vans of the 80's and the JDM vans into 1996, so the info found on the (5 lug) US vans still applies. Our 1996 is a CR31G frame, NOT the late 96 and beyond "noah" models, which obviously will be much different.
I used:
Front: Kyb kg5440 gas-a-just shocks.
Rear: Daystar KT09100BK plus 24-186056 - Bilstein B6 4600 Series.
Minor modifications were necessary- I trimmed the rubber on one set of shocks and the steel bushing tube on the other. An angle grinder was handy. It was 1/4" removed from the tube, so a file could do it, but it would be time consuming.

Up front I cranked in about 7 full turns. This yielded right around 1 inch of lift, which was my goal. Out back, I lined the daystar bushing internally with part of the original upper spring cushion. This held it more firmly in place, that daystar is too big on it's inside diameter.

The rear adjustable rear brake body height sensor- it has a m10.0x1.25 threads, so a coupling nut and another short bolt with the head cutoff makes a clean solution- I am still trying to get the coupling bolt though...

We already had the 27" grabbers on there, and this mod was mainly to eliminate rubbing issues.
front before:29 1/4, after- 30 1/4
Rear before 29 1/2, after 30 5/8

[Norther.Diesel]

Super useful information here.
Thanks to everyone for their sharing of what worked and what didn't.
I'm a new owner of a JDM 1988 4x4 townace, which if the gods will allow I will be swapping a tdi vw engine into.

The first step for me is to lift the vehicle, and possible switch out the front axle for a dana 30, to allow for some more engine mounting room.
I will of course take photos of my journey.
To quote Gringo-Gaucho,
"There is also information out there on using tacoma bilsteins- and the most recent part number listed is BSN-24-186056. I cannot find a reference for what tacoma this is. Anyone know-does this shock work on the JDM vans, or what Tacoma is it for?"
I too would love to know and apologize if its already been covered because i found a guy selling first gen taco springs and a 3rd gen lift with leaf springs from a TRD.
But it was the same day I picked up the van (3 days ago) so I hadn't done any research, or even found this forum yet.

Lots to learn, lots of searching to do on here.

Once the administrators have allowed, I will upload more pics of the swap.
I think I am still waiting to be confirmed or something.

Thanks again!

[Norther.Diesel]

Started the disassembly today.
Ordered the Sensen for the rears and the moog and the daystar lifted spring seats.
The only thing I hestitated on was the fronts. I know the Bilstein B6 4600 are more expensive, and perhaps its better to match front to rear...
But another thread on here made it sound like they were pretty much bolt on.
I am curious if anyone has put any spacers under the cross member for a mini body lift yet?
I am interested because raising the coop means more room for my VW ALH engine which might mean I can use the VW PS and AC pumps.
Here are the old shocks out
https://www.flickr.com/photos/199820...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/199820...posted-public/
I'm going to be doing the control arms, sway bar end links and all the bushings too while I'm down there.

Thanks to all you who have posted the wealth of info on this rad forum!