Maximum lift? What's legal?

[MinniTheMoocha]

What is the maximum lift you can do that is still practical/within engineering specs? And what will insurance cover?

[nj swb]

What is the maximum lift you can do that is still practical/within engineering specs? And what will insurance cover?

For the most accurate advice, you'll need to tell us which state you're in.

Speaking generally, I would be surprised if anybody was the least bit perturbed by a 2" suspension lift. I believe 3" is readily achievable, and I guess 4" might be possible at a stretch. I expect 4" would be really stressing the factory CV joints (at the front, at least.)

I recall reading some company advertising a 3" lift for NM, but don't recall who. How much lift do you think you want?

[Garygls]

MinniTheMoocha, over the last school holidays June/july, i had my 05 NP Pajero put in for a 3" lift. Today has been the only time that i have had a chance to go off road.
Since i had the lift, i did a little over 5000Klm's on the highway & a few hundred around town. The ride & handling is even better than before, as for the off roading today I am more than happy with the performance. I tackled the same few crossings where i was bottoming out, & no problems at all.

Travelled along a rutted track to a nice rocky hill climb & the drivers rear wheel dropped into a bottomless mud hole, selected 4LLC, & what hole!!! the front diff locker did it's job.
Your choice what height lift you go, the 3" lift is all i need.
Cheers Gary

[MinniTheMoocha]

Thanks for the suggestions. I would like to get as much of a lift as possible as one of my last excursions I bottomed the belly a number of times. I have been advised in another thread that a 40mm lift should be maximum to save CV joints.

The insurance still needs an answer.

[Alex86]

The insurance still needs an answer.

Your insurance company would be the best bet to contact for that advice- straight from the horse's mouth.

[MinniTheMoocha]

Yes of course but I thought someone who has already done a lift might know.

The verdict is still out on what is the max lift height though.

[nj swb]

Thanks for the suggestions. I would like to get as much of a lift as possible as one of my last excursions I bottomed the belly a number of times. I have been advised in another thread that a 40mm lift should be maximum to save CV joints.

The insurance still needs an answer.

This is common advice out there for IFS vehicles. Mitsubishi's IFS is one of the best out there, with longer control arms and axles, so any given CV angle creates a larger lift. Pajero owners have been running 50mm lifts for years without problems, and many of us (as indicated above) run larger lifts without problems.

Remember the rear suspension has longer control arms and axles than the front, so CV angles are lower again. I wouldn't be concerned about a 3" (75mm) lift.

Cheers,

Scott

[MinniTheMoocha]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the extra info. I will check with ARB etc about suspension lifts and talk with MM about warranty.

[MinniTheMoocha]

Just checked with ARB about a suspension lift. It is the same kit for the NP/NM so the max lift is 35 on the front and 45 on the rear. Approx $1700 fully installed.

I haven't checked any other suppliers yet.

[NS Rob]

Just rang NRMA for insurance reasons.

2" is the maximum they'll allow for any of their policies.

[MinniTheMoocha]

Hi NS Rob,

Thanks for that. I checked with RACV and it seems they also have 2" lift maximum so its starting to look like an across the board policy with insurance companies.

[Walker]

The other thing to look at is what is allowed under warranty. I think you will find if you lift your vehicle over a certain height then all warranty on suspension AND DRIVETRAIN will be void.

I had a similar problem with my Landrover Discovery 2 years ago. I had put a heavier springs in ti to compensate for the front ARB bar and this also lifted the vehicle about 1". One day the front drive shaft DC joint broke and the driveshaft dropped to the ground and then bounced up and cracked the Auto transmission casing. It was towed the the Landrover dealer and after examining the car they told me they would not cover the damage because I had a lift. When we measured it, I was 4mm outside their specification so I had to pay the $5k to fix the transmission even though the driveshaft was an engineering fault. It also voided the warranty for the remainder of it's life.

[MinniTheMoocha]

Thats a sad expensive story. I don't excactly see how they could get out of it even with the lift. shouldnt there have been a bracket to stop it falling down like this? I have seen much bigger lifts for other land rovers including disco's

Did this sway you away from Land rover for good? I am thinking of getting a Defender as the bush runabout.

[Walker]

I still have my old Range Rover for the hard stuff, this is highly modified but I would never buy another Landrover as my daily driver.

They can get out of it in the same way most other manufacturers do. You would need to check all the fine print on the warranty but somewhere it will say that any modifications which take the vehicle outside it recommended specifications will void the warranty. I did get legal advide on this but the way the warranty is worded, it does not matter whether the modified part cause the fault or not, the warranty is still void. Landrover warranty used to be very good but sice Ford took over they have really clamped down and getting any warranty work now is hard.