I've been trying to figure out how i could lift up my maverick by at least 2"-3" mostly for things like hitting dirt roads and heading out to a desert range me and my friends frequent for which some ground clearance is needed but it being a uni-body it seems nearly impossible At this point the best option is to use the frame of a ranger similar to how west coast customs did for the Mad Max interceptor look alike they did for the mad max game a few years back downside to that is that It'd be pretty expensive and id loose the L6 250 engine i really like among other things and id be stuck with a V6/V8 but on the plus side i could get it to be 4x4 and id have modern ranger suspension and fuel injection I thought about using a bronco since I've been rather interested in the ford L6 300 but realized that the bronco is like 10 inches wider than the maverick as opposed to the ranger which is about an inch or so skinnier my buddy also mentioned something about sub-frames but the downside would be that if i hit something a lil to hard It'd wreck the entire body and become undriveable I've been having a hard time trying to do some research on how to properly lift uni-bodies but have been having a rather tough time finding anything solid so anything could help At this point im saving up money for a ranger and the cost of placing my maverick body onto the ranger but id like to see if i have other better/cheaper options that wont break my maverick
You could cut out the factory front suspension, and install leaf springs and a straight axle like a gasser. Then do a spring over axle conversion on the rear. Or the best option would be to buy another vehicle better suited to off roading to begin with.
true lol a car specific for off roading would be more efficient still i would really like to lift up my maverick both for utilitarian purposes and aesthetic reasons
Get the rear axle relocated below the springs and get coil spring spacers for the front like you see in some leveling kits. You'll get your height but you will need to work out the shocks and you will probably have a hell of a time getting it aligned.
I had my 72 comet up higher for the bad back roads where I use to live at. In the rear I used one of the old 1970 extend shackle kits found off of a car in the junk yard. Another option would be flipping the axle and putting the springs on top. You would have to weld new perches on the rearend. With a coil spring front end there are several ways to do that. On a T bird we have put smaller coil springs inside the factory coils to raise it up. This way if you ever wanted it back "stock" style it would be bolt on so to speak.
I'm currently in the process of getting parts to do this! I'm getting Moog 5230 front coils and some rear leafs from espo's springs n' things... spec on the rear leafs are unknown to me but they said it'll give me a 2" lift... I have a lot of trust. Shocks i haven't figured out yet, will size them once I install the springs. Planning on running BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 LT215/75r15 in the rear and General Tire Grabber AT 2 27x8.5r14LT in the front. Rims undecided yet... we'll see how it goes! might start a thread to show the build in a couple weeks or so when all parts come in
Looks are one thing, and to each his own I guess.. BUT.. that car will be downright dangerous to drive due to the suspension design. Mostly depends on how much you lift it but physics will rule that you're going in the completely wrong direction. To list just a few of your upcoming and seemingly yet unrealized issues; The a-arms will need to be relocated and/or modified to help keep the longer springs and shocks from bowing out. Coil-overs would be much more expensive but you'll be glad you used them in the end. Alignment will be WAAYYYY off without doing any or all of the above. Eccentrics, large amounts of shims and caster settings will not save you here. If the car has power steering?.. be prepared to lose it completely, not to mention you'll probably need custom length tie rods. Bushings, balljoints, and bearings will get the royal snot beat out of them in short order. Not one of the safest handling cars ever built.. after these mod's it will be downright dangerous if you get carried away past about 1.5" - 2" lifts . Think "skinny tires" so you skid instead of rolling over. Kinda kidding.. but not really completely. Not trying to put a damper on anyone's dreams.. just stating some of the facts involved here is all.
No not at all That's the reason i made this post For ideas about how it could work and why it wouldn't Seems if I really want to id have to put it on a truck chassis else after all
Love the interest and all of those things ran through my head when going about doing this. I figure the rear end is easy so that's 50% of the work right? lol. But I'm a mechanical engineer and from my calculations spring bowing should not be an issue as the spring is not significantly longer than stock, your basic radial arm geometry. And going off of the perch angles will meet up nicely pending me putting the spring in the correct way to mate with each side as snuggly as possible. Now also the glory of a unibody is that the center of gravity is already significantly lower than one with a chassis. That being said obviously with any lift rolling it becomes an issue but that can be corrected for by having a wider track which can be done easily with proper rim backspacing. Should be easy in the rear, a little trickier up front. Adjusting/aligning everything will be a nightmare i agree, but hey isn't that the fun of a project like this! Luckily the only power steering I have is a necker-knob. Tie rod can easily be made so I'll either steal one from another car with simailar geometry to what i need or just fab one up! I dont envision any extra loading on bushings or bearings but ball joints possibly.... It will be fun!
