I really love my 06 PW Xb w/5speed, but instead of dropping it like I see almost everywhere, I'd like to lift it just a bit - not crazy or anything, just a little bit. Right now I'm pretty much stock, although I did just get the Monroe Sensatracs for the back (5987's, about $70 shipped for the pair.) I do NOT want to screw up what handling it has, just get a bit more clearance. Is there a spring that is going to be close enough to the stock one that can do this? Should I just get bigger tires? I'm thinking more urban utility vehicle, going over curbs and stuff. After seeing the Rally thread I feel sure someone else has tackled this. I'm actually thinking of moving style-wise towards the older FJ40 land cruisers, like getting a black powdercoated cage for the top, put the spare up there, etc.
So - can it be lifted just a bit?

 

why didn't you just buy a CRV or Rav4?

 

i think it would be awesome if someone would lift a box and put big monster truck tires on it (with the all-wheel drive conversion). Now THAT would be a show stopper!

 

they have done it... its called Pioneer Audio xB. Lifted on I believe a Bronco chasis. I think if you want to lift it, you got the wrong car. Either rip off the stock ground effects, get bigger tires, or live with it.

Scott

 

not gonna happen without a completely different rear suspension.

 

^^^^^
Take the ground effects off and it will appear alot higher.

 

Short Answer:

Yes

Long Answer:

Yes, but not without a lot of fabrication. And by the time you do the work, you might as well go with a bigger lift. The problem then becomes powering the car. Trying to turn bigger rubber with our tiny little engine just doesn't sound like fun.

You could probably get away with about a 2" lift using a somewhat stock suspension. In the front I would use some sort of strut spacer. Essentially a steel cup that would be secured to the stock strut tower which will in turn have your front strut attached to it. I wouldn't go much more than a couple of inches though, as you will probably start running into issues with your axles. This style of lift does not give you any additional suspension travel though, only lift.

In the rear, I would say forget traditional coil springs all together. Trying to find something that works is going to be a pain in the @$$. In my opinion you have two options. One is a custom "coil-over" shock that mounts in the place of your stock shock. Depending on how high you go you will begin to run into problems with the torsion beam axle. As you go higher the axle will want to swing forward. This will cause the tires to get closer to the fender and possibly cause problems with your shock alignment. In other words, they may bind, or not even be able to be mounted.

The other is to install air bags in the rear. You will have to custom fabricate the brackets in order to make this work. You could also copy a set of FBI brackets and just make them taller. With this option you will need to buy all of the air management to go along with the airbags, as well as longer shocks. Again, the higher you go, the more risk you run in having problems with your shocks and tires.

There are other even more custom methods to lift an xB, but there are so many I wouldn't even begin to try to name them.

 

except if you do you will see the windsheild washer fluid bottle hanging down and all yer ac stuff is vulnerable. but yes that in itself will effectively "raise" yer car.

 

dont do it

 

I'm thinking you bought the wrong vehicle....