In many cities, slowly deteriorating roads are rarely repaired, and where yesterday the car passed freely, today it begins to touch the bottom of the irregularities, as a result of which the owner thinks about how to increase the ground clearance. But despite the fact that everyone would like to solve the problem with a minimum of effort and financial resources, not every method is safe for the vehicle itself. Let's take a look at a few of the methods used.
How to increase the ground clearance at the front of the car underbody
Not a single vehicle, except, perhaps, a trolley, has an absolutely smooth bottom, there is always a protruding part, the distance from which to the roadway is called the clearance, according to GOST. But where is the lowest point? In the area of the engine compartment protruding from below? Among the shock absorbers? Could it be an exhaust system? In fact, you can catch on a stone or earthen hill with any knot under the car and it is difficult to come up with a better solution other than increasing the ground clearance.
The front bumper is the closest part of the vehicle to an obstacle on the way.... Despite the fact that this part is slightly higher than many others, it may suffer in the first place. For passenger cars, the ground clearance to the bumper is from 14 to 20 centimeters, for SUVs this gap corresponds to 18-25 centimeters, and for full-fledged SUVs - 20-35 centimeters. You can increase the clearance in this place by removing the so-called "skirt" that protects the bumper, but this will increase its vulnerability. However, instead of a protruding safety pad, parking sensors are often used.
Which is better - cars with variable ground clearance or increased?
Overcoming an obstacle by forcing the car to literally tiptoe through, albeit at the expense of a significant decrease in speed - is this not every driver's dream? However, vehicles that have nodes for increasing the ground clearance at will are somewhat more expensive than models that are not equipped with such a function. And only a few can afford cars with variable ground clearance. But how convenient: the speed is reduced to 20 kilometers per hour, the toggle switch is pressed, fluid is pumped into a special pillow between the body and the shock absorber hydraulically, and the clearance increases. When the speed rises, the vehicle itself sags back to its previous position.
But what about those who do not have such a system? You can also raise it artificially, however, it is not always safe. In particular, inter-turn attachments can be installed in the suspension springs, as a result of which the elastic elements will compress less under the weight of the body, but be prepared for an increase in the rigidity of the movement. Installing more powerful springs reduces the shock absorbers' rebound travel, and at the same time quickly disables these components. Motorists sometimes install aluminum attachments between the body and the pillar support, but there is also a drawback - such elements provoke corrosion with a salt mixture that is used to treat icy roads. The best option is to install rubber attachments instead of aluminum ones.
Is it really necessary to increase the vehicle's ground clearance?
Greatest risk area - oil pan... This is where the lowest point is usually found. Moreover, damage to the pallet always has the most unpleasant consequences for the motorist. The clearance of cars in this place is 12-17 centimeters, SUVs - within 17-21 centimeters, and off-road vehicles - 20 centimeters abroad. However, it is not difficult to increase the vehicle's ground clearance by removing the protection, but it is quite dangerous, on the contrary, it is better to sacrifice one or two centimeters by installing an additional shield made of carbon fiber or thin metal.
The clearance may decrease, since the springs tend to sag over time, and by replacing them, you can get the same clearance.
Another area that is often tested for strength by various uneven terrain is the exhaust system. Since it runs under the bottom, it is constantly subjected to impacts, and the further the system is from the terrain, the better. The rear suspension is also vulnerable, the propeller shaft of an all-wheel drive vehicle can be easily damaged. Unfortunately, it is impossible to close all these nodes, however, having carefully studied their location, while driving, it will not be difficult to avoid breakdowns on an uneven road, skipping hills under safe areas of the bottom.
As you know, we have two problems - fools and roads. With the former, alas, there is nothing to be done, but with the roads you can fight by increasing the height of the car above the road. This height of the car above the road is called clearance. But how to increase the vehicle's ground clearance?
We study the materiel
How to increase the vehicle's clearance so that pits, potholes and other surprises are not scary? In fact, there are several ways, but first we need to carry out preparatory work.
First, let's deal with the materiel and find out what is the clearance (ground clearance) and how it is determined.
If we turn to the technical literature, then this concept refers to the distance between the road and the lowest point of the car.
In different countries, the measurement methods are slightly different, so before you start "lifting" the car, look in its documentation and measure the ground clearance yourself.
This is the first nuance. In addition to the real ground clearance, it is also useful to know the parameters of the geometric cross-country ability of the machine.
Unfortunately, the off-road characteristics of a car depend not only on the clearance, but also on the angles of arrival, departure and the angle of longitudinal contact with the road. We conclude that a car with a long hood overhang and a long trunk has a smaller approach and exit angle.
Simply put, at low angles you will cling to the road, and the increased clearance will only help a little in this matter.
The longitudinal angle of permeability determines the angle of the car's fracture, which tubercle it can easily move without hitting an obstacle with sills and bottom.
Clearance affects this parameter, but the wheelbase is also a defining characteristic.
As we can see, dear readers, an increase in the vehicle's clearance is not a panacea for all the problems of bad roads, but passability also depends on it.
If you decide to revise the suspension, then read the following tips.
So how to increase the vehicle's ground clearance? Four ways:
- to put discs and wheels of increased diameter - the easiest option to increase the ground clearance, but it will not be much higher. The main thing to remember is that you strictly adhere to the recommendations of the automaker for permissible wheel diameters, otherwise you will get more problems than benefits;
- installing aluminum, plastic and polyurethane spacers between the shock absorber and the car body is a more costly method, but more effective. The spacers make quite tangible changes in the suspension design, which means that the car after their installation will behave differently. These three options have different lifetimes, with the longest lasting being aluminum;
- replacing springs with a large number of turns - increasing the vehicle's clearance by this method is more costly, because you still have to buy long-stroke shock absorbers. As compensation for the expense, you get a longer service life and less load sag when loading the machine compared to the spacer option. Among the shortcomings, it can be noted that the suspension geometry is changed, which will negatively affect handling;
- replacing with is the most expensive method to increase the vehicle's ground clearance. The car will have to be equipped with a whole complex of various equipment in addition to the pneumatic shock absorbers themselves. This is a compressor with a receiver, a control unit, and various sensors. All this costs a lot of money. However, you get a fully controllable suspension that can be adjusted to your liking - if you want to increase the clearance, you want to decrease it.
As you can see, friends, there are no problems with how to increase the vehicle's ground clearance.
There would be a desire and a certain amount in the wallet.
Good luck on the road, fewer holes and more pleasant driving emotions.
The ground clearance is perhaps one of the most popular vehicle characteristics at the request of motorists. The car is interested in the value of ground clearance immediately after they find out the volume and power of the engine, consumption and dynamic characteristics. And this is correct, because in our Russian conditions, a high ground clearance of a car is sometimes more important than the presence of rear windows or even an air conditioner. How to increase ground clearance in order to make driving a car on domestic roads more comfortable, we will tell you in this material.
Before embarking on an operation to increase the vehicle's ground clearance, there are several aspects to consider. First: to accurately calculate your car (since its value may differ from the passport, especially if it is a foreign-made car). Second: decide what height of ground clearance you want to achieve. The fact is that simply increasing the ground clearance is still half the battle, but you need to take into account such parameters as the angles of exit / entry and the angle of longitudinal cross-country ability of the car. They are different for all cars, and even if you increase your sedan's ground clearance, it will not, it will not be better to climb hills - and all because of its own, set by the factory designers. And, finally, you will have to decide on the budget for this operation, since there are several ways to increase the clearance, and the labor costs for their application are different.
Cheap options for increasing ground clearance
1. The easiest way to make your car a few millimeters taller is to install wheels and tires with larger diameters than standard ones. This is a sparing option, since when installing non-standard wheels and tires, you do not make any changes to the design of the chassis. When increasing ground clearance in this way, you need to remember that it is better to install rims and tires of those parameters recommended by the manufacturer on a car. Usually, these parameters are indicated in the owner's manual for the car, if they do not appear there, you can find this information on the Internet or contact the nearest brand car dealership. Having found out these parameters, you can buy tires and wheels, and then install them at any tire service.
The advantage of this option is one - the actual increase in ground clearance. But there are several disadvantages: an increase in fuel consumption, incorrect speedometer readings, and if tires and wheels are installed whose parameters are not recommended by the manufacturer, then the tires can touch the wheel arches when turning, which will eventually lead to early tire wear.
2. The second method is more effective, as it gives a greater increase in ground clearance. This is the installation of special spacers between the shock absorber springs and the car body. Before proceeding with the implementation of this method, remember - by installing spacers, you are already making changes to the design of the car's chassis, therefore, violating the factory parameters. And this can affect both the change in the suspension operation and the safety of the car.
If you nevertheless decide on this option, then you have to choose from several types of spacers - aluminum, polyurethane or plastic. Aluminum has an order of magnitude longer service life than polyurethane and plastic, in this component the most quickly wearing out - plastic spacers. So if you are going to increase the ground clearance seriously and for a long time - look at the aluminum parts. Also, keep in mind that the spacers differ depending on which suspension, front or rear, you put them on. Here it is important to clearly follow the marking and not to confuse the parts in places. Spacers are installed between the body cup and the shock absorber spring. There is one more type of spacers - interturn spacers, which are installed between the coils of the springs. They are also made of various materials, but they serve to tighten the suspension, which helps to avoid the drawbacks that arise when installing conventional spacers (one of the advantages of inter-turn spacers is to reduce the roll of the car in corners).
Ford Fusion - increased ground clearance thanks to spacers.
Advantages of spacers - increased ground clearance, no sagging of the rear of the car under heavy load. Cons - changes in the angles of the suspension (can affect the handling of the car), an increase in shock absorber travel (the risk of suspension breakdown increases when it enters a deep hole) and vibration loads on the body and on the suspension itself.
3. The third method is to replace the factory shock absorber springs with non-standard ones with a large number of turns. This option is more expensive than the previous two, since it involves the purchase of reinforced springs with an increased number of turns and long-stroke shock absorbers for them (the price of these components and the cost of their installation are different, but it is much higher than that of the first two options).
There are several advantages to this method of increasing the vehicle's ground clearance: a long service life and a service life, less subsidence of the stern (compared to spacers) when the vehicle is fully loaded. Among the disadvantages is a change in the angles of the front and rear suspension, an increase in its rigidity, vibrations that will be transmitted to the chassis and the car body.
An expensive option to increase ground clearance
There is a more expensive way to increase the vehicle's ground clearance - installing air suspension. It involves the purchase of front and rear airbags, air pressure sensors, a compressor, a receiver and a control panel. This method is described in detail in our material about. Its main advantage is the ability to change the vehicle's ground clearance, depending on the speed of movement or the quality of the road on which the vehicle is moving, in a fairly wide parameter. That is, the car can get both a lower (for high-speed driving) and increased (for off-road driving) ground clearance. However, there are also enough disadvantages: in addition to the high cost of installation, repair and maintenance, the air suspension has a relatively small operational resource (this is especially true for residents of Russian regions where the quality of the road surface leaves much to be desired).
As you can see, any of the selected ways to increase the vehicle's ground clearance has its pros and cons. Therefore, before deciding on such an operation, carefully calculate its budget and think about the consequences that can occur as a result of changing the standard clearance of your "iron horse".
Many car enthusiasts would like to know how to increase the clearance of a car with their own hands in an ordinary garage. We will tell, show and advise.
Several ways to increase ground clearance
- replacement of car springs with more rigid ones;
- installation of tires with a higher profile;
- installation of turn-to-turn spacers on springs;
- installation of spacers on car racks;
- installation of spacers between the spring and its support cup.
We do not recommend you to increase the vehicle's ground clearance in the first way., because, firstly, there can be no question of any comfort when riding on stiff springs. Secondly, the body and suspension will be subjected to shock loads of greater force than with standard springs. The installation of turn-to-turn spacers on the vehicle springs leads to the fact that the springs will become longer and stiffer, therefore the result will be similar to the installation of stiffer springs on a car, differing only in price, since turn-to-turn spacers are still much cheaper than springs.
The second way to increase the ground clearance is not always possible to implement, since often the wheel arches of the car are small for higher tires. So how do you increase the ground clearance?
The installation of spacers on the racks can be done with your own hands in an ordinary garage. This procedure is best for lifting the car.
Required tools and materials
- a set of heads and spanners;
- steering tip puller;
- hammer;
- vd-40, lithol;
- car stands, or trims of thick timber.
Installation process
So, you decided to raise the car a little and do it yourself.
First you need to decide: you need to lift only in front of or with the stern. If the front of the car is raised for more confident overcoming of small obstacles, then the rear part is usually lifted for cars that often have to transport heavy loads for them. After solving this issue, you will go to an auto parts store. The spacers for the front suspension of the MacPherson strut look like aluminum or textolite washers, repeating the shape of the upper strut support, with holes for the mounting studs.
Make sure that there are studs included with the front spacers, as the standard top mounting studs will not be long enough to fit the spacer on them.
To install them, lift one side of the front end with a jack and substitute a stand or a piece of timber under it, remove the wheel, and then the stand. Change the studs on the top support, put the spacer on them and put the stand in place. The studs are most often pressed into the holes on the upper support. They are kept from turning by the splines rolled on them, so their replacement consists in knocking out old ones and hammering in new ones. The type and shape of the C-pillar spacer depends on the rear suspension design.
If the rear pillar of your car has an upper support, then the set of spacers for it should have everything the same as for the front one.
And its installation is similar to the front. If the rear pillar is not removed as an assembly, and its bottom is attached to the bushing of the silent block into the eyelet of the rear beam, then you need to take spacers called "houses" ―
This is a piece of rectangular pipe with six holes with a diameter equal to the thickness of the bolts securing the bottom of the rack. 
You can increase the ground clearance in garage conditions based on the conditions in which you plan to use the car. For most models, there are already many blanks and ready-made solutions. To increase the ground clearance of the car by installing spacers under the springs, do not forget to stock up on ties, otherwise your plan will be impracticable. When increasing the car's clearance, do not forget to diagnose the suspension along the way. Or at least inspect the anthers of the ball joints and CV joints.
- To break off and tighten threaded connections so as not to damage the edges of nuts and bolts, use socket or box wrenches.
- If the thread of the bolt is rusted and the nut does not turn off, but the vd-40 is over, wet the rust with brake fluid ― it softens rust well and the process will go easier.
- Before installing, do not forget to clean the rusty bolts with an iron brush and lubricate with a thin layer of lithol or other grease.
- Before stretching the suspension bushings after assembly, put the car on the wheels and shake it from top to bottom several times so that the bushings take their middle position in this position, they should be tightened.
A little about the results
Although the installation of spacers on the struts is the best way to raise the car, one should not hope that this interference with the suspension design will do without negative consequences.
In order for the negative consequences to be not too large, do not put spacers more than 2.2 cm on the front struts, and more than 3 cm on the rear ones.
The result of installing spacers
This value was not calculated in any way, it was revealed empirically. And experience suggests that installing spacers on the front a little more than two centimeters is often enough to confidently overcome small road obstacles on city streets and country paths. The same experience says that no matter how we increase the ground clearance of a conventional sedan, we will not make a jeep out of it.
A few more arguments that do not allow an excessive increase in ground clearance:
- changing the angles of the suspension;
- change of wheel alignment angles;
- deterioration of the aerodynamic qualities of the car;
- upward shift of the center of gravity.
Having increased the clearance of your car and thereby increased its cross-country ability, do not forget that the price for this is the deterioration of its stability on the road, especially at high speeds.
If everything worked out perfectly for you and you managed to lift the car with your own hands, then you still cannot do without a visit to the car service. There you need to adjust the headlights and geometry, since it is better to entrust these operations to professionals. Yes, they have nothing to do in a garage.
Now when the clearance of your iron friend has been increased, you can test the result, but do not overestimate it, choose a test drive carefully, otherwise you will not have to run after the tractor.
Increase the vehicle's ground clearance, especially for off-road driving enthusiasts. But when there is no experience, then the question becomes where to start the process. We will try to tell you in detail about the methods that are needed for this and the nuances during work.
The content of the article:
Equally important in a car is its ground clearance, it is he who affects the aerodynamics and handling of the car. Some deliberately underestimate, while others, on the contrary, increase it. As a rule, fans of off-road driving and to transport heavy loads increase the clearance.
What is vehicle clearance
Ground clearance, or in other words, ground clearance, is the space from the road surface to the lowest point of the underside of the vehicle. As a rule, the lowest point of the car is most often considered to be the differential, the engine sump guard, the suspension struts or the exhaust pipe.
Often, experienced motorists associate ground clearance with the maximum depth of a hole that a car can drive. This figure gives a 100% result that the underbody of the car will not be damaged and the car will not get stuck on the road.
For all characteristics, the largest clearance in SUVs, from the manufacturer's factory, these cars are initially designed for off-road driving. The ground clearance of such SUVs or crossovers starts from 200 mm. For example, the clearance of the VAZ 2121, Mitsubishi Pajero (Pajero Sport) is 220 mm, Toyota Land Cruiser from 225 mm to 270 mm (for complete sets with air suspension).
Passenger cars have a lower ground clearance, Lamborghini Diablo is about 100 mm, Lada Kalina - 158 mm, Honda Civic 6 EJ6 - 110 mm. But there are situations when the car is completely satisfied with the owner, but its clearance is not, as a result, the search for options begins to change it.
Increase due to spacers
One of the most common ways is to increase the ground clearance due to special struts in the springs. For this, special rubber gaskets are bought, calculated in thickness a little more than the span between the coils of the spring. Installing is quite simple and you can handle it yourself.
The essence of the work of such inserts is to support the car when it sags on the springs under its own weight. Rubber inserts simply reduce this sagging and maintain ride height. Due to the inserts, the coils of the spring, where it is located, almost do not bend, and the free coils bend as much as possible, as a result, the clearance increases.
For example, by installing such rubber inserts on Kia Rio, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla cars, you can increase the ground clearance by 3-5 cm, if you do not abuse it, if you overdo it, you can achieve a better result.
Such a change in ground clearance will adversely affect the suspension stiffness in the negative direction. It will definitely be noticeable knowing the stiffness before and after the change. With such tuning, it will be very uncomfortable to drive off-road, it will be pulled by the deterioration of control and directional stability of the car.
In addition to the trick described above, due to the rubber inserts, the vehicle's ground clearance can be increased by replacing the standard suspension springs. Replacing with larger springs with a large number of turns, you get the desired clearance result.
But there is one thing, the presence of such springs will depend on the popularity of your car model and how much this type of tuning is in demand. Some models are full of them, but other roofing felts do not exist at all, roofing felts are sold at exorbitant prices. As a rule, original springs made by the same manufacturer as your car simply do not exist in nature, in very rare cases even on SUVs.
Often these are special manufacturers who work purely in this direction. When buying such a part, you must understand that it must be made with high quality, with proper materials and withstand heavy loads. Regarding the disadvantages, the most unpleasant is the deterioration of the car's behavior on the road, due to the loss of directional stability, as well as rolls when cornering.
With this method, the clearance can be increased by 8-12 cm, or even more. It should be understood that such figures will greatly affect the safety of the car and its aerodynamics.
Fitting wheels with a larger radius
The third way to change the ground clearance is to replace the entire set of wheels and tires on the car. Often this method is chosen to improve the appearance of the car and in the case when you simply do not understand at all about cars.
As an example, for this method, you can pick up a set of wheels and tires 215/65 R16, while the car costs 205/60 R16 or 195/60 R15. It is worth remembering that replacing wheels can not always increase the ground clearance, sometimes you can get the opposite effect. Often, tires with a larger diameter are low-profile, which means that the ground clearance will not change or, on the contrary, will decrease.
The disadvantage of this method of increasing the clearance is that the wheels will begin to rub over the arches, wheel arch liners, especially this will be clearly visible and audible when cornering. Therefore, when choosing new wheels and tires, re-read a hundred times, calculate and make sure that this does not entail consequences for your car. Usually this method increases the ground clearance by 1 to 3 centimeters.
Leaf springs, adding a leaf spring
This option to increase the ground clearance is suitable only for those cars that have leaf springs. Not to say that this is the easiest way, but one of the most common. If your car has springs available, then it is enough to add the required number of plates, and you will get the desired result.
The downside will be an increase in the stiffness of the suspension, but the plus is that the nominal load on these springs will increase. In other words, you can carry heavier loads than before. Experts recommend changing the discs to a larger size together with the springs, this will show a much better result both in terms of softness and quality of replacement.
Adjusting the torsion bar suspension
If your car has a torsion bar suspension, then consider that many of the problems of changing the ground clearance have simply gone away from you. To increase the ground clearance, it will be enough to adjust it. It is necessary to regulate in moderation and not to abuse, then the aerodynamics of the car and the quality of its control will not change.
Shock absorber spacers
This is most likely the best and most commonly used method to increase the vehicle's ground clearance. The essence of this method is to install special inserts at the junction of the struts of the shock absorbers and the body. These spacers serve a similar role to the rubber spring spacers and increase ground clearance.
The disadvantage of such spacers is the deterioration of the center of gravity of the car, as a result of the deterioration in the car's handling. Dense plastic or aluminum is used as a material for manufacturing.
The coolest way to increase ground clearance is considered to be the installation of air suspension. This method involves replacing almost the entire chassis and costs a lot of money. But the result justifies its own, you can choose the ground clearance at will, setting the parameters. At the same time, the car's handling will not deteriorate, some say the opposite, it only improves.
The cost of components for clearance
The first on the list were the rubber inserts for the springs. Depending on the make and model of the car, the price may vary. An installation kit for a Nexia or other Russian-assembled cars can cost from 250 to 1200 rubles. But for foreign cars Kia, Toyota or Honda, such a kit will cost from 1,000 to 4,000 rubles.
The second way to increase ground clearance is to replace the standard springs with higher springs. The price of such pleasure will also depend on the car model, the average cost starts from 1000 rubles, the maximum in this variant is hard to say.
The third option for changing the ground clearance involves replacing discs and tires with a larger diameter. It's hard to say about a specific price here. It all depends on taste and desire, the start is usually from $ 100, but there is definitely no maximum, everyone goes crazy to the best of their wallet.
The next way to increase the ground clearance is the spacers between the shock absorbers and the car body. The price of such pleasure does not vary much. Plastic will cost around 400-800 rubles, aluminum will be a little more expensive.
Video review of an increase in ground clearance due to spring spacers:
