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Front Lift Kit for Promaster full size

126K views 195 replies 49 participants last post by  ProjectDinky2020 
#1 ·
I am fabricating a lift kit spacer for the front suspension for Promaster. ~ lift would be 2-2.25 inches. (to level out the van and give more ground clearance) This would be easily installed above the coil in the front struts. Cost would be $500 for a set. Machined out of solid block. I wanted to do this instead of taking out a leaf spring to level the van out. More ground clearance is better than lowering, especially when you have tanks and such under the van.

I only found one company that does this out of Germany and those are almost $850 by the time you get it here in USA and I know I can fabricate one for less. Anyone interested? I am thinking of making a few extra sets. Would be done by end of May and fabricated and designed with help from my friend who builds super high end trophy trucks so you can be assured its done right.

Let me know if you are interested. When I have them installed I will post pictures and a how to at the same time.
 
#39 · (Edited)
To bad you dismissed lifting the front. Lowering the rear is easy if you just want to level the van. But if you want to put an all terain in a 245 size it would look silly in my opinion, and be very tight fit. Why not just leave the stock size tire if you are going to lower it? I have 245 mud terrain tires on mine and at the stock height they will clear but barely. They don't seem to rub, but body clearance at the corner of the wheel well is very tight in the rear. It's easy to trim the corners to gain the proper amount of clearance thats what I did, for mud build up etc. Lowering the van and then adding a big tire seems counter productive. Plus an off road promaster with cool bumpers tires lights etc will look way better than a lowered van. Just my opinion anyway. Looks extra in this pic because of the driveway.
 

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#41 ·
Thanks for the pics the van looks great and are really helpful! Gets me motivated for sure to get the 245's on.

Not saying I won't do the lift, just a lot more involved and it will definitely require more work (and $$$) than first thought. No one will make a lift because the market is just to small. Once I get the van back in my driveway where it can sit for a bit, knowing me I will pull the strut and get it done. Likely it would be a top strut spacer, and worst case a spacer for the spring. It wouldn't cost $800 bucks like the Spaccer's available overseas but it won't be cheap either. Since not mass produced it really is expensive to do one at a time and get the prototype done. If I don't get it done in June then maybe after our long trip in July. Still gotta finish the light bar and work on the nerf bars. Fabrication has to be done, then get them powder coated.
 
#43 ·
I have had Hankook Dynapro 245 75 r16 on my 159 3500 for around 6 months and never had a rubbing issue until off-roading in Zion last week. One of the rears broke a small piece of plastic off of the wheel surround. I still don't think any of the body needs trimming. I am also fully loaded with complete conversion and all of our gear.

Before Zion I thought I needed a front lift. Now I don't think it's absolutely necessary.
 
#45 ·
I don't think a lift in the front is necessary for clearance, 245s fit without rubbing. But I just think it would make the van look so much better. I'd like to do new bilsteins with a three inch lift in front, that would be awesome. You need to pull the strut for that so putting a spacer in and aligning would be no problem. $500 for the spacers sounds fair to me.
As for the rear, all 245s aren't the same, mine are very beefy. The front outer corner of the wheel well And the rear outside corner needed to be trimmed to get more than a couple inches of space between the body and tire. But like I said it's easy I didn't even pull the wheel off just reached up there with my cut off wheel. Here is a pick of the front outside corner.
 

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#44 ·
That's what I am thinking I don't need a lift because it clears the front. If I did a lift it would be no more than two inches, so I am thinking just dropping the rear an inch, I would get the van level enough, not compromise on cornering (I drive fast) and by trimming the rear I get clearance. Obrian - I think your van actually looks great in the front-I personally just don't like the rear sitting so dang high. If I could get 1-1.5 inches in front it would be perfect or maybe just an inch in the rear it would be ok. I use 4 inches of blocks sometimes just to get the van to sit level when I sleep in it. Is it worth $1000 to get there? By the time I am done with alignment, fabrication/machine shop time; it would cost me likely this just to do the first one. Maybe I could sell the lifts for $500-600, but I don't think anyone is going to be lining up to buy one at that price, they would just settle for what the suspension is. Plus they still need a specialist alignment shop after they pull their struts out.
 
#47 ·
Back in the 80's I remember guys loading up their cars to lower them and I even remember removing all the support springs and using a 4 inch block in my Toyota truck to get it slammed to the ground! (At least by 80's standards) :D Thank goodness for air ride...that method is long gone. However my van I want to keep it lean on purpose, 95% of the time I am not camping in it as I still am a working stiff...for a long time to come.

This van I restored last year was slammed...but it sure had a smoother ride than the exact same van I did in the 90's! ... Thanks to modern ways to deal with suspensions whether lowered or raised...done plenty of both and it's never that simple on something that is odd. This van below was very smooth riding and it was really low for a bay window without air ride.
 
#49 ·
I was thinking the same thing...as I mentioned there is a lift available...Spaccer, but its in Europe and crazy priced. I am likely to get to this, just not as soon as I originally thought. Its totally doable, just a matter of pulling the struts and throwing down the cash. I think 3 inch is going to cause alignment issues, I have talked to my friend with the Spaccer and he said no alignment issues...but that lift is around 2 inches max. I think that would be the "safe" height. If I just do a spring spacer the cost wouldn't be bad, just the struts would have to be pulled. I am concerned looking at top of the strut that a spacer up there maybe more complicated and cost more even though install would be easier...for a drive way guy...either way once you pull a strut it isn't a big deal to have the spring dropped out and put back together.
 
#50 ·
After I put the tires on I am really leaning on a solution that would really improve handling. There is only a 4 inch droop so if I lifted the van you really have to improve the suspension to get a true improvement otherwise handling might not be so good on a 2 inch lift. Thinking of going all out and having KING do a custom strut that is adjustable, this would really an true "upgrade"...over kill but the van would actually drive way better and you could tune to be perfect. Not cheap...like $2k and would take a month, but the front end would be crazy better. Have to look into this late July when I can scrape up some more cash. It would be the best handling PM out there with a KING coil over and some shocks in the rear. .

Picture with no lift and 245/75/45 BFG's. Some trimming needed in rear, but no big deal.

 
#57 ·
I've been thinking about doing a coil over in the front. I have not measured the strut tube diameter but you can buy generic coil over sleeves and collars for most strut diameters. Then figure out the stock spring rating and buy a small diameter spring in the desired length. Boom, adjustable coil over shock. Put a bilstein in it and it would probably be awesome.

A bmw setup I built just for reference.
 

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#59 ·
Looking forward to see what you finally come up with as far as lifting/lowering the van to level it. mine was a work van but now i'm just converting it. really like the light bar and rocker rails...got a price on those yet or not producing them? You wrapped the entire van? how's that been holding up? wouldn't mind changing mine from white.
 
#61 ·
Currently the only option to lift the front end is with a spacer from www.spaccer.com. They sell several sizes. If you don't want to go that route then bug the guys over at www.vancompass.com. I have been urging them to start developing parts for the Promaster but they need a donor for 2-3 weeks. I was going to drive mine up to them but we were behind schedule on our full time road trip south.
 
#62 ·
What comes with the kit from Germany? Have you compared the dimensions of the spacer with the spacers used on various Jeeps or other 4x4's? If you got lucky you might find a spacer off the shelf that has dimensions that would fit. I wonder how similar the coil and tower is to the Jeep JK. I have a 2.5" spacer leveling kit on my JK. I'll measure it tomorrow and see if it's close to the configuration of the Promaster.


http://www.quadratec.com/search/spacer?f[0]=sm_field_category_multi%3Ataxonomy_term%3A5981

http://www.4wheelparts.com/eSearch.aspx?Ntk=primary&Ntt=spacer+lift
 
#65 ·
SPACCER from Europe...I ended up getting rid of my van before I got to making one. Its expensive for a spacer, but it works and fits. The biggest pain is taking out the struts of the PM, you have to take part of your dash apart to get to the top of them. When I get another PM project van I will tackle the custom front suspension I am sure. slamit.
 
#64 ·
The Promaster front coil spring is quite a bit bigger diameter that the Jeep JK. Do you have a link showing the kit from Germany? I'm assuming it has other components like a bump stop spacer and some kind of a shock extension bracket.

Another option might be a spring swap. Same dimensions and spring rate but 2" longer in length.
 
#66 ·
Ok...started by 3rd personal Promaster build. (Weekender 3.0) Ordered a 1.89" Spaccer kit. Will post details when I put it in. I just can't stand how far the nose dives down and hate leveling the van front to back. Should be a nice lift, but not overboard. It was under $600 to order. Spaccer now has an easier US portal to order. There isn't another thread on someone doing this? Strange.

This build I am going all out and will have done sometime in Nov. CCV pop top is being put in this week then I will be able to finish the build when I get it back.
 
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