Mk1 Scout Lift kit

[Enixion]

Hi all!

 

Winter is coming!! (or seems to me up here in Finland it's going already :p )

 

Anyway I've been reading various forum threads in my attempt to find a single other person that has tried increasing the ground clearance of a Mk1 Scout. Just to be clear, I'm talking about a couple of centimeters (not sure how much I can get away with in the MOT so I'd rather not overdo it),so no monster truck plans :p

 

"Went on the internet one day...and I found this" : 

 

The weitec rings which offer a 15mm/20mm lift. (Will have to measure the play in the shocks, but I can't imagine a couple of centimeters would be a problem) As you can see in my winter pic above, I'm already at the the limit of the cars ground clearance, undercarriage acts as a snow plow (not saying I'm not getting where I need to go, but rocks are not as forgiving as snow, and already had the bash plate save my oil sump once).

 

My main koncerns for this mod are how much the lift would affect the cars handling, since the scout is already a bit higher than a stock octy, and i'm also a little worried about excess wear on the CV joints. Thinking of upgrading the front anti roll bar, or atleast the mounts, in case case the car starts wobbling to much.

 

// I've already fitted the 2mm steel bash plate, and have 205/65x15 summer tires for another couple of centimeters air under the car, if you guys have any other fun off road-ish mods, please let know!

 

 

If any of you have tried the weitec rings I would be most grateful to hear your opinion of them!

Edited 16 February, 2015 by Enixion

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

The weitec spacers is one option but I have not tried it. What I did was to buy these spacers from here http://sibreztech.ru/index.php?productID=5087 . They send worldwide.

I bought the 30mm ones but the car was raised by more than 50mm(!!!!). The result was that the rear absorbers were banging on their stops, creating an awful noise. I have now removed the spacers.

Maybe 10-15mm would have been the best solution. 

If you can construct them I can send you dimensions. 

But still you will have to remove the rear springs which is a difficult job if you dont have the original vag removal tool.

[Enixion]

The weitec spacers is one option but I have not tried it. What I did was to buy these spacers from here http://sibreztech.ru/index.php?productID=5087 . They send worldwide.

I bought the 30mm ones but the car was raised by more than 50mm(!!!!). The result was that the rear absorbers were banging on their stops, creating an awful noise. I have now removed the spacers.

Maybe 10-15mm would have been the best solution. 

If you can construct them I can send you dimensions. 

But still you will have to remove the rear springs which is a difficult job if you dont have the original vag removal tool.

Thx for your reply! Nice to see there are other options aswell besides the weitec ones. If I converted the currency right that adds up about 20 euros, that's really cheap!! ( the complete kit from the kit on ebay I looked at was 125 euros + postage from germany) maybye I could order the ones you linked and modify them to not make the car quite as high...  :P   Hmm, have only tought as far as the front end, thx for hte heads up regarding the rear, will have to look into that, I have to change the rubber dampers on top of the front struts so I figured I could make some modifications while I'm down there...  :p

 

 Yeah, I was thinking of raising the car with a jack to see how much play there is in the shocks just to be sure I don't overdo it

Your car must have looked BEAST raised 50mm    

Unfortunately I dont have the proper tools to make them myslf,  but if you are interested in selling your kit, I'm  interested, as long as the postage fee isn't too high, never bought anything from greece so I really have no idea :P  Either that or maybe consider buying from the site you linked to, as long as I can get the language sorted out 

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

You can mail them, they speak english. The total cost plus shipping was about 45 euros. They offer lower heights if you wish. The good think is that they are made of rubber and it will make your rear ''softer''.

I can give you the dimensions of what I had ordered so that you can build it yourself, maybe out of teflon.

Th rear was fantastic for offroad use. I now have to cut them and refit sometime...

Edited 16 February, 2015 by OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT

[Enixion]

You can mail them, they speak english. The total cost plus shipping was about 45 euros. They offer lower heights if you wish. The good think is that they are made of rubber and it will make your rear ''softer''.

I can give you the dimensions of what I had ordered so that you can build it yourself, maybe out of teflon.

Th rear was fantastic for offroad use. I now have to cut them and refit sometime...

 Sounds great I will order a set! Nice to get them at such a reasonable price, thanks again for your help!

When you get time to cut yours and refit them, please let me know how it turns out  

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

Great, before fitting have sth available to cut them a little bit, in case the car is raised too much. These are the ones I ordered (unfortunately 30mm). 

Just make sure you find someone to fit them without removing everything back there. You will need the special vag spring compressor tool.

Edited 19 February, 2015 by OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

Just found some pics after installation:

 

[Enixion]

Thx for the pix!

And sorry for the late reply :/ had a lot going on lately, not all of it good....

 

Hmm, just changed a rear caliper for MOT so I was back there the other night, any reason you can't use standard spring compressors for the rear springs? (I already have the same spring compressors as you use in your "top strut mounts replacement" tutorial)

 

and also, this may sound like a stupid question but what is a sth? Will have to cut them down a bit, looking a bit crammed there on your pic of the rear

 

I am not quite as much of an amateur as I sound, but our secondary car just drew it's last breath (2000 Astra diesel with 425 000km on the clock) motor still sounds great, but pinion gears packed up a few nights ago... Tought it best to  get all my facts straigt before tearing the car apart, as the missus will not be happy with me "upgrading" while we only have one car to get around with... :p

 

Thanks again fo your help!

Edited 5 March, 2015 by Enixion

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

If you want to do it by yourself you will need this http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/golf-mk4/running_gear_axles_steering_front_and_four-wheel_drive/rear_suspension_drive_shaft/repairing_rear_axle_(four-wheel_drive_vehicles)/removing_and_installing_springs_r32/removing_right_spring/

Standard spring compressors http://www.google.gr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/user/products/large/68615-2-piece-coil-spring-compressor-set-9792-p.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/68615-2-piece-coil-spring-compressor-set-9792.html&h=400&w=400&tbnid=EZBh6DpuM2R4cM:&zoom=1&docid=J3OOssQBFCt46M&ei=gMj4VMOzBIi_PI2ogbgP&tbm=isch&ved=0CEwQMygkMCQ

dont fit and are not powerful enough. Anyway, you can raise the car, remove one wheel and try to compress with your comressors (highly unlikely). The springs are TOO strong....

 

Buy 1.5-2cm height so that you wont have to cut them. 

Otherwise, you will probably need a bench vise http://www.irwin.com/tools/vises/bench-vises and a hack saw 

http://www.houzz.com/photos/20553251/Dwht20547-5-In-1-Hack-Saw-contemporary-hand-tools-and-tool-sets

 

If u need anything else you are free to ask!

[Enixion]

If you want to do it by yourself you will need this http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/golf-mk4/running_gear_axles_steering_front_and_four-wheel_drive/rear_suspension_drive_shaft/repairing_rear_axle_(four-wheel_drive_vehicles)/removing_and_installing_springs_r32/removing_right_spring/

Standard spring compressors http://www.google.gr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/user/products/large/68615-2-piece-coil-spring-compressor-set-9792-p.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/68615-2-piece-coil-spring-compressor-set-9792.html&h=400&w=400&tbnid=EZBh6DpuM2R4cM:&zoom=1&docid=J3OOssQBFCt46M&ei=gMj4VMOzBIi_PI2ogbgP&tbm=isch&ved=0CEwQMygkMCQ

dont fit and are not powerful enough. Anyway, you can raise the car, remove one wheel and try to compress with your comressors (highly unlikely). The springs are TOO strong....

 

Buy 1.5-2cm height so that you wont have to cut them. 

Otherwise, you will probably need a bench vise http://www.irwin.com/tools/vises/bench-vises and a hack saw 

http://www.houzz.com/photos/20553251/Dwht20547-5-In-1-Hack-Saw-contemporary-hand-tools-and-tool-sets

 

If u need anything else you are free to ask!

Makes sense, didn't think of that but the car sure has stiff rear suspension so you're probably right... Just had luck up until now I guess, the cars I've done suspension work on so far I've never needed e spring compressor for the rear :P  Will get to "practice" this weekend on the front, as the clonking of the top strut mounts is driving me insane :P 

Quite a steep pricetag on the type of coil compressor you linked to (at least here in Finland) will have to check if any buddy of mine have one I can borrow. 

Just figured I'd cut it down with an air cutter if it comes to that, but as you said, better to buy right length in the first place

[OCTAVIA_4X4_ABT]

I can give you another solution. In the pictures 1-3 you can see the original spacer. What you can do is to make a home-made spacer like the one at the photo 4, no more than 1.5cm. Then try to compress the springs with your car raised and, if the gap at the arrow is enough, insert the home-made spacer above the original.  

 

[Enixion]

That sounds even better!   I've read somewhere that peple raise cars with hockey pucks, tough that's frame raise on 4x4 trucks, not suspension raise. Any idea where I could use that could take the beating, or could I just get a couple hockey pucks and use a "pneumatic milling machine" (sry not sure if it's the correct english word) and cut it to size. Thanks again for takong the time to post pictures, its a great help as I haven't had the car for more than 6 months, so I'm not yet completely familiar with its construction :p