Best option to lift: spacers, coil overs, airbags?
 

I need some height. Half of the year i drive about 6-12 miles per week down a rural road that ends in my driveway. Sometimes the county gets behind and there’s decent mounds of sand and i hear it rubbing against the underside and I get a little bogged down. Sooner or later I’m going to get stuck.

What will work best for me? 1” spacers are cheap and easy and don’t change anything except ride-height. Springs can add some lift but i don’t know how much they change the driving characteristics. Airbags are pricey, but keeps the stock ride height.

Of these options I’m leaning towards spacers, and probably HDPE from Andersen Design and Fab.

Outside of the sandy road to you house, what sort of driving do you normally do?

Highway, city, twisties in the mountains. No track use.

I ordered the subtle full set since they have a rear alignment spacer set.

You shouldn't need a spacer set for less than a 1.5" lift but it wont hurt. You could also look at the TRD rally springs for an extra 1/2" of compression travel and a bump in spring rates. The matching shocks are softer than stock so probably not what you want for the mountain runs but the stock shocks will work just fine with them.

Thanks, I was looking at the TRD springs too and may get those if 1” isn’t enough.

The rural road i typically don’t go fast, it’s just a matter of not getting stuck. I’m also considering getting 16” wheels and bulkier tires if I can find something reasonably priced.

the only thing 16" wheels would do would allow you to run lower tire pressures to increase flotation.

but considering that 16" wheels really only allow one to run about a 55% sidewall vs. the stock 45% sidewall (and compared to the tires that offroaders use for the technique that usually have at least 90% sidewall), i'm not so sure the effect will be very worthwhile.

but i don't think airing tires up and down all the time is the most desirable way to solve the issue either.

More sidewall to deal with rocks.


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Have you seen this thread?
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105692

You can run 215/60R16 tires without rubbing (I run this size) and I believe 215/65R16 will fit with only a small amount of rub and has a number of all terrain tires available. That is if you want to lean into the lifted/safari/outback vibe.

Lift spacers are the budget way to go. There are 2 common lift springs available (TRD and Chuhatsu Plus Multiroad), with a 3rd in the works (RCE Rally X [I'm waiting on these for the spring rates]). All 3 are roughly .5" lift. The lift springs dont increase total travel, but trade off droop for the extra height. Above .5" lift you start to need rear subframe correction. If you run a combination of springs and spacers, you need the equivalent total height for your rear subframe spacers (1" spacer + .5" spring = 1.5" rear correction). Combine with better shocks for best result (such as Bilstein B6)

Can you do this on stock suspension? Or does it require a slight lift? I'm currently on 215/55/16 on 16x7+30 Method MR502 Rally Spec with stock suspension.

I've driven with that wheel tire combo both lifted and lowered without rubbing. I haven't at stock height but I'd be pretty confident they wouldn't rub. The only other relevant data points are that my wheels are a +48 offset and I have extra caster from the pedders strut tops. The tire comes closest to rubbing at full lock on the inside wheel's outer edge to the rear part of the wheel arch. With my mudflaps there it clears by just under 1/4".