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Lifting a Prius c?

Discussion in 'Prius c Accessories and Modifications' started by Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Jul 9, 2018.

  1. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Title covers it.

    We replaced my wife's daily driver with a Prius c, and to be honest I like the car so much I had to wonder about also replacing mine with a second one, when the time comes.

    The remaining issue is ground clearance. A stock c is too low for some of the places I need to go. I really don't need a jeepkiller, I'm not going mudding or flexing my way across Moab. My needs are currently served by a stock-suspension Outback with 8.7" of ground clearance. Honestly I could probably live with one less inch under there.

    I have read that Toyota sells a lifted version of this car in Pakistan. I have found a number of 20-30mm suspension spacers for sale on websites, and there seem to be lots of interesting options for cousin Yaris.

    Just wondering if anybody's already done this? I did a bit of searching and found evidence of a few regular priuses being lifted, but nothing on the c so far.
     
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  2. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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  3. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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  4. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    OK that prius x concept is... hideous, but I appreciate that someone is working in this space. :)
     
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Seems like a fair start, but having been down this road in other cars I can see that this is far from being a comprehensive kit.

    Link arms often get pulled closer to limit, and handling can suffer unless their body-side mounts are also lowered to correct geometry. Sometimes brake lines & wheel speed sensor wires need to be lengthened.
     
  6. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    I expect @sfv41901 and Hybrid Pit would not be a lot of help. They are more focused on lowering an already low car. ;)
     
  7. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    More progress already:

    In addition to the Spaccer lifts mentioned by @Prodigyplace in post #3, I have been in contact with Tema4x4 in Novosibirsk. They've got a different type of strut spacer and they claim it fits the '18 c.

    So far this is just a bit of early research- I have no plan (or budget) to replace my Subaru just yet. I'm hoping to squeeze a few more years out of it.

    There have been some doubts cast on the future of the c in the USA, so it's possible this won't go anywhere.

    I will still need to consider larger wheels and tires, fender flares, and possibly enlarging the front brakes to account for the additional leverage of a larger wheel. I don't want to change too much unless I need to.

    I've read that a stock c has 5.5" of clearance, and my minimum goal is 7.5"

    Also looking at trailer hitches, open to suggestions. I've already read all the towing threads and I have very low demands. Maybe 50 miles a year under 40mph on flat roads with no more than 400lbs gross trailer weight. Mostly the hitch is for hauling an ordinary bicycle on my 1up rack.
     
  8. dubit

    dubit Senior Member

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    Think it's possible a local 4x4 shop could do a lift for you? Your in Pennsylvania, me Indiana, so I'm guessing you have your fair share of those shops around like we do here. I know the guys at Hills 4x4 close to me are experts in fabricating lifts for things not generally available in kits. Might be worth a call at least. They might even throw in labor for free just for the chance to lift a Prius. :)

    As for hitches, I'm not much help. But I have seen C's on the road towing U-Haul trailers and riding lawnmowers on small flatbed's. I wouldn't think it would be much of an issue for what you say you'd be hauling. It's been awhile since I looked this up, but i seem to recall the C in Canada specifies what weight you can safely tow. Yet in the US the manual says not to do it.

    As for the C going away here in the states, yeah, I've heard the same thing. It's possible I suppose looking at those sales numbers. But rest assured, you can buy mine. Oh, and I'd buy that Prius beast posted above. I actually think that looks fantastic!
     
  9. dubit

    dubit Senior Member

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  10. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I find that most cars sold in more than the USA seem to have low or zero tow ratings associated with the USA-sold product.

    Honestly not worried about that so long as I can find the hitch and light parts. I only want to tow things that are too sharp or dirty to go in the cabin. Not things that are too big or heavy- I can rent trucks for only a bit more than the trailers after all.

    Last year I did 2 tows- a mini garden gate thing with a rototiller and a 4x8 bucket which did a great job moving some lumber and carpet- at much lower cost than delivery options.

    As far as 4x4 shops I reckon it would be an even split between the ones clamoring to do this for notoriety's sake and the ones clamoring to have it uh... accidentally fall off their chassis lift to prevent the project from happening at all. But so far it's looking like just spacers and wheels may get me there, and that I can (still) accomplish in my home garage.

    I do like the fender flares on that offroad concept. But they can keep the wheels, tires, lamps, plates and bars. Especially that gasoline-to-wind-noise converter on the roof.
     
  11. G-Squared

    G-Squared Junior Member

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    Just to add on to this for anyone else who's obsessed with rally-car aesthetics, Tema4x4 now offers - or at least so they claim - a 30mm lift kit (which translates to 1.18" in Freedom Units) for the C:

     
  12. pdforever

    pdforever Member

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    So, here's the thing. Toyota doesn't actually sell the car here. We import used and auctioned cars, either as individuals, or via importers. So, the cars we get are Japanese spec, which I believe have the same clearance as the American (or European models). When we bought our Aqua (which is the name of the Japanese model), every speedbreaker was a horrifying experience. My daily commute wasn't so bad, but the backroads (e.g. the route to the kids' school) were pretty awful.

    I got in touch with the dealer, and he sent us to a guy who does nothing but "fixing" import cars for our roads. For our car, he did the following:
    1. Replaced the rear springs. The new springs are the exact same length, but they're narrower (so they're stiffer), but they have one more coil (so they have more stiffness, but more travel).
    Old Springs: IMG_20190119_164108.jpg

    New Springs: IMG_20190119_165810.jpg

    1. Added an aluminum spacer to the top of the front shocks.
    Before: IMG_20190119_161513.jpg
    After: IMG_20190119_175816.jpg

    The car is a finger-width taller now. The guy told me to get bigger tires too, but I don't want to. It's tall enough as is, and getting bigger tires will change how the mileage is reported.

    I haven't noticed a huge difference in handling, but then I don't drive that fast anyway. The rear of the car is a lot stiffer now when it's empty (I've noticed), but not too bad. I can definitely feel a bit more of a bounce when I come off the smaller bumps that are on certain roads. But y'know, no more scraping the bottom of the car. Definitely a win there.
     
  13. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Good luck getting a bigger tire in LRR. :D
     
  14. commandplay

    commandplay New Member

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    This guy on ebay used the tema4x4 30 mm spacer lift kit for his prius c

    $_32.JPG dasd.JPG
     
  15. NyQuil

    NyQuil Junior Member

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    I've added the tema4x4 30mm kit (Im going to swap the rear spacers with 40s due to cargo) and got larger tires.

    Just went out to get a rough measure and I have 9" clearence.

    With the tires (205/70R15),I did modify the body due to rubbing. However, I knew I was pushing it and also had a budget so I went with a wider tire as it was readily available/cheaper (wound up being a tad cheaper than stock tires). And yes, tire is LRR
     

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  16. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    Looks like this thread is resurrected. Did you ever do anything to raise the height?

    We don't have a Prius c...but we just got back from a road trip to Utah in our Prius v (wagon). The good news is that the v did great. However, there were a couple of dirt roads I didn't want to do because even the v's clearance wasn't quite good enough. A couple more inches of height would have given me a lot more confidence. (y)

    According to a quick search, the v's clearance is 5.7 inches...and a Gen3 liftback appears to be 5.5 inches. Odd...the difference feels like more than that...probably due to seating position in the v vs. the liftback.
     
  17. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    Wow...that is really neat. I think our Prius v (wagon) would look great with a setup like this. (y)
     
  18. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    No, my research was always in the context of getting a second c to replace one of the other cars, and lifting that one.

    2019 saw me driving 3 miles in corporate rentals for every 1 I drove in our cars, so there just wasn't much pressure to replace that Subaru.

    Now with the pandemic the entire household is down to about 200 miles per month, and none of it in the vacation spots where I would have wanted the ground clearance.
     
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  19. topshot

    topshot Member

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    How badly has your actual MPG been hit (assuming you've also calculated how many miles you're really traveling) with the raise and larger tires?
     
  20. NyQuil

    NyQuil Junior Member

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    Hard to say but I would say it hasn't. If it has, it would be so small that a slight change in driving style would have a way bigger impact (or even just hitting a few extra red lights on my commute)

    With the tires, speed/mpg read low by about 10%