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Lift kit

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by spudnut, Nov 2, 2020.

  1. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    I got my lift kit installed from Off Road Prius. In about a days easy work, less actually but I also mouse proofed it while I have it tore apart. I am a moderately adept wrench, and it was no big deal for me, but I guess I'd have to recommend having it done by a shop if your not comfortable with much more then changing your own oil.

    You do need to have it re-aligned, but I was going to do that anyway, having just bought new tires and then getting rear ended, and my insurance covered that. It's now about 26% higher, that's what I figure anyway, and for me and the places I take mine it was worth it. It cost about $300.00, the quality of the parts and the design was perfect. IMG_20201031_134148541~2.jpg IMG_20201031_161112372~2.jpg IMG_20201013_165054773.jpg Besides gullied out dirt roads, it will be handy in the winter, and of course also good in town on those steep departure driveways and parking curbs.
     
  2. Jesse Bechtold

    Jesse Bechtold New Member

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    Thanks for this post it looks good. I just got my spacers from them, I also got some 15” gen 2 wheels for it with 205/75/15 general grabber ATs. Currently have a 2015 with the factory 17” wheels.


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  3. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    I've already "used" it a few times: on a driveway with a steep departure, that I bottomed out on before, and in a early snowfall. Can't see any difference in mileage.
     
  4. PriusOffroad

    PriusOffroad Active Member

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    Nice job on the install and great looking setup! Thank you for the kind words and approval. Always love seeing the end result! Thank you! :)
     
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  5. Jesse Bechtold

    Jesse Bechtold New Member

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    Here is my lifted Prius IMG_1749.jpg


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  6. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    Any follow review or comments? Enquiring minds want to know how the lift is doing.
     
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  7. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    Doing great, no issues at all. I forget I have it until, like today, I was going down a steepish driveway, with an upgrade at the bottom. Not much snow here yet, that will be my best use of the lift, at least in the winter! I love to push it as much as possible, keep on driving the PIP, only after I get stuck a few times and can't make it home do I break out the '99 Rav4, which seems absolutely primitive after the PIP. As does any conventional car or truck, scrubbing off speed with only mechanical friction, with no regen, is crude and primitive.
     
  8. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    lol, yeah, my other car is a 1991 VW Vanagon. A stark difference. Keep us updated. Thanks.
     
  9. Jesse Bechtold

    Jesse Bechtold New Member

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    I myself have an old Toyota van 86’ 4wd five speed.


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  10. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    A few pictures, keeping in mind I have about 50K miles of Prius driving, pre lift kit, so I had a good idea of what I could get away with in the past. It's much better now, pretty amazing for only 1.5" of lift.
    I really didn't want to get stuck or screw up my belly panels, so tried to safely max out what it could do, no way could I have straddled the berm, or driven over that large rock before. These pictures were 1/2 mile from home, but on a part of the road to my place only used for AG purposes, and not maintained in the winter. In a few weeks the snow will be 2 or 3 foot deep. IMG_20201204_163024421~2.jpg IMG_20201204_161834813~2.jpg IMG_20201204_161206588~2.jpg
     
  11. PriusOffroad

    PriusOffroad Active Member

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    Thats awesome! Love the picture of it straddling the ruts! Definitely not doing that with stock height. ;)
     
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  12. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    I didn't want to post pictures, and have someone say they could do that with their stocker! I also didn't want to get stuck or tear something up, so yeah they turned out pretty good for showing what a bit of extra clearance is worth. I'm sure, POSITIVE, I'll get epically stuck a few times this winter before I break out the RAV4, as I push the envelope on how deep of snow it can now handle.
     
  13. PriusOffroad

    PriusOffroad Active Member

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    Haha! You did the responsible thing by pushing it just enough. At the same time i'm looking forward to seeing the chaos that ensues once there is a foot of snow on the ground. haha. Thank you for keeping us in the loop! Always love seeing the kits being put to use!
     
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  14. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Just to clarify, that's increase in ground clearance, say 4" becoming 5"?
     
    #15 Mendel Leisk, Dec 16, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2020
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  16. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    I drove off a curb yesterday leaving a parking lot, snow had made it easy to do/hard to see, no problem! Same with some big speed bumps in a subdivision, I got jounced up pretty hard, but didn't bottom out.

    My driveway has about a 15' area that can drift in like crazy, while the rest of my lane gets blown clear mostly, that will be the real test, any day now.
     
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  17. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    In a big hurry yesterday, I pulled into a convenience store parking lot and hopped out, apparently forgetting to put it in park OR shut it off, and as it was on a slight upgrade, it rolled forward a bit but real slow. It stopped just as I got back inside, (I never got fully out the door) when the tires came up against the raised sidewalk. POINT BEING: without the lift kit, I would have scraped my bumper on the curb, with it, I had about 1/2" of clearance. I thought to take a picture to show here, this inadvertent advantage of the lift kit, but I was already so embarrassed (a guy in a big jacked pickup parked next to me saw the whole thing, just another clueless Prius driver....) that I didn't. I think I hit the heater button instead of the park button, my bad.
     
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  18. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    If you had turned the car off, it wouldn't be any problem at all. :)
     
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  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I try to keep schtum, but it's nice when someone points out the obvious. (y)
     
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  20. PriusOffroad

    PriusOffroad Active Member

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    Happens to the best of us! Thankful it resulted in only a bruised ego instead of a smashed front bumper or worse. The simple benefit of not scraping your bumper during everyday city driving is priceless.
     
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