[Zhenya Kireev]

Hey All,

I have had many people emailing me about my old ML270, which I lifted with higher springs and custom made spacers in the back and re-indexed and wound up torsion bars in the front. All around around 3" of lift was achieved with further 1" with going to bigger tyres. In return i lost wheel travel but better cornering during to extra hard springs and tensioned torsion bars. This combination will achieve highest lift you can get out of W163 without having the rear shocks touching springs when fully extended and running out of adjustments on toe and camber at the front.

Here is the list of what you need if you were wanting to make a proper 4x4 out of your mum's soccer car.

REAR SUSPENSION
2 x rear Raised King springs (KMRR-91)
2 x 20mm strut spacers (eBay kit: 232297947386)
6 x 40mm long high tensile 8mm thick bolts (to go instead of stock strut studs)
2 x 3mm thick washers to go between the rear shock absorbers and lower control arms

FRONT SUSPENSION
Remove and re-index torsion bars by two notches (at the rear bar mount)
Re-install torsion bars and tighten to match the height at the rear

OPTIONAL
You may want to consider longer shock absorbers for the front from a F150 Ford truck and if you were real keen you could remove your sway bars to achieve better wheel travel but i would not recommend it as it may make your car a bit unstable on the road. Great for off-road though.

Enjoy ;-)

 

[2000 E 320 White Wagon]

Hey Zhenya:

Thanks for posting this super helpful info.

Couple of questions or observations. Please correct if I'm mistaken.

So, on rear, adding the longer springs & spacers / longer bolts:

Do you offer or have a link for the King Springs ?

Adding Either the longer King springs OR 20mm spacers REQUIRES strut disassembly.

What year Ford F-150 Front Shock is required for higher front Torsion setting ?

Is there an Intermediate height lift, where the 20mm spacers / longer bolts + moderate higher Torsion setting (which can allow keeping current front shocks) are sufficient ?

Reason I ask the latter is there may be many who can venture to do this if they cost is kept modest - and may only need a 2" lift.

I can attest that a simple tire size upgrade will gain a full 1", alone.

I just installed Nokian Rotiiva All Terrains in 265/70R17 - love the new height.

(As a crazy benefit, my 'eternally on ABS / 4ETS' warning light is now off...wooho !)

But wheel wells now look pretty full, so it fairly begs for another inch or two lift.

Really appreciate your contribution here !

David in East Texas

 

[Zhenya Kireev]

RE:

Hi David,

Please see responses below:

1. So, on rear, adding the longer springs & spacers / longer bolts: CORRECT

2.Do you offer or have a link for the King Springs ? EBAY

3. Adding Either the longer King springs OR 20mm spacers REQUIRES strut disassembly. CORRECT

4. What year Ford F-150 Front Shock is required for higher front Torsion setting ? NOT SURE EXACTLY but from memory it is from 199X 2WD model

5. Is there an Intermediate height lift, where the 20mm spacers / longer bolts + moderate higher Torsion setting (which can allow keeping current front shocks) are sufficient ? [I]YES, you can keep stock shocks even with maximum lift. I never had problem with mine. Longer shocks only really needed/preferred if you remove front sway bar for extra travel.[/I]

6. I can attest that a simple tire size upgrade will gain a full 1", alone. 33" MAX on the front, otherwise they will rub when turning. You may want to consider 1" wheel spacers with longer studs as with lift in IFS suspension wheel track will be narrower than stock

 

[shotwellm]

4. What year Ford F-150 Front Shock is required for higher front Torsion setting ? NOT SURE EXACTLY but from memory it is from 199X 2WD model

I just went through this. It's actually the front shock from a 1999 F150 4.6 V8 4WD. Unfortunately the mounting hardware won't go through the hole on the bottom end of the shock, so it will have to be drilled out. This is tricky as we're talking about drilling out a steel sleeve encased in rubber. It's tricky.

I didn't have time to deal with that so I just put 9mm of washers on the top of the factory shock. It accomplishes the same thing.