How Can I lift my CR-V?

[podcivc]

I am looking to Lift my 2004 CR-V Anyone know anyone that can do it?

[miko]

Forklift? :D

[Radar24]

Grappling hook? :D

Actually the '07-'08 shop manual calls out the center of the rear suspension cradle and somewhere just to the rear of the center of the front bumper cover, the picture is not all that clear nor have I looked that well in the front. There might be the equivalent area in the '04.

This allows using floor jacks on the emergency jacking lip on all 4 corner or ends of the rocker panels as called out in the owner’s manual for jacking. Or vice versa....

I actually used the rear cradle center jacking point and it is a real strong point for lifting with a floor jack. Has a bump that reduces potential jack cup shifting or slip! :eek:

Just be certain you know what you are doing!

-RG

[Serj22]

think they meant a permanent lift off the axles. Go to your local highschool and ask a dumb kid to do it. They do that junk to their trucks all the time in my town, and then they flip them over and say it was cool. The cr-v is mostly plastic with a lot of crush zones. Plus, it is not going to want to power bigger tires the way a truck would.

But if you did mean a lift regularly, I would reccomend the grappling hook.

[Radar24]

Right. My misunderstanding.

If you wanted something with a higher riding height I would think you would buy a HD truck and not a light weight off-road capable AWD such as a CR-V. Raising the height should most certainly put the VSA out of its normal operating range. And without VSA you no longer have as safe a high center of gravity as is vehicle. In this case I definitely follow the Honda Party line. Don't mess with it!

Trade it in for a Suzuki Samurai and save yourself all that work. :rolleyes:

[Serj22]

Yeah, a samurai wil lrun you about $1000 for a really good one, and you can lift it with bricks, if you wanted, it's easy. Don't raise and flip your $18,000 car, k?

[Radar24]

I was referring to how easily the stock Samurai flips even with no raising kit. Sarcastically.

Only with a wider track can that tendency be reduced somewhat I think.
All at the expense of wheel bearing life and other suspension components.

If you want to play then you will have to pay.

Hopefully not with your life and limbs.

-RG

[sleeksilver]

I am not aware of any "kits" made for the G2 CR-V.

Plenty of people have a lifted CR-V with no problem, guys. It is not unsafe... :rolleyes:

[Radar24]

And you are basing this on what sound scientific principles and laws of physics or statistics?
This is coming from some one that has a Miata and Acura CL. I hope those are not 'jacked'.

What am I missing?

Or is it on the fact that you are not aware of one that has flipped? Maybe you know a lot more about this or they are not alive or unable to communicate any more due to a head trauma.

I drove a Raider (Mitsubishi) that has a fairly narrow track and high center of gravity. In a junkyard once looking for Subaru parts I could not believe how many late model Mitsubishis were lined up in a row. All of them with roof or roll over damage.

I did not keep it for very long even though I had put a lot of work into it. First excuse I had I took a loan and got a Toyota 4x4 P/U with a much wider track and known to be more stable. Even without VSA.

In any event I was basing my statement on one of the most well known unstable vehicles mass-produced in the last 60 years– the Samurai – other than maybe a Gen 1 Corvair with low air pressure in the tires. With correct pressure even that might run circles around any stock CR-V. Ever read Nader’s book “Unsafe at any Speed”?

Stability is highly dependent on the center of gravity. For those of you considering jacking up your whatever consider this example:

Stand on a 2x4 one foot high and some of you might balance OK.
Stand on a 2x4 10 feet high and you are all going down. Unless you are acrobats or Mike Phelps. :)

It is called the center gravity. It determines how stable you are in emergency maneuvers. Or in my exaggerated case even simply standing still.

Jack up your Gen whatever and I hope I am not around in my stock Gen III CR-V when you tumble like a tumble weed out of your control in unexpected conditions you might find your selves in someday. I would not want to get any scratches on my new V.

Besides insurance rates are way too high as it is. :)
-RG
L1 paraplegic - for all intents and purposes 100% disabled. Until it is taken away from you cannot even begin to imagine what you would be missing.

[electric V]

In the Driver Visor of the Gen 1 it says, "This is a multi-purposs passenger vehicle" and some other stuff about it being easy to flip over at high speeds. Also OSX2000 has a 2 inch lift on his Gen 1 V with some big tires that total to 3 inches in total lift he says.

If you drive responsibly like a normal person in the streets with no extreeme sharp turns than the car will not flip over. Unless you are saying that it is unsafe to drive a lifted V up rock walls and it flipping over than I see your point and would not recomend doing that.

Eventually I will lift my V a few inches and when I lift it I will tell everyone in this forum how fun it was (Yes that was sarcasm).

I am not calling any of you lousy drivers as to what my second paragraph implied.

But to the real question at hand I have only seen lift kits for the Gen 1.

[Radar24]

ElectricV,

I like that username.
No I have not seen any lift kits for any Honda Gen anything. I never looked for one. It is not as straight forward as it is on a conventional rear leave spring suspension truck. I understand it has been done by those very persistent. But no pictures, no how to's proudly shown or displayed.

Rear multi links are not that simple. Neither are strut fronts without a dropping axle or some kind of hairy bushing. And then what about the half shafts to propel the front and the rear? Will they have to be custom? With frequent replacements due to the sharper angles.

I did want to do the opposite on S-10s. Drop an inch or more. Not to look cool or because it is fun. But because that is the easiest (possibly the only way) to get my carcass in and out of it. :)

Yes I hate them being GM but I love them because they are the only factory lowered truck that OEM will do close to what I need. GMs’ Xtreme and the corresponding practically identical GMC Sonoma. Except that due to a brilliant bean counter the GMC only comes with the fairly useless narrow but cool rear bed...no normal bed. :cool:

But this is about you and other thrill seekers that may drive carefully 3” jacked up. Until you need to do an emergency maneuver unexpectedly. Then the laws of Physics take over and well that is the end result that you see in junk yards. With roof or side damage or both from rollovers. I pray to god no blood is spilled and no spinal cords are severed.

Sorry, I no longer am an imaginative young wiper snapper :D that thinks you cannot get the same place and safer 3” lower to the ground.

But I will not convince you of any off this so bring a balance pole and above all drive safely. :rolleyes:

-RG

[electric V]

Radar24,

There is one lift kit that I know of for the Gen 1 CR-V only BDS is the manufacturer I posted a link to a website that sold them for $350.00

Bigger tires will also raise the car about 0.5-1 inch.

http://www.boondoxmotorsports.com/honda.html

I like my name also If you were wondering, and I think that I will try that balencing poll act when I drive the car after I lift it.

[Radar24]

ELECTRICv,
OK, let’s cut the little jabs out. Like I said I am not going to convince you about the Law of Physics and you are not going to convince me of how fun, neato or how proud one might feel having to use a step ladder to get in. Do not laugh ya’ll, I have seen this. I also have never looked underneath one either that I remember. Then again not true as I did drive a Gen 1 Deep Sky Blue Model type RL (?) Real Time AWD cherry sweetie in a snow squall once. With only 7k or some such low miles on it. It was a sweetheart in my favorite color. Practically showroom condition just as I would have ordered it. Until I brought it back all dirty from road salt and sand. :D Handled terrific with the best traction/handling I’d ever driven. But my wife talked me out of buying it. Just as well, I got a Wahoo! 19”Center Console shortly thereafter. The CR-V’s towing capability was about half the weight of the rig or 2000 pounds.

OK that being said, I took a look at the BDS kit. Downright simple and inexpensive it seems on the surface. Four coils that are rated 2” higher compared to the OEM coils in compression (?). Honda no doubt spends MILLIONS in development R&D to make their coil ride nice yet handle. well. It is a tradeoff naturally. Compared to maybe a few thousands tops by BDS, “YEAP, THIS SEEMS TO WORK. YEP THAT IS IT. Hows abouts $100 eaches…” :)

Sorry, I could not resist. Now using over rated springs you surely will do a number on the ride quality. Not to mention it will be an awful lot of work to install them. Assuming that you can remove all of the corroded fasteners to begin with. Well, never mind, I’ll give you that one. In Tracy California corrosion might not be a big problem. It looks like it might be towards the dessert. Unless the vehicle was used by Pacific fisherman or longshoremen at the coast when new. Or somewhere they use nasty chemicals on the roads.

Getting back on track, assuming all of the mentioned problems (features) you can deal with, this one is for real if it has the same strut fronts and multi link rear as the Gen 3. Running the drive-half shafts at the stepper angle is not how they were designed to be used all the time. Yes they will articulate to those angles but were not made to work 90% (or more) of time at them. Particularly the fronts that need to articulate in two dimensions. The net result is that you will be making frequent trips to the APS to get replacement rebuilt units. Any given unit which could have 500,000 miles on the core. Replacements due to broken or ‘popped’ boots. Or due to worn bearings and shaft lengths gizmo .

So that is it, no wait, the resale will be much less. Not to many buyers for that type or those that will trust your auto repair savvy in doing so.


Trying to be impartial I cannot think of any more pluses or Pros.

-RG

[electric V]

Ya I was just joking around I hardly say anything or take anything seriously.

the susspention, stearing would take some heavy dammage being lifted more than normal (unless you add strong shocks), and stearing would suffer in those tight situations.

I see 2 or 3 inches to be reasonable 6 inches or more likethe dumb kid did to his toyota tundra looks incredibly stupid. I am waiting to see it with the roof bent in and the doors off from a roll over

I think that lifting the Gen 1 is easier than the other models because they dont have draction control or ABS depending on what model they are LX,EX, or SE. Sorry the RL is an ACURA sports sedan. Probably an LX that is what mine is.

My CR-V has been in my family since we bought it new so there is virtually no rust on the vechicle.

[Radar24]

electric v,
Besides running the CVJs and half shafts at their extreme range (both articulating and length wise), the same goes for the boots. They cannot possibly last that long under those circumstances.
-RG

[electric V]

True but mabey if the planets align then it will work. I don't do any mudding or any off road driving so a lift would be primarily for looks and with a 10 yr old V it may not be the best thing to do for it but I will not the the hope die.

Yes, I realise that the manufactures design everything to a specific quality so it can run at optimum efficincy.

I figured that you would say something like this next. know I am 3 steps ahead but 12 back.

Also some of these problems will work their way into a lowered car at some point

[Radar24]

electric v,
You are right again. GM's factory lowered Xtremes are full of problems unless driven solely on a flat road in California. Not practical at all unless you want a truck with high G's. They bottom out all the time...Don't get me going on my I hate GM kick. Please :eek:
-RG

For me there was no other choice. The best of all evils. After about 2 years lookin that is what I settled on. Gets the job done so well I went back for more...before they became extinct. Like a dinosaur

[electric V]

I don't hate GM just modestly dislike them even though 2 of my uncles work for Chevrolet But I do hate Ford and Doge with a passion.

I would support anyone that had an Acura RDX and wanted to lift it for any off road purpose because the turbo gives that car the much needed torque and horse power for any off road and it is very low already.

[Radar24]

People who can afford new Acura RDXs do not jack their vehicles. They buy them that way all ready jacked. If that is to their liking. Along with the gorgeous blond babe or stud (equal opportunity banter) to sit by their side. :)

-RG

[electric V]

Radar 24,

were you making a joke or can you get an Acura RDX with a stock lift?

[illegal]

you can put home made spacers in to lift the gen 1 btw. As far as a 04, I'm sure it could be done also, but without looking at it I cant say for sure. I had to put some spacers in on my rear suspention to lift it 2 inchs.

[Radar24]

I think your money is better spent on tires ans shocks unless you are one of the little person. Or as we used to say if you are a Genealogist in genetically correct lingo, a dwarf! :)

-RG