Lifting a Lada

[Rocko]

Hi all wondering some tips on lifting a lada niva Rear i was thinking longer springs and shocks just dont know about front, Can you do the same?

[spanky]

a mate of mine wants to do the same,but i was to scared to ask i am going to look and see what will fit to lift and soften a bit,even on road tyres the shitter still went well,this is out ongarue

vaughan

[PR]

wheres the photo? are there it is

[De-Ranged]

the front end is limited by the CV's and the bump stops ... just at a glance I think you could drop the whole front axle assembly with a bracket... drop me a PM in a couple of weeks I've got one coming into the shop for an "A" class trials build I'll be able to tell you then what to do

Cheers Reece

[Rocko]

Sounds good got 5 or 6 ladas now if anybody wants parts??? lol

[spanky]

that sounds good to me,cheers
vaughan

[nivaman]

Easy enough
longer springs the standard front spring length is 280mm rear is 474mm you need springs two inches longer, a two inch lift is as high as you want to go in a lada as the cv's dont like being lifted any higher than that.
Spacer blocks on top of the standard springs, the front dampers will cope with the lift as will the brake lines, the rear you will need two inch longer dampers or space the standard ones up two inches and you will need a longer brake line or space the standard one down, any higher than that and you will have to start spacing the front diff downwards so the cv's don't stress to much, you can also make 25mm steel spacers that bolt between the top ball joint and wishbone that will space the wishbones away from the bupstops somewhat.[/img]

[spanky]

thanks for that ,i will look at doing that to my mates niva.cheers
vaughan

[Rocko]

Ok nivaman then so sounds like may be easy for me to do a spring sway heaps of wreaks at dads whats the diameter of them? save me pulling one out to compare length etc and how exact do you have to be with diameter?? Thanks in advance

[Cloggy_NZ]

To lift the front a common spring of choice across the Tasman was Ford Falcon XA I believe. It has been a few years since I had a Niva. Rears I can't remember but it was just as simple. I would start looking at the rear springs of the earlier Commodore's which didn't have the tapered springs, or HQ's. Something is bound to fit.
Or go the whole nine yards and fit Jeep Cherokee (Dana 44) axles. Lets you keep the same wheels (same stud pattern) and are about the right width. I have some pics somewhere and some tech notes from a guy in Canada who has done this. Looks great too.

[spanky]

cheers for that ,got heaps of falcons and commodores at yard so will look tomorrow,ea falcon front coils go in the scudo good too.
vaughan

[baxter]

Spanky, I would love to know which coils fit without cutting as I'm doing the same (but I don't have heaps of falcons and commodores out the back ).

I calculated you need 33cm coils for a 2" lift at the front, and many people reckoned HQ ones would fit. They don't they're about 38cm.

The stock rears are quite long and I doubt anything I've ever seen would fit (would need to be 52/53 cms).

Another thing to consider is the HQ coils are considerably firmer than the Niva coils.

[Rocko]

anybody got pics of a lifted front of a niva bit confused lol with people saying about spacers? rear is done 50mm of marine ply worked great

[giovanni]

Ciao and Merry Christmas Rocko and others,my 1988 Niva was done before I got it.Only thing is if both rear wheels clear the ground and full articulation occurs the handbrake cable is stretched and comes on.Ping me your e-mail address I sent some pix.OK

[Wifflebat]

Hey Guys, I have run 3 or 4 Ladas in the clubs over about 10 years, and have found those front springs do tend to compress when the car is jumped or thrashed. (Gotta Love that quality Russian steel)
I have removed my front springs (Once per car now) and had them stretched and retensioned by a spring specialist.
I think a 3 inch stretch gave an extra 2 inches of ride height.
(Thats about an inch higher than factory)
Its a prick of a job, but works well.
(Yes any lift will be harder on CVs, definately go aftermarket when they fail.......)
Regards
Russ

[baxter]

anybody got pics of a lifted front of a niva bit confused lol with people saying about spacers? rear is done 50mm of marine ply worked great

Front can be done exactly the same as the rear - eg spacer rings above the coils; they're documented on one of the French Niva sites linked from my site. I'm about to try exactly this with some specially made spacers as soon as my WOF's sorted.

You can also lift the front 2" with "Hoodoo" wedges (have a search on http://www.lada.co.uk or http://www.difflock.com - he's stopped making them, but full instructions are available and look easy to fab). Essentially wedges made from steel box-section fitted between the bottom coil platform and the lower wish bone.

With either of these mods you may also need to have a steel block made to go between the top BJ and the top wishbone so you can get your camber back to something sensible. This mod by itself may also lift some Nivas a bit.

Note: LTSA have been very unhelpful, but as far as I can make out it appears the only legal way of lifting a Niva without certing it by fitting longer coils. However I'm yet to find anything that will go in the front without cutting.

[baxter]

Just completed a fitting of the prototype Hoodoo2 lift (ie using rubber rings front and rear). Install can be seen at - http://www.ladaniva.co.uk/baxter/hoodoo ... o2lift.htm

EDIT: I now have extensive info on Niva lifts at http://www.ladaniva.co.uk/baxter/resour ... erLift.htm