Increase ground clearance?

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user 24513

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
575
Location
Vermont
I know that this is counter to the thinking of maximum m/kwh, but where we live we could really use a bit more clearance. For years we jacked up our VW diesels, adding stuff to increase clearance, but they were beaters and could be thrown away when they broke (which was almost never, BTW). Now our first new car ever, a 2019 Plus, any ideas about raising a couple of inches? MOST of our miles are gonna be around here, not so much on the thruway.....
 
Lift kits for the Leaf are available; depending on the height change, you could lose 10-20% of your range.
 
I believe that the ground clearance will affect coefficient of drag primarily, the faster I go the more mileage I lose as a percentage, sound right? For us, around here, might not matter that much....
 
dmacarthur said:
I believe that the ground clearance will affect coefficient of drag primarily, the faster I go the more mileage I lose as a percentage, sound right? For us, around here, might not matter that much....

Yes, it would mainly affect range at speeds above, say, 30MPH.
 
taller tires would be the easiest way to get more ground clearance, albeit that has it's limits, getting another inch with taller tires is not going to have overly negative effects with the exception of your speedo being off.

spacing up the suspension is going to put some extra wear on your CV joints, and those kits seem to be available, something like this:
https://www.spaccer.com/en_US/prices/ 300$ about, to lift your leaf half an inch.

this looks a little more sketchy but cheaper:
https://www.amazon.com/Tema4x4-Complete-LAFESTA-QASHQAI-X-TRAIL/dp/B07FQ2TBMK

might be able to put suspension from a nissan juke for less, if the springs are taller/stiffer, then they will lift it more.
 
Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf :eek:
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.
 
jjeff said:
Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf :eek:
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.

A one-in-a-million accident with a piece of road debris is enough to make you switch to an SUV? :shock:
 
coleafrado said:
jjeff said:
Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf :eek:
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.

A one-in-a-million accident with a piece of road debris is enough to make you switch to an SUV? :shock:
Only "one" of the reasons.
Higher and easier entry/exit being a major reason, more cargo room another and hopefully more rear-seat room another. Oh and AWD for MN winters being another, lastly the increased ground clearance would be handy for the half a dozen times/winter we get 6+" inches of snow and the plow doesn't do our street until noon or later :x
A few negatives of an SUV, fuel efficiency probably being the biggest, cost also a fair amount higher for an SUV :(
 
I gotta say jjeff that the LEAFs have been wonderful winter cars, great traction with studded snow tires, good heat, always start (although they are not very efficient at minus 5 degrees F), decent room inside (especially the newer one), with the exception of clearance we are more than happy not to have an SUV.....
 
Interesting, I had an old Plymouth Valient Signet that had air shocks, kind of cool pumping them up and watching the car rise. Of course they were only on the rear, made the car have a nice rake but if anything made the front clearance worse.
 
I recall the "air bags" as a JC Whitney type item. They were meant to simulate the leveling action of air shocks, without having to get air shocks. I seem to recall them being marketed as being for occasional heavy loads more than for everyday use.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I recall the "air bags" as a JC Whitney type item. They were meant to simulate the leveling action of air shocks, without having to get air shocks. I seem to recall them being marketed as being for occasional heavy loads more than for everyday use.

My 2 favorite JC Whitney items were "Engine Overhaul Pills", and an adapter where you could use a roll of toilet paper for your oil filter. Who knew the latter would one day seem wildly extravagant?

They actually did have useful stuff though. I remember having grave misgivings about the split-plastic push-rod tubes for VW engines but they allowed me to replace the leaky stock tubes without disassembling the engine and they worked perfectly fine with nary a drip.
 
I still have JC Whitney helper springs on the bacl of my '85 GMC 3/4 ton, they have allowed me to haul way too much for way too long and never given any troubles..... I also remember a "short-shift" adaptor for an old VW, reduced the shift lever movement so it was supposed to feel like a sports car...... waste of time and money but as close as I could get at the time.
 
.....what people forget the magic V2 fluid you'd add to your bad battery? supposed to return an old worn-out 12v battery to new :roll: yep Whitney had quite a few snake oil products but also had useful things like rings and bearings, way back when I used such things.
They also sold quite a few gidget/gadget things, heck I've probably got some NIB in the basement. Most were cheap Chinese made junk that broke shortly after using, I still remember an adjustable type wrench, I was actually able to bend it by hand like a piece of rubber, total junk not even worth the cost to ship it back for a refund.
 
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