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Car Forum / Jeep / April 2007lifting an all wheel drive vehicle
I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota with all wheel drive. I was considering installing a lift kit and slightly oversized tires on it for more ground clearance. Has anyone heard of any potential issues with doing this. My concern is that it may negatively impact the way the all wheel drive performs. I would like to hear from someone with experience with this. Thanks for any feedback. We are Jeep people, and most of us have lifted Jeeps. If you are looking for something in the range of 2 inches, I can't think of any potential problems. If you are think more in terms of 4+ inches, then you need to consider the impact on differential angles, driveshaft length, steering geometry, and a host of things in the same vein. Lots of Jeep drivers put in 2 inches of suspension lift (longer springs and related parts) and an inch of body lift. Body lift is accomplished by installing longer body mounting bolts and rubber cushions. The lft kits are sold in sets that include all of the stuff that is commonly needed. There are occasions where vibrations develop, and we usually have a solution. Your tire selection can have an affect on your speedometer. This is remedied by replacing a small plastic gear that is mounted to the transmission/transfer case. The next gear you need is easily calculated, and the gear costs typically in the range of $10. If you have the work done by a shop, they should install the new gear as part of the service they are providing. You will want to take you Dakota somewhere where they install this sort of stuff and get some input from them. > I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota with all wheel drive. I was considering > installing a lift kit and slightly oversized tires on it for more [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > experience with this. > Thanks for any feedback. > We are Jeep people, and most of us have lifted Jeeps. If you are looking for > something in the range of 2 inches, I can't think of any potential problems. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > - Show quoted text - With that understood. All wheel drive is different in 4 wheel drive in that the front wheels will engage when the rear wheels slip during normal driving(4x4 off). The question is can lifting suspension or oversizing tires confuse or cause problems with that system? All wheel drive is also available to the cherokee model Jeeps. > > We are Jeep people, and most of us have lifted Jeeps. If you are looking for > > something in the range of 2 inches, I can't think of any potential problems. [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > oversizing tires confuse or cause problems with that system? All wheel > drive is also available to the cherokee model Jeeps. People with experience with this are not likely to hang out in this newsgroup, but there is no reason that lifting suspension would confuse your awd system. If you don't do it right, it might stress your drive shaft and wear out your cv joints, but that is a different issue, eh? Big tires, on the other hand, are likely to confuse things unless you get your speedometer recalibrated. If you do that, all should be fine. Also consider that big tires will change your shift points and the torque on your axles. That could have a negative or positive effect on your fuel economy, depending on which gear ratio you have now. Earle Earle >People with experience with this are not likely to hang out in this >newsgroup, but there is no reason that lifting suspension would confuse your [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >could have a negative or positive effect on your fuel economy, depending on >which gear ratio you have now. Bigger tire will reduce performance and MPG pretty much regardless of axle ratio because not only do they make your effective drive ratio taller which means the entire drive line has to work harder all the time, they also increase areodynamic drag and tire rolling resistance. Usually when you resize 2 or more inches if you regear truck you can restore performance and negate some of your MPG drop because they engine will be able to cruise at a more efficent RPM with the increased load.One more thing not mentioned here there is a loss of brake effectiveness too because larger diameter tire exert more leverage over brakes so they have to work harder and delevop more fricton and heat just to maintain same deceleration rate as with stock tires and will fade soone because of this as well. There is no free lunches here as there is a price for the "look". ----------------- TheSnoMan.com > With that understood. All wheel drive is different in 4 wheel drive in > that the front wheels will engage when the rear wheels slip during > normal driving(4x4 off). The question is can lifting suspension or > oversizing tires confuse or cause problems with that system? All wheel > drive is also available to the cherokee model Jeeps. I think your challenge is finding a group of AWD folks that lift vehicles, specifically Dakotas. My guess is that most people with AWD Grand Cherokees aren't the lifting type, so your sources will be slim. Most people who want lifts, wheel. Most of those folks want solid axles with 4WD systems that manually engage. My suggestion is to find the lift manufacturer of choice for the Dakota and see if they HAVE a lift for an AWD version. If so, they will be the best source for any concerns you have. We seem to be telling you that you are barking up the wrong tree, but keep at it, I guess. Try a google group search on this NG and it will bring up all the AWD/lift discussions we've had. Good luck, tw That should read, "..have a separate lift for an AWD..." > I think your challenge is finding a group of AWD folks that lift > vehicles, specifically Dakotas. My guess is that most people with AWD [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Good luck, > tw > > With that understood. All wheel drive is different in 4 wheel drive in > > that the front wheels will engage when the rear wheels slip during [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > group search on this NG and it will bring up all the AWD/lift > discussions we've had. It makes a difference too which "awd" system he has. Is it Selectrac, a completely mechanical system, or one of these "on demand" systems? If you have a viscous coupler, then maybe big tires will tear the hell out of it, who knows? Earle >> We are Jeep people, and most of us have lifted Jeeps. If you are looking >> for [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > oversizing tires confuse or cause problems with that system? All wheel > drive is also available to the cherokee model Jeeps. If all four tires are the same size, the stuff that kicks in when something starts slipping will still work the same. The system you are talking about is looking at the difference in relative speed, but if all of the tires are the same size, then the relative speed is the same and the system remains at rest. As I said earlier, there is a size of tire and degree of lift that will cause one to slow down and carfully consider the undertaking, but if you keep the lift to about 2 inches and the tires at about 32 inches or less, then you will avoid most of the stuff that will give you pause to wonder. |
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