6 inch lift for my 97 MGM

[marquisman123]

So i want to lift my 97 at least 6 inches and change out the carrier and put her on the dunes. Im curious to what the suspension is comparable to truck wise.

Im fairly certain i can only go about 3 inches with springs and shocks but i want to go 6 and put at least 30's on it. I wanna keep it RWD only and just play with it on the dunes but no clue where to start.

any ideas im very open to anyones knowledge on suspension components on fords.

if you even can call me i would GREATLY appreciate a real opinion on this.

Thanks fellas!

[RustyRodder]

I think those Donk guys might know a thing or 2...

[johnunit]

yeah, the people that put the 24+ inch tires on would be the place to start. Look for one that gets siginificant driving time or seems to be finished to a very high level and ask them how they did it.

I believe SouthernPride has a 2 inch lift, though I may be mixing him up with someone else (GoodSamaritan?). He may have noticed points that limited lifting it further while he lifted his.

[hemihotrod402]

GoodSamaritan has a sizable lift on his wagon, but I don't know how much its lifted, or how he did it. He would be the one to talk to.

[91grandmarquis]

Goodsamritan has a 2inch I think, he would probably know.

[marquisman123]

well the problem is i can find 4 inch air lifts but i want the full 6 inch spring/shock lift. seems impossible to find.. and trust me im not making a donk im making an offroad MGM im talking 27 inch paddles with 3 inch paddles on the rear.

[jayh]

can you do a 2" body lift to get the rest? you can use longer body mount bolts and double stack hockey pucks. thats the true redneck backyard budget lift(Im serious)

are you trying to put a minispool in or weld an open diff up?

is this the kind of project where you take the doors off and stuff?

[marquisman123]

not really a project just a toy now.. i just bought a 2010 SHO so its just my toy persay..

but i really dont wanna hocky puck it i have access to very high strength rubber i am more concerned about framing out on the dunes with a 4+2BL setup since the MGM is such a long frame. but if i could find propper body lifts i may consider it. i really only need RWD with paddles i just want a joke toy to prove that 4WD isnt a necessity in kicking some ass!! lol. i mean 250HP lifted MGM jumping 100 foot dunes who wouldnt get a kick out of it!! My daughter is stuck on the fact so i guess i have no choice lol.

but yes at any rate i'd love to have some help on this if anyone near is capable of doing such or giving me advice. I have about 30 thousand dollars in snapon tools and am willing to pay for the effort!!

[jayh]

Im thinking the "donk" lifts are just for tire clearance and wouldnt be durable for jumping sand dunes

[sly]

I dunno if the stuff is any good... but you can go a full 10 inches with stuff from donk kings... http://www.donkkings.com/store/produ...5eb8b8e88c1dbc

I've been researching this for possibly making a 4x4 MGM out of my 88 box, if I were to ever get the money to do so. I would probably swap in a truck engine and drive train though... probably from a f150 reg cab short bed around the same years (late 80s early 90s).

[marquisman123]

a 4.6 can handle the dunes no prob. i saw a saturn AWD on the 150 foot dirt climb make it.. but im very leery on the donk shit though cause i doubt it could take the abuse. cups and shit and all that i fear it might have something bad in the ending.

i mean christ you can find spring and lift kits for anything.. the only place i know for custom coils is (customcoilsprings) and then i have the issue with shocks to fit. i have considered swapping the front out for a solid axle as well but the only issue with that is i would probally wanna do the motor swap just to take alot of work off my hands when it comes to oil pans and modifying and such.

so many possibilities and i'd love to hear them all!

[GoodSamaritan]

Well, I can speak a bit from experience.

I am running a 2 1/2" lift. It's just some aluminum spacers designed to fit between the frame and the springs. I'm even running stock shocks with those little extensions screwed on them. I am running 31" tires all the way around, but the front ones rub. I used to have some 29" tall tires up front, and could steer with no rubbing at all. Then again, I changed my offset on the wheels a bit, so that may have helped it a bit. (97 f150 wheels with 1" adapters up front, and 2.5"in the back.) I have slammed the thing through holes so deep that the rear dome light popped out of the roof, and still never smacked the frame on the ground. It was an accident, the hole was full of water and just looked like a little dip! My back was sore for almost a week from that one.

Anyway, your car is lighter than mine and sprung a bit better, depending on how your fenders are compared to an 89, and how much you sink into the terrain you'll be driving through, you could probably get away with doing the same thing I did.

One last thing, if you cut the rubber bump stops off your front suspension you can gain another inch of height when you are lifting it. I have yet to have it cause any trouble, or to even notice it.

[Southern_Pride]

My car is lifted as well although I'm not sure how much. I'm probably right where GoodSamaritan is but I don't have any spacers. I think the wheelwells are smaller on the newer cars though. As far as dune running I think my car is damn near perfect for higher speed stuff. I can run the whoops in the woods by my house at 30-35 mph with no drama or bottoming out. I've tried the spacers before and its just not stiff enough in my opinion. I'm running 98 police springs in the front and stock wagon springs in the rear with the rubber upper stops removed in the front. As far as acutal kits go there are a few companies. Only one I can think of is big boy kits though. My problem with these is they dont look like they address the balljoint angles. Mine are fairly close to maxed out right now and any higher I'd be worried about breakage. And If you're really planning on jumping it, a cage should be mandatory and I'd still keep it under 5 feet off the ground. There is a whole lot of force when you land. And scratch the paddle tires. You don't have enough power to turn them and your just gonna dig holes. Go for something like a general grabber at2 of bfg all terrain. They float better and don't trench so bad. Also I'd go to a 4.10 or 4.56 gear. I'm running about a 30 in the front and 32 in the rear. Front rub a little but not bad enough for me to care or hurt anything.