Sorry if in wrong section ... I want to lift my 1972 Buick Riviera up ... higher than stock. I still want the muscle car look but much higher than stock. Maybe 4" in the front and 6" in the rear. I am going for a rally kind of setup with budget in mind. I am looking to use 17x12 in the rear and 17x10 in the front I will probably use Light SUV tires. The mad max ideolgy comes to thought or more so baja 1000 ready. In my mind I was thinking possible some heavy duty moog springs, spacers in the spring perches ( my 4 wheeler friend says they make them) and maybe another way to get a small lift (possibly body lift). I know I will offend some with this question ... I apologize in advance. My knowledge is limited but I do tend to make up with spirit and a will to learn. So teach me. This car I am building will be different ... trust me.
Just be aware you may bind up the suspension if you lift too much. If they make tall ball joints (proforged) for the Riv, you can avoid front upper control arm bind by using those to gain a little clearance. I think a small body lift of 1-2" would probably be OK depending on your linkages and wiring. I'd be interested in seeing how it turns out. Lots of folks around here have put El Caminos on Blazer frames which is way more than you are talking about.
Thanks for the reply ... I thought there could have been some issues are there steering parts like knuckles and stuff that will swap over to help the binding issues that anyone knows of. My first step will be the springs I was looking for the heavy duty stock springs but could not find the right part number. I would love to know if theyre are any other buick guys in the richmond va area. how would you get that two inch lift. Because a 2 inch suspension and body would be great!
You would have an easier time finding a older 4X4 and putting the 455 and body on the frame easier than screwing with the steering and suspension. Chances are you can find a GM product with a bad engine with a aftermarket suspension lift and start from there. please post any pics of this build I would love to watch
Put in double, triple or quadruple body mount bushes? Stacking rubber bushes is probably not a good idea, but have some one make billet aluminum tapered "bricks" for you to put in all those places where the body mounts to the frame. Then you only need to figure out a new angle for the steering column.
After researching I came up with this tidbit from another thread " it does show #5396 for 72 Riv w/ Ac. HD spring is 5534. " Upon further research it shows that # 5396 is a .710 diamter spring with a 390/lb spring rate the # 5534 is a .750 diamter spring with a 500/spring rate I was not able to secure other info like complete length but my question is would going above the 500/lb rate do more harm then good. Maybe an extra 100 pounds in spring rate. But I am afraid at that point I am going for custom springs. I am budget minded rich in elbow grease. LOl. I've heard of people replacing springs and being two inches higher than what the factory dimensions specify with stock springs not HD. If so I would just go with the HD and hope for a little more. That being said 72 Rivs have a problem with the nose being higher from the factory. I would love to lift it up but with a little more rake angled forward. I was looking for and additonal four to six inches of clearance. 2 inch body and 2 inch coil spacer. I understand that they should make universals of both. I never addressed the steering column what would be required to make it work? thanks for the heads up as I am getting ready to order springs. Anyone have experience with 72 boattail suspensions. I want a tough daily thats made for real life and the seasons and camping and the beach. I'm right now tuning it to run 13's so hopefully after the big wheels and tires are put on I run low 14's. I dont expect this one to be fast but If will be tuff!
Although its not my type of thing to do to a car i understand what you are looking for... It it was me and i had these goals i would for sure use an air bag system... Have it set up so that with the air bags almost empty it sits about stock and with the bags aired up it sits up really high... Have it setup so that in the lowered position the front end alignment is good... And only air it up when you need the clearance... If you try to drive it lifted all the time the handling and tire wear will be an issue.
If you really want to do it right, you need some custom suspension parts. You would really want lift spindles like you see on independent front suspension trucks. These lift the car but retain the suspension geometry. To make it more capable off road, longer control arms would give you more suspension travel. That would also drive the necessity for bigger springs and longer shocks. For the back, longer control arms, bigger springs and/or spacers, and longer shocks would be what you want. None of this is easy on the budget unless you can fabricate the parts yourself. I hate body lifts. They can fail, and look like crap. They only give tire clearance, and do nothing for your suspension clearance. (I used to be big into lifted trucks, especially 2wd long travel pre runner types.) If you're really serious you could find a shop out west that could fab up anything you need for a price of course. Edit: Don't forget to beef up everything else in the suspension after going with big offroad tires. They add a lot of sprung weight and rotational mass, which kills your suspension and steering parts. Tie rods, ball joints, bushings, and hubs will take a pounding. I would worry about safety with stock stuff.
