Suspension lift alternatives

[Arctra]

I know the trend with most VW’s here is to slam them, and have to say some of them look awesome. I am wanting to do the opposite with my Tiguan though. I want to get MORE clearance, but with minimal expense and effort, and preferably only temporarily when I decide to go offroad.

I have found a guy in South Africa that has made his own Coil Strut Spacers that would be perfect, except for the fact that installing them is quite a job and once in they’ll pretty much have to stay in. They are similar to these ones: http://www.snakeracing.com.au/coilstruts.html
But his look like this:


The obvious advantage of this solution is that it achieves the best lift, is robust and reliable, and doesn’t place the socks and coils under any extra stress. Of course, it’s not something you whip in and out on a whim though, and it could cause added wear on the CV’s etc.

So having ruled those out, I’ve come across 2 other potentials that I’d like some informed opinions on.

1) Coil spacer that fits between the top of the coil springs and the original rubber isolating pad (http://www.toughdogdealer.com.au/coilspacers.htm). They seem relatively easy to install according to this guide (http://www.ehow.com/how_5516077_inst...g-spacers.html)



This looks as if it achieves extra clearance by putting the coil under additional pressure. I’m not sure how much extra clearance it will achieve, and what sort of damage it might cause. Putting them in and taking them out is a lot simpler than the strut spacers, but still a little involved. For an offroad weekend it wouldn’t be a problem to do though.

2) Coil spring rubber booster (http://www.mr-gasket.com/ProductDeta...inselection=-1)



These look the simplest to put in and remove as it’s simply a case of jacking the wheel up, putting the spacer between the gap in a coil and letting the vehicle down again. I assume the principle is to prevent one coil from compressing in order to achieve the lift. My reservation with this is that it places stress on 2 points of the spring, increasing the likelihood of the spring snapping at those points.

Can any of you comment on the effectiveness, pro’s and con’s of the above options and whether they are worth doing or not for occasional offroad use?

[schoona]

What if you got some of option A made up but they were hinged in the y-plane and able to be torqued around the top of your strut? IE, jack up, give clearance, fit and torque, drop? Similar in principle to head stops on hyrdraulic cylinders in large machinery...

A lot of people going 4wd (land cruiser/patrol etc), towing boats and caravans use "airbags" to lift the car and as an auto leveller. From memory it is not THAT expensive?

[gavs]

As far as I know, there isn't any lift kits available for the tiguan purely because there is no market for it. I have been trying to push at work for a even a look into the VW range seeing as we do stuff for the Rav4 but based on a) Market share and b) Buyer demographic, there is no feasibilty for it.

So far the only suspension work we are doing is for the amarok, which may be able to be carried over to the Touareg but even this may be redundant with an all-new vehicle due.

RE spacers:

Not a good idea. You have to be super carefull they are installed correctly for a start. The other issue is you are changing the dynamics of your shocks and struts which can cause erratic ride. These will most likely result in a maximum lift of 8-10mm due to sag after they settle in, plus they are only for the Cruiser and Patrol so far.

Unfortunately if you are after off road clearance, I can only suggest a larger diameter tyre to keep the original dynamics as intact as possible but the tig was never designed as an off-road vehicle. Dirt tracks are about the limit of what it's suspension is designed for.