Elevator suspension "Niva" with their own hands. How to lift the front and rear suspension of the car "Niva"?

The domestic off-road car VAZ "Niva" is a perfect analogue to modern imported car parkers and even some all-wheel-drive jeeps. This machine was originally distinguished for its light weight, high clearance and high maintainability. However, for a more confident off-road ride, some car owners do their own suspension lift. "Niva" after that rises another ten centimeters and is able to overcome a lot of obstacles.

In addition, due to the increased clearance for motorists, it becomes possible to install mud off-road tires of larger diameter. And today we will consider how to make the suspension of the suspension on your own.

Making a choice

To increase the ride height, it is best to use the factory lift kit and follow the instructions attached to it. In this case, to make the lift suspension, "Niva" (VAZ-2121) will be upgraded no more than 1 day. But you can go and another way - to make such details yourself. So you can adjust the "Niva" to your individual needs, which can not already be done with the factory kit.

Instruments

In order to produce a suspension lift ("Chevy Niva" diesel) on its own, we need to prepare the following set of spare parts:

1. Set of front and rear springs. Here, the details are 31.5 centimeters long and 1.57 centimeters thick on the Chevrolet Niva. You can buy springs and other parameters - it all depends on your taste.
2. Rubber spacers with metal cups. We will install them under the springs.
3. Shock absorbers. As practice shows, Premium and Excel-G products are the most suitable for Niva. But again, it all depends on what kind of rigidity of the suspension you want to get in the end.
4. Spacers under the upper ball joint. They can hardly be found in the store, so it would be more reasonable to order them from a familiar turner. The thickness of the spacers is about 2-3 centimeters. In this case, the brackets for the rear shock absorbers have to be made by themselves.
5. Enlarged washers under the cup. Their internal diameter should be 1 centimeter, the outer diameter - 3 centimeters. In total, such washers we need 12 pieces.
6. Under the upper ball bearings and the cup, you should purchase special elongated bolts. Here, the details from the silencer of the G-8 (M8x65) and from the VAZ suspension arm M10x75x1.25 6 and 4 units, respectively.
7. Several jacks, couplers for springs and lining boards.

About spacers

Spacers for the rear shock absorbers should be made by hand. If this is not done, the shock absorber will not have a stroke up. They can be made from the usual metal corner. On top of it, weld a 36-mm bushing with an internal diameter of 13.2 millimeters. In this case, its thickness should be about 32 millimeters. After all this, you can start making a suspension lift.

"Niva". Lifting by hand: front suspension

We will divide the whole work into two parts. At the first stage we will have to modernize the front suspension, on the second - the rear suspension. So, let's get to work. First, we remove the wheels and release the silent blocks. Next, under the ball joint, we set the jack, under the last one put the board and raise the machine until the spring is compressed. After that, install the ties on the spring, pull it together and unscrew the shock absorber mount. Next, remove the lower and upper ball bearings and remove the stabilizer. Let go of the lever and disassemble the spring. How is the suspension lift? "Niva" while remains in a motionless state, and at this time we turn aside the wheel hub and put it on the support. It is important not to damage the brake hoses.
Next, bend the bump. A few extreme bolts (which are at the wheel) are changed to elongated. Now you need to install between the cup and the lever spacers from the prepared washers. Next, we install special rubber spacers with steel cups. Mount the spring. It is important to properly establish them relative to each other. Then the lever must be poddomkratit. We install the stabilizer and the lower ball joint. The upper ball is mounted through the spacer. We fasten the shock absorbers. Next, attach the hub in place and put on the wheel to remove the jacks. Everything, now we have finally finalized the front suspension.

"Niva". Rear suspension upgrade

Now we pass to the second stage of our work on lifting - modernization of the rear suspension. Here you need to prepare a semi-automatic welding machine, and drive the car into the pit. The first thing here is to install under the springs a few more cups. These parts are installed over the standard with bolts. The rear shock absorbers are installed with the brackets in place and are additionally welded. As a result, the rear axle will move forward and to the side. To prevent this, you need to extend all existing traction (including transverse). The lower cup is cut off and shifted by one and a half to two centimeters. At the same time, it must be moved so that it does not touch and do not break the cross shaft of the cardan shaft. We also weld the new cups with a semi-automatic welding machine. This is necessary in order to keep the rear cross from damage during off-road driving. Further we extend the rocker arm of the brake adjuster. As a result, its length should be 30 millimeters larger than the standard one.

The last stages

After that, we weld under the shock absorbers the fingers under the clamp of the steel brake pipe. We attach the shock absorbers and go to the car service for the collapse-convergence. Thus, you will finally finish the bridge. Everything, on this on the car VAZ "Niva" rear suspension has been successfully modernized. As you can see, lifting running is quite possible to do in your own garage without the help of special tools. However, if you do not have a semi-automatic welding machine, you will have to buy it or rent it, since an electric arc or inverter can burn a thin metal. Or choose a less thick electrode.

What is dangerous for an off-road car?

If you use this method of modernization, the suspension ("Niva" VAZ-2121 and "Chevrolet Niva"), of course, will become more reliable and suitable for off-road driving. However, along with this you will have to forget about light alloy wheels - you can install only stamped ones on such a machine. It should be noted that increasing the diameter of the wheels will lead to a greater torque - then you have to change the gear ratios of the main pairs. In addition, after such a modernization you will need to install a self-locking differential of the rear axle, and this again is additional costs.

Also, when the elevator is significantly changing the angle of the break of the brake hoses and wires, and the life of the suspension parts will decrease by an order of magnitude, because now the car will be constantly subjected to enormous loads when driving off-road. However, on the other hand, the clearance of the "Niva" increases so much that you can fully fit the 33-inch wheels (and this instead of the regular 16-inch wheels!) Without expanding the arches.

Conclusion

So, we found out how the rear and front suspension are being modernized.
"Niva" VAZ-2121 - this is a car over which it is not terrible to conduct experiments, so if you want you can increase the clearance at any time with your own hands.