I am a new Escape owner, with the recent acquisition of a 2005 Escape XLT Sport. I haven't been out 4-wheelin in about a decade. I immediately began looking for suspension lifts, and as many on this blog have posted before, there isn't much out there. I found the 2" strut spacers on Ebay, which cost me about $90, that others have reported about here. I wish I had seen the postings here first, because the bloggers were right, the quality is marginal in my opinion. It might be good enough, but one had broken tack welds on the bolts when I pulled it out of the box. It's a sound enough design, but somebody needs to take welding lessons. If I use them, I will reweld them first. I would not recommend them as a first choice. But to be fair, they do offer a simple way to level your Escape; but I don't know exactly how it will affect the handling if just installed with original springs. I spent many hours on the Internet looking for full kits. BDS Suspension used to make a kit, but they told me over the phone they had discontinued it, and didn't plan on replacing it. I found that ARB makes the OME kit, but that kit has shrunk from front and rear springs and rear shocks, to just the springs. They told me via email they had discontinued the N146 shocks for the Escape, so if you see them somewhere else, you still probably won't get them. It lifts the vehicle only 1", and without new shocks, how much good is that really? ARB is a good company, but they left us Escape owners hanging on this one. The price quote I got was $390 for both sets of springs from Les Schwab Tire Centers. And don't get me started on those guys, that's for a different post. Next I found the H&R Ford Escape Sport Lift Springs set, which gives 1" of lift for $299. Again, no shocks. Canuck Motorsports sells a set of lift springs, 1 1/4" F and 1" R for $249. Again, no shocks. To many of you, this is not news. If you've read the boards much, all I am doing is collating the same information others have provided. I guess at least if you read my post, you don't have to read all the others. There are options for lifting our Escapes. We could certainly cobble together something from individual components, but if you're no expert, that can be daunting. There is one more option out there that I found, and that some of the bloggers here have heard of, but can't get. There is a source in Taiwan for a complete kit that gives 3" of lift! I have contacted that supplier through a foreign trade website to get details. I received a response today, and I am requesting more information on shipping and pricing. The retail on the kit is $771 + shipping. Not cheap, but it includes longer TopR nitrogen struts with boots, Pro-Comp rear shocks, 3" lifting springs front and rear, and adjustable pitman arms. They have another kit that doesn't include the pitman arms, but I didn't get the price on that one yet. There is a bite for shipping it from Taiwan. Air will cost about $425, but marine shipping should be less. I am making more inquiries, and will likely order a kit soon to check it out, see how it fits on my Escape and how it affects the ride and handling. I will continue to report my findings here in the near future. If I can negotiate a wholesale price that works, I am definitely considering starting an Ebay business dedicated to Escape owners to sell these kits, as well as other performance and customization items that might interest this niche market. What the heck, if nobody else want to support Escape owners, I might as well be the only guy in the market doing it. The same company also makes a skid plate for the Escape as well. If a reader has any direct experience with the TopR lift kit, please respond and share. See you soon!
Escape Lift Options
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joemarine1990
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Any photos or follow up for this?
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any updates Joe?
joemarine1990 said:
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An update on my lifted Escape. I installed a TopR lift kit that included four new springs, two new struts, and two new shocks. I got the TopR adjustable rear shocks(similar to Rancho adjustables), which they actually don't typically ship to the US anymore. They are a little noisy, which they told me up front. Too many US customers don't like the noise, so they typically ship to US with ProComp rear shocks. They also will sell you everything except the rear shocks if you want to order those locally and save on shipping. The shipping is 1/3 of the cost almost in getting this kit from Taiwan. Anyway, I talked them into selling me the adjustables promising I wouldn't complain about the noise. If I don't like the noise I would just go buy some new shocks. I am ok with the noisy shocks most the time... Anyway, an important installation note is that the bushings in the shocks wouldn't fit over the mounting bolts. We had to ream them up slightly during the install. No big deal. I suspect that it may be that the kit was designed for Asian market and perhaps the Escapes sold in Asia use metric bolts? It seemed to us that was most logical explanation, though I didn't communicate with the seller about it. Just something to be prepared for if you tackle this install. And if you buy the adjustable rear links with it, be sure they are installed on the BOTTOM. There are no install instructions, and we installed on top position initially. Well, that caused rubbing between the tire and the shocks, quickly requiring a new set of shock boots. I contacted the company, they asked me to send pictures of the problem which I did. They promptly emailed me saying please install the adjustable links on the BOTTOM. We did, and rubbing problem solved. Before installing the links, make sure you adjust the length to match as closely as possible the length of the stock link you just removed. This being done, have 4 wheel alignment checked before putting hundreds of miles on it to prevent any tire wear issues. I had mine done at Firestone and paid extra for the lifetime alignment. It's a modest extra fee, I think about $50 but it's worth it. I later went four-wheeling and missed a deep swale in the logging road I was charging down at 45 mph and damaged my front suspension. The TopR stuff was all fine, but I bent an expensive Ford part. So Firestone replaced the damaged part(which I had to pay for) but I didn't have to pay for new alignment! Talking about $90 off the repair bill.
All-in-all, the install wasn't too tough if you have decent mechanic skills and the right basic tools. Just make sure you know what you are doing when replacing springs and especially coil-over McPherson struts, they can KILL YOU if you don't use proper tools and techniques. If in doubt, take it to a professional. I have been satified with my TopR kit, which when paired with a set of 30" tires gave me and additional 3.5" of ground clearance. And the folks who predicted my half-shafts would be broke in a month(like a Ford mechanic that worked on my Escape) were dead wrong. 12 months or so of onroad and offroad use with no problems with the drive train. Also, the guys at the local offroad shop that wanted to sell me steel wheel spacers, saying my billet aluminum ones would break first time I went offroad, they were wrong too.. It's nice to have that additional 5" of track when you go up in height, lowering your CG back down a bit. Happy trails!
All-in-all, the install wasn't too tough if you have decent mechanic skills and the right basic tools. Just make sure you know what you are doing when replacing springs and especially coil-over McPherson struts, they can KILL YOU if you don't use proper tools and techniques. If in doubt, take it to a professional. I have been satified with my TopR kit, which when paired with a set of 30" tires gave me and additional 3.5" of ground clearance. And the folks who predicted my half-shafts would be broke in a month(like a Ford mechanic that worked on my Escape) were dead wrong. 12 months or so of onroad and offroad use with no problems with the drive train. Also, the guys at the local offroad shop that wanted to sell me steel wheel spacers, saying my billet aluminum ones would break first time I went offroad, they were wrong too.. It's nice to have that additional 5" of track when you go up in height, lowering your CG back down a bit. Happy trails!
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That's bizzare.......I've never heard of noisy shocks before?
So far this is the only escape Ive read about that where the CVs could handle more than 2" lift. Do you have any pictures to show us? It would be nice to see it next to your daughters escape for reference along with pictures of the suspension components installed and the CVs.
You can read the report that he bent other suspension components using his lift off road. There's still no way to get around all the issues with changing independent suspension geometry on a lift kit of that size. If there was a trouble free lift kit solution, someone would have built it in the last 15 years that Escapes have been on the road. You pay your money and take your chances :thumb:Strider said:
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WHERE THE EFF ARE THE PICTURES?!!!
ics:
ics:Several forum members over the years have made the same claim that they will import these GIZ suspension products for Escapes, but you'll notice it never seems to really work out. It's been a while since someone here has given the GIZ folks in Taiwan a stack of Benjamins to try it again.JMPatts94 said:By the way, are you selling the products like you said you wanted if the product turned out to be good??
Maybe someone a little more ambitious could book a flight to Taiwan and bring a set or two back. Might be cheaper than splitting a whole shipping container cost with GIZ. At least then you'd have a trip to Taiwan, which is pretty nice to visit in the winter or spring.
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Total Price?? Pictures??
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Any pics?? I'm thinking about lifting mine. I have a 5-speed XLT Gold Edition and would like to lift it as I am going to install bigger tires on it. Right now is sitting on $2K in suspension. I have Sensen Struts all around and aftermarket components all around. The wheels have 2" spacers between them so you can guess that the tires are going to rub on the mud flaps. Any thoughts??
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Here for the 9 year old pics or it didn’t happen….
He probably broke it. I have an 83 CJ-7 I have built from the ground up, and there are several things that are not mentioned in this story.
just raising the springs changes the entire geometry of the suspension, going 3 inches or higher you often need to have adjustable track bars/control arms, and longer lower a arms.
You have to change front and rear sway bar end links. You have to run longer hard brake lines from the frame to the caliper.
I have never heard of the CV axles being an issue, but the driveshaft will either pull apart, or completely slide out of the transfer case. No only did I have to purchase custom double cardin joint driveshafts, I also had to lower the transfer case by an inch. A drive line wants to be as straight as it possibly can be, with no angles present. Without repositioning spring perches on the axle, I was able to use a racing 2 degree wedge.
I am sure if you see the print out of his half assed alignment(betting toe set only), the camber and caster numbers will both still be out.
where I used to live, police officers would pull you over and measure the height of your front bumper… I would look into that regulation where you live locally(I was able to get legal again by installing an aftermarket winch bumper)
if you really want to see what is necessary, look at an OME kit for a IFS Toyota, that is all inclusive.(Then ask a Toyota guy that's installed it, and I bet he will still tell you additional parts were still necessary
before people got lazy on the internet, you used to have to look at shock specifications, and look at the travel numbers to upgrade… Also making sure that eye/bushing diameters were compatible.
If you know your travel numbers(Or can be bothered to do a little research), you will probably find a bevy of different shock options
wheel spacers geometry will destroy wheel bearings prematurely. It is better to again do your homework, and get a rim that has the backspacing/offsets you are looking for. Changing any of the factory geometry puts additional wear and tear on the vehicle.
addressing those that want to level the vehicle and remove the factory rake of the suspension… You need to realize that there are sensors in your vehicle that are set to the rake of your vehicle…seatbelt auto tensioners being the first one I can think of, that can have their function impaired by changing factory engineered geometry.
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