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!
joemarine1990
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:
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.
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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