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Escape Lift Options

46K views 33 replies 20 participants last post by  Mountain Escape 
#1 ·
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!
 
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#2 ·
I think whomever told you they can get the TOP-R is blowing smoke. If you do manage to import them, with no formal US distribution you're on your own if something goes wrong or you need tech assistance with them (hopefully you speak Chinese too!).
Based on what I can see GIZ's corporate website hasn't been updated since 2009, notice many of their products listed are for vehicles no longer in production and the English only lists a product for Suzuki.
I'm not really trying to be a downer here, but I wouldn't want people to blow $1000+ on a iffy suspension without some kind of warning. I've seen people in this situation get ripped off before (i.e. pay me $$$ up front and you'll get your Asian suspension nobody has seen yet, I promise!!).

If you want good shocks for an Escape, there are currently 3 options I know of: KONI, ZF/Sachs/Boge, and the KYB. I think ZF stopped distributing their product here as well so you might just have 2 options.
 
#3 ·
I would be purchasing directly from GiZ International, not a middle man. And they do communicate in English, the language of commerce. I have considered the things that you bring out in your reply, and there are valid questions to be answered. Keep in mind that many of the 4X4 products out there are imported. The key is to use an escrow agent on initial purchases until you receive some product and ensure the quality is there. Thanks for the advice on shocks as well.
 
#4 ·
Cool then, see if you can find someone that is actually has inventory, a price, and is retailing the TOP-R Escape product. The TOP-R products came out years ago, they should have a retail network set up already.
If you want some exotic suspension parts why not try getting King Springs from Australia? KMFR-54 and KMFR-55 are the part numbers.
 
#5 ·
I have OME lift springs and KYB struts+shocks installed on my 2004 Escape V6 4WD recently after a long time considering between suspension lift options: OME (30mm), H&R (1") and Top-R (2~3") plus replacement struts & shock absorbers. I didn't not want to raise the car too high plus I was not sure about the quality, reliability of Top-R vs. proven brands like OME or H&R so I decided not to go with them after I got the quote from Top-R in June at 790$ plus shipping for the full adjustable lift kit (sales people at Top-R were nice convincing me that many in Taiwan use their lift kit for daily driving). Between OME & H&R lift springs, I just thought that OME seems to be more suitable for difficult road conditions than H&R, finally I bought OME springs, 30mm lift front & rear. I got to know about KONI after I had ordered KYB, otherwise I would try to get KONI instead.
Installed at a service shop, after rim/tire and wheel alignment now handling is fine, firmer although suspension is a little stiffer than before. I hope this suspension replacement is good for this car used to go camping, light off-road.
 
#7 ·
Well I took the leap today and ordered a Top-R full suspension lift kit for my 2005 Escape. They have several kits available, my choice includes longer struts and taller springs in front, taller springs and 9-way adjustable shocks in back, and adjustable pitman arms. It is one of their best kits, but they do have options if one wants to save some money. Hopefully I will soon be installing and testing. I will post my reactions to it once I get to drive it around both off and on road. If I like it I am considering selling them on Ebay as part of an online store where I could offer up some more fun items for customizing our Escapes. If I don't like it, I will post that as well.

Some other members here have offered some products in combinations that they derived themselves, and from good companies; but if this is your first experience modifying suspensions for offroad like me..I feel more confident with a company that has engineered a full kit together. Plus the Top-R kit gives more lift than the others. Don't get me wrong, ARB makes some great springs, but you only get 1" of lift and they offer nothing for shocks. H&R and Canuck Motorsports offer springs with up to 2" lift, but no shocks. BDS no longer offers anything. So, I am taking some risk in ponying up the dough to see what the 3" Top-R kit can do.
 
#8 ·
I have received the TopR lift kit. Based on visual inspection, everything appears to be of comparable design and construction to parts you would purchase locally. The kit I bought included 4 lifting springs for up to 3" of lift, new longer TopR shocks and struts and pitman arms. There are more than one kit available. When I inspected the kit, there were some minor chips in the paint on the springs from the long tranport from Taiwan, but I touched it up with a little black paint and they're good to go. The rear shocks are white, the front struts were tan. For strictly cosmetic reasons, I chose to repaint the struts white to match the shocks. As I said, the parts look to be of good quality, so now to install. I was supposed to be getting it installed in my 2005 Escape today, but due to scheduling issue with my mechanic, I am now going to install it Sunday afternoon. I will take pictures and video of the installation process, and before-and-after photos.
Of course, the real test is how it rides on and off road. I do expect the ride to be a bit stiffer of course. The rear shocks I got are 9-position dial-adjusted, so I will do some testing at different settings. By the end of next week I will have taken them out into the Cascade Mountains here in Granite Falls, WA. Lots of forest service roads to test out the dampening and rebound characteristics. I'm pretty excited to test it. I will try to supply some good information, and of course my own opinion on whether this kit is right for us. If I am impressed, I am considering opening an Ebay store to sell products for Escape owners such as these suspension lift kits. Plus, I have a vinyl cutter I bought a couple years ago, so I might start producing some graphics to help everyone pimp their rides. I'm thinking of calling the store Great Escapes...By for now.
 
#12 ·
you asking for trouble installing that 3 inch lift kit
the front CV shafts are not manufactured to be extended , another member who installed the 2 inch strut spacer almost tore his CV shaft completley apart
i would suggest that you go to napa down by you and ask to look at 2 CV shafts 1 for your escape and 1 from a 2005 ford ranger IFS to see if the ranger shaft has the same spline diameter and count on the inboard and outboard end , and to see if the ranger CV shaft is longer in length

i would do it , but i am busy ordering other suspension parts for my escape
 
#14 ·
hermie said:
you asking for trouble installing that 3 inch lift kit
the front CV shafts are not manufactured to be extended , another member who installed the 2 inch strut spacer almost tore his CV shaft completley apart
i would suggest that you go to napa down by you and ask to look at 2 CV shafts 1 for your escape and 1 from a 2005 ford ranger IFS to see if the ranger shaft has the same spline diameter and count on the inboard and outboard end , and to see if the ranger CV shaft is longer in length
Hopefully joemarine will prove me wrong, but it's beginning to look like a 3" lift is not practical on an Escape and also the GIZ TOP-R suspension for Taiwanese Escapes does not fit on a US Escape without mods.

I don't see how axles from a rear wheel drive based pickup like a Ford Ranger could be used on a front wheel drive Escape but maybe you have more experience. Back in the day a company called Raxles used to make custom CV axles, maybe they still can if you found the right components to match up.
 
#15 ·
i was talking about the ford rangers that have independant front suspension ( A-ARMS )
the ranger front suspension utilizes CV shafts up front , ford utilizes the same parts across many vehicle platforms , so it makes sense that the ranger CV shafts would work on the front of the escapes
but joemarine would have to look and measure both the ranger and escape CV shafts side by side and take length measurements as well spline counts
the ranger CV shafts just might work
 
#16 ·
so i use the Top R springs and struts on my Escape and designed a lift from the pictures on the Top R site. The Kit is solid and pretty bad ***. I suggest you do not add the 3" rear springs. See if they will send you the rear springs from a different lift that will equal the current OE springs if you want the Rig to be level. It actually looks kind of funky w the 3" rear springs. Also if they sell you the Top R rear shocks they squeek and if they squeek and annoy you since we are both in Ill trade you a brand new set of Rancho 9K. The Top R kit is top of the line for the type of off road'ing one would do in an Escape unless you live in Greece and use your Escape as a Professional off road rally rig. PM me I have exp with some of the stuff you mentioned. There was a guy named Mega on here and he helped w my lift. He sold Top R and a gd skidplate but felt he didnt charge enough for the skids so he sold 2 that could have been real nice but never finished either of them. He made mine and I paid him 270.00 and its badass. I think he charged 100.0 to 150.00 for the two incomplete ones he sold.
 
#17 ·
so acouple other things. You can run 31" or 265 tires with no tranny, engine or gearing stress. You can place a 2" lift and if done properly the CV and trans axles will be fine. I've had my lift for a long time and me and Mega go out to eastern and Central Wa and off road w the best of them. I learned no crawling, spoting is a must if unsure in the Escape because the clearance even w the lift is pretty vulnerable.......Do not get the alternater wet, in the 08 it sits low....I think that's it for now. your going to love the TOP r front struts and you'll say to your self these aren't imports they feel like they should be Rancho, Superlift etc, a domestic shock. I found the Rear adjustable shocks to be identical to the Rancho 9K if the Rancho had 1 more soft setting and 1 less stiff setting.....
 
#18 ·
Sorry to keep y'all waiting for my report on the TopR lift kit I recently purchased. I can't get too detailed right now, just time for a brief message. I promise I will soon post pictures and details. Short story version: I installed the kit last weekend with the help of an SAE mechanic friend. It went fairly smoothly, just two small issues with the install. But we got it done, and I then took it for a proper alignment as my friend doesn't have alignment rack. So Goodyear had no issues getting it all aligned, good as off the factory floor. I have been driving it for the last week onroad, and no complaints. Slightly firmer ride, but not jarring. Braking, turning all working good. Overall a pretty good ride. I found that right after we installed the lift, I had gained nearly 4.5" of lift!? A guy I work with that is knowledgeable on this stuff, as he goes rock crawling with a totally custom vehicle he put together himself, said that it is not unusual for a lift to be higher than expected but settle down a bit after a few weeks of driving. He believes the springs will 'settle' closer to the advertised 3" lift height. I guess that's good if you only want 3", or not good if you were happy with the extra lift. I will report what level it settles at in the next couple weeks. I just purchased some Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires in the 245/75-16 size which are 2" taller than stock tires, adding another 1" to my total lift. I will take pictures of my Escape next to my daughter's unmodified Escape before and after the tire change so you can see the difference the lift kit made before taller tires. One thing to point out is that it lifted the front and rear the same amount, maintaining the stock rake toward the front. I do have the 2" leveling strut extensions that you can buy on Ebay if I want to add to the front some more to level my Escape, but I don't think I'll try that until I have had the lift kit on long enough to decide how I like the handling before making more mods. I will definitely look into having the drive lines lengthened in the front if I go higher. Anyway, gotta go to bed, so I'll sign off. I know some have been waiting for me to post on the lift, and be patient, more is coming soon.
 
#20 ·
Id like to see what it looks like installed? What year escape do you have?

edit: just saw '05.
 
#22 ·
any updates Joe?

joemarine1990 said:
I have received the TopR lift kit. Based on visual inspection, everything appears to be of comparable design and construction to parts you would purchase locally. The kit I bought included 4 lifting springs for up to 3" of lift, new longer TopR shocks and struts and pitman arms. There are more than one kit available. When I inspected the kit, there were some minor chips in the paint on the springs from the long tranport from Taiwan, but I touched it up with a little black paint and they're good to go. The rear shocks are white, the front struts were tan. For strictly cosmetic reasons, I chose to repaint the struts white to match the shocks. As I said, the parts look to be of good quality, so now to install. I was supposed to be getting it installed in my 2005 Escape today, but due to scheduling issue with my mechanic, I am now going to install it Sunday afternoon. I will take pictures and video of the installation process, and before-and-after photos.
Of course, the real test is how it rides on and off road. I do expect the ride to be a bit stiffer of course. The rear shocks I got are 9-position dial-adjusted, so I will do some testing at different settings. By the end of next week I will have taken them out into the Cascade Mountains here in Granite Falls, WA. Lots of forest service roads to test out the dampening and rebound characteristics. I'm pretty excited to test it. I will try to supply some good information, and of course my own opinion on whether this kit is right for us. If I am impressed, I am considering opening an Ebay store to sell products for Escape owners such as these suspension lift kits. Plus, I have a vinyl cutter I bought a couple years ago, so I might start producing some graphics to help everyone pimp their rides. I'm thinking of calling the store Great Escapes...By for now.
 
#23 ·
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!
 
#26 ·
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.
 
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