chrysler voyager doing dumb stuff.

[Cee-Jay]

I love this. Y'all see when Top Gear (US version) took minivans from the big three on some Colorado off-road trails? They didn't do that badly considering how hard the hosts/drivers were beating on 'em. Of course there are some nicely done Astros. I always thought the Mazda MPV had potential for light duty work too... some had true 4wd with low gearing.

 

[ihatemybike]

The Astro completely dominated that episode of Top Gear USA.

 

[lumberjake]

so i added preloading helper springs to the rear of my dodge caravan (lifted the back end a bit over an inch)

taken from my truck so cost was nothing.

then added some rubber spacer thingy's in the front coil springs (lifted front end a bit over an inch)

these worked a lot better then i thought and cost about $5 for the 1" worth of lift. they do make the ride stiffer and logicaly thinking the firmer suspension might lead to poorer contact for off roading, but then I remember ******* it, it's a caravan.

then i needed new shocks so i got some spring helper shocks from rockauto

combined with a shock extension, they added 1/2" lift in the rear too and were $45 a piece i think

this is before


this is after


my guess is that this is not much better then original ride height, but 2" blocks ($33) finally came in the mail today and i'll see how i like another $5 worth of spring spacers in the front.... probably end up looking like a grand entervan.

any recommendations?
glad this thread is called "doing dumb stuff", because there are certainly going to be times when i will be laughing at myself

 

[bftank]

lol, awesome!

 

[BCHauler]

Had a friend who owned the same body style and colour of van. They called it the Jellybean. Go Off-road Jellybean!

 

[lumberjake]

i put the blocks on today


this is how it looks now

don't know if i can get much more out of the front. the rubber spacers seem to be settling at only 1 1/4 inches lift and the back end is at 3 1/8 inches lift

and to help everyone imagine what it will look like with larger tires

 

[ihatemybike]

It will take a bit more work, but adding spacer plates above the struts will give you a better lift in the front. Currently those rubber spacers are stealing a bit of your suspension travel. 1" spacer will give you about 2" of lift, this is usually about the most FWD/IFS systems can do without sacrificing ride quality.

 

[Adventure Copan]

This is the first time I've seen a Voyager modded for off road. Pretty interesting.

-Daniel Kent

 

[lumberjake]

true 'ihatemybike', and hit a little bump and the coil spacers go flying. i guess i was trying to get away with lifting the front the lazy way. the strut mounts i'm going to use to make the spacers over the strut assembly have come in. i plan to use some body spacers sandwiched between the 2 strut mounts and bolted all together(no welding).

 

[ihatemybike]

Post pics. We're interested in see what you do and how it turns out.

 

[lumberjake]

sorry it took so long. i built a garage this summer instead.


this is a photo of the set up i went with in the front. 1 1/2" body spacers sandwiched between the existing strut mount and the top shell of another hollowed out strut mount. all bolted together.


bolted into the van


after installation. forgot to get befores, but it was 28 3/4" and now it a little over 30"


this is the full lift (1.5" in the front and 3" in the back). seems modest to me, but i may just be getting used to it. my younger daughter has a harder time getting in to it now though.
i'll try to take some pictures of it beside a stock caravan at some point for a better comparison

 

[bdog1]

Reminds me of a customer in my Florida Chrysler dealer last winter. Little old guy from Canada in his 80's with his late model caravan, three spares, bed platform and cooler stashed in the back. Turns out he's been all over the US and Canada camping. Alaska, Aclan, Caesar Hwy up to Labrador Ect. Really living the life! Then there's me with my " in town" diesel 1 ton 4x4! Kinda makes you think?

"come to the dark side Luke" post up in camper vans section!!!!


Sent by wing, prayer & ATT

 

[zjrog]

Back when I had my old Grand Caravan...

Yeah, I think this qualifies in the dumb stuff in a minivan thread...

I didn't have access to a welder or any fab skills. Hard to believe that was just 14 years ago... Anyway. I saw a product for rear coil sprung 4 Runners that was a pair of plates and a section of what looked like 3" tube acting as a spacer. I believe it wasn't to level out 4 Runners that had sagging rear springs. But thought it could be adapted to work with front struts on the minivan. I never ever got that chance... In the years since, I have come back to this thought now and again and that is how I would lift the front of that old minivan. But that doesn't even begin to address the tire clearance issues with the spring, something I've yet to figure out. I had little room left once I put 205/75-15s under the van. Being able to fit 235/75-15s would have opened up a lot of tire choices.


(For reference, this photo is in the Red Rock Canyon area of Kern County, California... Tough trails for FWD...)
Those rear axles really limit ground clearance and now I'd give a ton of thought to using a straight 7,000 pound trailer axle. I sold my 1987 Grand Caravan in 2004, with over 250,000 miles under it. One of the biggest vehicle mistakes of my life. Actually, as recent as 2006 I had parts on hand to to snag another Grand and convert it RWD and powered by turbo charger Dodge 2.2... Think desert truck. Sold everything when I moved to Utah later in 2006. Still have the intercooler though. I can think of a lot of things I'd do different with a minivan today...