Mitsubishi Lift Kit
This is a very emotive subject. Why? Simply because each individuals requirement will always be different to the requirement of another.
The needs of each individual vehicle owner will mean that the equipment required will be specific to their own needs and of course the availability of suitable modification equipment for their vehicle type.
I own a Mitsubishi Pajero (Shogun/Monterro). Its a short wheel base variant of the MK II. This vehicle already has a slight body lift, and in all other aspects is certainly very suitable for off road driving. The only change really needed for the navigation of more extreme tracks is an increase in ground clearance. This I suggest is perhaps the first modification that all off road drivers will want to do.
The easiest way to gain clearance is to lift the body so that larger wheels can be fitted. With the Pajero and similar ladder chassis vehicles, this is normally a fairly easy and fairly cheap operation. I simply purchased a body lift kit that raised the vehicle body by two inches. This cost me approx 45. Although a little fiddly to fit, the body is only held on the chassis by 8 bolts. So all that is needed is to insert the raising blocks onto these bolts, while jacking up the body. Afterwards one has to adjust the bumper brackets so that these look as they should.
Once the lift has been done, all you have to do is purchase a set of wheels with larger diameter tyres fitted. I chose 33 inch diameter tyres as this is the largest you can fit with just a two inch body lift. However the increase in ground clearance is significant.
In addition, one can wind up the front suspension tortion bars, to gain height at the front of the vehicle, normally the car is seen nose down and by leveling it off a bit, greater clearance is gained at the front.
One can go for a bigger lift kit, say four inches, but this would mean adjustment of things like brake cable length etc. and becomes a much more involved exercise. It also increases the cost of the exercise too.
If you do decide to carry out this simple and fairly easy modification, do remember that your vehicle may handle a little differently on the road. Particularly, sway in corners may be increased, so do drive a little more carefully at first, until you are happy with the new handling characteristics of your car.
Also, check all modifications after running for a while to make sure nothing has worked loose, also check to see no brake hoses are rubbing as wear here could be dangerous and costly.
