Honda Fit Liftkit

[Putzdad]

Hello,  I have a 2010 Honda Fit.  The suspension needs repair; it squeaks as I drive over speed bumps.  The Fit has been a great car from day 1.  However I have never been satisfied with how low the car is to the ground.  Since I am going to replace the struts/shocks, I am wondering if there is a liftkit, maybe 6" or so, on the market that I can install at the same time?

[Magnum]

Wait what! You want to install a lift kit on a Fit? 

[iRage]

Well...there aren't "kits" as it is not a common upgrade, however, if you search around google you will see that some suspension companies and retailers will assemble all the required parts for the lift (so a kit but not necessarily an out of the box kit that has all the rquired brackets, converters, etc...).

If you do want to lift the car wha you should do is go to one of the performance garages that deals with the usual suspension systems in SL (like Gecko, D3, etc..) and get them to do the lift. It is not jsut a matter of putting taller struts or putting spacers. A small lift like 1 or 1.25 inches (so around 2-3cm) will be quite simple (and in fact you will be able to do it with coilovers or strut spacers with proper shock absobers) but you want 6 inches !!! 

Anything more than 2-3cm things start to get complicated....you need to look at the steering geometry...then the higher you go you need to start looking in to things like brake lines...control arms....the higher you keep on going ...axles, transmission. Since you want 6 inches you will have to look in to all of them. So it really is not a "cheap" conversion. After having done that...you should remember that the ride will be quite different and you might not like the Fit any more (there will be body roll...somewhat hard on the bumps...it will effect how the car handles when it brakes...etc...).

So think hard about this. If you want a taller car...buy a taller car.

[Kavvz]

23 hours ago, Magnum said:

Wait what! You want to install a lift kit on a Fit? 

My thoughts exactly as I opened up the thread to learn more....

Imagine my astonishment when I read that its going to be a 6" lift at that! 😆 This I gotta see!! 

@Putzdadplease keep us informed on this project! I have a feeling it will be really interesting...

[Kavvz]

14 hours ago, iRage said:

So think hard about this. If you want a taller car...buy a taller car.

Truer words were never said 👏 

Having said that,  going for a 1 inch lift on the Honda Fit might be possible with Spacers etc. While it may not be readily available, spacers for this project (for a 1" lift) can probably be machined to fit. Anything more than that would be in my opinion unreasonable. As mentioned above a specialist garage will be able to come up with a reasonable solution and that is where I would start for this project.

My thoughts: A 2inch lift on a pickup or SUV is considered a significant lift. And anything more than that requires lots of extra components: New/ custom swaybars,  new transaxles, new stabilizers, new brake lines, new coils, new shocks to say the least... For select SUV's and pickups these items are commonly available. But for a Honda Fit: No way. I doubt you'll find a single item I've mentioned. So the chances are, you won't be able to add a 6" lift onto a Honda Fit @Putzdad. But I would like to be proven wrong of course....

Edited January 16, 2021 by Kavvz

[Hyaenidae]

Sell the Fit and buy a Lancer EX. You get 6.5" of ground clearance with zero mods. 

Or drop Hatchbacks and Sedans altogether and go for a Crossover/SUV.

[kmeeg]

Yes I've seen few Honda Fit lifted. For sure it will be a fun project. 

Personally would I do it? NO. But definitely love to see someone taking that risk / challenge. Would be awesome if I could drive a lifted Fit.

Here's a link of a beautiful lifted Fit-

https://www.autoindustriya.com/auto-industry-news/filipino-enthusiast-builds-a-honda-that-s-fit-for-off-road/amp

 

[kmeeg]

..and a video. There are more videos to get ideas;

 

[Kavvz]

4 hours ago, kmeeg said:

..and a video. There are more videos to get ideas;

 

Wow. I'm speechless! It seems like I was proven wrong!!  I don't believe for one second that the guy takes actually takes this off-roading much though. Even though it has mud tires, its still fwd so...But it certainly looks awesome. AND it has rock sliders! 😄

Trust @kmeegto pull something like this out of his hat...! Nice.

*edit: Just read through the description and Yeap. Its going nowhere offroad, at least nowhere other than a nice flat gravel road or through some mild puddles for: "He then put on wheel spacers, 16-inch alloy wheels, and 245/75/R16 off-road tires". Yeah no. Not going to make it capable at much more than ripping apart CV joints!   

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Kavvz

[iRage]

On 1/17/2021 at 7:55 AM, Kavvz said:

I would like to be proven wrong of course....

Well...as you can see...there are lifted Fits....but then again, this is not a simple suspension upgrade to get a bit more gournd clearence. This is a HUGE conversion project tha will require a lot of fabrication to fit the required components and a lot of tuning to cope with the changes to the drive train that will have to be made during the lift

As I said...2-3 cm is doable with minimal intrusion (2-3cm transtales to 1 - 1.25 inches)..beyond that..it just becomes a whole different beast. Same goes with lowering....1-2 cm lowering easy....2-3cm..do-able but get messy...

[MaleCortana]

So cant you like? IDK lift the car a couple of centimeters above? NOT 6 INCHES. 

Again you do you, if you want to lift the car 6" on a car that was never meant to be that high up, your car might be very unstable at highway speeds, else just sell the car and buy a Subaru Forester or something.

[kmeeg]

20 hours ago, Kavvz said:

 

Trust @kmeegto pull something like this out of his hat...! Nice.

 

Me and a buddy trying to build a Mitsubishi Outlander lifted and some mods. Won't be that cheap. It got relatively low profile tires 215/55r17..☹

Don't want to go out of topic but very excited on that. My buddy is not fully into it. Need to convince him more. 

[Davy]

 

On 1/18/2021 at 7:41 AM, Kavvz said:

Wow. I'm speechless! It seems like I was proven wrong!!

I think your argument still holds valid @Kavvz. That project shared by @kmeeg is on a league of it's own and not applicable for OP's requirement. We're talking about getting a little more ground clearance for convenience and to preventing the suspension from bottoming out and damaging the undercarriage. That guy has cut out his fenders to get the bigger wheels to fit in there which I doubt is something OP would be willing to do .

I think OP has severely over-estimated the height increase required. 6 inches is quite drastic if you ask me. A couple of inches of ground clearance goes a long way, so some relatively inexpensive suggestions are:

1. Strut Spacers - These are basically rubber spacers that sit on the top and/or bottom of the coil springs to give it a little more lift. This I believe would be the option that would give the best return for the money.

2. Taller Coil Springs - The more expensive alternative to #1 above. Instead of using rubber spacers, you buy slightly taller springs. 

3. Bigger wheels and tyres - Probably the most expensive option out of the three and the one that gives the least amount of clearance for the money. But you could use bigger rims and a tyre with a taller sidewall to gain a slight increase in ground clearance.

It must be said that all of these things have it's negatives. Obviously, making slight suspension changes like this will impact handling and even skew suspension geometry.

[iRage]

6 minutes ago, Davy said:

1. Strut Spacers - These are basically rubber spacers that sit on the top and/or bottom of the coil springs to give it a little more lift. This I believe would be the option that would give the best return for the money.

2. Taller Coil Springs - The more expensive alternative to #1 above. Instead of using rubber spacers, you buy slightly taller springs.

This requires extended stroke dampers (shock absorbers). Simply put..shock absorbers that are slightly taller than the standard shock absorbers. When you put the spacers or extnded coils, the damper is going to be in a extended state which will reduce its damping capabilities. Since the lift at most is going to be 2-3cm, the standard shocks will fit..however they will wear out faster as well.

[Davy]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

This requires extended stroke dampers (shock absorbers). Simply put..shock absorbers that are slightly taller than the standard shock absorbers. When you put the spacers or extnded coils, the damper is going to be in a extended state which will reduce its damping capabilities. Since the lift at most is going to be 2-3cm, the standard shocks will fit..however they will wear out faster as well.

I'm not convinced stock dampers would fail prematurely because they are in a slightly more extended state. But I do see how it can have an impact on comfort and handling. 

Also, there are spacers that go above the strut mount, so the stock stroke of the dampers or coil springs don't change.

[iRage]

Just now, Davy said:

Also, there are spacers that go above the strut mount, so the stock stroke of the dampers or coil springs don't change.

True..the sandwitch type that goes between the strut housing of the body and the strut itself..This would not wear out the dampers but the one that goes below the top hat of the strut does. This is not relevant for the OP but I wonder if this type universally works if camber plates are installed. 

Dampers wearing out...the issue arises because the damper does not operate within its optimal captive area, which is the reason why the ride would not be that good, and the internal seals get stressed. Of course this is all dependant on how one would use it as well.

[Kavvz]

16 hours ago, Davy said:

 

I think your argument still holds valid @Kavvz. That project shared by @kmeeg is on a league of it's own and not applicable for OP's requirement.

Agreed. (Its still very cool and I'm blown away by what can be done to enhance the looks of a mere Honda Fit, but its not for everyone...Cosmetically speaking though: Its great!)

Edited January 19, 2021 by Kavvz

[MrCat]

All the peoples here are arguing like....     😁😁

I`m sure the OP got his 6 inches confused with 6 centimetres...  😀😀 Perhaps didn`t even think it thought before posting...  😆

 

[MaleCortana]

51 minutes ago, MrCat said:

I`m sure the OP got his 6 inches confused with 6 centimetres...  😀😀 Perhaps didn`t even think it thought before posting...  😆

 

6 inches and 6 centimeters is a bad thing to conflate  

Especially in bed

[iRage]

2 hours ago, MrCat said:

I`m sure the OP got his 6 inches confused with 6 centimetres...

I assumed he would have meant 6 inches off the ground. Default is about 4 inches...so a 2 inch lift means still a 5cm lift which still is too sizeable just for a simple spacer lift.

[Kavvz]

5 hours ago, MrCat said:

All the peoples here are arguing like....     😁😁

I`m sure the OP got his 6 inches confused with 6 centimetres...  😀😀 Perhaps didn`t even think it thought before posting...  😆

 

lol !! VERY likely!