Spec X5 Overland Build

[Ragnarok]

I also have recently purchased and installed this TEVA 4X4 kit. My experience, while largely similar to yours, is different in one important way, which is fascinating to me. After installation, I ended up with a lift of only about 1/2". No idea why.

When installing I noticed the spacers compressing a bit as weight was put back on the tires, so I wasn't expecting 30mm, really, but still...I measured at the low point of a skid plate at the transfer case in the middle of the underside, right before and right after, and it's about 1/2". There is no huge visible difference in ride height like in your pics. For comparison, in your pics where you measured ride height at the wheel wells, in the front you show 34 1/4", I have 33 7/8". In the rear you show 33", I have 33 1/4" (higher ). I have the same size tires as you, although a different brand. The only big difference I can see is that I have a 4.4, whereas you have a 3.0. I wouldn't have thought the weight would make that big a difference, but maybe it does. It would certainly explain being higher in the rear and lower in the front. I would have thought that wouldn't change the lift any, though.

Anyways, great thread, thanks for updating and documenting so thoroughly.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

I also have recently purchased and installed this TEVA 4X4 kit. My experience, while largely similar to yours, is different in one important way, which is fascinating to me. After installation, I ended up with a lift of only about 1/2". No idea why.

When installing I noticed the spacers compressing a bit as weight was put back on the tires, so I wasn't expecting 30mm, really, but still...I measured at the low point of a skid plate at the transfer case in the middle of the underside, right before and right after, and it's about 1/2". There is no huge visible difference in ride height like in your pics. For comparison, in your pics where you measured ride height at the wheel wells, in the front you show 34 1/4", I have 33 7/8". In the rear you show 33", I have 33 1/4" (higher ). I have the same size tires as you, although a different brand. The only big difference I can see is that I have a 4.4, whereas you have a 3.0. I wouldn't have thought the weight would make that big a difference, but maybe it does. It would certainly explain being higher in the rear and lower in the front. I would have thought that wouldn't change the lift any, though.

Anyways, great thread, thanks for updating and documenting so thoroughly.

I am going to postulate that the TEMA kit isn't really a true lift kit, its more of a leveling kit using a spacer. The spacers lift the body but don't correspondingly increase the ground clearance (distance between the chassis and the ground).

Thus, I would expect that the actual undercarriage ground clearance (skid plate to the ground) would be nearly the same before/after installation of the TEMA kit.

The 4.4 might have a lower ride height than than the 3.0. If that is true, the fender height on your car will always be lower than mine. Also, different brands of tires can vary in height even though they are the same size, so your tire might be slightly shorter to start.

Combine all of these things together and its possible that everything on your car is exactly how it should be and comparing the two cars is simply a case of comparing apples to oranges.

What do the fender gaps (distance between the tire and the fender) on your car look like? Are they similar to my car before the lift or after the lift?

Do you have any photos showing the rear spacers after the installation?