How to increase the ground clearance of a car with your own hands VAZ 2114

What is car clearance

GOST interprets ground clearance, or ground clearance, as the distance from the road surface to the lowest point of the car. At first glance, everything is clear. But only for the first one. The lowest point may be a point on the bottom of the engine crankcase. Or crankcase protection, if there is one. Or the clutch housing. Or the exhaust system. Or the lower shock absorber strut brackets. How many cars there are, so many lower points and, accordingly, distances to the roadway.

You also need to take into account the load on the car when measuring ground clearance. The Russian standard requires measurements to be taken at full load, that is, with the maximum number of passengers, the trunk loaded and the fuel tank filled. In the documentation of many foreign cars, technical characteristics are indicated with only one driver in the cabin and without luggage.

And the manufacturer’s documentation often provides for the use of several tire options, the sizes of which differ from each other. At the same time, ground clearances are also different. For these reasons, the VAZ 2114 manufacturer’s documentation contains two ground clearance values:

• at the bottom point of the engine sump - 170 mm;
• at the lower point of the clutch housing - 160 mm.

The VAZ 2114, like most domestic models, has quite sufficient ground clearance by the standards of its class.

Replacing springs as a tuning step

When replacing shock absorbers, it is also recommended to pay attention to the springs. This suspension element also prevents swaying and increases vehicle stability. Springs are made from special steel. Domestic versions last less, have low rigidity, and do not cope well with uneven roads. This causes the vehicle to sway.

There are quite a few springs that can be purchased and installed on a VAZ 2114 car. Among all the possible options, the sporty version is the most popular. It has greater rigidity. You should also pay attention to the ability to raise or lower the car by selecting a spring of a certain length.

When choosing a spring, you should pay attention to the fact that it must match the previously selected shock absorber. Otherwise, the shock absorber will fail quite quickly.

Why change the ground clearance of the VAZ 2114

The once popular Audi 80 has a very modest ground clearance of 119 mm, the Ford Escort - only 140 mm, the Chevrolet Lacetti - a little more: 145 mm. Many popular VAZ 2114 classmates have a similar ground clearance: Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris are raised above the ground by 160 mm, Nissan Note by 165 mm, and Volkswagen Polo by 170 mm.

This level of ground clearance allows you to drive quite confidently in any weather not only on paved roads, but also on country roads. Of course, on the “fourteenth” you won’t be able to make your way through the fields in the autumn mud, but without all-wheel drive, without inter-wheel and inter-axle locking, without off-road tires, even with the ground clearance increased by half a meter, you won’t be able to travel much through the November arable land. So it makes no sense to try to give the fourteenth Lada real off-road properties by increasing the ground clearance. To drive on Russian off-road you need a real SUV.

Domestic car enthusiasts often increase the ground clearance or lower their cars in order to give their car a brutal look and show off in front of their friends.

Precautions when tuning the “fourteenth”

When increasing the ground clearance of the VAZ 2114, moderation should be observed. It is still possible to increase the clearance by 5 centimeters, but by 10 it is no longer worth it. The fact is that by carrying out such tuning, you make noticeable changes to the design of the car. This is due to the raising of the vehicle's center of gravity (CG).

The standard height of the CG of a car without tuning above the road surface is 56 cm. The weight of the car is about 50 kg. Calculations show that raising the car by 5 cm is similar to placing a load of approximately 40 kilograms on the roof of your “fourteenth”. So imagine that you are entering a turn at a speed of 90 km/h with a couple of heavy bags of potatoes on the roof rack. You will closely simulate the behavior of a car with increased ground clearance in a high-speed turn.

Before you start tuning, evaluate again how often you have to climb curbs exactly 19 centimeters high and drive through cutting areas between stumps exactly 18 to 22 centimeters high. Maybe you shouldn’t fence your garden... Be careful, take care of yourself.

There is less danger in lowering the car due to the use of shorter shock-absorbing elements, but even in this case it is necessary to take care of the compatibility of the tuning elements with the basic design. Low springs can be dangerous when hitting an obstacle.

Video - How to increase the clearance of a VAZ

In conclusion, it is worth saying that taking into account all the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, the driver himself decides how to increase the car’s ground clearance. In addition, it is possible to combine different methods, which significantly increases the effect, but it is not recommended for this “tuning” of the chassis to go beyond the technical characteristics of the car, as this can increase wear on the remaining parts of the suspension.

Many motorists are thinking about how to lift a VAZ 2114. This is due to the fact that a car with increased ground clearance has better cross-country ability and greater load capacity. We will talk about how to perform this simple operation in today’s article.

Technical options for increasing ground clearance

If, after mature reflection, you have nevertheless come to the conclusion that it is necessary to increase the ground clearance of your car, you have a choice of three options.

1. Radical modernization of the car with the installation of shock absorbers and springs from a third-party manufacturer.
2. Alteration of the suspension with installation of spacers in the places where the shock absorbers are attached to the body.
3. Use of oversized tires with replacement of rims.

Let's consider how and what can be done.

Why are spacers needed?

As mentioned above, spacers allow you to independently and without much effort change the vehicle’s ground clearance. Such an operation may be necessary if the car is often used loaded, for example, to transport 4 passengers and cargo in the trunk. In this case, the car sags greatly and the wheel arches touch the rear wheels.

In addition, increasing the ground clearance will also be beneficial if you often have to drive on country roads that are not in the best condition. A higher ground clearance in this case, albeit slightly, will increase the vehicle’s cross-country ability.

The only thing you should not forget about is that installing spacers will lead to a change in the behavior of the car on the road. That is why, immediately after increasing the ground clearance, you should visit a car service center to check the camber/toe.

Advantages and disadvantages

If we consider the positive aspects of using spacers to increase ground clearance, then, in general, there are not so many of them:

• Increased vehicle maneuverability;
• Increasing spring stiffness;
• Increasing the vehicle's carrying capacity (the vehicle does not sag as much when loaded);
• The likelihood of damage to the underbody of the car is reduced.

There are much more negative sides to such suspension tuning, so you should think carefully about whether it is worth installing them.

Spacers in a car suspension are:

• Reduced vehicle stability on the road due to a change in the center of gravity;
• Increased wear of chassis components;
• Increased load on drive joints (in front-wheel drive cars);
• Changing the work fails in general (it becomes tougher);
• Deterioration in controllability.

But here it is worth noting that with the right approach to the issue of installing spacers, the negative impacts will be minimal and almost unnoticeable.

Types of spacers

In order to increase the ground clearance of the car, you will need spacers for the VAZ 2114. They can differ both in the material from which they are made and in the location of their installation.

• aluminum spacers. They are the most reliable, most often used for installation under rear shock absorbers;

• spacers made of polyurethane. Convenient and versatile - can be used both under the front and rear pillars;
• spacers made of plastic. Affordable and just as versatile as polyurethane ones.

According to the type of installation, all spacers can be divided into:

• interturn. As you might guess, they are installed between the coils of springs. They are easy to install and low cost;

• spring-loaded Mounted between the body and the spring. Due to the installation method and large contact area, they are highly reliable;

• adjustable. They are similar to spring-loaded ones with the only difference that they allow you to reduce or increase the clearance of the VAZ 2114 at any time without any complex manipulations.

Speaking about spacers, it is worth noting that the interturn method of fastening, although simpler, is less reliable. It does not provide uniform distribution of load and mass, and therefore preference should be given to the spring-loaded type of spacers.

Let's improve the VAZ 2110

To raise the rear suspension on a VAZ 2110 you need to:

1. Put the car on the handbrake.
2. Using a jack, raise the rear of the car so that the wheels are in the air and rotate freely.
3. Remove the wheel.
4. Unscrew the shock absorber mounting bolt. To do this you will need a key “19”.
5. Get the bolt. Perform a similar operation with the opposite shock absorber.
6. Take the spacer and determine on which side the distance from the base to the first hole is greater. The side where it is larger should be directed inward. The same spacer can be installed on both the right and left shock absorbers, since these devices are mirror symmetrical.
7. Install the spacer so that a line is drawn from the center of its lower hole to the upper hole, which falls into the vertical of the rack. You can install the spacer so that it is not adjustable in height by screwing the shock absorber into a single hole.
8. By unfolding the spacer, you can adjust the suspension height by screwing the strut into the upper or lower hole, but the device will then need to be placed on the opposite rear shock absorber.
9. When installing a spacer on an eye, it is important to install a bolt spacer so that the mechanism does not break during operation. You don't need to tighten the bolt too much, just make sure it fits snugly and doesn't wobble.
10. Install the strut mounting bolt into the holes in the spacer and shock absorber. The height can be adjusted by selecting the top or bottom holes.
11. Also install a spacer on the opposite shock absorber.
12. Adjust the rear brake pressure regulator by unscrewing its mounting bolt. Next, you need to move the bracket with something until the distance between the lever and the spring becomes 2 millimeters.
13. Check the functionality of the brake system. When braking hard at low speed, the rear axle should lock a little later than the front. If the rear wheels brake much later, then you need to reduce the distance from the lever to the mounting spring, and if it is too early, increase it.

Installing rear spacers

Installation of spacers under the rear shock absorbers is carried out according to the following scheme:

1. Unscrew the fasteners of the lower part of the shock absorber.

1. Install the spring spacer.

1. Screw the lower part of the spacer to the beam using bolts.
2. Secure the shock absorber in the central hole (lower or upper, depending on the desired amount of lift) of the spacer. The fastening bolt should be tightened with a force of no less than 70 and no more than 85 nm.

1. Perform a similar procedure with the second spring.

By carrying out such a simple operation, you can significantly increase the vehicle's ground clearance in just a couple of hours compared to the factory version.

Before installing spacers on the VAZ 2114, it is worth remembering that an increase in ground clearance will lead to a change in three important parameters at once: the direction of the headlight beams; brake pressure regulator position; the angle of inclination of the front wheel axis. Considering that the last parameter affects the stability and controllability of the car on the road, after changing the clearance value, it is recommended to visit a car service center to set it up.

It should also be noted that after the changes have been made, the car should have the following toe-in/camber angles (with a load of 4 adults in the cabin and 40 kg of payload in the trunk):

• camber - 0°±30';
• toe - 0°00'±10' (0±1 mm);
• castor (rotation axis angle) - 1°30'±30'.

Without load, these same values ​​must be within the following limits:

• camber — 0°30'±30';
• toe - 0°15'±10' (1.5±1 mm);
• castor - 0°20'±30'.

If the specified parameters go beyond the above acceptable limits, then you cannot operate the car - you should correct them yourself or at a service station.

Let's improve the VAZ 2110

To raise the rear suspension on a VAZ 2110 you need to:

1. Put the car on the handbrake.
2. Using a jack, raise the rear of the car so that the wheels are in the air and rotate freely.
3. Remove the wheel.
4. Unscrew the shock absorber mounting bolt. To do this you will need a key “19”.
5. Get the bolt. Perform a similar operation with the opposite shock absorber.
6. Take the spacer and determine on which side the distance from the base to the first hole is greater. The side where it is larger should be directed inward. The same spacer can be installed on both the right and left shock absorbers, since these devices are mirror symmetrical.
7. Install the spacer so that a line is drawn from the center of its lower hole to the upper hole, which falls into the vertical of the rack. You can install the spacer so that it is not adjustable in height by screwing the shock absorber into a single hole.
8. By unfolding the spacer, you can adjust the suspension height by screwing the strut into the upper or lower hole, but the device will then need to be placed on the opposite rear shock absorber.
9. When installing a spacer on an eye, it is important to install a bolt spacer so that the mechanism does not break during operation. You don't need to tighten the bolt too much, just make sure it fits snugly and doesn't wobble.
10. Install the strut mounting bolt into the holes in the spacer and shock absorber. The height can be adjusted by selecting the top or bottom holes.
11. Also install a spacer on the opposite shock absorber.
12. Adjust the rear brake pressure regulator by unscrewing its mounting bolt. Next, you need to move the bracket with something until the distance between the lever and the spring becomes 2 millimeters.
13. Check the functionality of the brake system. When braking hard at low speed, the rear axle should lock a little later than the front. If the rear wheels brake much later, then you need to reduce the distance from the lever to the mounting spring, and if it is too early, increase it.