I live in the country on a gravel road. My Prius sets so low that occasionally it scrapes on the front end. Is there a lift kit for a Prius?

 

Hi,

I'd started looking but the one vendor that might have one wasn't very helpful. I agree that in some conditions, our Prius should be higher and others, lower. My thinking is speeds below 35 miles per hour, higher, and above 45 miles per hour, lower . . . with some sort of manual override.

How far away from Huntsville AL are you? This is on my "to do" list and I need to replace my strutts this next year. If you're close enough to Huntsville, we might collaborate.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm in Missouri.

 

Hi,
What is the warranty status of your Prius?

The reason I ask is changing the struts might put your warranty at risk. Compared to 'scraping bottom,' it may be a reasonable tradeoff but it is an important consideration. I drive a 2003 Prius with 94,000 miles so only one warranty, the battery-inverter remains. The suspension is covered under the 3yr/36,000 mile warranty. You must be willing to accept the risk to the warranty, which might also reduce the resale price of the car.

I take it this is a 'daily problem' that needs fixing sooner rather than later, right? Also, changing to a Ford Escape Hybrid or Highlander Hybrid is not in the cards? Both are purpose built for rougher roads. By all means investigate the alternatives, especially using a purpose built hybrid instead of the Prius. Not only will a purpose built hybrid have the clearance, it will also have stronger suspension and steering parts that can survive the occasional 'scrape' and impacts versus the highway friendly Prius.

One other option, might be to see if larger diameter wheels and tires might be fitted to your Prius. There would be a problem with the odometers and speedometer reading low, but it could add an extra inch or so to the height at the risk of 'topping out' at the top of the wheel wells. I'm just trying to go over all of the options and risks.

If you are still interested, send me a PM with a location and model of your Prius and your need date. I can adjust my priorities and build-test one on my car and offer a kit and integration for yours. If you have a good mechanic or do it yourself, you can do the installation locally. Alternatively, my Mom lives in southeastern Kansas and I can do a side trip if you're in southern Missouri. Also, there are some clever hybrid hackers in Missouri who might be interested in doing the work.

As for price, we're probably looking at a minimum of $1,000. It really depends upon how well I can adapt a Corolla lift kit to our Prius. This is by no means a simple task and there is considerable risk. But it is on my 'to do' list.

Bob Wilson

 

While there's probably not a lift kit out there, there's a pretty easy fix. Back in the day I used to drive a lowered camaro that I took to some car shows (it was fast and loud and I loved every second of it), but with the uber-long nose, the scraping got pretty bad. So, when I wasn't going to a car show, I put in spring spacers. You can get them from autozone for 25 bucks or so and install them with a 1/2" socket. They basically twist in between two coils of your spring and firm up the ride--usually to the tune of about half an inch or so.

That said, I'm in no way familiar with the suspension of a prius but I'm betting that a half inch won't put your camber out of whack any more than another 150-200lb passenger would.

Though not exactly they type of spacer I was talking about, here's another style:
Mr. Gasket Coil Spacer

 

Thanks everyone for the ideas. We haven't decided what to do yet. It may just be a case of being very careful when driving on rough roads.