Lifted Honda CR-V – How to, Cost, Recommended Kits
There are several advantages to lifting a Honda CR-V. While it is a light-duty truck, it can be made more imposing and capable by upgrading its ride height. In this article, I will discuss lifted CR-Vs – how to, cost, and the recommended kits.
The Honda CR-V is a light SUVbut can look more aggressive by raising its ride height. A lifted Honda CR-V will look tougher and more imposing. More importantly, its off-roading performance will also improve. So, this lifted vehicle will enable you to go where you could not before.
There are two ways you can lift a Honda CR-V. You can perform a body lift procedure or choose the more complicated and expensive route of the suspension lift. There are kits available in the market, whichever route you want to take.
Read on to learn more about lifting a stock Honda CR-V and the lift kits you can choose for this project.
Lifted Honda CR-V – Overview
Improve the CRV’s Appearance
If you place a Honda CR-V side by side with a Ford F-150, the Honda vehicle will look like the smaller brother of the big Ford truck. How can you improve the looks of the CRV so it won’t look so small when placed side by side with a bigger truck? The only way you can do it is to lift it.
Lifting a stock Honda CR-V means raising its ride height. Most owners of this type of Honda car lift their vehicles because of one or two things: to improve the ‘soft’ appearance and make them look a little tougher.
Enhance Off-road Performance
Or they want to enhance their performance so their Honda CR-Vs can tackle the rough and tumble off-road conditions. Others would like to achieve both, so they lift their relatively small Honda CR-Vs to make them look impressive with improved performance.
How Do You Lift a Honda CR-V?
You can do it two ways – body lifting or suspension lifting. You can do both if you have the skills, experience, tools, and equipment. But if not, you can ask a professional vehicle lifting service to do it for you.
Body Lifting Is Easier Than Suspension Lifting
Body lifting is less complicated than suspension lifting. It is also cheaper. An experienced DIYer will have no problem doing a body lift. But you need to be a professional to do a decent job of suspension lifting a Honda CR-V.
Improve the CRV’s Looks with Body Lifting
It depends on your intention. Do you want to improve the looks of your Honda CR-V? If you look at a Honda CR-V on Honda.com, you will agree that it is already good-looking. But if you still want to improve its looks, you should only do body lifting.
Enhance Performance with Suspension Lifting
However, if you also want to improve its performance, you must do suspension lifting aside from improving its appearance. This second option will not only make your Honda more aggressive-looking, but it will also be able to handle off-road conditions.
You can opt for a Honda CR-V off-road kit if this is what you want. However, this route is much more expensive than just lifting the body of your Honda. A full lift kit will change many things under the vehicle’s chassis.
Some Honda CR-V owners want to lift their cars to install bigger tires. With larger tires, they can take their Hondas off-roading. Some do it for cosmetic reasons, without doing anything about its drivability.
Can you lift a CR-V? Yes, you can, but whatever your reasons, you need to consider two things before undertaking this project. First, you should choose a suitable kit.
Second, you need to consider the process of installation that will fit your intentions. Both these two considerations will affect the overall cost of your project.
Professionals use lifting kits in lifting trucks – the lift and the leveling kits. They are different in that they can provide the lifted vehicle with different capabilities:
1. Lift Kits
Lift kits, in themselves, are also available in two different types. The type you choose will determine the number of inches you can raise your truck.
Small kits are the first type that can raise the truck’s height from two to five inches. Bigger kits can raise the height of trucks from six inches and up.
2. Leveling Kits
Car enthusiasts and truck modders use leveling kits to give the right balance to their vehicles experiencing some balancing issues. These vehicles often experience balancing issues whenever heavy equipment is loaded onto the vehicle.
These leveling kits are only applicable in correcting the unevenness of vehicles raised only 2 inches or less. If the owner of the Honda CR-V wants to lift their car by more than two inches, the right kit is the lift kit.
3. Body Lift and Suspension Lift
In addition to the two types of kits, you also have to think about the actual lifting process you should use. There are two types of lifting processes – body lift and suspension lift.
There are two types of kits available in the market:
Body lift kits, and
Suspension lift kits.
What’s the Difference Between the Two Types of Lift Kits?
The suspension lift kit raises the vehicle’s height and changes its fundamental structure. This is the reason why, generally, it is more expensive than doing a body lift.
The body lift kit can raise the vehicle’s height without altering its structural composition and integrity. This kit is chosen by truck owners who want to mount larger tires on their vehicles without changing their basic structure.
Here is a video showing a lifted Honda CR-V and what the owner did to complete their project:
Cost of Lifting a Honda CR-V
As I have already mentioned, the cost of lifting a Honda CR-V varies widely depending on the lifting kits and the process that you will choose. In general, lift kits are more costly than leveling kits because they will lift all the parts of your Honda CR-V.
Things You Should Know About the Cost of Lift Kits for Trucks
Here are some basic things you need to know about the cost of lift kits for trucks:
The cost of regular leveling kits can range from as low as $200 to as high as $1,000.
The cost of good quality leveling kits that can raise the ride height of a truck by six inches or more can range between $10,000 and $15,000.
The cost of a lower-quality lift kit that can still raise the ride height of a truck six inches or more can be between $400 to $12,000.
Suspension Lifting Cost per Lifted Inch
Every inch that you want your Honda CR-V raised will cost you money. To get an idea of the cost, look at these samplings:
1 to 2 inches – your cost can range from $300 to $1,500.
2 to 2.5 inches – prepare to spend between $1,000 and $5,000.
3 to 3.5 inches – the cost of this lift ranges from $1,500 to $5,000 or more.
4 to 4.5 inches lift – you may spend $2,000 and $5,000 or more.
Body Lifting
If your budget is limited, but you still want to increase the height of your Honda CR-V, you can choose body lifting. Your expenses will be much lower than if you choose suspension lifting because the kit is easy to install. You will not disturb the other parts of your vehicle’s suspension system.
Professional Lifting Service
If your Honda CR-V looks good and performs better, you should ask a professional vehicle lifting service to do the job. How much does it cost to lift a CR-V? They may charge you from $800 to $4,000 for this service.
The suspension kit may range between $400 and $4,000. If you ask them to lift your Honda CR-V to the maximum allowable height, you may be spending up to $12,000.
Lifting a regular truck 2 inches will cost $400 to $12,000. The cost will be much higher for bigger trucks like Ford F-150s. Typically, it will cost from $11,000 and $14,000 to lift such trucks.
Again, what is the benefit of lifting a Honda CRV? A lifted Honda CRV or raised ride height will improve the appearance and off-road performance.
You may be wondering what kind of lift kits are good to buy. If you search the internet, you will find lifting kits suitable for your Honda CR-V. Here are some of my recommendations:
LP Aventure Lift Kit for Honda CR-V 2017 and Onwards
If you want to improve the appearance of your 2017 Honda CR-V and also add a few inches to its ground clearance, you can consider this lift kit. This kit was designed by a company with over 20 years of producing off-road kits.
This kit has the following items:
Aluminum-engineered Sub-frame, Trailing Arm Spacers, and Springs: These components are machined from top-quality aluminum blocks using a CNC machine. They are all high-precision machine parts.
Stainless Steel Top Plate Spacers: These top plate spaces are made from 304 stainless steel. The spacers were also TIG welded, making them durable, tough, and highly resistant to corrosion.
Endlinks Spacers: Spacers make the installation simple and easy. With these spacers, replacing the original end links is no longer necessary.
Stretched Brake Line Spacers: Lengthened brake line spacers are included in this lift kit. This also makes the installation easier and simpler. With these spacers, replacing the old brake lines is no longer necessary.
Complete Hardware: Included in the kit is all the hardware required for the installation.
The price of this lift kit is $1,195. You can click this link to learn more about this lift kit for the 2017 Honda CR-V.
Honda CR-V Complete Suspension Systems and Lift Kits
Another lift kit you may want to consider is this Complete Suspension Systems for Honda CR-V. This kit can raise the ride height of your Honda CR-V by 1.5 inches. The features that you will like in this lift kit are the following:
Suitable in all Honda CR-V AWD models
Its fitment is a direct fit
It allows you to use a maximum tire size of 245/65-17 on an 8-inch wide wheel with a +35 offset.
This kit can give a 1.5-inch lift to your stock Honda CR-V. Its front strut extensions are made of welded heavy-duty fabricated steel.
The kit includes trailing arm extensions, aluminum rear spring spacers, rear shock extensions, and rear cradle drop spacers.
The cost of this kit is only $449.95. If you want to see this lift kit, you can visit this webpage.
Here are some more lift kits you can consider if you are thinking of raising the ride height of your Honda CR-V:
1. 3-Inch Ultimate Lift Kit (2007 to 2016 Honda CR-V)
If you are looking for a lift kit that will raise your Honda CR-V 3 inches from the ground, you may want to consider the Ultimate Lift Kit for the 2007 to 2016 Honda CR-V. The price of this one is $649. You can view it here.
2. 4-Inch Ultimate Lift Kit (1997 to 2001 Honda CR-V)
If you have an old model CR-V from 1997 to 2001 and want to upgrade its looks and performance, you can consider this 4-Inch Ultimate Kit. The price of this one is a bit higher at $949 because of the higher lift that it can provide.
3. 3-Inch Ultimate Lift Kit (1997 to 2001 Honda CR-V)
If you only want a 3-inch lift for your Honda CR-V model year 1997 to 2001, you can consider this 3-inch Ultimate Lift Kit. It will cost you somewhere between $499 and $729 to buy this kit. The price varies because of the components included in the kit.
Here are some answers to the often-asked questions about lifted Honda CR-Vs. By reading these answers, you will be better informed about this subject:
Is It Possible to Lift a Honda CR-V?
It is certainly possible to raise a Honda CR-V from the ground. By doing so, you will raise the ride height of the vehicle. You will also improve its looks.
And if you do it with the right kit, you can make a lifted CRV a true off-roader, just like big trucks like Ford Rangers, Toyota Tacomas, Mitsubishi Pajeros, Nissan Frontiers, and others.
How Can You Lift a Honda CRV?
There are several ways you can lift a Honda CR-V. You can do a body lift, or you can do a suspension lift. If your budget is limited, you can only choose to do a body lift. It is simpler and easier to do.
If there’s no problem with your funds, go for a full suspension lift. It will be costlier, but you will not only improve the looks of your Honda CR-V. You can also make it more off-road capable.
How Much Will It Cost Me to Lift My Honda CR-V?
If you ask a professional to do it, you may spend between $800 and $12,000. But if you have the handyman skills and you already know how to do a decent job of it, you may only spend from $400 to $4,000.
Since this is not an easy job to do, you are advised to use a professional to do the lifting of your CR-V. A lot of things must be done precisely in this kind of job. If you don’t have the proper tools and equipment, you may be unable to do a good job.
Will My Driving Be Affected If I Use a Lift Kit?
Performing a lift kit to your Honda CR-V will require changes to its brake lines, driveshaft, and other car parts under the chassis. So, a suspension lift may improve your car’s handling. It could also negatively impact its handling. It all depends on the purpose of lifting your Honda CR-V.
Why Do I Have to Lift My Honda CR-V?
Many Honda CR-V owners lift their vehicles for a variety of reasons. Some lift their vehicles to raise them several inches from their present position. This gives them a view above the rest of the vehicles on the road. Perhaps a lifted CRV somehow gives them a feeling of being above the others.
Some CRV owners lift their vehicles to improve their appearance. Many CRV owners do it to make their vehicles more capable of handling off-road conditions.
In Closing: How to Lift a Honda CR-V
You have two options if you want to lift your stock CR-V. The first option is to do a body lifting procedure. Your second option is to perform a suspension lift. Body lifting is easier to do and is the cheaper route. Suspension lifting is a more complicated procedure and is also more expensive.
Lifting a stock Honda CR-V will make it look more aggressive. It will also improve its off-road performance. With the additional ride height, a lifted CR-V can go to places it was not able to go before.
The Honda CR-V is a light SUV but can look more aggressive by raising its ride height. A lifted Honda CR-V is tougher and more imposing.
