We know this has been asked before and we are following the thread but just thought we would put this out there to see if there were any fresh ideas:

Two of us are taking a 1988 mk 2 polo 16000miles to Mongolia and then back to the UK. The terrain out there will really be terrible so we are doing everything we can to improve the car.
Our main concern is our ride height, we need to raise the car as much as possible for as little as possible. Alternatively we would also like the best option (probably the most costly) so that we can pursue it through some companies or whatever
Any other advice about offroading, maintenance, repairs , expedition driving etc would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Robert and Jack

put the shell onto a land rover defender chassis probs have tk shorten the chassis but would be cool plus i imagen you could use a better engine than the mk2 engind

Edited 14 February, 201412 yr by pascoe92

so the advice so far has been get a defender and attach a vw badge haha. That is looking like a possibility, we would prefer to not to change the chassis, suspension is ok but the chassis would be extremely complicated but it might be our only option later on. we really are not that experienced/ or have the tools for that. The main thing is also cost, so if anyone knows of anyone who has stripped out there old golf springs to lower it etc and we could get them from them that would be ideal.

Thanks for the advice though.

Send a pm to giorgiogt on this forum as he has done the mongol rally and will be able to tell you what to expect and what you need to do.

The suspesnion hasnt really got much scope to be lifted very high, you would more than likely have to rebuild the suspension struts with a seelve of some sort to extend the length - its important to keep the steering arm/spring arrangement where it is due to the chassis's limited space in the steering hole through the body.

if you do make this happen then also think about brake lines- they will be to short and will have to be extended front and back.

Driveshaft angles i dont think there will be a concern as people run there cars lower at a larger difference to how much higher you will be able to make it.

The anti roll bar may need to be extended as this is designed for a very small operating range unless you lowered the mountings of it which will mess up how it drives.

- wrong car your using if you want to do it if I'm honest!

I personally would get ahold of a mk2 golf - maybe even a syncro and look at how volkswagen themselves cretade the golf country!

Thanks very much KiZ

id jack it up to see how much the shocker extends then find longer and/or stiffer springs, maybe the fronts off a caddy pick up and the rears off a mk3 golf or something, rally tyres will be a big profile so you will get a bit off lift from them alone, also a limited slip diff will greatly help you get unstuck

thanks very much, looking into those now. did you suggest the caddy suspension as it is design to take more load and has higher ground clearance?

i'm not the most technical person here but my other car is a caddy and has really good ground clearance and she weighs nearly 2 tonnes, I'm sure theyll hold a polo nice and high rears aren't springs tho.

Yeah, youl have to look into wheather it physicaly fits tho

yes i have been looking at the caddy parts, seen a few knocking around on ebay. i was told caddy for the front and mk3 golf for the rear suspension. but you guys are right, i need to check everything fits before buying, but i would assume the caddy parts will be ok.

Afternoon,

 

I will be doing the Mongol Rally in a mk3 this year and am looking to raise the suspension as well. How did you get on raising the suspension when you went? 

Thanks