HIGH LIFTER SUSPENSION TEST
Front & rear kits for more ground clearance
By the staff of Dirt Wheels
HIGH LIFTER SUSPENSION TEST
High Lifter is well-known in the industry for doing what the name implies—lifting ATVs and UTVs through suspension and steering products that they create. However, they know that not everyone wants to jack up their ride to tackle mud holes. Many want to keep their machines low but gain more ground clearance. We have a 2018 Scrambler 850 that we are upgrading, and we picked up sets of High Lifter’s Max Clearance front and rear control and A-arm kits.
FRONT KIT ($199.95)
High Lifter claims that their front lower control arm Max Clearance kit adds 2 inches more clearance over the stock arms. They are spot-on. HL built the arms out of 1 1/16-inch x .120-wall steel DOM tubing, which is stronger and more durable than stock. They also incorporated stronger gusseting to retain the integrity with the clearance bends. The factory axles and geometries work perfectly with the control arms so you don’t have to upgrade other parts to run this kit.
HIGH LIFTER SUSPENSION TEST
The control arms and grease fittings come in the kit. You will have to transfer the ball joints and bushings from your old arms to the new ones. We only recommend this if your ATV is still new. If it is older or well-used, we suggest you order new ball joints and a bushing kit. High Lifter does offer ball joints for their kit. Changing out the control arm mounting bolts is also a great practice.
REAR KIT ($379.95)
The rear kit is just as well-made out of 1.25-inch DOM tubing. The lower A-arms have the shock and sway bar mounting locations, and the kit also comes with upper arms as well. This rear Max Clearance kit provides an inch more clearance over stock, and it also has a longer rake of 1.5 inches rearward. High Lifter claims that the rear kit allows you to run up to 29-inch tires with some plastic trimming required.
HIGH LIFTER SUSPENSION TEST
Like the front kit, this one works with stock axles but needs some replacement bushing components. Both front and rear Max Clearance setups come in either black or red.
IT REALLY WORKS
We constantly challenge the performance of all the machines we obtain. The Polaris Scrambler is one of our favorite 4×4 machines because it is sporty, easy to ride and handles very well. We sent it through deep ruts, over rocks and into muddy situations. After installing the HL Max Clearance kits, we noticed that the quad acted differently.
The rearward rake increase helped it ride smoother at faster speeds, but it took a little bit to get used to. We can’t help but feel that a front rake might have been a little better, but that would have hindered the turning of the machine far more. The rake increase isn’t long enough to drastically change the handling characteristics, but it helps in the higher speed and rougher riding areas, and that’s a plus.
As far as the clearance increase goes, we love it. The Scrambler drags far less in deep ruts than before, which keeps our speeds up. When your machine doesn’t drag or catch trail debris, it is less taxing on its parts. High Lifter makes many different products for ATVs and UTVs, so go check out their gear at www.highlifter.com!
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