[inbits]

Thought id start a post for people to post their findings while playing with vitara suspension

I pulled one of my front springs out of my 2 litre v6 lwb vitara and compared it to the front gv springs and they were 30mm longer and same dia wire
So i fit one up and it gave 30mm lift up front.

The gv front springs also will fit in the rear but are very stiff maybe good for carrying alot of weight they gave 60mm lift.

When changing the passenger side front spring unbolt the cv from the diff it will make life alot easier and save you from damaging the cv joint.

So everyone post up your finding

inbits

[royce]

how many coils on each from spring?

[inbits]

The gv spring is on the top standard v6 vitara on the bottom

[inbits]

Could someone also explain what the struts topping out actually means and how much lift can be had with stock struts and will a strut top flip compensate for the lift?

[Red89]

This may be of some use to you.

Coil spring rate calculator

[DarkHorse]

Struts topping out happens when the springs make the car sit so high that there is no more travel in the strut (it's pretty much fully extended at normal ride-height) - so if you drop a wheel off a rock or gutter or whatever there is no down-travel available in the strut, and the weight of the wheel etc is all on the strut limits - not good for it.

Strut mount flip will compensate for a little of this, but at the expense of equivalent up-travel.


As for my experience - GV Tough Dog springs and shocks in the rear of a LWB 1.6 lifts it nearly 90mm above where the tired old original stuff sat. Ride is quite firm, but bearable, and gets better with a bit of weight in the back.

[tombutt]

mate strut top flip would be pretty good for urs with 30mm lift if you didnt want to go new struts and it wont stop any more up travel ie the struts will have the same amount of travel just pushing this travel 30mm futher down

i have oda springs front and rear the rears are fine the fronts rubb on the bump stop and give me the shits they ride fine but wouldnt recommend them ive also got dobison struts with the strut top flip and find them alright if not a little soft. in the rear ive got bombadore shocks but wouldnt recommend them to a person with a lwb v6 as i find them a tad soft also and would personally prefer a stiff shock.

and leave your front sway bar on if you have a v6 with that set up it handles like a boat

[inbits]

DarkHorse wrote:

Struts topping out happens when the springs make the car sit so high that there is no more travel in the strut (it's pretty much fully extended at normal ride-height) - so if you drop a wheel off a rock or gutter or whatever there is no down-travel available in the strut, and the weight of the wheel etc is all on the strut limits - not good for it.

Strut mount flip will compensate for a little of this, but at the expense of equivalent up-travel.

As for my experience - GV Tough Dog springs and shocks in the rear of a LWB 1.6 lifts it nearly 90mm above where the tired old original stuff sat. Ride is quite firm, but bearable, and gets better with a bit of weight in the back.

What sort of lift were these springs when sold as gv springs?

tombutt wrote:

mate strut top flip would be pretty good for urs with 30mm lift if you didnt want to go new struts and it wont stop any more up travel ie the struts will have the same amount of travel just pushing this travel 30mm futher down

i have oda springs front and rear the rears are fine the fronts rubb on the bump stop and give me the shits they ride fine but wouldnt recommend them ive also got dobison struts with the strut top flip and find them alright if not a little soft. in the rear ive got bombadore shocks but wouldnt recommend them to a person with a lwb v6 as i find them a tad soft also and would personally prefer a stiff shock.

and leave your front sway bar on if you have a v6 with that set up it handles like a boat

I would have ever removed the sway bar. When under the car it did npt get much more travel when i removed it. to sacrifice the onroad handling for the little gain in travel isnt worth it IMO.


This is all good info keep the tech coming it will help all the vitara noobs
Anyone else have combos that have and havent worked for them?

[DarkHorse]

Whatever the Tough Dog GV stuff is - probably 35-40mm over GV standard?

Oh, and for the sake of it, OME struts and springs up front, plus 20mm spacers to even out ride height with the rears. Ride was a little choppy until winch went on - the extra weight settled them into a nice working range.

[banga]

i have lifted kings in my only cause i could get them at an awesome price of $188 for all 4 of them they are the exact same length as the standard coils but casue a stiffer coil give about 40mm lift. they are not to bad a bit stiff the front is solid as a rock and doesnt really move at all. i run vt commo shockies in the rear the flex i get out of it is awesome the springs end up being about 40mm or so to short and needed clamps so they would stay in da right place. havent got around to flipping my struts yet.

[eXc450]

I tried 180sx/Silvia springs in the rear on my LWB 94 and it lowered it. Apparently it works well for SWB though.

[inbits]

I looked into the 180 coils but they were 20 mm to short compared to my stock ones (lwb) so I gave them miss

[shandy92]

i run the 180sx springs in my swb vit, i got about 50-60mm lift. but the main advantage was that they are a longer spring so you can run longer shocks. i run the commo shock and are very happy with them.

[inbits]

i replaced the other front spring with the longer gv one today so i decided to do a how to on changing springs.

and before anyone says it yes i know i have a split cv boot

[inbits]

more

[inbits]

and more

[inbits]

almost done

[inbits]

If you have done a lift the next thing to do is take it for a wheel alignment

I went for a drive and the front gv springs in the v6 vit ride exactly the same very happy with them and now its lifted

hope this helps some people out

[flatcat_auz]

I run Dobinsons Spring and Bilsteins shocks in an 04gv (air bag fitted). Gained about 25mm in lift.
http://www.dobinsonsprings.com/pdf/SUZ-57.pdf

[steak_knife]

You need a new Cv boot to..

[tombutt]

well with the 2.5 lifted springs and pedders camber bolts my car is still at +1 camber on the front end

[inbits]

steak_knife wrote:

You need a new Cv boot to..

inbits wrote:

i replaced the other front spring with the longer gv one today so i decided to do a how to on changing springs.

and before anyone says it yes i know i have a split cv boot

[inbits]

tombutt wrote:

well with the 2.5 lifted springs and pedders camber bolts my car is still at +1 camber on the front end

i dont know much about camber etc but is that bad what can correct this if you already have camber bolts

[DarkHorse]

+1 isn't too bad. I've got camber bolts in mine too, and still toeing in a bit. Means the tyres will wear slightly faster on the outsides, but not enough to be a problem.

[SiKnEsS]

so, with the guys running the 180sx coils in the rear of there swb vits....wat r u running in the front to give the equivalent lift? also, wat are the rear shocks u are running? vr/vs commodore sedan or wagon? sorry for the newby q's

[tombutt]

could fix the camber with anoter camber bolt in the bottom hole but as its pretty close i props wont bother

[shandy92]

SiKnEsS wrote:

so, with the guys running the 180sx coils in the rear of there swb vits....wat r u running in the front to give the equivalent lift? also, wat are the rear shocks u are running? vr/vs commodore sedan or wagon? sorry for the newby q's

hey mate,

atm i havnt sorted the front yet, still running stock struts and springs. i can do that because i didnt gain that much lift (a bit over 30mm) so its not on to much of an angle. it just depends on the condition of the springs you get, but i would highly recommend it. im not 100% sure on the shocks that im running i think they were vt (open length of 560mm). i didnt gain much lift but the length in the spring makes up the difference. long spring equals long shock.

i had a big issue with the vit bolt being to small for the commo shock, ended up cutting the vit bush and sleeve off and cutting the commo stuff off, then welding the vit bush etc to the commo shock. be very careful if you do this as its a gas shock, and gas and heat dont mix well.

im just going to get Dobinsons struts and coils combined for $556. (Coils are $181 and Struts $375)

or you can go OME: 40mm lifted $242 for the springs, 40mm extended struts $454 = total $696

both give same lift, and same length struts. only difference is ride quality.

hope this helps.
Mitch

[Chop]

shandy92 wrote:

SiKnEsS wrote:

so, with the guys running the 180sx coils in the rear of there swb vits....wat r u running in the front to give the equivalent lift? also, wat are the rear shocks u are running? vr/vs commodore sedan or wagon? sorry for the newby q's

hey mate,

atm i havnt sorted the front yet, still running stock struts and springs. i can do that because i didnt gain that much lift (a bit over 30mm) so its not on to much of an angle. it just depends on the condition of the springs you get, but i would highly recommend it. im not 100% sure on the shocks that im running i think they were vt (open length of 560mm). i didnt gain much lift but the length in the spring makes up the difference. long spring equals long shock.

i had a big issue with the vit bolt being to small for the commo shock, ended up cutting the vit bush and sleeve off and cutting the commo stuff off, then welding the vit bush etc to the commo shock. be very careful if you do this as its a gas shock, and gas and heat dont mix well.

im just going to get Dobinsons struts and coils combined for $556. (Coils are $181 and Struts $375)

or you can go OME: 40mm lifted $242 for the springs, 40mm extended struts $454 = total $696

both give same lift, and same length struts. only difference is ride quality.

hope this helps.
Mitch

Use a press to push out the commodore bushes and press in the vit bush then put the bigger sleeve for the vit bolt back in the vit bush.

Chop

[Built4thrashing]

Has anyone checked the length of XL7 front and rear springs to see how much longer they are over a stock V6 GV spring? This may be another option if chasing more lift.


B4T

[inbits]

I think the xl7 springs would be fairly stiff in a normal vitara maybe the fronts would be ok in a v6 vitara though xl7's are pretty big, but if anyone has some post up the measurements.