[matt91112011]

Hi Guys,

I bought a SWB 1.6L EFI Vitara Hardtop last night. Picking it up on Saturday if the RWC goes smoothly. Yay!!!

The car cost me a lot less than I thought I was going to spend, so after insurance, and transfer of registration costs, I should have between $2500-$3500 to spend on it, depending on how silly I want to be with my money.

So first thing I'm going to do is a full service. But after that I really want to lift it and put tires on it. My old 4Runner had 33"s on it, I like big tires, lol. So whats a good size for the Vit, that will give me good offroad clearance. Will 33"s fit on a Vit?

What are the best lift kits around? I like the look of the Calmini 3" kit, but I've read on here that it looks like they're out of stock at the moment, so what are my other options?

Cheers guys

[Teracis]

As the boys here will no doubt say, get it, drive it for a bit and then see what it needs!

Also, go wheeling. I want to but have some repairs to do before I should go out, else I might lose brakes!

[matt91112011]

Lol, cheers for the quick reply. I've done plenty of 4WDing before, I want it to keep up with Patrols, Hiluxs and the like. So I know it need modifications, just wondering which ones are the best for this particullar car.

Thanks

[FullyZooked]

If your chasing 33's your gonna need atleast 3" bodylift along with 3" suspension lift. Then your gonna need new transfer case gears as low range will be way out of wack and a pig to drive.

For now I'd say get it, drive it and make sure nothing else needs to be done.

[matt91112011]

What happens with Low Range Gears? Do they get to short? 32"'s would be fine, what lift do the need?

Where can I source winch and rear bars?

Cheers

[Bucket]

I'm running 32s with a 2" BL and 3" suspension. You can do it on a lot less depending how much you wanna chop, and what offset rims you plan on running.

[matt91112011]

Thanks mate, I would like to set it up as well as possible with the money I have. Do you have the Calmini kit fitted to yours? Did you have to chop anything to fit the 32"s?

[royce]

for that sort of money and those size tyres I would say put some of it to a steel GV front diff, airlocker and Toyota CV swap

either that or buy a whole heap of driveshafts from ebay

[BlueSuzy]

Wouldnt it depend on what you drive?

Cruisers and pootrols can be easy to get around in a zook.

[neofitou]

I would go Steel Front Diff with an air locker, rear auto locker and 7.50x16s all round bumpstopped to fit, probably with some small coil spacers.
That should be around $3K and drive anything.
Or all the above without the front locker to save $$.

[Goldnomad]

royce wrote:

for that sort of money and those size tyres I would say put some of it to a steel GV front diff, airlocker and Toyota CV swap

either that or buy a whole heap of driveshafts from ebay

Hi Royce,
Can you enlighten me about the Toyota CV swap please? I take it they are stronger than the Suzi ones?

Robert

[tanshi]

take the stock vitara out and you will out drive the majority of patrol and hiluxs.

there is a heap of work to make a zook of any sort relyable on 33s and the majority of the time they dont need them to be better offroad than larger cars

[royce]

Goldnomad wrote:

royce wrote:

for that sort of money and those size tyres I would say put some of it to a steel GV front diff, airlocker and Toyota CV swap

either that or buy a whole heap of driveshafts from ebay

Hi Royce,
Can you enlighten me about the Toyota CV swap please? I take it they are stronger than the Suzi ones?

Robert

It basically is a kit that allows you to fit IFS hilux driveshafts, which are a lot bigger

there are a lot of pro and cons to it and it can degrade the on road handling a bit

if you google Hagen (I think) widening mod it should get you to a few American sites talking about it

I have fitted one and its not hard to do and if you scroll through forsale you will see a thread selling a calmini anvil and this setup, its already sold but it has good pics of it

[bristlenose2008]

If you decide to do a body lift, get a quote on the fitting costs first and make sure they include the cost of modding the rear bumper. The front is pretty easy if you have a bullbar rather than the factory stuff. The rear on mine is still not done, as the factory bumper was not fitted back on, and I could not make it fit. Not yet. Been looking for aftermarket rear bumpers but hardly anyone makes them and Calmini and LowRangeOffroad don't sell ones that fit straigh on with only 2" body lift.

With the 3" Calmini lift, and the 2" body lift, you will fit 32s if they aren't too wide. 33's if they aren't too wide would only fit if you cut. (not cutting my baby)

The Calmini 3" bodylift is a bitch to fit, according to 2 people that I know whom fitted it. It also becomes very noticable on the road and may get the unwanted attention. 6" inch total lift from memory needs engineering cert, which ain't cheap.

Good luck getting the Calmini kit any time soon. Dealing with Calmini directly is a nightmare, so I ended up not using them. Low Rance Off Road charger about $200 more for shipping than going direct to Calmini.

You will need tyres, and if you go 16" rims instead of 15" you will find more options and cheaper sizes. Also cheap second hand stuff as many never 4x4 use 16" rims.

The rims I am considering are 16 x 7 - 16 x 7.5 and tyres 31" x 10" - 32" x 10.5

[matt91112011]

After giving it much thought over the weekend, I think I might go with the Calmini 3" Suspension Lift, then i'll get a body lift off one of the blokes on here, and maybe some coil spacers if I need them to fit 33" on. I'll also be getting some 15x7 sunnies, with a negative 20 offset to throw tyre out from the body as far as possible.

What width can I run the 33"s at? I was thinking maybe 265 to 285?

Can I fit coil spacers on top of the calmini lift, because if I need I will?

I'll be fitting everything myself. Should be a good way to learn my way around the car haha.

Cheers

[joel]

i reckon u should spend ya $$$ on an engine swap for my stockman.

[matt91112011]

Lol, if I have any left over I promise i'll send it your way

[Joe]

For 33s you will need 15x8 rims and im pretty sure you wont fit coil spacers in with the calmini springs

[stocker]

why such big tyres... go 31's... way more flex

[mr_ron]

Can I just as why your after 33's? Too look tough or for diff clearance?..

If its for the later, you have to remeber Suzy diffs are 1/3 the size of a Pootroll and landcruiser. so basicly what I'm saying is.. the need for 33's is kind of a mute point.. My 30" muddies on my sierra(I know your in a vit tho) give me as much diff clearance as a patrol running 33's..

I'd be looking at giving it a 3" calmini lift, Run some 30/31's add lockers of some type, and some bar work to keep your body straight, a good service.. youll be surprised how often your little vit will show up the 'big' boys.

Just my 2 cents

Ron

[atari4x4]

stocker wrote:

why such big tyres... go 31's... way more flex

[matt91112011]

Yeah I ran 33"s on my 4Runner for the diff clearance, I just figure the more clearance I can get the better, also i'd like it to look tough aswell, nothing wrong with a good looking rig. I'd definetly go 32"s if it meant a lot less trouble. I'd like some bar work, but i'd prefer the comp winch bars, does anyone know of any places that do custom work, or bars that look custom?

Cheers

[mr_ron]

Im not to familiar but maybe as the boys at 4WD Connections in Eltham aboout where to get some bars fab'd up?

oh yeh, You should throw up some pics and a build thread of your Suzy in the members rides also

Ron

[kenn]

Just put a pair of air lockers in it and some 30" all terrain's if you only want to drive around with pootrols and rollux's.

[BlueSuzy]

atari4x4 wrote:

stocker wrote:

why such big tyres... go 31's... way more flex

27's give way more flex

[SierraDan]

BlueSuzy wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

stocker wrote:

why such big tyres... go 31's... way more flex

27's give way more flex

Just run some rubber bands on the 15" rim, even better!

[neofitou]

750x16s are about 32" and fit without much work due to fitting under the guards..

[matt91112011]

Got my zook!!!

So excited!!! I'll post photos tonight if I get a chance

Has anyone had any experience with mph headers off eBay? They're $200 so I'm thinking of getting some.

Cheers
Matty

[neofitou]

Start a build thread. let see it!

MPH are pretty good. AU made Rod I think his name is.

[matt91112011]

Sorry guys had no time to take photos last night but I'll try and get some today.

I spoke to the guy at Low Range Offroad about the Calmini 6" kit. He said he doesn't like selling it becuase you can only align the steering up 3"s. So what I'm asking you guys is, are there any modifications I can make so that the steering will work?

What are my other more extreme suspension options? Are there any SAS conversions on the market for these? I've realized that to get the lift I want I may need to spend more money than first anticipated, so I can spend up to 5k but I'd prefer less is possible.

Also are there any places that sell the rear lights for Vitara's new? Also a new center console would be nice.

Cheers