[Tassierra]

Ive just got a 1999 grand vitara and am looking at some modifications i can do to it. e.g suspension lift, larger tyres, aftermarket rims ( dont like the look of the stock ones)

Ive been looking at suspension lifts for the last few days and have come across several....

the calmini 2.5 suspension lift http://www.puresuzuki.com/2.5%20Lift.htm

dobinson Grand Vitara Suspension kit 40mm from outdoorauto4x4.... http://www.outdoorauto4x4.com/p/989402/ ... 40mm-.html

iron man suspension for $880... http://www.ironmandealer.com.au/grandvitara.htm

old man emu suspension http://www.arb.com.au/products/old-man- ... uspension/

does anyone have these or any other suspension lifts fitted to there gv and how do they ride ?

ive read on a few sites that cause of independent front suspension a lift of more than 2 inches may need other modifications aswell ?

im not after a huge lift because i wont be doing any serious 4wding, just the normal driving around the bush. i just want the extra lift so im not so nervous heading out into the bush

[Joe]

G'day mate i have Dobinson suspension in both my GV's and am very happy with them i ordered mine through Dank viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20219
There isn't really any choice in after market rims nothing but stock rims will clear the front brakes
Any more then 50mm of lift and you should look at getting front diff drop brackets http://www.outdoorauto4x4.com/p/602850/ ... 98-05.html and a panhard relocation bracket http://www.outdoorauto4x4.com/p/813653/ ... acket.html

[klutched]

Check out jimnybits.co.uk. They have a 2 and 3 inch lift kit which seemed to be pretty good, the springs are soft though so not ideal for towing but nice and flexy

If you'll be thinking about upgading BIG in the future go the 2.5" calmini kit. It will make runing 31s/32s a bit easier, less cutting and scrubbing.

Personally Im running 2" body lift, 2" coil spacers soon to be 3" jimnybits coils, jimnybits diff drops rollin on 32" Summit Mudhogs.
Diff drops arent nessecary for 2" lift. I had no problems with cvs even with 32s, but if you have an auto upgrade the alloy front diff to a steel one.

As for rims, I know 16x7 -13 sunraysias by King fit with trimming to the front calipers. They will make your tyres stick out of the guards a tad.

[Tassierra]

thanks for the info fella's

the only thing i'll be towing is a quad bike on a trailer but that wont be very often, so towing ride wont be much of a problem.

whats the largest tyre i can run without cutting and scrubbing with a 2 inch lift ?

[klutched]

Should be ok to to with jimnybits 3" kit then (raises around 2.5") can pick it up around $930 delivered with coils, procomp shock, trail master struts, diff drop brackets and panhard relocator.

Sus out the dobs kit from dank aswell. Lots of people run it in their gvs and are really happy with it.

I didnt need to cut with my 225/75r16 (28s) kuhmo at's. Next step up would be a 245/75r16 (30") which i believe you need minor trimming? Then up to 31s/32s you need a fair bit of trimming.

[Tassierra]

ok thanks. i pm'd dank and am looking into the dobs kit.

I was looking at putting 30s on eventually as i got a set of 5 new kuhmo at's for $750 offered to me

[klutched]

Wow $750 is bargain. I paid $900 for 4 kl61 ats in a 225/75r16. They're good tyres for road and rock use, they go alright in mud but just clog really fast.

Whatever suspension kit you buy make sure you get a panhard relocator like Joe said, it makes horrible noise if you run long shock in the rear. If you search my thread or go on my photobucket you can see a video flexing down a track and can hear it. That's with 2" lift and holden camira shocks.

[MacDaddy]

Go the GV's !
Just wondering, what do you expect/want from the mods, so we can give you more help for the mods you may need... is this still going to be your daily, with weekend 4wheelin, is it going to be purely for off road use, are you going to do moderate 4wheelin, or go for the hard stuff ?
Do you want engine performance upgrades as well, to get more power and economy ?
What is your budget for mods ?

[Tassierra]

klutched wrote:

Wow $750 is bargain. I paid $900 for 4 kl61 ats in a 225/75r16. They're good tyres for road and rock use, they go alright in mud but just clog really fast.

Whatever suspension kit you buy make sure you get a panhard relocator like Joe said, it makes horrible noise if you run long shock in the rear. If you search my thread or go on my photobucket you can see a video flexing down a track and can hear it. That's with 2" lift and holden camira shocks.

thats what i thought, couldnt pass up the offer i have a set of them on my sierra and also found they clog really fast.

ok i'll have a look at your thread.

MacDaddy wrote:

Go the GV's !
Just wondering, what do you expect/want from the mods, so we can give you more help for the mods you may need... is this still going to be your daily, with weekend 4wheelin, is it going to be purely for off road use, are you going to do moderate 4wheelin, or go for the hard stuff ?
Do you want engine performance upgrades as well, to get more power and economy ?
What is your budget for mods ?

its going to be my daily driver, with a bit of moderate 4 wheeling every now and then on weekends. i havent looked into engine performance upgrades yet but am open to any suggestions i have a budget of $3000 that ive saved up but am looking at selling my boat so i have a little extra coin to go towards it.

[klutched]

$3k go jimnybits 3" kit and snorkel ($1250 deliverd), tyres ($750) then you have $1000 to play around with Maybe put a air or auto locker up front?? Will be unstoppable and maybe a winch bar from Joeblow Think he has 1 left.

If you wanna go performance upgrades go 2.25" or 2.5" cat back exhaust with extractors probably set you back around the $1000 all up. For a daily probably go the 2.25" because apparently the V6's with a 2.5" are really loud when you open em up.

[Tassierra]

klutched wrote:

$3k go jimnybits 3" kit and snorkel ($1250 deliverd), tyres ($750) then you have $1000 to play around with Maybe put a air or auto locker up front?? Will be unstoppable and maybe a winch bar from Joeblow Think he has 1 left.

If you wanna go performance upgrades go 2.25" or 2.5" cat back exhaust with extractors probably set you back around the $1000 all up. For a daily probably go the 2.25" because apparently the V6's with a 2.5" are really loud when you open em up.

sounds like a good plan i pm'd joeblow and am looking at getting the winchbar off him.

ive been having a quick look at aftermarket rims. im not sure about the offset of the stock rims but i think the pcd is 5x139.7 ? if so in theory these rims from procomp should fit... hopefully

these are 16x8 with an offset +0 and 5x139 stud pattern...


the next two are also 16x8 with an offset +0 and 5x139 stud pattern...





would they fit ? i know that stock rims are supposed to be the only ones that will clear the front brakes but ive seen other gv's driving around with aftermarket rims.

by the way heres the link to where i found the rims incase anyone is interested http://www.tech9tyres.com.au/wheels/sea ... y_group_7=

[klutched]

The 2nd and 3rd MIGHT fit, but you'll most likely definitely need trimming. Try find a negative offset rim around -13, that's all I could fit on with the sunraysias.

[Joe]

klutched wrote:

Try find a negative offset rim around -13, that's all I could fit on with the sunraysias.

Did you actually have them on your car and they cleared the brakes?

[klutched]

Yeah, I had a 16x7 -13 King sunraysia on my RH Front... It had to be ground back a bit though.

[atari4x4]

you left the caliper grind bit out though

klutched, how new are you front pads?

[klutched]

Read my second last post need trimming aka grinding :p

Um have about 7k on em why?

[atari4x4]

trimming usually refers to guard/tyre rubbage.

[Joe]

klutched wrote:

Um have about 7k on em why?

Brake pads will make a difference to how close the calliper will be to the rim

[MacDaddy]

klutched wrote:

If you wanna go performance upgrades go 2.25" or 2.5" cat back exhaust with extractors probably set you back around the $1000 all up. For a daily probably go the 2.25" because apparently the V6's with a 2.5" are really loud when you open em up.

+1 for the exhaust upgrade, the V6 really loves a better flowing exhaust... i got the Y joint back done, hiflo cat, hiflo muffler, and 2.25in pipe... add a snorkel into that, and the V6 really gets a decent performance increase, and better economy, $500 for the exhaust, $300 for the snorkel... and if you like a bit a of noise from the tail pipe, the V6 sounds awesome under power...

[Tassierra]

MacDaddy wrote:

+1 for the exhaust upgrade, the V6 really loves a better flowing exhaust... i got the Y joint back done, hiflo cat, hiflo muffler, and 2.25in pipe... add a snorkel into that, and the V6 really gets a decent performance increase, and better economy, $500 for the exhaust, $300 for the snorkel... and if you like a bit a of noise from the tail pipe, the V6 sounds awesome under power...

added power sounds good but added economy sounds even better

klutched wrote:

The 2nd and 3rd MIGHT fit, but you'll most likely definitely need trimming. Try find a negative offset rim around -13, that's all I could fit on with the sunraysias.

ok thanks for that. thought i better ask before i went and bought some.