[GreaseMonkey]

Hey fellas,

Im currently in the market for purchasing a new 4by,
After owning my old cruiser for a few months now im noticing things are starting to break (turbo manifolds, exhaust holes etc)
Also at 16 years of age, on my P's and apprenticeship money is tight.

So listen, a mate of mine has a vitara in his shed (been sitting for a year) he said i could have for $1000

Heres the specs(as far as i know): 1997 vitara swb hardtop with a 2L engine in it (150xxx klms on it)

There are a few things i was hoping a few experts could share some light on,

I have been in some of my mates zooks and they are slooooww! but they have 1.3L engines (i think)
I cant help going slow it annoys me.

Im only looking at going a moderate lift: say 3-5 inches?
But want to run probably 31's or 33's

Here are the questions:
-Does this car have grunt?
-What is part availability like?
-And lastly are there any weaknesses?

Cheers fellas,

[ninjamoses]

97 SWB will be a SV420 Vitara mate. I'm probably a little biased but I reckon they were the best of the series.
$1000 for one with 150,000km is ridiculously cheap even for mates rates. If it isn't rooted I'd snap it up for sure.

It will have the J20A 4 cylinder motor in it, puts out around 92 or 96kw from memory. Not slow by any means.
Diffs & suspension are compatible with earlier Vits. Bodywork obviously looks the same but the wider chassis on them means bullbars etc are unique.

31s will be your best bet, although they run 16" rims on them standard so you will most likely be looking at the metric equivelent (265/70/16 or 245/75/16).
Cheap & cheerful lift would be 2" suspension and 2" body lift. The 3" calmini lifts are pretty popular also.

[GreaseMonkey]

Ah ok, cheers for the info mate. Going to buy tomorrow will try get a few pics!

Do I need to correct any gearing to fit some big tyres? And why not 33's?

My uncle owns a welding company so bullbar, rock sliders, rear bar and maybe side rails that go over the flares. Is on the list.
I have tracked down suspension and body lift already aswell as a snorkel!

But what are it's weaknesses so I can start planning? ( skid plates non checker plate of course? )

[ninjamoses]

33's will be a nightmare for guard clearance and for the driveline (you'll be snapping axles and CVs like twigs). Far better off sticking to 31's and locking the diffs if you need more offroad ability.

You'll want diff gears to fix the gearing. 5.12 sets are cheap & easy enough to find and will bring final drive ratio back to almost standard with the 31s on it.

You will need a snorkel made for SV models as the airbox is on the drivers side compared to earlier vits which had them on the passenger side.

CV joints are probably the biggest weakness, but driving style can certainly help avoid that. Do a search for 'stubby mod' which allows you to use a bolt-in passenger side CV on the drivers side also.

There are quite a few good build threads of SV Vitaras on here that have a wealth of information - just search the rigs section for SV420. Ninjamoses (ie. me ), Stuey and Atari4x4 are the main ones that come to mind.

[GreaseMonkey]

losfer wrote:

Suzuki Grand Vitara

Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.6 i 96 cv 5.125:1 1.816 / 1.00

Is the diff out of this Grand Vitara the steel rear diff with 5.12's?

Ok, just going to run some 31's A/T''s on sunnraysia's (after i source the diff)

[jdk81]

All rear diffs are steel.

The steel comment refers to the front diff.
Vitaras are alloy and some of the gvs are alloy.
The steel fronts are found in 2.5l v6 manual gv (diff ratio 4.3)and post 2003 gvs iirc.
some xl7 may have them, but many have a completely different style of diff.

[GreaseMonkey]

ah ok, because i only want to correct my speedo on the highway, and sorta get all the power back to feeling like a stocker.

So I will just have to source a rear diff ring and pinion from some 5.12's
But are the sierra rear diff ring and pinion a different size? heard of the vitara being larger

Am i able to just leave the front diff alone, and just chuck a skid plate under her.
Do i have to correct both gearing on the front and the rear?

[jdk81]

Correct for both, big trouble if you engage 4wd.

You can bolt in a complete alloy front 5.12 3rd member (from a vit variant)
and bolt in a complete 5.12 rear 3rd member.(from a vit variant, rear links will determine what rear 3rd member you need)

Youll need some mechanical.compassion on the front diff

Sierra stuff is a no go
sierra ratios arent what you want.
they are the wrong size for the rear
sierra carrier wont bolt up to the alloy and clear the x-member.

[GreaseMonkey]

Ok, going to wreckers tomorrow to check out a few vitara's.

So i should be looking for both diffs from one of these cars:

Year Doors Engine Transmission Diff Ratio
89-95 2 1.6L TBI 5 speed man. 5.125
92-98 4 1.6L MPFI 5 speed man. 5.125
94-98 2 1.6L MPFI 5 speed man. 5.125

If i cant pick up both diffs from the same car, would i be able to get the rear from one vehicle and the front from another vehicle?

[GreaseMonkey]

Ok just understood what you wrote.

3rd member= middle of diff which holds everything (ring pinion etc)?

So would i be able to just unblot centre and attach new centre? Is that what you are saying? sorry little confused.

[atari4x4]

you sound like that bowdown character & all his other user names.

[jdk81]

For all intents and purposes diff nomenclature is best defined by gwagensteve.

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