[rory]

Hi All,
I have just purchase a 2014 grand Vitara sport 5 door and was wondering if anyone has any advice to get it off road ready? I want to replace the alloys with off road wheels and tyres and was thinking about a lift kit and some underbody protection.
Is there anything I'm missing?
Also was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on the best tyres, wheels, lift, ect.
Really appreciate any help!
Cheers,
Rory

[alien]

YOu'll need to give your location and the type of tracks you plan to drive to get any sort of reasonable reply...

[Gwagensteve]

Underbody protection and tyres sure.
Lift kit is a double edged sword. You gain clearance but loose travel, I'm not sure the result is a capability win.

Steve.

[zooks4life]

The roof racks in the for sale section would have to be a must... think of the gained street cred!

[Marck]

I found the lift worthwhile the NGV is low and if you put underbody protection on it will be lower. Mine is anyway with the ironman underbody

Plus the car is a bit better on road I found with the dobinsons 40mm lift and the springs are substantially stiffer so it doesn't drag its ass quite as much when you put a bit of weight in it.

I am not sure if it is a result of the reduced travel but when on the beach I found I would never find the upper limit of the suspension travel but if I went over whoopties to quick the suspension would find full extension with quite a bang.

My solution was just drive slower.

Marc

[Gwagensteve]

In short yes. There is no way to increase total wheel travel, the lift only resets the rest position 40mm higher. That means 40mm less droop from ride height. Total travel actually decreases because the stiffer springs required to maintain the taller static height prevent the car from reaching the bumpstops in normal use.

We've had a bunch of NGV's with stock and aftermarket suspension to prove this in practice.

Steve.

[Marck]

So what are you breaking when you reach that limit of travel is it shocks / struts or is it bump stops ?

[Gwagensteve]

I don't know if the NGV has rebound stops- if not, then you're topping out the struts. They aren't designed for that.

[Marck]

Cool thanks I will be gentle on it.

ANd for the OP I would still look at lift you st can't do 70 all the way down the beach at Fraser you will have to slow down a little for the bumpy bits.

[rory]

Thanks for the replys!
I'm was hopping to mostly use it for beach trips/ medium off roaring - no rock crawling. What do you think the best sized tyres and wheels are? The 18inch alloys that are on in at the moment seem to have slim pickings when it comes to off-road rubber. Anyone have a good tyre/wheel combo they have tried out?
Haha, the roof rack is a given, need all the street cred I can get
I was thinking the lift kit for added clearance on the beach - I read one review that said the old emu one is good - you guys heard any different?

[Marck]

dobinsons ironman and EFS all seem to get a good rap. I went 40mm lift and a 245 70 16 tyre I picked the size because they are a super common size most manufactures will have an option for you. With wheels if you want a cheep option you can usually pick up second hand steel stock 16 inch sets for around the $100 on gumtree. Not super sexy but cheep enough you don't worry about damaging them.

[steve125]

You probably won't find any steel rims to suit the standard 45+ offset. You may find some early NGV steel rims on ebay but they are few and far between.

245/75 16 or 245/70 17 are the biggest tyre that will fit in the wheel well (lift doesn't make the wheel well any bigger).

Mickey Thompson MTZ/ATZ or BF Goodrich KM2 are good tyres but expensive, Federal Couragia MTs are good but cheap(er).

Get some underbody protection from Ironman.

A tow bar provides very good off-road protection for the rear end.

Last on the list would be lift. You'd be better off spending lift money on a good air compressor, some basic recovery gear, sexy roof racks, etc.

[Marck]

I have the Mickeys ATZ P3 and they are a loud tyre on the road even for an at I think.

[rory]

Thanks all, does anyone know if there is a max legal size for a tyre in qld?

[rory]

what would be some nice wheels to get, if I want something a bit nicer than old vitara 16 inch alloys? I'll keep an eye out for steel wheels on ebay. thanks for the advice

[steve125]

There's some steel rims in the For Sale section, $50. Freight from Melbourne wouldn't be too much.

This car has Allied wheels, 245/75 Coopers(?) and Dobinsons lift.

[Marck]

Rory total lift of 75 mm in Qld that includes lift ant tyres Max of 50 mm from either. Width I think if they are in the guard it all ok. I have seen 255 70 16 on a GV on the NGV Facebook group.

[rory]

Cool, thanks for the advice. Seems like 245 are the way to go for tyres. Can anyone recommend an all terrain tyre that is relatively quiet on the road and still pretty decent off. It will be mostly used for city driving.

[rory]

And highway

[fordem]

rory wrote:

what would be some nice wheels to get, if I want something a bit nicer than old vitara 16 inch alloys? I'll keep an eye out for steel wheels on ebay. thanks for the advice

Old Vitara 16" alloys? How old are we talking? Suzuki switched PCDs with the new Grand Vitara, so nothing prior to 2006 will fit.

[rory]

What do you guys think of these?

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/runcorn/ ... 1089929514

Cheers

[Chop]

Hate to tell ya! But those guys have no idea and theyre for the SQ series gv.

[fordem]

Did you notice the first picture is actually a 6 hole rim?

[rory]

haha thanks guys! definitely should have noticed the wrong number of holes!
Are there any tires available for the stock rims (18) that would be a good all rounder? would make my life easier compared to getting new wheels as well haha

Cheers

[Chop]

fordem wrote:

Did you notice the first picture is actually a 6 hole rim?

Yeah first photo is probably the rim manufacturers photo, but the 3rd is a 5 stud with the big centre hole or the free wheeling hubs.

[rory]

Just thought I'd give you all an update. Had trouble finding anything for the original rims except for a set General Grabbers. Wasn't a fan of not having a lot of choice so decided to grab a set of 16inch steel wheels off gumtree. I went with some hankook dynapro A/TM 245/70. Little bit of increased road noise from the last set - totally worth it. Got a compressor and tracks as well. Been to briby the last 2 weekends and it is a little champ. At 16psi they bulge out a little and it just floats on the sand
A couple of pics from last weekend. Took it to mount Mee as well - I think it might benifit from a lift.

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu22 ... ky5o8q.jpg

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu22 ... ltc6xs.jpg

[Chop]

Did you get any rubbing with the bigger tyres?

[rory]

Chop wrote:

Did you get any rubbing with the bigger tyres?

No Rubbing at all - even at full lock. They are tight though haha.
Was wondering if a 2005 onwards tow bar would fit my car?

Thanks heaps,
Rory

[Chop]

Thats good to hear, I'll be getting tyres for my new to me gv soon. I'm loving the economy of the diesel so much I don't want to lose it with every new modification .