Lifted Vitara/Grand Vitara thread

VK-Sportsman · Postby **VK-Sportsman** » October 26th, 2013, 11:54 pm

Could have posted this in the Suzuki forum, but I thought here would be better since the off roading guys are on here.

This is for the:
Gen 1 Vitara/Escudo, (89-98*)
Gen 2 Vitara/Grand Vitara (98-05*)
Gen 3 Grand Vitara (05+*)

For all zuki ppl with these vehicles that need information about lifting, or have already lifted.

Some common questions;

What lift kit works?......Calmini?... Old Man Emu? etc?

What size tires can I use?

What shocks fit?

Do I need longer struts?

CV angle?...diff drop brackets?

Camber issues after lift kit?.....Camber bolts?

.......... 8-)

zaria · Postby **zaria** » October 27th, 2013, 8:33 pm

up to gen 2 was easy.
I had gen 3 and proper lift was difficult.Every kit available only lifted by extending front shock and spring,so this was limited to cv angle.
maybe now they have aftermarket cv which can handle more extreme.
Permanent 4 wheel drive was a bummer too.

rottedv · Postby **rottedv** » October 28th, 2013, 2:40 pm

3stagevtec, you are required in this thread. Lol

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » October 29th, 2013, 4:06 am

Where do I begin!? lol..

Gen 1 and 2 can accept up to a 2.5" suspension lift in front reliably. Any more and you run out of travel on the struts, steering arms, axles etc.. To get that 2.5" lift, a diff drop, strut spacer (or longer struts) and taller coils will be required. The rear suspension can accept up to a 3.5" suspension lift (or even more) due to it's simple 5 link setup.

Calmini makes a complete suspension system for these vehicles but the kit has flaws in the design. The struts calmini include are rubbish and will break on you (KYB Premium struts are the way to go or OME if you have the cash), their control arms will bend over time and become a pain to install / remove and the polyurethane bushings they provide will fail quickly as well. The front springs they provide has a very high spring rate and are more suited to the heavier V6 models.

Best way to lift them is to build a custom lift via OME coil springs + spring spacers, strut spacers (keeping the factory struts), extended or aftermarket longer rear shocks and diff drop brackets. A 2" body lift is also recommended for extra body clearance.

Camber bolts will be required if you keep the factory control arms. Stock gearing on the 1.6 and 2.0 engine models will handle up to 31" tyres for off road use. Speaking of Off Road tyres, I just happen to have a set with rims for sale... [/shameless plug]

The one main flaw on these vehicles is the weak front differential. I will rant for days when it comes to this.. :roll:

Suzuki did fix the fail points in the front differential though and the stronger reinforced Aluminium front diff can be found on the 2003 - 2005 models.. If you plan to do any serious off roading, try to source that diff!!

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » October 29th, 2013, 4:30 am

Old weak front differential design.. Note only one rib is running down the right side of the aluminium diff.

Newer much stronger design. There are 3 ribs in this diff.

If you can Aluminium weld, the old diff could be reinforced quite easily and should cost a lot less..

____________________________________________________________________

This is my 2nd gen Grand Vitara running the Calmini 2.5" suspension system.

In this vid I swapped out the calmini front coils for OMEs. Also running KYB Premium struts. Tyres are 225/75R16 BFG MTs. The suspension works brilliantly and I had excellent control over the vehicle on the course. Because of the IFS design and flexible suspension, I was able to climb the hill without use of any traction aids.

For comparison, this is the vehicle in stock form.. barely able to make it down this hill without dragging.. :lol:

Looks drop low in that vid yes! :lol:

rottedv · Postby **rottedv** » October 29th, 2013, 5:29 am

So wait. Yuh not mentioning yuh recent mods with this vit. You know its more reliable now

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » October 29th, 2013, 9:54 am

rottedv wrote:So wait. Yuh not mentioning yuh recent mods with this vit. You know its more reliable now

Those will stay off the forums for now... :lol:

VK-Sportsman · Postby **VK-Sportsman** » October 30th, 2013, 1:22 am

@ 3stagevtec, good info there!........ is it OME962's you had on?

For the Gen 1 & 2, imo, the OME + coil spacer seems to be a better buy than the Calmini. The plus is that you get to mix and match springs for your application (winch bumper, long range fuel tank, rear steel bumper, etc).
I don't think Calmini will sell you a diff-drop bracket alone, however I found aftermarket diff-drop brackets here. Or maybe if you have some skills, you can fab your own bracket. :idea:

Regarding shocks/struts, I have seen an OME front strut fail.
Oem length Bilstein Monotube Front struts for Gen1 (should fit Gen2 non-ABS), couple these with strut spacers and you should have a very good front strut.

For rear shocks, I have been doing some googling, and found these Bilsteins. 2" longer travel than stock.
(These are what I used, posted in the Bilstein shock info thread. On full shock extension jacked up, the rear coils unseat from the axle spring pad by 0.5" using these shocks).

There is a steel housing front diff I have seen on the internet. Some say it is from the V6/ diesel Vitara*. This should be the best upgrade for the alloy diffs.

Also for Gen 1, there's a rear axle joint spacer to correct the upper joint angle when lifting the rear.

___________________
On my application, (Escudo SWB), using the G.Vitara SWB coils (1.5" longer), and the rear Bilsteins. Ride is a bit firm with the rear shocks, might help if I use a rear steel bumper for extra weight. Did a "strut mount flip" to compensate for the lift I have instead of a strut spacer.

Using Oem 16x6.5 alloys with 225/70R16 BFG Long Trail Tour with no rubbing, even with a 1" wheel spacer.
235/70R16 had fit when I had a 2" body lift (removed body lift) and sure it would fit with my current setup.

If I didn't source those G.Vitara SWB springs, I would have used the coil spring spacer kit for now until I got OME springs.

8-)

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » October 30th, 2013, 7:49 pm

I had OME 962 front coils + 1" coil spacers. Dean wheels has extended Skyjacker shocks that can work in the rear.

That steel front diff housing is impossible to find locally. I had checked out a diesel GV front cut in the bamboo once and even that had an aluminium diff on it. The steel diff was made only for particular markets I believe.

(Would like to hear the story behind you removing that body lift.. lol)

VK-Sportsman · Postby **VK-Sportsman** » October 31st, 2013, 6:03 pm

3stagevtec wrote:(Would like to hear the story behind you removing that body lift.. lol)

When the body lift was being removed, some offroad guys were saying....."Everybody going higher, but you going lower!"...lol
Well that led me to discover 2 of the body mount studs being rusted through. Also didn't want to cut the body to get 4L to engage properly or bend/extend the lever :roll:

And if I ever get an ARB bumper, I wouldn't have to modify it for the bodylift :mrgreen:

If 235/70R16 Bfg KM2's will fit with my current setup or with OME962/961's, then I'll be satisified... 8-)

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » October 31st, 2013, 10:29 pm

BFG KM2s huh.. hmm.. lol

The 2 grand vitara's I did body lifts on, the TC shifter was able to work back as is without cutting or extending. Never did more than a 2" lift though.. Will NOT recommend the arb bumper, them ting unnecessarily heavy you really don't need that level of protection one time. We custom built tube bumpers that are far lighter and serves a similar purpose. That much weight is too much disadvantage imo