How high can you lift a 2000 Grand Vitara??

[Rocky Vitara]

My GV has currently got a 40mm Tough Dog lift kit under it and was wondering how much more I could lift the front up without having problems with my drive shafts, would another 40mm (so a total of 80mm - 3") with spring spacers be too much?? another 40mm would be no drama at the rear would it??
Here is a pic of how she sits now

[just cruizin']

Have you considered a body lift?

[croatian4x4]

as high as u want depending on how much money u got

[Red_Zook]

there is one on pirate with 44's and rockwells.......
just carnt find it atm!

[Toecutta]

The 2 1/2" Calminiis about the highest you can go with you changing your front end to much and doing some major work.

With the Vitara there is a bit of room between the diff and the cross member so the diff can be lowered to help the CV angles.
The GV dosnt have that room so if you lift it very high you get problems with the front CV shafts.

Having said that I have seen some randoms from Taiwan lift them to the sky with body lifys and weird suspension work arounds like cutting the whole cross member out and rewelding back on further down



All body lift



About as big as they get without to much work



The best there is as far as I can see

[Momo]

Try it and let us know...

[fordy1]

well i know you can go 75mm, you have 40mm allready so it would be best to just get some parts to add to what you have now

this is what im adding to my xl7 when i find the right one

[Rocky Vitara]

So if I add 40mm spring spacers in the rear and 25mm spring spacers in the front giving me a total of-
Front 65mm
Rear 80mm
that will be a drive shaft friendly lift??

fordy1 Where did you get that lift kit and how much is it worth if you dont mind me asking??

Toecutta Thats some awesome GVs there!!!!!!

[Gwagensteve]

Toecutta Thats some awesome GVs there!!!!!!

Only the bottom one with the krawlers IMHO

Calmini 2.5" suspension with a 2" BL (NOT the rubbish Calmini 3" BL) and OME struts with the Calmini spacers will deliver all the height (and especially droop) your front CV's will allow, but I think it would be wise to run front freewheeling hubs to give them a break on the highway.

This much lift will let you run as much tyre as you can properly gear anyway... and the only real reason to lift a car is to fit a tyre IMHO.

Steve.

[fordy1]

im not sure but you can see in the kit that it has a shaft spacer and the blue things on the right are diff drop brackets for the front

i have not got a price on full kit yet but down the track i will stock them and most poeple have some kit anyway and would not fork out for a whole new kitt, but i will be bringing in the diff brackets in soon for $220 a pair.

you would need at least spring spacers, longer shocks and diff drop brackets to get the lift

[Liam]

I have 3 inch body, 3 inch suspension in my 03 shorty, never had a problem, goes good.

[fordy1]

yes i saw the write up on your rig and it looked good, i had forgot about that one, but i am not going down the body lift road and now any vehicle with airbags in qld cannot be body lifted and i thought cutting and rewelding the steering shaft was a bit 2 far for me, others might be interested so some pics would be good and info.

[Liam]

You don't have to cut and reweld the shaft... there's a trick to it.

[Toecutta]

You don't have to cut and reweld the shaft... there's a trick to it.

Where do I go to see pics and write up

[alien]

Being that Liam works for bigballs, i'd say he has a part you can buy =) hehe

[fordy1]

well you told me about the steering shaft over the phone so if things have changed please inform us as your site is no help at the moment..

[Toecutta]

And maybe some pics of the whole car

[Liam]

We have a steering shaft extension to fit grand vitara's and xl7's. $150, suits 3 inch body lift (might work with a 2 inch, havn't tried yet)
Engineers like it (unlike spacing a slip joint with flat bar and long bolts)
Much cheaper than cutting/ welding/ crack testing and cerifying a shaft and reversable.

[Gwagensteve]

There shouldn't be any need for a extension with a 2" BL - I have fitted 2" BL's to heaps of suzukis and never needed one.

I am sure one is required for a 3" though and BBM's looks the goods.

Engineers HATE welded steering components.

Steve.

[Toecutta]

There shouldn't be any need for a extension with a 2" BL - I have fitted 2" BL's to heaps of suzukis and never needed one.

I am sure one is required for a 3" though and BBM's looks the goods.

Engineers HATE welded steering components.

Steve.

I put a 1" lift in my GV and it was getting pretty tight as to wether I needed to do something with the steering.

I think it is because it has a steering rack and already has two uni's in the shaft to get the angle right, not just a box where you are starting with a straight line in the first place.

[cj]

Yes, the GV is a little different to the old Vits and with a bodylift the steering needs to be addressed. Good to know that there is a local solution.

[Gwagensteve]

My bad - I would have assumed there was some tolerance but obviously there is far less than previous cars.

Steve.

[Toecutta]

yes i saw the write up on your rig and it looked good, i had forgot about that one,

Ok where can I see this?

[fordy1]

i sew it in a 4wd mag about 2 years back but i cant remember which one

[Toecutta]

Icelandic boy can make them big

[Gwagensteve]

Has anyone seen the photo of Tim Hardy's wifes in this month's (airfreight) petersens? Looks like it runs 35's and is very low for its tyre size. Broke the front diff on UA07 though.

Steve.

[Toecutta]

Has anyone seen the photo of Tim Hardy's wifes in this month's (airfreight) petersens? Looks like it runs 35's and is very low for its tyre size. Broke the front diff on UA07 though.

Steve.

Steve was it a feature car or just pictured in an article?

[Gwagensteve]

Just a photo, page 50 of the November 2007 issue, in the Ultimate adventure coverage.

Silver GV, running 35's, sliders, internal cage, front bar with stinger. Height looks about the same as the icelandic one.

Steve.

[TheOtherLeft]

How come the RRO 2.5" kit only includes springs/shocks/spacers whereas the Calmini 2.5" kit comes with the above plus new lower A arms, trackbar brackets and diff drop brackets? Does the RRO kit produce CV problems?

I imagine with the RRO kit you lose track width on the front though. How bad is this for driving?

Seems there's two different options for the same susp lift but only one of them should work well and the other may test the CV too much???

[Liam]

3 inch suspension, 3 inch body, 31's.