Outer Limits 4x4 Board

i have a swb 89 vit with ome kit plus 30 mm coil spacers and 30x9.5 mt/r's. can i go another 15 mm spacer without causing to many problems????


cheers....................

bump

how much lift is the OME kit? did you get coils, struts and shocks?

30+30 is 60mm. and you want another 15mm??? why?

you want 3" suspension lift?

how are you planning on fitting the 15mm spacers? just stack them on top of the 30mm's? are you going to glue them or anything? do your struts top out at the moment?

and why do you want so much lift for?

sikid o1,
look,mate, no need to be condascending...honest thing is...I want my zook to look like yours,...so how did YOU do it? ..and in answer to your question....ask yourself why did YOU do it....theres your answer...

Condescending? I don't think so as he was just asking the questions that need answers to work out the best solution for YOU. His reason for lifting is not necessarily the same as yours no matter what you may think. When you can provide the answers to the above questions then we might help you.

i thought it to be a simple question will adding a 15mm spacer to what i have already cause any problems no matter the reason for wanting the extra lift but his reply seemed as if i should not ask such a stupid question as i am new to the lifting game ,what i see on here is what i would like. sorry to ask the hard questions.....

Which part # OME springs do you have fitted? Adding spacers will lift you further but you will lose travel. You may also find that you will need camber bolts to correct your alignment. Do your tyres rub, is that why you want to lift it further or is this just for looks at the mall?

Providing the reason for wanting the lift allows people to offer other solutions that may be a better or cheaper choice. The more information that you offer, the more detailed a response you will get.

the ome kit was on the car when i got it but it is both springs and shocks front and rear and i guess the reason for the lift is just for looks as this is a shooting buggy not hard core 4wd . one more thing i have fitted the adjustable camber bolts already......sorry for any attitude reguarding my question but i guess i read to much into sikid reply or lack of sleep (twin baby girls).............................

Good luck to you with the twins

The OME springs should have a tag on them with the part # but it may now be illegible. Due to the design of the front suspension when you fit coil spacers say 30mm, you will find that unlike the rear which will be lifted 30mm or 1:1, the fronts will lift say 50mm. So by adding another 15mm you will in effect be lifting the front maybe 25mm. This will effect the camber. The bolts you have fitted already may have enough adjustment in them to cope but you may find that another pair will need to be fitted as well to fully adjust it back into factory specs. The other issue that you will need to look at is the angle that you are placing your cv's at, even on level ground. I would suggest that diff drop brackets should be on your agenda to get the angle reduced. Boondox Motorsports in the US can supply these seperately I believe. As I mentioned before you will be losing some of your available travel. A better solution would be to ditch the coil spacers altogether and get some new springs made up to suit. Try Allsprings in Sydney as they have experience with Vits.

thankyou for your help..

i'm not having a go at you or anyone else. it is hard to interpret what is said by words on the internet, and all i was trying to do is help you out.

the reason why i asked you those questions, apart from what CJ has already said, was to see if there was any specific reason why you would go to all the trouble of doing so.

i read that you bought the vit witht he OME kit in it already, and i'm assuming that you have not fitted or tried to fit a complete suspension lift by yourself on a vit. please correct me if i am wrong.

if there was already the 30mm OME lift, and the 30mm Coil spacers, it should by right, be enough for 235/75 tyres or 30"s. now, the real problem lies in the front suspension lay out, where too much lift will give negative results, as mentioned already. these are CV operating angles, topping out of the strut, loss of down travel, camber issues, tyre wear, and harsh ride or poor handling.

if you have seen or done it yourself, you should know that fitting a lift of more than 50mm in the front becomes quite a full on job. when fitting lifted coils, the coils are usually of a stiffer spring rate, and or will be taller. this can prove difficult to fit with the limited room under the front end. fitting a raised coils is simple enough, but when you are trying to fit coils spacers on top of the coil, and also try to fit the coil up too, you are either going to be using a spring compressor (dangerous), or having great difficulty. the rear is simple enough.

when lifting a vit, i go with a 1:1.5 lift ratio in the front and a 1:1 lift ratio at the back. so a 30mm coil, a 30mm coil spacer, and a 15mm coil spacer, with a total of 75mm, you would be getting near 112.5mm or so of lift in the front, or 4.5" lift.

with my set up, i have my struts sitting half way of their total stroke on flat level ground, being about 4" of up travel and 4" of down travel. even though the OME struts having an extra 30mm of stroke, you will be near the extended length of the strut. this will result in a lot of topping out, even maybe just driving out of your driveway. this is why i ask if you have any topping out of your strut now.

most people consider 3"/75mm to be the max lift for vitaras before more major mods are needed, including front diff lowering brackets and new struts or similar. there are several ways you can bring your strut back to its working range with 3"+ of lift, and you should have found these methods in the vit bible. a couple are to flip the upper strut mount, or make a strut spacer.

as to how and why i did mine, it should also be in the vit bible, but i only have 4" of suspension lift now, as going any more requires major mods, and a lot more money. i build my vit on a budget, and the most expensive thing i spend my money on, are the tyres that i go through. i have had 4 sets of tyres in the 3 years i have owned my vit. i started at 235's, then onto 31"s, then to 33"s, and now back to 31", but will be on 32"s soon.

i have a 3" BL for clearance of the tyres. combined with my sus lift, i can run 33" tyres with no rubbing. but the best thing about my 3" BL, was my 3" tank lift. i have gone back to 31"s because of engineering. i am legal to run 31"s and a 3" BL on my vit.

why i have so much lift, is so i can fit tall tyres, but not necessarily wide tyres. by increasing the tyre size, i am increasing the ground clearance under my rear diff pumpkin which is the lowest part of my vit.

i have also cut my front and rear guards by 30mm, which further allows me to run up to a 34" tyre if i ever decide too. i cut my guards because after looking into more suspension lift, it proved way too costly for me, or it involved a lot of fabrication.

if you have any more questions, or if you want to know more specifically how i did anything, i'll be more than happy to help you out. its the least i can do because i was once a newbie and didnt know much at all about my vit. a lot of people helped me out from here, and so i hope it can still be like that for others.

cheers.

tried searching the forums but can't find much....
Where abouts can i buy coil spacers? how much?
(For a Vitara prob 30mm ish total lift)

P.s. I am in New Zealand, but i guess shipping is an option

Bruce on both North Brisbane Suzuki club and auszookers forum makes them for a very reasonable price and does great work from what ive heard

When we say reasonable what would a whole set, front and rear of the highest spacers for a LWB be likely to cost. Sounds like a viable option.

I have just ordered some from him today actually, I would say you would
get a set for roughly $100 delivered.

so with coil spacers and longer shocks it will be a safe and cheap lift. I'm going to seriously look down this path and do the front strut reversal too.

Cheers, Ben

I'm not a big fan of spacers.... why not just get suitable springs for the lift you want?