Body Lift for 30"s

[rosie]

Hi all, I've got a 1992 LWB Manual Vitara

I've installed "Raised Height" King Springs which gave me about 35mm - 40mm of lift and am wondering what size body lift I should go to fit 30"s. I was thinking about 35-40mm as I think this height should still be quite easy.

My questions are: What height will I need to go to fit 30"s without cutting?
What other things will I need to change, ie, brake lines, filler, gear levers?

Any advice would be greatley appreciated as I dont want to rush in and want to keep as legal as possible.

Thanks in advance, Ben

[chunkz]

plenty of info in the bible

now i had a 92 swb surf
ran 30's with only 1" extended shackles

[Goldey]

Howdy Rosie

I have a 94 LWB Vitara with 50mm suspension lift and 30" tyres, this is what I've found:

Depends entirely on what wheels the tyres are mounted on. I have black 15x7 sunraisias with a -15mm offset. They are excellent for track width (ie fill the flares very well), and also meant that the front tyre did not hit the firewall or anything else in the front wheel arch (except for the front mudflaps which disappeared shortly after the 30's were fitted).

However, I have had issues with the rear tyres scrubbing badly on the lip of the rear guards. I am shortly going to fit a 1" body lift to allow clearance for the rear tyres and that should allow them to articulate fully. Rolling the lip of the guards was not enough to clear the tyres alone, so the 1" bodylift is minimum.

I had originally wanted to put in the 2 inch bodylift kit that Suzisport sell, however after talking to the guy over the phone he convinced me not to, in his words the Vitara's body mount points aren't strong enough to handle too much abuse and installing the lift kit would compromise them further, better off to stick to smaller tyres.........

Not an option, so started investigating what was involved for a 25mm or 1 inch lift. It can be done reasonably simply. Firstly, I purchased a 25mm thick sheet of HDPE Polyethylene. From this cut 8 of 75mm diameter pieces and 4 of 50mm diameter pieces with a 50mm and 75mm holesaw.

You will also need longer bolts for the front two mounts (underneath the headlights), my original bolts were M10 x 1.25 85mm long. My replacement bolts (must be high tensile) are M10 x 1.25 100mm long, should be just long enough.

The 4 50mm pieces will sit under the body supports (under the back of the front door on top of the chassis both sides and up near the fuel tank both sides).

The 8 75mm pieces need to be drilled out 12mm in the center to allow the original body stud to go through.

When doing the lift, the 75mm pieces go against the body and sit on top of the original rubber disc, with that you should be able to work the rest out.

This means you can use the original body studs and not have to worry about special dilled and threaded bolts ala most of the 2" lift kits (legal ones anyway).

Now for the legalities of what I'm doing who knows, everybody I talk to seems to have a differing opinion.

All the best and let us know what happens.

Cheers

Goldey

[rosie]

Thanks for that Goldey. Have you done the Lift yet mate?

If so was it successful and what tyres are you running?

Thanks, Ben

[LTDHO]

I ran 30" without any lift, no rubbing at all.

I then went 30mm body because I was bored.

[rosie]

LTDHO: Was yours a short or Long wheel base? We have LWB and i'm wondering if their different.

What sort of rim were you running and what type of tire was it on?

I really want 30"s for the height and clearance and the lower the body lift the better.

Thanks, Mate