For anyone that is interested I am about to prove to the doubting Thomases that you can easily lift a Sportage and fit decent shoes on them. Total cost $550 (2.5" lift springs and shocks) and $1250 for 5 31x10.5R15 'pedes on F100 white spoke steelies (new).
Picking up the Simex Centipedes on either Sat or Mon. Can't wait.........
Photo below is the before, on 205/70R15's
EDIT: see further down (pg 7 or thereabouts) for info on the next stage of development coming soon................................................
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Project "DAMKIA" - SASed and Lifted Kia Sportage
Moderator: Tiny
Project "DAMKIA" - SASed and Lifted Kia Sportage
Last edited by DamTriton on Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
Ouch 
They do have a bit of potential .. but like most new 4x4's the ultimate flex etc is a bit of a moot point as you have the sills very low as well as "smallish" wheel openings .. so without cutting panels etc you are a bit limited as to rubber you can easily run as you are a bit stuck with gearing to turn em ..
Dont get me wrong, Kia's have been made into baja racer's etc but for aussie conditions I can think of more suitable vehicles (Depending on what you want to do as well I guess)
But full points for being different ...
Dont get me wrong, Kia's have been made into baja racer's etc but for aussie conditions I can think of more suitable vehicles (Depending on what you want to do as well I guess)
But full points for being different ...
" If governments are involved in the covering up the knowledge of aliens, Then they are doing a much better job of it than they do of everything else "
N*A*M wrote:chain driven and married to the gearbox though isn't it
Yes and no. while it is bolted to the rear of the transmission, the gearbox is the same on that is used in the 2WD version in the states with a longish rear cover. Can be properly seperated.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
.. but like most new 4x4's the ultimate flex etc is a bit of a moot point as you have the sills very low as well as "smallish" wheel openings .. so without cutting panels etc you are a bit limited as to rubber you can easily run as you are a bit stuck with gearing to turn em ..
The wheel openings measure 33.5" across the plastic parts through the hub centerlines ATM. If you take off the plastic trim and do a bit of minor seam work there's 35-36" available for wheels + scrub room. One of the things I will be fiddling with wil be the offset on the rims to maximise the use of the available space (scrub radius).
As for gearing, yes, it will be a bit of a problem initially, but it still works out 5-10% better crawl ratio than a standard Vit/GV even with my 31's on. (28:1 Vit/GV or thereabouts on 27" tyres, to 34.5:1 with 31's for the Kia)
Give the total spend to date (5 wheels/tyres and lift) is in the $1600 range, and the new price of the smaller GV 5door ($31500 OTR) vs the Kia ($26500 OTR) I still have about $3500 to play with before I even meet the new price of a GV ("Atlas" anyone???), and if you want the same "body capacity" as the Kia you are looking at the XL-7 which have very substantial issues of their own....not to mention another $5-6K.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
christoverbigsteve wrote:So do you have any plans for lockers???
Signed
Thomas
(Steve)
Yes. Have been talking to ARB, who didn't realise that the chassis/running gear was also used in the South Korean version of the Jeep. All of a sudden they are a little more interested (Military Contract???). As far as required numbers for a production I showed them a couple of Korean websites, one with a pics of about 6 x 25 or so members of a Korean Sportage group lined up in a parking lot, and with some of the mods that they have done ( wild lifts, 35" tyres, SAS, etc.)
We wait and see.
What we know:
- The Suzuki locker is .01" and 2 splines off a fit of the axles into the front diff.
Ring gear is still a guess, see pic. A bit of adjustment on their CNC lathe may be all that is necessary.
- The demonstration diff they had at the 4WD show is the same as the rear, BUT they can't remember who made the axle and third member
Guessing it was a Mazda of some description, and aren't sure about whether they still make a locker for it (VERY old model, may not have the CNC figures for it). The Eaton Posi that comes standard isn't too shabby though...
Another avenue may be McNamara Diffs, haven't sussed them out yet.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
Gary forget about McNamara for the diffs, he promised the world to develop a rear 3.5 V6 10" vacuum locker and we saw nothing. He was supplied a whole diff centre and did absolutely nothing with it.
We lobbied ARB for a front V6 8" locker, I sent emails all over the world for people to show their support (by sending emails of interest to Greg Milton) they responded very well and ARB agreed to do it. I just got an email saying they will on sale as of Feb 04.
Now out of 2 Paj front diffs there will be a locker for one (the majority) and out of the three rear diffs there are lockers for 2 of them. They have also scheduled development for the remaining rear locker next year (3.5 V6).
The only reason was the volume of enquiries that they recieved from US/Japan/Oz Paj Clubs and some Euro clubs.
At the end of the day they have to make a $$ out of it and it costs them 100Kto develop a locker from scratch, thats a lot of sales just to get their money back. Also any tech imfo you can supply to make the development easier/cheaper is extremely helpful to your cause as we found out.
It's good to see someone doing something different.
Start networking with the Kia dudes and pool your imfo and lobby together.
Good luck.
Frank.
We lobbied ARB for a front V6 8" locker, I sent emails all over the world for people to show their support (by sending emails of interest to Greg Milton) they responded very well and ARB agreed to do it. I just got an email saying they will on sale as of Feb 04.
Now out of 2 Paj front diffs there will be a locker for one (the majority) and out of the three rear diffs there are lockers for 2 of them. They have also scheduled development for the remaining rear locker next year (3.5 V6).
The only reason was the volume of enquiries that they recieved from US/Japan/Oz Paj Clubs and some Euro clubs.
At the end of the day they have to make a $$ out of it and it costs them 100Kto develop a locker from scratch, thats a lot of sales just to get their money back. Also any tech imfo you can supply to make the development easier/cheaper is extremely helpful to your cause as we found out.
It's good to see someone doing something different.
Start networking with the Kia dudes and pool your imfo and lobby together.
Good luck.
Frank.
I just luv my "clacker Jabber"
Rears went in without a hitch. Fronts require trimming of the plastic flare work around the lower edges near the sill, and the front bumper (expected). Got the rear part of the flares done today, but working on a black painted concrete driveway in full sun in this heat is no fun. Do the front bumper trimming tomorrow....time for a beer.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
Don't have a camera yet. Hopefully some kind person at a BBQ I'm going to tomorrow will take some "halfway there" snaps if I don't get it finished, or some of the finished job minus the cleanup (shaping/bogging up of the flares).
You may want photos, but I want it finished!!!
You may want photos, but I want it finished!!!
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
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Location: Somewhere they can't reach me, shoot me or electrocute me...
Area54 wrote:I've proll read it somewhere before, was the suspension available off the shelf, and where from? It looks like a true lift kit, not just a factory replacement kit.
Ironman Suspensions in Clayton, Melbourne. My vehicle was/is the test mule for a production kit, so there has been a lot of input about what is required versus the" this is what we will supply you with" mentality of the other main players (you know, the usual suspects). The specs are loosly based on a 2.5" lift kit which is produced in the US by Eibach for the "short body" version of the Sportage, so the concept is sound.
The only real issues have been getting the spring rates more appropriate for the heavier rear of the longbody, and trying to get the rate/number of coils/wire guage right to maximize the front articulation (which we are still working on). Need some firmer and slightly offset bushes for the upper diff location links (~6 mm) and will probably use 2 of them on the panhard rod to move the axle over a bit too. Generally minor annoyances, but not really major problems...to be expected for a test mule.
Sorry, no more photos yet but will keep you posted.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
N*A*M wrote:so will this be a production kit soon?
rough price? includes springs bushes shocks everything?
*Need to confirm with Ironman
Around these figures:
4coils ~$300
2 rear shocks ~$260
4 bushes ~$???
And yes, production kit soon 2-3 months*
If anyone is interested, the contact at the Clayton office is Kristian Ristell.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
the rear of the front flare has to be trimmed off (yesterdays job) and a bit of the lower edge and side of the front bumper. It is looking like a body lift will be required (35 mm lift is the practical limit) but with that it should allow 31x1.05R15's to fit, going on the experience of the guys in the US.
George Carlin, an American Comedian said; "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are stupider than that".
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