[stooge]

Another week of driving my recently acquired Grand Vitara 2001 LWB V6, and I'm starting to question my plan to fit an OME lift kit. The stock suspension/tyres are less than ideal under a couple of conditions:

A: bitumen road with small bumps or rolling lumps, especially on corners. I seem to remember a post describing GV handling under these conditions as 'the back end trying to overtake the front', which sounds about right.

B: small rocks set into mild/flat gravel road. These feel rougher than they should, but I expect proper AT tyres and pressure will do a lot to fix this.

So hopefully a good lift kit (and bigger tyres) will improve B, and obviously also improve ride quality in proper 4x4 conditions. But will handling on the road suffer?

As on-road handling with a lift kit has been compared to a 'drunken horse' (although this was referring to bigger lifts), I'm a bit discouraged from doing this to a daily driver!

[nissvit]

Are you sure the suspension in yours is stock?
if it is it has some serious age on it and it will be well tired by now.

from vits that are in my family (LWB & SWB vits, a GV like yours, an XL7 and a JB GV)... stock stuff is totally stuffed by 100,000k.

new shocks will make a big difference to the rear end, and it should be better controlled, and solve your imbalance problem.

After spending heaps on other brand stuff and being disapointed by failures & ride quality, I have again returned to OME for their shocks & springs.
As to ride, when we put the OME stuff in my GF's GV, after the first drive she came back and said the car was much nicer to drive..

[stooge]

As far as I can tell, the shocks and springs are original. The current mileage is about 144,000 kms, so it sounds like high time for replacement anyhow.

I think OME offers two options for springs (hard/soft)? I don't anticipate going bush heavily loaded - two people and 75 kgs of gear and water absolute tops. So probably soft springs in the rear will be OK and better for day-to-day driving.

The front spring options appear to be rated at <35 kg versus 35-70 kg. As I have a full aluminium bar and will fit a steel bash plate, should I go for the harder ones?

Which OME options did you get put on your girlfriend's GV? Sounds like the way to go.

[Chop]

I'd say its behaving like it is because the original shocks are shagged.
Some people just dont understand how suspension components dont last the life of the car
It would be a vast improvement with new springs and shocks/struts
but only a lifted kit if you require them for offroad driving. otherwise its alot more money for nothing.

Chop

[Ben_Sierra]

I know its a completely different setup, but my Sierra improved dramatically on road when I put new springs and shocks in, even though I removed the sway bar when I did it.

Put the lift in. You'll be surprised at how much better it is with non-saggy springs and good shocks...

[lizzard]

Fitted O M E shocks and springs + 70 series tyers to my 2002 SWB GV and love it its firmer in corners and so much better off road especially on the beach.With out the OME kit and tyers the GV was a town car.

[stooge]

Thanks a lot for the helpful comments, it sounds like I have nothing to lose with the OME kit - except a fair bit of cash

[gravity_powered]

OME shocks go a long way to fixing the jumpy bum, but I think the GV's are just a bit prone to it.

I think you'll find that the softer front springs will be a better option for you. I've got the harder ones and they are pretty hard. Probably only needed if you had a winch and a second battery.

What tire pressure are you running? I have found that 28-30 psi is plenty, any more and my rear end gets jumpy

I picked my car up from tirepower the other day and they had pumped them up to 38psi, it was scary!

[alien]

i know it was mentioned - but are you running tyre pressures to whats on the placard or whats on the sidewall of the tyre??? you should run whats on the placard... less if you're running larger tyres.

[lizzard]

gravity_powered wrote:

OME shocks go a long way to fixing the jumpy bum, but I think the GV's are just a bit prone to it.

I think you'll find that the softer front springs will be a better option for you. I've got the harder ones and they are pretty hard. Probably only needed if you had a winch and a second battery.

What tire pressure are you running? I have found that 28-30 psi is plenty, any more and my rear end gets jumpy

I picked my car up from tirepower the other day and they had pumped them up to 38psi, it was scary!

Hi Mate I have the same Coopers and bar as you self and was wandering what springs and shocks to purchase in the end I had ARB do the fitting they advised me if the ride wasnt right they would change thing till it was .They got it right the first time did a wheel aliment and the little girl runs the beach better than any 4x4 I have had in the past . It makes a great recovery vehicle for Jimnys

[stooge]

I'm running about 28-9 PSI at the moment, on a pretty disreputable assortment of tyres.

The plan is for BFG ATs in the next week or so (while the free compressor is still on offer).

It seems that others using 225/75 or similar run approx 25 PSI offroad and 35 PSI on-road? Which does go against the above advice, so I will definitely try a range of pressures to see what it does to the back end.

[MacDaddy]

stooge wrote:

Another week of driving my recently acquired Grand Vitara 2001 LWB V6, and I'm starting to question my plan to fit an OME lift kit. The stock suspension/tyres are less than ideal under a couple of conditions:

A: bitumen road with small bumps or rolling lumps, especially on corners. I seem to remember a post describing GV handling under these conditions as 'the back end trying to overtake the front', which sounds about right.

B: small rocks set into mild/flat gravel road. These feel rougher than they should, but I expect proper AT tyres and pressure will do a lot to fix this.

So hopefully a good lift kit (and bigger tyres) will improve B, and obviously also improve ride quality in proper 4x4 conditions. But will handling on the road suffer?

As on-road handling with a lift kit has been compared to a 'drunken horse' (although this was referring to bigger lifts), I'm a bit discouraged from doing this to a daily driver!

I am just about to do what you are thinking of doing !
I have had my 2001 GV for a couple of months now, the front end has little or no movement, it is very firm, and the back end has drooped and bounces alot, so springs and shocks are shagged, i am getting the Ironman 35mm Suspension Kit, have ordered them, will arrive end of July, cant wait to get them fitted, they give you an extra 50kgs load carrying per diff,i am also getting some better rims, black Sunraysia's, as i hate the 3 slot/spoke mags the GV comes with, and then some Maxxis Bravo AT's, you have to be carefull selecting AT's for the GV, as the rear wheel arch is only 30inches wide, and most AT's are 30inches in diameter or more, after much info gathering on AT's, i chose 225/70R16 AT's to give the best fit with room... check out my rig thread for more info...

But yes, a Suspension upgrade will improve the GV a fair bit on and offroad , cant wait to take it out 4 wheelin when the suspension and tyres are done !

[lizzard]

gravity_powered wrote:

OME shocks go a long way to fixing the jumpy bum, but I think the GV's are just a bit prone to it.

I think you'll find that the softer front springs will be a better option for you. I've got the harder ones and they are pretty hard. Probably only needed if you had a winch and a second battery.

What tire pressure are you running? I have found that 28-30 psi is plenty, any more and my rear end gets jumpy

I picked my car up from tirepower the other day and they had pumped them up to 38psi, it was scary!

????? you are using SPACERS ?? what size are they and what lift dose that give you ??40mm 50mm?

[MacDaddy]

stooge wrote:

I'm running about 28-9 PSI at the moment, on a pretty disreputable assortment of tyres.

The plan is for BFG ATs in the next week or so (while the free compressor is still on offer).

It seems that others using 225/75 or similar run approx 25 PSI offroad and 35 PSI on-road? Which does go against the above advice, so I will definitely try a range of pressures to see what it does to the back end.

That tyre pressure is to high, 26psi is the normal, and recommended tyre pressure, on the tyre placard inside the driver door sill !
If you go higher than 26psi, you will get a firm, even harsh ride !

Use 26psi, in road and offroad tyres on the GV !

35psi is wayyyy to much for a Zook, Zooks, even GV's, are much lighter than other 4WD's... 26 psi onroad, and 15 to 12psi offroad, is the best !

[stooge]

I stand corrected on the tyre pressure - probably I was confused after reading stuff from other (i.e. heavier 4x4s).

MacBear - thanks for pointing me to your thread. Some good info there on tyre diameters. Seems to be surprising variation in diameter between models/manufacturers etc.

My local tyre guy seems quite helpful. I can try 225/75, test the scrubbing, and if it's excessive then go down to 225/70.

I only have to get by for a month or two (while waiting for tax refund and sale of previous car), then will get the lift.

[gravity_powered]

lizzard wrote:

Hi Mate I have the same Coopers and bar as you self and was wandering what springs and shocks to purchase in the end I had ARB do the fitting they advised me if the ride wasnt right they would change thing till it was .They got it right the first time did a wheel aliment and the little girl runs the beach better than any 4x4 I have had in the past . It makes a great recovery vehicle for Jimnys

Do you have the part numbers for you springs? I'm thinking about going for softer springs as it feels leaf-sprung when it is empty.

lizzard wrote:

????? you are using SPACERS ?? what size are they and what lift dose that give you ??40mm 50mm?

I have 30mm spacers in the back only. The OME kit gave me 50mm at the front and only 30mm at the back so I put some spacers in to bring it up to 60mm. Those measurements were with brand new springs, they might have settled a bit by now.

[MacDaddy]

stooge wrote:

MacBear - thanks for pointing me to your thread. Some good info there on tyre diameters. Seems to be surprising variation in diameter between models/manufacturers etc.
My local tyre guy seems quite helpful. I can try 225/75, test the scrubbing, and if it's excessive then go down to 225/70.
I only have to get by for a month or two (while waiting for tax refund and sale of previous car), then will get the lift.

No problem... yeah the tyre diameter for the GV, is a bit of a Bugger, but i am glad that at least one tyre manufacturer, actually makes an AT that will fit the rear wheel arch of the GV... well thats nice of your tyre guy... wish i had one like that here, he he...

[shrappas]

Hi guys, thought i'd hijack this thread rather than start a new one as it already covers some of my questions.

On my recently acquired 99 GV all of the shocks are shot so i'm just bouncing around on my springs. I thought if i have to replace 4 shocks i might as well lift the GV at the same time.

Got some prices ranging from 1200 to 1700 for the shocks and springs but they only give 30-40mm lift as the guy reckons that's the max lift without damaging CVs. I've read many posts on here where people have lifted 60mm with no problems.

At what height do you start damaging other components when lifting a GV?

[gravity_powered]

Damage largely depends on how hard you are going to drive it.

If you are going to go any further than about 60mm lift and plan on driving it hard you probably want to start thinking about longer brackets for the front diff housing to reduce the angles on the CVs, but that being said you could probably get away with more if you are gentle.

Camber bolts ($100 ish) should also be on the list as the front wheels start to lean the wrong way by the time you get to 50mm.

[shabz]

stooge wrote:

My local tyre guy seems quite helpful. I can try 225/75, test the scrubbing, and if it's excessive then go down to 225/70.

I've got a couple of before and after shots of my GV on my thread - i have the ironman lift and 225/75/16 tyres. No tyre rubbing (just a tiny bit on the front at full lock - easily fixed by bending the little metal tab)

http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... pic&t=6234