[CaptainLeo]

(This thread/question is specifically regarding SWB EFI Vitara's, however I'm sure these sites will have LWB options of what I'm talking about. I also figured I'd make this thread and discussion in order to archive these two websites, as these are some of the very few sites I've found that actually make a legit 3" lift kit, and other future Vitara owners might be interested in purchasing a kit but cannot find them.)

Hello all, I've come seeking insight and advice from you all

I've been looking into different levels and types of lift kits for a while now, and I've set my sights on a 3" suspension lift. I'm aware of the risks of breaking CV's at this height even with diff drop brackets, however given the fact that I enjoy regular maintenance on my vehicles (else I get bored of them) this is no issue to me. I've narrowed down my choices to two different kits from different sites, and I'd like to know peoples opinions and what others would choose if they were in my shoes. An outside opinion, especially from someone on the other side of the fence to me, is greatly appreciated.

Option #1
http://www.outdoorauto4x4.com/p/1121969 ... t-kit.html

Outdoor Auto 4x4's 3" Lift kit for SWB Suzuki Vitara



This company seem to primarily use Dobinson gear, which I've heard great things about. Kit comes with shocks, struts and springs, diff drop brackets and rear diff spacer and camber bolts. I've also negotiated with these guys to throw in a set of extended brake lines, as the LWB kit is the exact same price but includes the brake lines in it. Cost is $1450, shipping not included. Not sure what shipping is yet.

Option #2
http://www.winch.co.nz/categories/fts-s ... n-lift-kit



Similar kit. I'm waiting for a response as to what brand their shocks and springs are, but the springs look similar to the option above. Comes with diff drop brackets, rear diff spacer, rear shock relocators, extended rear trailing arms, driveshaft spacer and transfer case drop bracket. This kit is $1500, only $50 more than the previous option. It doesn't come with extended brake lines or camber bolts, but has plenty of other bits and pieces in their place.

So, from a suspension and offroading point of view, which kit would be the better option for the price? My personal issue is that one kit comes with extended brake lines and a brand name backing them. The other comes with a number of other parts like the transfer case drop bracket and trailing arms that the other kit lacks.

Opinions? Fire away

[vet 180]

Personally on a vitara I much prefer 2+2. With a 2 inch suspension lift and 2 inch body lift you are going to have more suspension articulation more guard clearance, basically the same cog due to the heavy stuff being lower and less broken parts.

You will sacrifice 1 inch of ground clearance, but that's really not going to matter in a Swb. Also if you run the 2 inch kit without diff and transfer drop brackets you will most likely have more ground clearance and still less breakages.

[CaptainLeo]

thanks for your advice vet. The plan (in my case) is to eventually go 3+2. Got big plans for my Vit. I figure: going 2+2 Id need to add spring spacers if I feel I need more height. With 3" I skip the spacers.

[shandy92]

Hi,

This is only me but over the years outdoor auto have been in many peoples bad books for lots of reasons and rarely hear great reviews, i wouldnt buy from him. I havent heard anything about the second kit so cant comment.

I run 2" + 2" with dobinson front springs/struts and yes they are good, running 31"s without issues, if i ever bought a 3" kit it would calmini purely for there front arms/rear arms, springs and rear A-frame. Any 3" kit which uses std front arms isnt going to be all that great as the front springs are going to bow. You will also possibly need dual camber pins ea wheel. This has been discussed lots over the yrs, keep searching.

Cheers

[CaptainLeo]

Thanks for your input shandy, I hadn't heard anything about Outdoor Auto before I'd found them, so nothing negative or positive had reached me. It's actually somewhat relieving to hear some kind of feedback, even if it is negative.

I wasn't aware that the springs bow when using the stock arms, so that's news to me. Would the same thing happen with a 2" spring and a 1" spacer? I'd imagine not, seeing as the total travel the spring has doesn't change.

Still keen to hear anyone else's opinions on 3" lifts

[vet 180]

CaptainLeo wrote:

thanks for your advice vet. The plan (in my case) is to eventually go 3+2. Got big plans for my Vit. I figure: going 2+2 Id need to add spring spacers if I feel I need more height. With 3" I skip the spacers.

If your plans are big....put the 1500 towards a solid front axle swap. Do it once and do it properly and never look back.

If you want to keep the ifs for you own reasons and have your heart set on 3 inch then this kit is really the best:

https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=2&m=5&t=1&p=691&n=

The rear shocks could be better but they can be upgraded later on (or you can throw a cheap set of Comonwhore shocks in and sell the calminis on eBay as new items)

[banga]

Calmini. And yes sprkng will still bow with a 2" spring and spacer it is to do with the sprkng seat. Calmini arms have aadjusted spring seat

[CaptainLeo]

vet 180, I would absolutely love a SAS just like most Vitara owners would. Sadly, my plans are big and budget at the same time. A SAS would greatly benefit me offroad, I know, but that would be an extra $1500 into the car that I just don't have. Maybe in the future when I've done all I can and gotten all I can get out of the Vit. It is certainly an option though

It's funny you mention Calmini, as in my research I found that most people tended to dislike Calmini for their shocks. I hadn't found anything else about the rest of the kit, like the quality of the other components or the ride quality of the springs etc. Most people just hating on the shocks is what I found.

So Calmini's 3" kit is also a viable option? And this is because it comes with the new front and rear control / trailing arms? Interesting, I might send them an email and get a postage quote in order to put the cost of this kit in comparison to the ones I've found above. Cheers fella's.

Shandy, you mentioned earlier that you run 2+2 and 31's with no issues. Based on your experience with your setup, have you ever felt like you could have used that extra 1" of lift/travel on your rig? Or have you been fairly happy with what you've got?

[Gwagensteve]

Don't confuse lift and travel. Travel is a function of strut/shock length, lift is a function of spring design.
Large spring spacers are not advisable in the front of the Vitara in my opinion due to spring travel, spring design, and bumpstop concerns.
3" of lift results in very marginal CV angles and requires a bearing supported rhs inner axle with tripod mount.
Extended front travel beyond that available from aftermarket long travel struts requires the inner axle mod too.
I have been impressed with the ride of the calmini 3" kit on a heavy Vitara using OME struts, calmini strut spacers, no swaybar.
The calmini front arms are great. The springs are conditionally good. (With proviso's that they require bumpstop spacing that calmini don't supply and some people find them too soft.
The diff drop brackets are good.
The strut spacers might be useful.
The rest of the kit is useless or of average quality and useless.
Run the rear shocks until they fail.
Don't bother fitting the front struts- they're junk
You are likely to need camber correction. Calmini recommend offset rims which preloads the front suspension and "corrects" camber. With correct (i.e factory) rim offset the camber won't come quite to spec.

Just my observations. There are lots of averagely setup vitara front ends.

[atari4x4]

Steve, were you a carpenter in a former life? Cause once again you nailed it.

[Gwagensteve]

Use that on tinder much?

[darwinzooker]

shandy92 wrote:

This is only me but over the years outdoor auto have been in many peoples bad books for lots of reasons and rarely hear great reviews, i wouldnt buy from him.

This ^^^^ Tim at ODA is a lazy pr!ck and never follows things up, it took me a month to get my 2" kit which consisted of rancho shocks, dobinson struts, and Chinese JEEP Springs. When you do get the kit after waiting a month or two you will find the springs aren't always 2" (Tim told me this, and i found this out myself when i got 60mm) they could come out as 60mm springs or 40mm.

I really wouldnt go a 3inch Sus lift (hard enough fitting a 2") i used to run a 2" Sus lift and 2" Body and run 33's as a daily

[got_bar_work]

Try a 4xfourart kit no one has tried one yet
No off the self rear springs for a vit are any good. All bar calmini are to short and they are only good for a light car and need bump stop spacers. Dont run any front spacers. There isnt enough room in the front and u can bottom out the springs with out bump stop spacers as well. U can safely run 40mm more drop then stock. Add diff drop and you can drop struts more. I ran 70mm spacers and I think that is to much . U get to much steering lock .
All off the shelf shocks are to soft or just plain shit house.
Commo shocks are long enough but I think to soft . Might be ok in a swb
the rear arms in the pic are just stupid they have less clearance then stock arms
I dont like the ball joint . Having to use a spacer to get the travel fucks the rear geometry. A arm like calmini but with a big johnny joint would be better.

[Gwagensteve]

^theres some good info there.

[shandy92]

CaptainLeo wrote:

Shandy, you mentioned earlier that you run 2+2 and 31's with no issues. Based on your experience with your setup, have you ever felt like you could have used that extra 1" of lift/travel on your rig? Or have you been fairly happy with what you've got?

It really depends on what you drive, perth has a lot of rutted tracks and yes i could of done with an extra bit of chassis clearance. But you learn to drive around it. if i was to start again i would buy 3" calmini and fit dobinson struts, other shocks and rear bump stops. At least you have a good base to work with.

[Gwagensteve]

Oh, and I'd be a bit suspicious of the 4Xfourart stuff. Judging on the kit they supply for the SJ80 sierra - it looks elaborate and good value, but seems to be based on cosmetics rather than sound engineering.

Steve.

[britvit]

It's been a while since we had a 'Calmini struts are junk' thread, mine are still fine after 4 years.

[Gwagensteve]

That's great britvit. I've personally seen enough them fail catastrophically within months (not to mention the fact they are no longer than standard) to warrant my opinion.

Steve.

[russgt]

I had good dealings with ODA.

[atari4x4]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Use that on tinder much?

*placeholder for tinder screen grabs!

[Pico42]

Three more, two of which are referenced above

Option 3:
https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=2&m=5&t=1&p=691&n=

Option 4:
http://4xfourart.com/Product/191/VITARA ... N-KIT.aspx

Option 5:
http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html

Any 3" lift kit will give you the lift, but it is the ones with the replacement A Arms and high articulation rear diff arm that work best at keeping the tyres on the ground - as mentioned above, travel vs lift. And diff drop brackets are a must.

Of the two you listed, I would probably go with the FTS kit. We have Calmini 3" susp. plus Bits4Vits 3" body.

What tyre size were you wanting to run?

[vet 180]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Don't confuse lift and travel. Travel is a function of strut/shock length, lift is a function of spring design.


Just my observations. There are lots of averagely setup vitara front ends.

This man knows!

The problem with most 3 inch set ups is it is very difficult to match the standard travel.

For example:

got_bar_work wrote:

U can safely run 40mm more drop then stock. Add diff drop and you can drop struts more. I ran 70mm spacers and I think that is to much . U get to much steering lock .

and just to really confuse you, because lets face it this thread is way to sensible with way too much useful information so far and not enough internet warriors or completely unrealistic plans yet:

https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=2& ... p=953&n=66

A budget set up I quite like is cheap 1.5 inch lifted GV springs, cheap extended rear shocks (stock comodore for example) strut mount flip or strut spacer, 2 inch body lift, a little guard cutting and 265/75r16's. With that set up you don't alter the stock geometry too much, it very cheap, you get your ground clearance through tyres (and get associated diff clearance) and will go a most places any IFS vitara will go.

Anything more serious than that you have to start thinking solid front axle and rear floater.

[britvit]

Gwagensteve wrote:

That's great britvit. I've personally seen enough them fail catastrophically within months (not to mention the fact they are no longer than standard) to warrant my opinion.

Steve.

I doubt Calmini make their own struts, maybe the set I have are from a different supplier?

vet 180 wrote:

A budget set up I quite like is cheap 1.5 inch lifted GV springs, cheap extended rear shocks (stock comodore for example) strut mount flip or strut spacer, 2 inch body lift, a little guard cutting and 265/75r16's. With that set up you don't alter the stock geometry too much, it very cheap, you get your ground clearance through tyres (and get associated diff clearance) and will go a most places any IFS vitara will go.

GV rear springs don't fit a Vitara, the top coil is wound too tight.

Pico42 wrote:

Option 5:
http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html

Not really an option, they don't ship to Australia.

[Chop]

Sid i bet if you put in some new struts there would be a big difference

[christover1]

I have gone off Dobinsons struts
Had 2 fail already and the 1 still fitted has slop in it.
They not been in long, 1 failed and was replaced under warrantee,
it and the other developed slop after about a year, and 2nd failure lost all its oil after around 2 years.
I refitted my very old OME strut which still works good.
Replaced both OME because one had a leak, and slowly lost its dampening, but still had no slack/slop.
If I need to replace struts, I will try the Lowrange version, or go back to ARB/OME.

[Gwagensteve]

I'm not a fan of lifted GV springs in Vitaras. From what I've seen it makes them sit too high and hard.

[britvit]

Chop wrote:

Sid i bet if you put in some new struts there would be a big difference

I'm sure there would be, I've been waiting for the struts to fail, my plan has always been to upgrade them when they do.

Maybe I'm not driving hard enough?

I'm not saying Calmini struts are great but I don't think it's fair to say that they are junk after surviving the abuse mine have been through over the years.

In my opinion the Calmini 3" kit is the best available in Aus.

[DarkHorse]

GV rear springs will fit a Vit... they just get jammed on the top mount and will come off the diff mount, then getting jammed between diff and shock, trashing the latter, the next time the rear compresses. Ask me how I know...

Agree with GWSteve that GV springs generally make Vits sit too high and too hard... but it depends on which springs and the setup of the car. I ran Tough Dog lifted GV rear springs for a while and they were too hard... but they gave me the lift I wanted. I now run XL7 lifted fronts (you'd think would be rated even further out of a 2L Vit weight range) and they are great - support the extra weight of bar/winch/2nd battery etc and are supple enough to flex.

Why would matching the stock travel be of any relevance? I thought the point was to increase travel?

For the sake of reference, after a few years of experimenting for the sake of it, I am now running:
OME extended struts, Kings XL7 lifted springs, custom 50mm diff drops (probably too much) Calmini arms and stub axle (no bearing) conversion. Hilux CVs hopefully soon.
Rancho 9000 shocks set permanently to softest possible, what 'we' think are ODA 3" springs (whatever they might actually be, they seem good so far, and at least I have a good reference for future) Calmini A-arm, custom longer lower control arms.
Running 265/75s with a bit of chopping and hammering at both ends.

While this hasn't really been proven over time, it seems like a decent setup covering the standard bases. CV angle is OK, front driveshaft not so much. The rear I think is as good as it could be - maybe too good for the front.

If you shop around and wait for things to come up used etc you can do a mix'n'match setup like this for reasonable money... but it will always cost a bit to fully replace pretty much everything from the chassis down...

[Pico42]

britvit wrote:

Pico42 wrote:

Option 5:
http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html

Not really an option, they don't ship to Australia.

You use a freight forwarder.

[shakes]

atari4x4 wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

Use that on tinder much?

*placeholder for tinder screen grabs!

Disappointed this wasn't updated.