ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: ngrover on September 06, 2006, 12:56:23 AM
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Ok, so I've been going over the idea of lifting my GV for over a week now trying to come to a conclusion on what the best approach is (for me and possibly others like me). If anyone can help me out by either verifing my findings or clarifing my confusion that'd be great.
To recap my homework, some of the more common solutions include (sorry if I'm detailing the obvious):
1) Coil spacers all around with longer shocks in the back and in the front using either strut extenders, strut spacers, or longer OME struts. The height of the coil spacers I've read about vary from 1 inch to 1.5 inch up front and something slightly higher in the back.
- Pros: cheap in most cases, easy, more ground clearance, more tire clearance
- Cons: no additional suspension travel, CV angle issues under certain/extreme cirumstances, camber adjusting bolts or strut filing is needed.
- Part Sources: Boondox Motorsports, JDMCRX (site member), Rocky Road Outfitters
2) Body lifts. So far I've seen a kit from Rocky Road Outfitters who also offer an optional steering extension kit. I've also read of some home brew body lifts, one of them simply involved flipping the existing rubber below the body mount to the top for a 1 3/4" lift with no additional parts other than what's already on the vehicle. Anything above a 2 inch body lift becomes much more complicated.
- Pros: cheap, more tire clearance, no CV angle issues
- Cons: bumpers need to be raised which involves a welder, no additional suspension travel, more work than a person would expect.
- Part Sources: Rocky Road Outfitters, Homemade
3) Calmini suspension kit. The kit claims to maintain stock track width and alignment but I've read of people having to correct camber issues.
- Pros: maintains stock track width, supposedly maintains alignment, includes drop link arms to correct position of front axle housing, increases wheel travel, increases tire clearance, more suspension travel.
- Cons: expensive
- Part Sources: calmini web site
4) Some combination of the above. From what I gather option 1 and 2 go together nicely. Option 2 and 3 go together nicely. I originally thought that option 1 and 3 would go together nicely but apparently the Calmini kit already comes with coil spacers (even though they aren't in the picture) so any efforts to get more lift with a Calmini kit using alternative coil spacers would be marginalized or redundant.
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Now here are the areas for which I'm trying to find a consensus:
1) Do people have CV angle issues when performing option 1? If anyone thinks they have broken a CV due to a lift it would be nice to know about it. Any hard and fast rules for figuring what might cause a problem situation would be nice but if not, is there any conclusion on the matter for those running these setups up front:
- Boondox 2.0" strut extenders and 1.5" inch spacers.
- Rocky Road 2.5" inch suspension system.
- JDMCRX's coil spacer and strut spacer kit.
2) This is kind of a second part to the note above. I've seen people outside North America running drop link arms to lower the front axle housing in order to relive CV stress (correct?). Is this simply a case of "better safe than sorry"? Where can one buy these without buying a whole Calmini kit? I've seen what I think look like GV drop links listed here: http://www.vttr.com.tw/e4X4.htm ... has anyone in North America ordered some from overseas? If these are a good idea would anyone be interested in a group buy? Finally with regards to drop links, is there any potential to actually cause a problem by using drop links when running stock control arms.. more specifically, will the CV joints become overly compressed because of the narrower track width combined with the more horizonal placement of the axle housing (with respect to the drive shafts) that the drop links provide? Phew, that was hard to explain.
3) Does a Grand Vitara have less tire clearance due to the body cladding vs variants without cladding (for example a Tracker)? I've noticed that bigger tires on lifted vitaras tend to come close to the front of the rear wheel well. Is there a way to position the rear axle back a bit? If I had to guess, it might be possible by using adjustable rear trailing arms and a drive shaft spacer? If anyone has experience with this I'd like to hear about it (perhaps Mr.Left? http://www.mrleft.net/spacer.html).
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My personal considerations are like many others: I'd like to start with a lift that I can improve on at a later date, I don't want to spend money that I don't have to, and I want to improve the offroad-ability of my 2000 Grand Vitara. Of course part of my goal is to run larger tires (245/75/16 on steel vitara wheels). So far I'm leaning towards JDMCRX's kit which I could improve upon later with a body lift. My only hesitation would be that I don't want to do what might be considered a "hack job" and regret it later. If someone can give me a compelling reason as to why the Calmini kit is worth the money I'd like to hear their argument. On one hand you have people bashing the calmini kit (Rocky Road Outfitter's website included) and on the other hand people love it. In order for the calmini kit to be worth it's weight in gold I'd have to be sure of two things: A) In reality do the longer control arms and drop links actually solve a known problem that exist with other approches? B) Is there an advantage to the Camini kit vs other solutions in terms of suspension travel and ground clearance (given that it uses coil spacers and lowers the axle housing using drop links)?
Phew, I could go on forever but I gotta get to bed. If more comes to mind I'll let ya know ;)
Thanks all!
Neil
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Just a couple of things, you should also remember that a body lift doesn't raise the height of actual frame etc. till you put bigger wheels on so you will still have the same clearance and breakover angle as before. I'm sure you realise that but I just thought I'd mention it coz you didn't list it as a con.
Second, you can also get longer springs without getting the Calmani kit, something like the OME 1.5" (or 1.25") lift which is and option somewhere in between the spacers and the Calmani option. It should give you the added height and increased articulation.
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You may also want to consider how long you want to wait to get the parts. I have ordered from Boondox and they shipped fast with great customer service. Tried to get a body lift from RR, but after waiting 2 months cancelled my order. Never dealt with JDMCRX but if you do a quick search you should get a good idea of his customer service.
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welllll...... if i were to do it again on mine i would simply pick up some boondox spacers for the front (mines a 4cyl and the springs seem perfect up front), some strut extensions, a 1inch spacer for the back, a set of OME medium duty rear springs. and some 2-3inch longer lift shocks from boondox. this should give around 2inches in front and maybe 2.25 - 2.5 inches in the rear. any you would be able to carry some weight without losing the lift height with the factory springs. add a body lift if you want more tire clearance, also keeps the body outta the water and rockers off the trail hazards a little more... my body lift came in from RR a week after i ordered, you need to very specifically ask if they have them in stock ready to ship, otherwise you'll be waiting a bit, the installs are seperate.
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Hey Neil,
Here's my two cents, and my attempt to answer your questions:
1) Am I having CV issues with my RRO suspension lift? Nope, but then again, I'm not out wheelin' much. Unfortunately I'm in South Florida, and there are only some big mud pits...no rocks and fun stuff, so I've done mostly highway miles with the kit installed. I've had my RRO suspension lift on for more than 40,000 miles, and I don't have manual hubs, so everything is spinning while I'm driving. Can I say that the sharper angle is not damaging my CV joints? Nope...I have no idea. So far they're holding up fine, and I'm at 124,000 miles. It seems to me, logically, that the CV would still be okay. It's not like the new angle is out of normal operating range. Now because I have the longer springs and struts, I guess the operating angle would be pretty sharp when a wheel is lifted off the ground. But at the same time, how much stress is on the CV joint when a wheel is in the air. Zero, cause I don't have a locker. Nothing's even spinning if it's in the air, right? I guess what I'm saying is I'm not in a panic about CV angles. I'm not a mechanic, but it doesn't look that extreme to me.
2) Drop link arms....hmmmm...I've also considered the ones at VTTR, but I don't know how much they cost. I thought about getting their skids and getting the arms at the same time, but ordered Tracker ones instead. I might be interested in the drop arms though. If they don't cost much to buy and install, it would be worth it for the piece of mind. As far as there being a problem with them and the stock control arms....I don't know about that. I understand your point though. With the wheels in the air, for example, the axles would be pushed in further by the downward movement of the suspension and control arms, right? And in general, the further down the control arms get pushed, the more it pushes in the axle. I'm guessing, eventually the end of the axle would connect with something and stop the wheel from flexing any further. Like I said, I'm not a mechanic, so I don't know what that something would be, or if it would harm anything.
3)Does the GV have less wheelwell space than the Tracker because of cladding? Yes, I'm pretty sure. I'm getting ready to fit 245/75/16s in a few months (235/70/16 right now), and even with my body and suspension lift, it'll be tight. I have brand new 1" Spidertrax wheel spacers that'll hopefully help. The body cladding around the wheelwell is annoying, although I hear that the cladding on the actual body helps prevent dents and dings. A blessing and a curse I guess. I've done some wheelwell trimming, where it's not noticeable, but will probably remove the small piece of cladding directly behind the rear wheels (mudflap area) to give more room. There's a small black metal piece that covers some vents there, but it can be trimmed so that it wont show, and should look fine. The front wheelwell cladding can be removed, but it leaves 5 or 6 small square holes showing. You would need to live with that, or have some fun with bondo/rhino lining/aftermarket flares etc. A tricky job to say the least!!
Well....that's it for me. Good luck with everything.
Dave
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Hey...I just remembered that VTTR has what looks like a drop bracket to take care of the rear axle as well. I guess it's for the rear sway bar, if that's what it's called. Probably would be most economical to order front brackets, rear bracket, and snorkel all at the same time! Lot of money though, I'm sure. Later....
Dave
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Digger (on this site) sells spacers that are actually sold as Trackick parts but I just installed them on my GV and they fit perfectly. I used strut extenders and 91 Crown Vic rear shocks. The ride is still feels like stock and I got an honest 2" of lift.
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any chance of a picture??
who does the strut extender / spacers
thanks
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This is the best I can do right now, its getting dark out.
(http://cdalejef.smugmug.com/photos/93488986-M.jpg)
(http://cdalejef.smugmug.com/photos/93489015-M.jpg)
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thanks
looks good ;D
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Hey guys thanks so much for your responses... very helpful crowd here!
hap, thanks for the heads up on the shipping delay issues, I will take that into consideration.
davyboy, thanks for sharing your experience.. sounds like CV's are not a glarring concern with a reasonable lift. I didn't realize that a set of lockers would cause the cv's not to turn in 2wd mode... cool (I'm new to 4x4 so go easy on me!) . To bad about the reduced tire clearance due to body cladding on the vitara... oh well. Regarding bondo etc, I don't want to end up with a franken truck whaterver I do (actually I do want a franken truck but my wife not so much, maybe when it gets older). When i figure out my lift I may contact VTTR and see if I can setup a group buy on some stuff... in the least we could all save on shipping and at most they might give us a discount if we can get say 10 people interested. I can't quite picture what that rear VTTR drop bracket does / goes etc...
Jeff, crown vic shocks eh? now that's what i like to hear, someone who has gone through the trouble of figuring this sort of thing out. Do the Crown Vic shocks swap right in or is there any leg worked invoved there? that is a clean rig you got there! how did you keep your bumper so clean? my wife smoked a dear a couple weeks back so the whole front end is being re-done (only cosmetic) so then mine might look that nice.
fordy1,
the strut extenders are available here:
http://www.boondoxmotorsports.com/zuk_suspension.html
strut spacers are availabe through JDMCRX here:
http://www.geocities.com/spragabenzh/LIFT.html
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Sorry, I forgot to post where I got the strut extenders. Other than Boondox you can get them from a BDS dealer.
I'd say away from buying things from JDMCRX, he does not have a good track record at all.
I can't take credit for the Crown Vic shocks, thats a pretty well known upgrade that is posted all over this forum. They do bolt right up and are 2" longer. I got mine from Advance Auto Parts for $15 each. I believe they are Monroe gas-matics.
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thanks for the info,
its hard to get good stuff in oz
i had fitted a TJM lift kit but pulled it out 2 months later , car was only 40mm in rear and 30mm
in front plus i think putting bricks in place of coils would have been better.
if you dont drive a toyota or a nissan your :-X
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i picked up my crown vic shocks direct from ford and the bolt on my tracker was smaller than the diameter of the lower bushing in the crown vic shock, the crown vic bolt to large in diameter for the mount so i had to get a metal sleeve to put in the bushing to hold the bolt properly.
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Look for RockMolester here and on Zuwharrie.com . He works for 4WheelFarts and is basically selling us the OME kits for cost. If I had known about him 10 months ago I'd have saved a little longer and gone with the OME kit instead of my cobbled together spacer setup. :P
For the rear you can also use front shocks for a 89-ish Toyota FJ60 Land Cruiser. Perfect height for a 1-2" or so lifted GV/XL7/Tracker (and Track/Kick/Vit/Escudo?).
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I'm waiting to pick up my car from getting a new lift kit fitted.
I've gone from a 30mm spring lift to ToughDog coils (40-50mm) plus
OME front struts and Rancho 9117 adjustable rear dampers. These struts/dampers
are considered the best combination of comfort and travel from those that
have tried here in Oz.
I fitted the rear myself yesterday and was a little disappointed the springs
didn't lift it 50mm like they did on my old GV (they since change the spring part #'s).
With 235/70 tyres I should end up with a decent lift overall. The bigger tyres made a huge
difference to grip and gave close to 1" of absolute lift, the plastic cladding only had
to be modified on the rear by heating and curling the rear door trim inwards in front of
the tyres.
I am also getting a traction control kit from Queensland which I should have had by
now but for some reason has been delayed for several weeks. I took this week
off to fit it so I'm pissed about that, will be good to see how it goes when its done -
should be close to twin lock performance but won't stress out the diffs axles and CV's
like lockers.
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I am also getting a traction control kit from Queensland which I should have had by
now but for some reason has been delayed for several weeks. I took this week
off to fit it so I'm pissed about that, will be good to see how it goes when its done -
should be close to twin lock performance but won't stress out the diffs axles and CV's
like lockers.
What's a traction control kit? Got any weblinks?
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I am also getting a traction control kit from Queensland which I should have had by
now but for some reason has been delayed for several weeks. I took this week
off to fit it so I'm pissed about that, will be good to see how it goes when its done -
should be close to twin lock performance but won't stress out the diffs axles and CV's
like lockers.
What's a traction control kit? Got any weblinks?
These are the guys
http://www.haultech.com/Traction.shtml
If you do a search around outerlimits you will find some discussions
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modules/phpBB2/
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Yep thats right, but the website is a little scarce on info and has been for ages.
I'm the first to get them to make all the brackets specifically for the
Grand Vitara, so it should be easier for them now to send kits off to people.
Having said that I don't know if they would wan't to send it to the US.
Its being sent to me tomorrow now so I'll have it in very soon :D
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Yep thats right, but the website is a little scarce on info and has been for ages.
I'm the first to get them to make all the brackets specifically for the
Grand Vitara, so it should be easier for them now to send kits off to people.
Having said that I don't know if they would wan't to send it to the US.
Its being sent to me tomorrow now so I'll have it in very soon :D
THIS I want to hear about.
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Can someone give me a rundown of what this is?
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Here is some responses to questions on Outerlimits4x4 that were put to the developer of this system a couple of years back. It should give you a pretty good idea about the system.
I guess the biggest question is how well does our electronic traction control work? Is it as good as lockers in terms of making a vehicle able to drive over stuff?
Let me state first off that in terms of getting the most amount of traction possible you can never do any better than a 100% locking differential.
So looking at hardcore type wheeling (like competition type stuff etc) - I would guess that in well over 90% of situations that requires twin lockers to get through you will get exactly the same result with our traction control. Now in the last 10% of situations you will definately notice that the traction control behaves differently to the lockers. The most common situation for me would be a steep rocky climb with offset ledges - something that you need to drive with throttle and momentum (whether lockers or ETC) - with the ETC you will start to notice the time delay and extra wheelspin that the traction control needs to operate. If the climb is difficult enough then you may find that a rig with lockers will be able to drive it and one with ETC wont. That being said I have never found an obstacle that I could drive with double lockers (ARB) that I couldnt drive totally open diffed with the traction control (this was back in the day when I ran ARB'd dana 44s as well as the traction control on the blue rover with 36in tyres and then 42in tyres)
These last 10% of situations are also the places that you really risk breaking something (like CVs or crownwheels for instance). The traction control is just so much easier on axle components. I would guess that an ARBed axle with 35in tyres would be about the same strength as a traction controlled axle with 42s - and Im totally serious on this point. The traction control is just that much easier on axles it isnt funny. Out of the hard core rigs that I wheel with that run hilux front CVs which is basically myself on 38s, Adrian on 38s and Rob on 42s that run front traction control compared with Tony on 38s and Beebee on 38s with front lockers the difference is amazing. Myself, Adrian and Rob drive the arse out of our rigs with absolutely no concern with front axle breakage and we rearly break CVs. Tony, who really drives carefully with his front locker breaks more CVs than the 3 of us combined and Beebee, who drives the arse out of his rig with his front locker breaks more than Tony again.
So it really depends on how strong your axles are. If you got axles that you carnt break then the lockers are the perfect choice - you could never do better than that but if you are worried about breaking stuff (particularly the front axle) and you find yourself turning off the front locker on the difficult throttling climbs or only use the front locker as an absolutely last resort then the traction control will probably make the rig more capable.
At the moment in my tube buggy which runs hilux limited slips and traction control (no lockers at all which is why its called the Lockless) there is nothing that this rig hasnt been able to drive that has been driven by Tony (twin lockers), Adrian (rear locker and front traction control) the Mogrover (twin lockers), Beebee (twin lockers), or Rob (rear locker and front traction control). In fact there is one new climb that so far only the Lockless had managed to drive and nobody else has. Tony has been out there a couple of times and he has broken both times and has yet to drive it. It took me a few tries to get it (cause its a bit offcamber) and I actually rolled completely over back onto my wheels before i drove it on my next attempt.
In the non hard core type wheeling, the sort of wheeling that you are going to do with your wife and kids in the car, I couldnt imagine there will be a situation where the traction control wont work as well as the lockers. It will probably work better because its totally automatic - you just turn it on and forget about it whether you are driving uphill, downhill, corning or on the flat. The traction control wont do a thing until you need it. The second big plus for this type of rig that again the traction control is just so much easier on the axles and CVs. And the traction control will fit any vehicle - its only the bracketry that will be different.
So if you are going to build a full on comp rig. Is the traction control something you should look at? I would say definately yes especially on the front axle. Most modern rear axles are strong enough to handle a rear locker so a locker there is the best way to go but in the front if you got some bigger tyres and reasonable horsepower then the traction control without a locker will probably make a better rig simple because you will be able to drive it harder without breaking it. On a full comp rig I probably wouldnt run it in the rear because there are times when the time delay of the traction control might slow you down - the lockless doesent have a rear locker and I do notice that its not locked although this hasnt ever stopped me driving anywhere that a rear locked rid has driven (like Tony or Adrian). Most modern rigs do have factory rear limited slip diffs and the traction control working on a limited slip diff is very, very close to a 100% locker. If you are running 35 spline cro mo shafts and CTMs on a Dana 60 then lockers will be best
Sam
But here is a quick run down on how it operates:
We put speed sensors on each wheel which normally consists of a thin steel disc with lots of 12mm holes in it that the speed sensor looks at. This disc just sits in behind the wheel over the studs. The latest way that we are doing this is to place a band of thin steel with the holes in it over the disc brake hub and have the sensor looking at that. The sensor normally mounts off the brake caliper mount bolts. For a drum brake the sensor plate sits on the inside of the drum and so does the speed sensor itself.
The sensors (4 of them) are connect back to a computer that makes decisions about whether it should apply brakes to any wheel.
The way it applies the brakes is by controlling air soleniod valves (like the ARB locker valves). The valves apply air pressure into 4 individual air chambers that apply force to the 4 brake master cylinder that apply the brakes to the 4 individual wheels via the existing wheel brakes. So this is why you need an air compressor to run the system. Also you can see that the individual master cylinder must have an individual brake line running to each wheel brake which is why you need "4 channel" brakes. If you only got 3 or 2 channel brakes (or 1 channel for that matter) then it doesent matter cause you just run extra brake lines and flex lines if needed.
The whole setup is totally tested and ADR compliant and is totally certifiable although at this point each vehicle that the setup is installed on has to be certified individually.
The installation will have to be carried out by trained personel it probably isnt something that you could do by yourselves (although you probably could). In the future it may be because we will make kits for the individual makes so that everything will be a bolt in affair but we arnt there yet.
Sam
When we start selling the traction control setup we arnt going to be trying to compete with the ARB setups on price. Ours is basically going to be priced similarly to the ARBs and we will try to sell it on its performance alone.
Now we may start the pricing a few hundred dollars cheaper than a pair of ARBs to get people looking at the product but I really dont think anybody should buy this just because you are going to save a few hundred bucks. Our traction control has benefits that ARBs carnt offer and it is these features that we will sell it on.
Just as a thought - if our traction control worked identically to a set of ARBs in every situation there wouldnt be any contest because our setup is just so much easier on axles and is so much easier to use. So basically our traction control trades a little bit of top end performance for alot more reliability and strength and ease of use.
So what does this mean in terms of which is better at different levels of wheeling. Heres what i think:
On the mild stuff the performance will be identical - the advantage of the ETC is that you can leave it on all the time and it doesnt effect your turning ability.
As the obstacles get harder there will become a point where you will notice that the full lockers start to work better. This wont necessarily mean that something with traction control wont drive an obstacle that a fully locked rig will but the traction controlled rig will definately have more wheelspin. On an abstacle that can be totally crawled with zero momentum the results would be almost identical in all situations. The lockers may have an advantage in certain situations where you want absolutely no wheelspin where the traction control will let a wheel spin a bit and this will push you off line (and you will fall off a rock and diff out for example) And the traction control will have an advantage in situations where the lockers bind the wheels up and they fight each other (like stuff where you need articulation or really sharp or undercut ledges) With the ETC the drive train will load up less (cause there isnt any binding loads) and the rig will crawl more easily.
As the obstacles get harder again the advantage definately swings back to the traction control simply because its just so much easier on axle components. This lets you drive harder without breaking. When we talk about this sort of wheeling the major application of the traction control is in the front axle because the rear axle will generally be able to handle a locker. That being said the Lockless doesent have any lockers at all and there are only a very small number of situations where a rear locker would make it better - and again there isnt an obstacle anywhere that the Lockless hant been able to drive that a fully locked rig has. This strength issue is the reason why Adrian (POS) runs the traction control on his front axle and not a locker. We have talked about it many times whether or not he would be better off with a locker in the front and he has never done it simply because he knows that his front axle just wouldnt be able to handle it. Basically his rig is more capable without a front locker - and if he can sort out a way to keep his rear end from breaking he would be unstoppable (he has now broken both rear toyota 60 series axles - so I think thats 2 front CVs and 2 rear axles he has broken since it was built which really demonstrates how strong his front combo really is). The other example is the climb that the Lockless has driven Tony has broken twice on and has yet to drive it. For me the climb isnt really all that hard (Im not sure if this is how I should describe it cause it took me about 10 goes to get it and I did roll completely over at one point although I was being fairly stupid on that attempt). Its got a tough ledge at the bottom and it is steep and a bit loose and off camber as you go up. For me its just a matter picking a line and holding the throttle flat. For Tony he just basically has trouble breaking the front end becuse its locked -its happned twice now. Im sure he will be able to drive the climb but each time he tries he is really risking breaking his front end. It wouldnt supprise that i would be able to drive up there 10 times without breaking and Tony would probably break 5 times - I dont know he may not ever be able to drive it without breaking. If he had the same front setup as me I dont think he would have any trouble. Now as our tracks become harder and harder this is going to become a greater concern to Tony - trying to drive stuff and trying to keep the front from breaking. For me and Adrian we dont worry about the strength of the front axle - we do break stuff eventually but it happens over a period of time that we can live with. For Tony if he is not carefull he could break a brand new CV every time he goes out.
So who do I think should buy traction control instead of lockers?
- somebody who isnt into the hard core stuff that wants something that is easy to use and gentle on drive train components.
- somebody that carnt get ARBs for their vehicle.
- somebody that has independent front suspension and doesent want to break it.
- somebody that is really into the hardcore stuff and is having strength issues (espesially the front end)
And who do I think should stay with the lockers?
- somebody that doesent run big tyres that doesent really drive that hard.
- somebody that doesent mind fixing broken CVs.
Sam
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Sounds interesting...sorta like what Jeep runs on their Grand Cherokees...maybe a bit better.
Sounds like the Suzuki warranty people wouldn't like it. :P
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Haha warranties are overrated I think because unless its a factory defect that you will
pick up pretty soon they can refuse you based on wear&tear or abuse.
Anyway I don't care, my car is 2years old and anything that goes wrong won't be
Suzuki's fault.
I believe that Haultechs traction control is superior to any factory offerings because it has
been calibrated for off-road use only and uses quality sensors toatally independant of
the ABS gear.
This means that they can read the differential of wheel rotation far more accurately
and step in sooner to apply the brakes.
Once I have it installed I will know how good it is so I can let you know if you'd like.
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VTTR
I ordered some stuff from VTTR about a month ago. Snorkle for Vitara, front and rear 2 inch drop brackets and had them shipped to Canada. Thier prices are great. The probelm was the shipping. It was about 100.00$.
I think I ended up paying $500.00 Canadian with shipping, duties and taxes for everything.The products are only about $300.00, but all the other crap ads up.
They were great to deal with and I had the stuff within less than a week. It was a little sketchy giving someone on the other side of the world my visa number but they were great.
The snorkle and brackets are not installed yet (I've been busy) but the quality looks very good and the snorkle looks awsome.
On another note, for what it's worth I ordered the coil spacers from jdmrx and they showed up at my door with no problems. Shipping took a little over a week. Maybe I just lucked out. Seemed like a nice enough guy to deal with.
i'm doing the coil spacers (1.5") with XL7 coils(1 to 1.5"), OME front strut, Rancho rear shocks, 2" body lift, 2" diff drop brackets and 31/10.5/15 all terrain tires.
I'll let you know when and If I have any problems after it's all put together with my 1999 tracker.
hope this helped. I think this forum is awsome and there is tones of great info, thanks everyone
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Yeah I had some probs before but they have been fixed now. I have 4 more constumers on this board that will be posting pics of there rigs in my for sale thread
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This is the best I can do right now, its getting dark out.
([url]http://cdalejef.smugmug.com/photos/93488986-M.jpg[/url])
([url]http://cdalejef.smugmug.com/photos/93489015-M.jpg[/url])
LOL! Jeff, you are the only other person I've ever met with a 2000 Limited in white. We have something in common.
IMHO, that is the sharpest GV they made. Nicest grille design, black windows on white and the bling-bling gold rims and trim. I have a blast wheeling mine and playing up the bling-bling look. I even added 2 sets of LED washer nozzles. White for running and yellow for turn signals.
Mines going up on toys and 35's. I plan on blinging everything I can just to stay with the foo-foo Limited look. All the suspension links and bumpers will be done in white to match the truck.
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LOL, ya yours is the only other one I've seen too. I've added some bigger tires since those pics were taken. I'm now looking 5.12's and a steel housing to swap in. Next will come custom bumpers and a rear ARB.
How much trouble was it to make the Calmini bumper fit yours?
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How much trouble was it to make the Calmini bumper fit yours?
No trouble at all, since I built it from scratch. ;)
Everything on the GV is CALMINI, including some custom, one-off stuff. It's got the CALMINI sliders, CALMINI rear bumper with the 2" receiver (which I think is available now), Rear axle truss and the ever elusive CALMINI 3" body lift with the full-replacement strut brace.
But the bumper I couldn't wait on as Steve was way busy at the time. so I set out to pay homage to the man. The bumper is as close as I could get it in looks, but I changed the frame mounting, the winch plate and the brush bars. I even frenched in the CIBIE factory GV Limited fogs just for added measure.
Honestly, about 100 man hours went into it. I can build you one for, hmmm, 100 hours X $90/hour, say $9000.00?
its a steal. :-*
Good luck on the build. Blacknight needs to come to my house and take pics and such, and pic up the template I made so he can copy it for himself. Honestly, I don't think he knows how much he's biting off.
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They have never listed a GV rear bumper or sliders on their site, I didn't even know they existed. I call about every 6 months on the front bumper, they say that they will take payment but don't know when they will get enough orders to make it. I think if they make them then people will buy them.
How about talking Steve into it for us? :D
Skid plates would be nice too!
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Notice I said custom, one-off? I was, and still am I guess, testing fit and function. Steve does this with a certain few, like right now with the LT struts. I find it nice that they actually do real world testing before they get into if they can do it for money.
Believe it or not, Calmini has a comlete cable locker for the Sammy. Uses the HD shafts they make. It's been around almost 10 years now. The market just isn't there for production...
yet. ;)
Be patient, the great, unexpected things for the GV and Kick are right around the corner.
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Ya, its just hard to be patient after this many years.
They would be supprised how much of this stuff would sell if they would actually put it into production instead of expecting people to put money down and wait for 9 other people to do the same before making it.
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Lets see some pics of the rear bumper!
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Ya, its just hard to be patient after this many years.
They would be supprised how much of this stuff would sell if they would actually put it into production instead of expecting people to put money down and wait for 9 other people to do the same before making it.
Ditto!
It's frustrating for me sometimes coming from my boxy Chevy's and Ford Rangers to find out that the aftermarket part I want isn't there for my Suzuki or that someone has made it...but it's been labeled "in development" for over a decade. ::)
It's sorta why my Tracker has been relegated to just a DD.
Oh yeah, any news on those long travel struts? The XL7 is itching to get lifted and OME's cost more per side than my KYB's just cost me for both struts and both shocks!
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Guys, who is this "JDMCRX"? Is this a company... or what? I checked out the link you provided and cut and pasted the package contents (below). I think I could I.D. all the itens listed in the package except the bumpstop spacers. What are the "4 aluminum bump stop spacers"? And what do they do an look like?
norm
GRAND VITRA,VITRA,TRACKER
1.75" Front And 2.25"Rear Lift
1.5" Front Coil Spacers
2" Rear Coil Spacers
1.5" Alum Strut Spacers
4 Alum Bumpstop Spacers
2 Front Rancho Strut boots
6 Bolts and Nuts
1 PDF Instruction
Complete Kit $320 CDN
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Do a search for that name, he's an individual here. There's some controversy surrounding him so research it and decide if you want to go another route or not.
I wouldn't do it again.