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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 

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.

any chance of a picture??

who does the strut extender / spacers

thanks

This is the best I can do right now, its getting dark out.

thanks

looks good

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


 

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.

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 

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. 

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.

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?).