How to raise a KZN130 surf for 33's

[sg8380]

hey I want to put 33s on my KZN130 and i was wonder what the best option is to do? i was thinking of putting raised 50mm springs in the rear with new shocks and winding up torsions in the front or i heard of a ball joint spacer kit but dont know alot about that? and was going to do a 2 inch body lift.

any help would be great as i have not done this before. is this the cheapest option? and is this the best parts to get?

was thinking of getting

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 609373.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 083279.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 854162.htm

Thanks

Sam

[jonossiksilvia]

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 13&t=24135
http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 22&t=33411
http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 22&t=34216

these should help you get started

[evolution02]

50mm springs and winding torsion bars with new shocks. Then body lift and be all good
You may still get slight rubbing on front mudflaps when turning

[sg8380]

on my old surf it had a 2inch spring lift in the back and torsions wound up so they were on the bump stop and i wanted to stop them being on the bump stop, i think ill get the 1 inch set http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 439905.htm, what are some good cheap shocks? when i do the body lift ill do it just after the wof and then get it certed just before the next wof is due. ive heard some people say the wof is included in the cert is that true?

[UBZ]

2" body lift .
trim the front valance a little , bash the firewall seams flat .

done .

if your carrying heaps of gear or towing a soft 2" spring lift in the rear and it will sit flat when loaded up .

[sg8380]

wouldnt i be better to go for a bigger body lift then? and would it be worse offroad with out much travel?

[bronx89]

2" lift won't be enough for 33s with full tread, well my 33" Bighorns only just fit (offroad and cornering) with a 3" lift, I wouldn't want to try with only a 2" lift. If you want the cheapest option that will still work on and offroad get 3" spring lift (about $280) and 3" long travel shocks ($700). The front torsions will be maxed to bumps to sit about even but a 1" BJ Spacer and Diff Drop kit ($100) will fix this. I'm not a fan of big body lifts on standard springs and shocks, they handle like crap as the standard springs are shitehouse and sag and shocks are like toothpicks - quite a few mates have done it this way and mine handles a lot better compared to theirs both on and offroad.

Also make sure you 33s are 12.5" wide, they look so good on the Surfs

[Dirtydog]

ive heard alot of people having problems getting cert for bodylifts over 2 inches, as there is quite a bit going into it.

best bet would be spring lift, front diff drop, bj spacers, 2 inch body.

And they do look cool on 33x12.5's.

That way you get to keep close to the good cv angles and wont be as weak.

[UBZ]

only a 2" body lift is sufficet to fit true size 33's ie bfgs .
this has been covered on here Time and time again

3" spring lifts will make the Surf crap offroad as they limit suspension travel .
only spring lifts do not address the issues of firewall rub either , meaning the front suspension has to be jacked up .

I pulled my 3" lift out of my surf , set the torsions back flat , ran a 1" lift spring with longer shocks in the rear , a 2" body lift and it performed miles and miles better on and offroad .

low is the new lift .

[Sir]

First thing I'd be asking is what kind of off roading do you want to do as cheap suspension and body lift may not be adequate and safety might mean you have to spend average to high coin to get a good job done. You also have to look at your rim size, the offset and maybe flares as the police are getting tough on 4wds with wheels pass the guards.
I'm currently building up 98 KZN185. I've put in a 2" suspension lift and a 2" body lift, I went for heavy duty set up which gives me a stiffer ride but she corners beautifully without much body roll. Next to go on is the 16x10 -44 rims with 305/70r16 Maxxis bighorns, same as 33x12.5x15s. So far I have the height I need to fit tyres, clearence to turn and stability on and off road. At the mo I am still running the standard 265/75r16 tyres and truck is still stable though at 4" above standard I wouldn't want to go silly of road. Once tyres turn up they'll go on and then get the cert, might as well pay once and not 3 times, I did what another member did and got a wolf first then did the mods.

[bronx89]

3" spring lifts will make the Surf crap offroad as they limit suspension travel.

3" spring lift has made my Surf perform great offroad. When you say "limit suspension travel" are you talking about down travel at the front? If so, that's what the BJ spacers fix. If I had of known I was getting 3" springs instead of the 2" springs I'd paid for I would have gone for 2" spring lift and 1" body lift. But 3" spring lift is fine in my opinion as long as you do the other little things to un-limit the down travel at the front.

[zukmeista]

3" spring lifts will make the Surf crap offroad as they limit suspension travel.

3" spring lift has made my Surf perform great offroad. When you say "limit suspension travel" are you talking about down travel at the front? If so, that's what the BJ spacers fix. If I had of known I was getting 3" springs instead of the 2" springs I'd paid for I would have gone for 2" spring lift and 1" body lift. But 3" spring lift is fine in my opinion as long as you do the other little things to un-limit the down travel at the front.

Yes you can make the suspension work better, but at the end of the day the limiting factor with IFS is always going to be the C.V.'s, the more of an angle they are on the harder they have to work, yes you can do a diff drop, but then you lose ground clearance, which is kind of defeating the point of lifting it?

[Dirtydog]

Your still getting the clearance under the middle of the vehicle which is what stops ya most times.

bodylift doesnt help with this, so the spring lift is still a good idea.

and with the diff drop it still gives you more clearance than having a solid axle under there. not to mention its still a good setup, nicer to drive on the road than a solid axle (on med sized trucks anyway.)

[bronx89]

^ Bingo.

[UBZ]

3" spring lifts will make the Surf crap offroad as they limit suspension travel.

3" spring lift has made my Surf perform great offroad. When you say "limit suspension travel" are you talking about down travel at the front? If so, that's what the BJ spacers fix. I But 3" spring lift is fine in my opinion as long as you do the other little things to un-limit the down travel at the front.

Suspension only has a limited amount of travel from factory . ie it can only travel a certain distance in its arc of travel before it binds at either end.

when you put lifted springs in the rear you instantly reduce the down travel from ride position . the stiffer / longer springs will also generally reduce up travel as well due to the higher spring rate. it also affects your anti-squat in the rear making the truck more likely to get a hop on making it worse at climbing

Same applies to the front , but the IFS setup dosent really flex at all .When you jack the front up they bounce bad in the front hill climbing. this is because the torsions are fighting against up-travel . So IMHO its not really worth spending heaps of time /money trying to get the front to flex . better off to fit a rear locker it will improve the offroad performance no end.

you only lift your truck to fit bigger tyres , to gain more clearance under your diffs , which is what you hung up on off-road .
Surfs already have good underbody / sill clearance compared to most trucks.

if ya want to jack your truck right up to look like a mall crawler ... go for it .
these are just my opinions from running a surf on 33's for 8 odd years . if i ran one again, I would not lift it at all , just cut the guards to fit the tyres .

[sg8380]

hey thanks for this my fund has decreased so will just be doing a 2 inch spring lift, looking at getting some 32s now what are the good one? i like the look of the kumho road venture mt on surfs

[Sir]

I found the Kumho KL71s or Maxxis Bighorn M/T 762s to be really good for the money. I do mostly on road driving with my truck and the Maxxis have lasted over 60'000ks and just over half worn. Kumho are pretty much the same except quieter on road, Maxxis have a wider foot print and are slightly noisier on smooth tar seal, don't notice the noise much if at all on open road.
All this of course if your looking for a M/T instead of a A/T.