Escudo/Vitara suspension lift, please help.

[daymo]

There are still a few things to sort out, like the steering issue where the calipers hit the springs on full lock and get brake fade, (only happens on full left lock tho and not on right lock ) the new spring mounts have fixed this slightly by pulling the springs in towards the engine, but still needs some adjustment. just need to alter the steering stops.

I don't feel that the handbrake cables require extending, or a spacer for the rear diff arm. There is plenty of main brake line available to so they won't need any attention either. At full flex don't see them being an issue, more a matter of wait and see i guess, and havn't gone to extreme for flex just yet.

As for the diff breather, will just remove the elbow bend fixed to the chassis and fit a straight joint and leave it floating freely.

Original before


Final after

[Heath]

For the rear hand brake cables I was told to chase down some LWB ones (same mounts etc but longer).

[daymo]

Overall gained 50mm lift in the back, 60+ish front.

Articulation from stock standard of 350mm under one wheel front and rear, to 470mm front and rear, combination of lift, longer shocks, sway bar removed. Could get more with longer shocks but happy with the result for now.

Stock standard


Results

[daymo]

Sorry for got to add the cost which is the whole idea of the cheap lift.
c33 springs and struts = $40
VL Springs = $40
VN Shocks = $30
New shock bushes and sleeves = $8

$118 all told

[suzookyman]

I have put in h brake cables from a 5 door, from memory
they are about 30mm longer
Al

[Swamped]

Yea tried to keep them shoved over but they still slid back out and don't have a torch to heat them.


You can clearly see the spring doesnt sit centre, and I was not happy with this at all, which got me thinking.

Anyway, problem solved!!

When I got the c33 rear springs, they were still on the struts as the guy was to slack to remove the springs. Looking through all the bits I had left over, realised that the c33 top rubbers internal ring was only 4mm smaller from what i needed for the VL spring, and the external measurement of the rubber and plate were that of the suzuki mount.



As the plate tapers in, I could just cut down untill i got the desired diameter of the suzuki mount/bump stop. Lots of trial and error required here. Also hammered it out slightly to stretch the rubber and take up those few extra mm and ended up with this.



Removed the original spring pad and cut back, just to act as a spacer to fill the recess.


The stack of, VL spring, c33 rubber, c33 plate, suzuki rubber.


All back in and sitting nice and central, and won't move anywhere.


And the best part is that it acts like a spacer for a further 10ish mm of front lift!!

Not a bad idea

[daymo]

Ok. I was just underneath and noticed this.



Trouble is, I don't know how far the rear driveshaft went into the transfer case before the lift.
Is this an issue and has anyone else noticed this doing this lift?
Any dramas if it were to be left?
Should a spacer be made up to bolt in between the diff and driveshaft?

[Escudo boy]

Are you saying its more boggie than just leaving a slotted hole?

If you have a better suggestion you should tell us all now, tom.

-Nathan[/quote]

im actualy saying that the hole idea is boogie, $50 isn't a lot of money for camber correcting bolts, i would sugest that you use them rather than get trigger happy with a drill and welder

[daymo]

Don't worry, have got some camber bolts now. The extra lift left more positive camber than what I was willing to try and file out. No issue tho as to get negative camber the bolt washer sits against the wheel side of the hole.

[daymo]

Have also resolved the brake fade issue by adjusting the steering stops. Turns out full left lock was another half turn of the steering wheel than to the right. Getting underneath and the stopping bolt had actually indented the stop (possibly due to all the years of offroad use), so wound it out a few turns to even things up, problem solved.

[Escudo boy]

thats cool, im yet to correct my steering will do it this weekend, and will order the camber bolts from work

[kernels]

Did you guys get the $50 camber bolts off trademe ? They work OK? Cheers

[daymo]

yes but they $60 by the time you pay for postage. decided to get them after finding this vid on youtube. Can clearly see how much they alter the camber with half a turn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mYi5BupEoM

[kernels]

Thanks, that's a great video!

[daymo]

Has anyone doing a vitara lift extended the driveshaft with a spacer or anything like that?

[Big-AL]

my rear drive shaft is the same as yours, i put 5 door springs in mine. i also didnt notice what the rear drive shaft looked like before the lift. i took the drive shaft off a few weeks ago and there is still plenty of spline in contact, so i decided to leave it, but i am little concerned too.

[Zooky]

I've been following this thread and have bought a pair of rear shocks supposedly from a VL Commy. However, when I got them, they measure 650mm fully extended, compared to the 500mm or so from the factory zook ones...

I've put them in as a trial, to see what they'd do, and they provide a ridiculous amount of downward travel (as expected) and of course the factory springs are far too short.

Here's some pics of it with about an inch to still go.




I'm tracking down some C33 Laurel/A31 Cefiro rear springs at the mo, but pretty sure they'll still be too short to be retained between the stops. What I'm wondering, is whether it'd be any good to weld a small length of pipe to the bottom spring locator to guide the spring back to it's seat, and stop it falling out on the ground? Longer springs to suit the shock length would be an obvious solution, but it'd likely lose upward compression, and end up being higher in the back than the front could practically be lifted to match.

Any thoughts/ suggestions?

[suzookyman]

Get some laurel springs and the gap will be sorted.I have done the nissan / commy spring/shock and commy front spring swap and i think you will find the rear a bit higher than the front,i suppose you could
look at cutting the springs to compensate but i don't know how you would get on at WOF time.
Al