Offroad-Express

15" rims unfortunately do not clear the stock calipers, changed my front wheel hubs to be able to fit the 15" wheels, details here:

http://www.andante.co.nz/blog/?cat=4

It's possible to get some 30mm lift springs from most auto suspension shops, but depending on the offset you end up going with on the rims, 30mm is not always enough to prevent rubbing. I did a 30mm suspension lift and 50mm body lift on mine to prevent rubbing with 30x9.5 tyres.

Yup, lifting the front requires camber correcting bolts, got mine off trademe ages ago, not sure if they are still on there, were noltec brand, but I'm sure you can get them from most suspension shops too. Probably around the $50 mark.

watch out for your front diff, its weak, friend of mine did 3 in a year

alloy house breaks, if given a hard time

What everyone says about the front end is correct, everything breaks on them. Diff heads, housings and cv's.

I have an earlier model and have managed to fit 245/75/16 on the standard rims. The only advantage with the standard rims is that you can get away from doing a body lift to clear tyres. I did have to space both front and rear bumpstops 5mm and do plenty of hammer work to minimise rubbing but the extra tyre size was worth it to me. 225/75/16 would be a lot easier and less damaging to the body and tyres to fit.

Spring lift, front sway bar removal, front strut spacers, longer rear shocks and hiem joint spacer also help with offroad preformance.

also pm waypa on here he hd one for a fair while

Vitara2l wrote:

kernels wrote:15" rims unfortunately do not clear the stock calipers, changed my front wheel hubs to be able to fit the 15" wheels, details here:

http://www.andante.co.nz/blog/?cat=4

It's possible to get some 30mm lift springs from most auto suspension shops, but depending on the offset you end up going with on the rims, 30mm is not always enough to prevent rubbing. I did a 30mm suspension lift and 50mm body lift on mine to prevent rubbing with 30x9.5 tyres.

Yup, lifting the front requires camber correcting bolts, got mine off trademe ages ago, not sure if they are still on there, were noltec brand, but I'm sure you can get them from most suspension shops too. Probably around the $50 mark.

Cheers for that...mine is a Grand Vitara and believe that the components are different?

I'm not sure if they changed much of the chassis and suspension when they went to the first generation of grand vitara, maybe someone else on here can confirm ? Too bad you don't live closer otherwise you could pop round and check fitment of the 15" wheels and compare the rest of the bits.

O yeah, forgot to mention, if you do a suspension lift, you also need a spacer equal to your lift for the A-arm on the rear diff.