Offroad-Express

Hi
I"ve just bought a 93 swb vitara and wanted to do a bit of 4wding.
I was thinking of geting new tires. 30x9.5x15's are what I was thinking.
Just wanted to know what to do to make sure the fit. will those 2 inch raised springs do the trick? or what are the other options?

where are you?

A body lift will also help clear 30'' tyres. And half the price of springs.

Ruapehu area so central north island. I wasnt sure about the body lift because of having to get it certified. For the springs I'm just going off trademe $500 which is pretty cheap, but will that alone fit the tires or if you fit them do you have to do a heap of other stuff?
cheers for the help

If you fit the lifting springs you'll need to fit extended shocks and either strut spacers, extended struts or flip the strut hats. Otherwise you'll lose a chunk of articulation with the struts/shocks set up to work over a stroke that's offset from your new spring stroke.

None of which is a biggie, but you should research Spanky's budget Vitara lift thread for great options on suspension set-up for these wee trucks.

I use a 2inch body lift as well, and have never had it queried at WOF time, at several different inspection outlets, although I did get the 3inch body lift certed.

Strictly speaking, that tyre size also requires certification...

Leigh, you are up late? How's it going?

Pico42 wrote:Leigh, you are up late? How's it going?

Hi mate, all good here Nice to see you still helping out new zukers, you should just send the specs on your truck, lol.

lneil wrote:If you fit the lifting springs you'll need to fit extended shocks and either strut spacers, extended struts or flip the strut hats. Otherwise you'll lose a chunk of articulation with the struts/shocks set up to work over a stroke that's offset from your new spring stroke.

None of which is a biggie, but you should research Spanky's budget Vitara lift thread for great options on suspension set-up for these wee trucks.

I use a 2inch body lift as well, and have never had it queried at WOF time, at several different inspection outlets, although I did get the 3inch body lift certed.

To be honest the more I read about what other people have done the more confused I am. But I like the sound of flipping the strut hats.
If its possible could you or someone give me a list of exactly what I need to do to the front, and the rear to fit 30's.(with no rubbing) just so theres no confusion for myself
Cheers

Or if theres someone nearish Ohakune thats done this sort of thing or knows all about it. We could T up and I could come and have a look and yarn.

IN2IT wrote:To be honest the more I read about what other people have done the more confused I am. But I like the sound of flipping the strut hats.
If its possible could you or someone give me a list of exactly what I need to do to the front, and the rear to fit 30's.(with no rubbing) just so theres no confusion for myself
Cheers

Or if theres someone nearish Ohakune thats done this sort of thing or knows all about it. We could T up and I could come and have a look and yarn.

If you're only going to 30" tires I would stick to a 2" body lift with some negative offset rims. Cheap and simple to do, it's how I started out and worked well. Just make sure you check out all the bits and pieces you need to loosen or undo in order to lift each side and avoid damage as you fit the lift. You may also need to slightly tickle up your steering stop adjustment to avoid brushing the chassis rails with the inside of the front tires on full lock.

Hey mate

I will be coming down to Kune next month for some snow.
If you haven't made any progress by then I can come round and give you a hand.
Il have my truck down there and I have done the strut top flip. Its very strait forward. Keep in touch about it and if you need me to bring down the bolts I will. You mite struggle to get ht bolts at the hardware store down there.

Hey mate. Im in Ohakune, Auto Service Center on Clyde st. Had a bit to do with the zooks and have plenty of access to parts etc. Can give you a hand outside of work no worries

Also in Ohakune,
Done quite a bit to mine, happy to help. Mines at the garage in Raetihi getting lockers.

vitz wrote:Hey mate

I will be coming down to Kune next month for some snow.
If you haven't made any progress by then I can come round and give you a hand.
Il have my truck down there and I have done the strut top flip. Its very strait forward. Keep in touch about it and if you need me to bring down the bolts I will. You mite struggle to get ht bolts at the hardware store down there.

Would be mint to have a look at your truck if you do come down mate. I'll probably go and have a chat with these local guys about it, but I've gotta do the head gasket before I'm going anywhere. Any idea when you'll be down next month?

Yeah man I will be down 22nd of July and there for 3 days. Il be staying out in Rangataua, I used to live there.
Check out crazyfi's truck. Never seen it in person but it looks the biz!

Maybe with all these vits at the same place at the same time we should go for a wee drive. I know a few clay trails round the back of Rangataua but Im sure you local boys know some better ones.

vitz wrote:Yeah man I will be down 22nd of July and there for 3 days. Il be staying out in Rangataua, I used to live there.
Check out crazyfi's truck. Never seen it in person but it looks the biz!

Maybe with all these vits at the same place at the same time we should go for a wee drive. I know a few clay trails round the back of Rangataua but Im sure you local boys know some better ones.

Just checking if your still gonna be down in rangataua on the 22nd. Just so I could come and have a look at your truck

Yeah man still coming down
PM me your number and I will get in touch when I get there.
Also, do any of the Ohakune crew know much about Ratamaire Rd?
Looks like a nice easy drive, good considering I will be solo

Haven't been to ratamaire road. I think it is just a grass lane.

Hey man, how did you get on? When you are done we can go for a blast. Had some fun at middle road erua last weekend. My zuk is having rear diff fixed after it was making some noise, so I'll be out for a week at least.

crzyfl wrote:Hey man, how did you get on? When you are done we can go for a blast. Had some fun at middle road erua last weekend. My zuk is having rear diff fixed after it was making some noise, so I'll be out for a week at least.

Yeah haven't really done anything. been meaning to ask you about the rear shocks, do the VL shocks fit in straight away or do you have to modify them in some way? I went in there a couple weeks back for a reccy and had a blast. Got a bit of a fright when I learnt water getting up in amongst the engine isn't good. Guess it shows im very new to this game!

Where was the water that deep? I couldn't find anything above my hubs?

The vl ones I've got in the shed were too long. There was someone selling some BMW ones on the forum not long ago. There are two lengths of vl ones, i think, get the shorter ones.

We went down to the far pylon, but the track out is all clay, couldn't fly up it with the kids in back, so ended up doing four pulls with the winch to get out.

You could also buy rear shock extensions, they bolt to the lower mount points and give a bit more travel. Can get them from bits4vits in the uk, or winch.co.nz email Michael for a price for them separate from his kit.

hey bro names Greg ive got a ski house up rangataua ! be up in mine fairly soon ive got 30s on 413 rims rubs a bit on the chassis but nothing major goes thru a wof sweet as drop me a line I hit up the forest a lil bit be good to get to know a loca that may be able to give me a tow! haha 0272012916


cheers dude

Sweet as. Give us a shout when you are coming up.

to any one out there whos done a budget lift do the bmw 320i shocks fit straight in or do you have to do a bit of modifying? Also does it matter what year of 320i and is there only one size?

The BMW shocks fit strait in, no modifying of any type, they just bolt in.
You have to get e30 bmw shocks, they can be from a 318, 320, or 325 as long as there from an e30 model.
Make sure you get the nuts from the top pin of the shocks as they are a differnt size to zook ones and quite hard to get, I think they are 1mm pitch on the threads instead of 1.5 or 1.25.

cheers mate

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/wrecked ... 092105.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/wrecked ... 061795.htm

Etc

Just search BMW wrecking in trademe.

Hey that second auction you listed crazyfi, that was an e36 and the shocks out of an e36 wont fit, the 1st auction is the one, e30

I might be able to get some new ones cheap, let me see.

KYB shocks maximum $130 each (you would need two)

From streetech.co.nz

I got the stuf for the rear lift a31 springs and e30 shocks give me a shout if u want them