Project "DAMKIA" - SASed and Lifted Kia Sportage

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

For anyone that is interested I am about to prove to the doubting Thomases that you can easily lift a Sportage and fit decent shoes on them. Total cost $550 (2.5" lift springs and shocks) and $1250 for 5 31x10.5R15 'pedes on F100 white spoke steelies (new).

Picking up the Simex Centipedes on either Sat or Mon. Can't wait.........

Photo below is the before, on 205/70R15's

EDIT: see further down (pg 7 or thereabouts) for info on the next stage of development coming soon................................................

Joined: 22 Nov 2002 Location: Townsville/Middle Swan WA

LMFAO .... its different armsup

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Back of Greenbank, QLD

Had to read your post twice...was thinking either they are not 31s, or that Kia is the size of an 80series Very Happy

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: gold coast, australia

Ferwoaza wrote:

Had to read your post twice...was thinking either they are not 31s, or that Kia is the size of an 80series Very Happy

what does that matter, his kia is still tuffer than your feroza The Finger

NICK

Joined: 02 Jan 2003 Location: Brisbane

Quote:

what does that matter, his kia is still tuffer than your feroza

Ouch

Joined: 26 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

Good for you dude, I never doubted ya Very Happy

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Back of Greenbank, QLD

NICK wrote:

what does that matter, his kia is still tuffer than your feroza The Finger

NICK

Bastard! Your rig running yet? Very Happy

I'd like to see the Kia in action with the lift, should be good...but I think my approach and departure angles may be better...

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Location: Pucka, Vic

Departure angles yes, unless he bobtails it, or better yet makes a ute. Twisted Evil

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 8:39 am

don't bag the kias
i've looked at them and the chassis rails tuck up very high allowing for a lot of up travel potential
longer links will have the rear flexing nicely

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Location: Pucka, Vic

I simple respect the fact they have a transfer case, unlike a rav or honda peice of cr$p

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 8:58 am

chain driven and married to the gearbox though isn't it

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: Wangaratta

They do have a bit of potential .. but like most new 4x4's the ultimate flex etc is a bit of a moot point as you have the sills very low as well as "smallish" wheel openings .. so without cutting panels etc you are a bit limited as to rubber you can easily run as you are a bit stuck with gearing to turn em ..

Dont get me wrong, Kia's have been made into baja racer's etc but for aussie conditions I can think of more suitable vehicles (Depending on what you want to do as well I guess)

But full points for being different ... Very Happy

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: melbourne victoria australia

lookin forward to seeing it with its bigger meats, looks cool/funny with a lift and the little shoes still on.
got 31's on Frog, now, its at its limit unless I regear it. Keep up the good werk, christover

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

N*A*M wrote:

chain driven and married to the gearbox though isn't it

Yes and no. while it is bolted to the rear of the transmission, the gearbox is the same on that is used in the 2WD version in the states with a longish rear cover. Can be properly seperated.

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

Quote:

.. but like most new 4x4's the ultimate flex etc is a bit of a moot point as you have the sills very low as well as "smallish" wheel openings .. so without cutting panels etc you are a bit limited as to rubber you can easily run as you are a bit stuck with gearing to turn em ..

The wheel openings measure 33.5" across the plastic parts through the hub centerlines ATM. If you take off the plastic trim and do a bit of minor seam work there's 35-36" available for wheels + scrub room. One of the things I will be fiddling with wil be the offset on the rims to maximise the use of the available space (scrub radius).

As for gearing, yes, it will be a bit of a problem initially, but it still works out 5-10% better crawl ratio than a standard Vit/GV even with my 31's on. (28:1 Vit/GV or thereabouts on 27" tyres, to 34.5:1 with 31's for the Kia)

Give the total spend to date (5 wheels/tyres and lift) is in the $1600 range, and the new price of the smaller GV 5door ($31500 OTR) vs the Kia ($26500 OTR) I still have about $3500 to play with before I even meet the new price of a GV ("Atlas" anyone???), and if you want the same "body capacity" as the Kia you are looking at the XL-7 which have very substantial issues of their own....not to mention another $5-6K.

Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Location: Hellbourne again

So do you have any plans for lockers???

Signed

Thomas
(Steve)

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: melbourne victoria australia

bigsteve wrote:

So do you have any plans for lockers???

Signed

Thomas
(Steve)

go for a mig locker, Gaz, very cool, $12 of diff oil.
And hurry up, I'm too excited to wait, lookin forward to a Before/After shotgun ride #Milti

christover

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

bigsteve wrote:

So do you have any plans for lockers???

Signed

Thomas
(Steve)

Yes. Have been talking to ARB, who didn't realise that the chassis/running gear was also used in the South Korean version of the Jeep. All of a sudden they are a little more interested (Military Contract???). As far as required numbers for a production I showed them a couple of Korean websites, one with a pics of about 6 x 25 or so members of a Korean Sportage group lined up in a parking lot, and with some of the mods that they have done ( wild lifts, 35" tyres, SAS, etc.)

We wait and see.

What we know:
- The Suzuki locker is .01" and 2 splines off a fit of the axles into the front diff. Mad

Ring gear is still a guess, see pic. A bit of adjustment on their CNC lathe may be all that is necessary.
- The demonstration diff they had at the 4WD show is the same as the rear, BUT they can't remember who made the axle and third member Mad

Guessing it was a Mazda of some description, and aren't sure about whether they still make a locker for it (VERY old model, may not have the CNC figures for it). The Eaton Posi that comes standard isn't too shabby though...

Another avenue may be McNamara Diffs, haven't sussed them out yet.

Joined: 26 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

Gary forget about McNamara for the diffs, he promised the world to develop a rear 3.5 V6 10" vacuum locker and we saw nothing. He was supplied a whole diff centre and did absolutely nothing with it.
We lobbied ARB for a front V6 8" locker, I sent emails all over the world for people to show their support (by sending emails of interest to Greg Milton) they responded very well and ARB agreed to do it. I just got an email saying they will on sale as of Feb 04.
Now out of 2 Paj front diffs there will be a locker for one (the majority) and out of the three rear diffs there are lockers for 2 of them. They have also scheduled development for the remaining rear locker next year (3.5 V6).
The only reason was the volume of enquiries that they recieved from US/Japan/Oz Paj Clubs and some Euro clubs.
At the end of the day they have to make a $$ out of it and it costs them 100Kto develop a locker from scratch, thats a lot of sales just to get their money back. Also any tech imfo you can supply to make the development easier/cheaper is extremely helpful to your cause as we found out.
It's good to see someone doing something different.
Start networking with the Kia dudes and pool your imfo and lobby together.
Good luck.

Frank.

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

Rears went in without a hitch. Fronts require trimming of the plastic flare work around the lower edges near the sill, and the front bumper (expected). Got the rear part of the flares done today, but working on a black painted concrete driveway in full sun in this heat is no fun. Do the front bumper trimming tomorrow....time for a beer.

Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Location: Central West NSW

Pics!

Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: North East Melbourne

i second that! ...pics! Very Happy

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

Don't have a camera yet. Hopefully some kind person at a BBQ I'm going to tomorrow will take some "halfway there" snaps if I don't get it finished, or some of the finished job minus the cleanup (shaping/bogging up of the flares).

You may want photos, but I want it finished!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:57 pm

I've proll read it somewhere before, was the suspension available off the shelf, and where from? It looks like a true lift kit, not just a factory replacement kit.

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

Area54 wrote:

I've proll read it somewhere before, was the suspension available off the shelf, and where from? It looks like a true lift kit, not just a factory replacement kit.

Ironman Suspensions in Clayton, Melbourne. My vehicle was/is the test mule for a production kit, so there has been a lot of input about what is required versus the" this is what we will supply you with" mentality of the other main players (you know, the usual suspects). The specs are loosly based on a 2.5" lift kit which is produced in the US by Eibach for the "short body" version of the Sportage, so the concept is sound.

The only real issues have been getting the spring rates more appropriate for the heavier rear of the longbody, and trying to get the rate/number of coils/wire guage right to maximize the front articulation (which we are still working on). Need some firmer and slightly offset bushes for the upper diff location links (~6 mm) and will probably use 2 of them on the panhard rod to move the axle over a bit too. Generally minor annoyances, but not really major problems...to be expected for a test mule.

Sorry, no more photos yet but will keep you posted.

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:14 pm

so will this be a production kit soon?
rough price? includes springs bushes shocks everything?

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

N*A*M wrote:

so will this be a production kit soon?
rough price? includes springs bushes shocks everything?

*Need to confirm with Ironman

Around these figures:
4coils ~$300
2 rear shocks ~$260
4 bushes ~$???

And yes, production kit soon 2-3 months*

If anyone is interested, the contact at the Clayton office is Kristian Ristell.

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:36 pm

so the kit will accomodate 31s comfortably?

i'm keen to see how you go cos i can convert my mate Wink

Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Location: Townsville

the rear of the front flare has to be trimmed off (yesterdays job) and a bit of the lower edge and side of the front bumper. It is looking like a body lift will be required (35 mm lift is the practical limit) but with that it should allow 31x1.05R15's to fit, going on the experience of the guys in the US.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

ppffft useless without pics!