| Spacers &Body Lift |
| Spring Spacers Looking at more height without a body lift ? Again my search for an Australian supplier has so far been fruitless but I've finally been put in touch with a USA manufacturer who is happy to supply us over here. He seems to know what he's talking about and knows what the safe limits are so drop him a line if you are serious about doing it. Basically a spring lift involves placing a spacer between the top of where the spring sits in the front shock tower or upper mounting point on the rear chassis and the coil itself, lifting the vehicle. A total lift of 4" (10cm or so) including any other suspension lifts (ie longer springs) is practical. Any more than this then excessive stress may be put onto the CV joints so keep it no more than 10cm. Installation can be handled by an decent suspension shop if you're not really confident playing with this sort of stuff. Get in touch with John Benyon who makes these things; he certainly seems to know whats he's on about and there is a lot of practical advice about fitting them. He charges about $165 USD ($300 or so AUD depending on exchange rate) plus freight for a set of 4. Theres also a fair chance that customs will want their cut as well as GST upon arrival into the country so budget in another 25% just in case. See if you can get John to put in a note saying its a sample or something...might be able to get around it... E-mail John Benyon at moondah99@msn.com |
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| Body Lift Considered possibly the most radical way of putting more clearance under the guards (ie bigger wheel/tyre combo which leads to more absolute ground clearance) is by performing a body lift. There are Sportages overseas running 35" tyres once a combination of body and spring lifts have been performed. I'm running 30" tyres at the moment which is about as big as you can sensibly go with only +40mm springs fitted. This operation can only be performed on vehicles manufactured with a seperate chassis where the body is basically bolted down onto a rigid ladder frame. The Sportage is such a vehicle and therefore is a prime candidate for a body lift. The operation involves unbolting the body from the ladder frame, jacking it up and placing spacers between the body and frame then securing the whole assembly. As radical and as complicated as this sounds it really isn't. The process involves unbolting the 8 factory locating bolts, jacking the body up, locating the spacers and replacing the bolts. Thats about it. The bumper mounts will have to be slightly modified so the bumpers can be realigned with the bodywork and a part of the transfer case gearlever must be cut to enable free movement. No other hardware requires modification or replacement. Two people would probably be better than one and allow a solid day for the whole process. Better still if you have a few spare dollars get an experienced 4x4 shop to do it for you; they will have the high-lift jacks that will make the operation far easier. The spacer blocks can probably be engineered locally but once again I'd recommend a US based manufacturer / supplier who has a wealth of experience in a wide range of body lifts including the Kia. The blocks are about $10 USD each (8 required) and are available in a range of materials; the pro's and con's of each are comprehensively listed on his web site. Theres even a link to yet another web page with step by step instructions on lifting the Sportage which would be an invaluable reference for anybody wishing to undertake the bodylift themselves. The maximum lift as described above (with no other modifications) is about 1 3/8" (35mm) using stock hardware. Combined with +40mm springs that gives 3" more clearance straight away. Add spring spacers and we're into some hard core off road capability. Check out Roger Browns web site for an excellent run down on lifts available, materials and engineering involved, prices and so on. Its at http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/4x4/ForSale/BodyLiftKit.shtml#Applications |
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| Above : This is one type of body lift block that Roger Brown engineers in the US to suit the Kia Sportage. Check out his website link above for a comprehensive rundown on material options, cost and contact details. |
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| These next few pictures are of an earlier model Sportage undergoing the lifting process. On the left shows the body being jacked off the chassis to allow the new spacers to be installed after the bumpers have been removed. This Sportage belongs to 'nukeiridium' from the USA who can be found for lots of valuable advice on Kia mods. in a 'Yahoo Club' site called 'Extreme 4x4 Sportages' This site as well as others are an excellent forum for discussing problems, improve- ments etc for matters relating to your Sportage. The shots below show the body being jacked up from the front and the front body mounting point for a front spacer, one of 8 in total. |
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| Above : Before and after shots of guard to tyre clearance with the body lift completed. Very worthwhile especially if combined with spring and suspension work. The final shot shows the metal surround that resides underneath the centre console. This requires some modification to allow free movement of the transfer case lever after the lift is completed. |
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