as far as what junkyard stuff fits....
nothing in the front, but tj coils fit the rear and give about 4" of lift. ... front end can only be lifted a maximum of 4" without dropping the a-arms and such (lot's o work as nothing is available).
okay, so what's available for the front to lift it 4". hmmm, 4". Man, will the lady be pist. This is
supposed to be my DD as all my Zooks are well built. Even my IFS Toy, which is supposed to be the garbage truck and tow rig ended up with a 3" lift, ya know, just 'cause.
the Sportage comes with 4.78 ring gears in most US models, so the 4.62's would be a step down. also, the sammy and tracker ring gears are max of around 7" i thought, the rear Sportage ring is 7.5" the front is 7".
Naw, I was thinking what Zook R&P would match a Keeya R&P ratio wise, so you could retain the Kia rear. 4.62 is the only things that will match. I wasn't infering that the Zook R&P would fit the Kia carriers.
Who makes the axles for Kia anyhow? Is it AISIN? If so, that would be interesting.
I was just floating the Sammy axle out there as a possible SAS donor. Since CV Unlimited came out with the Newfields for the Sammy (lifetime warranty against breakage), Sidekick/Tracker owners are starting to use Sammy axles for SAS swaps, retaining the Kicker rear axle.
Another option, while requiring a bit of fabbing (easy for me to say when I have a 230v plasma torch and a 230 mig) would be to swap the front and rear axles from a Sidekick into the Kia. The only real issue would be in the front marrying the inner half of the Kick CV to the outter Kia CV. Other than that, they are nearly dead on in width and size. This would allows a much greater R&P and locker selection.
However, you'd have to be pretty hardcore Kia to do all of that, as it would be easier to sell the Kia and build a Kicker. Ever wonder exactly how close Kia looked at the Sidekick before the built the Sportage? Too similar to be coincidental.
and one last thing- i was building a 4" suspension kit for the Sportage for 5 years. i have sold maybe 20-30 (i didn't keep many records). now that i've quit, everyone wants one, so, i think i'm going to get back to it very soon. i'll let everyone know when i'm ready.
How much for a 4" front lift? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
When folks are putting coil spacers on the front, what are they doing for the strut so they maintain the travel? On Sidekicks, the top strut mount can be removed, flipped over, and reintalled to move the strut down a little over an inch. When coupled with a spacer, the wheel travel remains the same as stock, otherwise you lose travel. Can the same be done on the Shortage? I'll have to look.
