Gonna have to pick this one apart.
the aftermarket support for the Sportage is very small, not nil. there is Tanker in Korea and Rocksportgear (me) and UpYourKia in the US, as well as Iron Man suspension in Australia and the US and Eaton in the US.
Okay, nil mean Zero. But I predicated that on a comparison to Zook, which is small compared to Toy and Jeep. In the Zook world, you have over a dozen STATE-SIDE manufactures with even more vendors selling suspension set-ups, from simple spring lifts to all out air shox'd long arms, and everything in between.
Going to
Trail Toughwill show you what having options is really like.
So for being American, but I like to have many, many options to choose from, not meager picking.
there isn't a whole lot available from each company, but if you get a little of this and a little of that, you can build a respectable rig.
Respectable is a very subjective word.
no manufactured lifts? of course there is. there are at least 2 manufacturers right here in this forum! besides Ironman and, originally, Eibach. then there's 4crawler, who makes a 1.5" and 3" body lift, also.
Manufacturers, or guys with a welder, plasma and some shop tools? When I say manufacturers, I'm talking full-time, INSURED companies, like Rancho, Skyjacker, Fabtech, Calmini, Rubicon Express, etc. Something that someone can call and visit a store or website to see the product, not find an obscure website and track someone down. Options are just that, options. When you only have a couple of things, the choice is limited. Funny, I read posts on this thread that some sold outta Jeeps because "everyone had the same stuff". For real? There are hundreds of different suspension lifts for Jeeps. If everyone had the same thing, they needed to make new friends. But with Kia's, it seems that everyone is running the same few set-ups.
UpYourKia makes a coil spacer set, but neither Ironman nor Rocksportgear use spacers, full coils all the way.
So we put this in better perspective, you are rocksportgear right? So the option is Ironman and you. Wow, I'm going to need a minute to wade thru the options. (and Ironman isn't doing well sales wise here. To boot, some of its stuff is USA made not Aussie like most think. I just bought a new Ironman 2" coil kit for a Kick for $200 shipped, and everything is made in USA).
there IS a ring and pinion set available, but so far, we have not been able to communicate well enough with the Korean company making them, to be able to order them, so, i'm going to work on this soon.
So this is an option? So is making them yourself, if you consider that an option. Jeep R&Ps can be had for under $99 with install kits. You can pull taller gears out of some Toys to run in Hiluxs, as you can swap Kick gears into Sammys for next to zilch. This doesn't sound like an affordable answer, and here it is 5 years after the Gen I Sporty was discontinued. I wouldn't hold my breath. Calmini had Richmond Gear making the Kick rear diff R&Ps and they discontinued due to slow sales, and they are far more Kick and Trackers than Kias.
no off the self rock protection? i make rock rails and t-case x-members that i can easily make skids for, if it were so inquired of me. no, it won't be available at 4Wheel Parts, but it will be availabel right here, which, hell, i think, is even better....
which again, unless someone came across this site? And if you hang up the hat and say, I'd rather be fishing, they nothing. Order an ARB from down under and wait nearly a year? Besides, it's back to options. Some like plate bumpers, some like tube, some like stingers and some like brush bars, some want winch mounts, others don't. There are NO TRULY VIABLE OPTIONS other than working too hard to buy something, or build it yourself.
if you're going to weld the diffs, i actually offer a service doing just that, send them my way, if you want.
That's okay. Have Lincoln, will travel.
as far as running 33's with no lift, better hack the fenders a bit and take a hammer to the body seam on the firewall behind the front tires.
Virtual lift means the plasma torch and body saw come out. Think Kaiser M715.
btw- the Sportage engine cranks 130-140 hp stock, and with 4.78 gears, does well with up to a 33" tire, how many ponies that little 1.6 have?
Well, my GV has a 165 V6 (and did I mention there are kits to stuff the 2.7 195 pony XL7 motor into any previous Zook?). With the 4.24:1 underdrive, 2.28 t-case, 5.71 R&P with a 2.45 first gear, what gives me a ~136:1 crawl ratio, before adding the the torque converter. What's your ratio?
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