Lift kit for T5 4 Motion - supplier?

[Murphenzo]

I've recently raised my 4-motion and fitted some larger all-terrains to get it off-road capable.

I fitted the Seikel off road kit which I bought from Trakka in Sydney (and they unfortunately charge a ridiculous amount). The kit includes the springs, shocks, struts and diff spacers. It's advertised as being a 30mm increase. It about that on the front, but quite a bit more on the rear when unladen, making the differ spacers quite important. Even with them there's a lot of angle on the CVs.

Aside from the price, I'm very happy with the kit. Performs brilliantly. Rides just as smoothly as stock and soaks up big hits quite well.

So it went from looking like this:


to this:


Since then I've fitted the all terrains. They're Pirelli Scorpions, 235/65r17, on a 17"x8" +30 offset rim. That's 48mm up in diameter from stock, so still legal. You need a smaller offset wheel to avoid rubbing on the inner arch. +30 with these tires is spot on, with the tire flush with the guard. It's now a good ~3" higher than stock, which is about the same as most of the dual cab 4x4 utes (Navara, Amarok, Hilux etc).



Goes pretty damn well on the beach too!

[Big Bug]

Looks great Murphenzo. Interested to know which Seikel Lift Kit it is and have you got the Bilstein or Munroe Shocks? I have just spoken to Wolf 4X4 and they say that maybe by May, June they will know if they can be Seikel agents for the T5. He said to keep an eye on their facebook page. Last year they said they would know by Christmas so who knows. Bruce CQ

[Murphenzo]

It's the base model "Desert" kit. I don't carry any heavy loads, so didn't need to go either of the "Desert HD" kits. As for the shocks, good question. They aren't obviously marked as either Bilstein or Monroe. They're black if that helps!

It'll be nice if Wolf can get them in a bit cheaper. I tried getting in touch with Wolf when I was originally chasing the Seikel gear. I never got a single reply to multiple queries by email, website and phone. Pretty damn poor. I hope they pick their game up.

[Big Bug]

Thanks for that info. It's interesting you have had trouble with Wolf. I think I have had 1 email they didn't respond to so I just ring now and each time I've got someone, maybe I'm just lucky. I hope Wolf will be a bit cheaper too but that maybe a bit optimistic looking at some of their Seikel Amorok prices. Did you have to go to Sydney to get Trakka to install the kit?

Bruce CQ

[Murphenzo]

Nah, had it fitted by my local mechanic. About $500 I think.
It was fortunate I bought the T5 in Sydney. I just dropped into Trakka and picked up the suspension on my drive back to Brisbane.

[Big Bug]

Ok, thanks for that.

[T5 Double off road]

T5 Double offroad

I've recently raised my 4-motion and fitted some larger all-terrains to get it off-road capable.

I fitted the Seikel off road kit which I bought from Trakka in Sydney (and they unfortunately charge a ridiculous amount). The kit includes the springs, shocks, struts and diff spacers. It's advertised as being a 30mm increase. It about that on the front, but quite a bit more on the rear when unladen, making the differ spacers quite important. Even with them there's a lot of angle on the CVs.

Aside from the price, I'm very happy with the kit. Performs brilliantly. Rides just as smoothly as stock and soaks up big hits quite well.

So it went from looking like this:


to this:


Since then I've fitted the all terrains. They're Pirelli Scorpions, 235/65r17, on a 17"x8" +30 offset rim. That's 48mm up in diameter from stock, so still legal. You need a smaller offset wheel to avoid rubbing on the inner arch. +30 with these tires is spot on, with the tire flush with the guard. It's now a good ~3" higher than stock, which is about the same as most of the dual cab 4x4 utes (Navara, Amarok, Hilux etc).



Goes pretty damn well on the beach too!

I hope you have better wear with your Pirelli Scorpions than I did fitted to our Tiguan - very disappointed - now wearing Master's and lasting incredibly well,I think they are part of Cooper Tyres.

[Murphenzo]

We'll see. Can't say I paid too much attention to the wear when I was reading reviews. My main focus was on getting a tire that was going to be quiet and well behaved on road (where it'll ultimately spend most of its time) yet still be quite capable off road (particularly on sand). The Pirelli seemed to be one of the best for those criteria. So far I've been pretty impressed. The impact on road noise, handling and braking, compared to the normal sized road tires has been negligible......which is well beyond my expectation.

I'd read so many reports from people fitting ATs to their T5s along the lines of "love the ability offered, but it's loud and it's slow". That hasn't been my experience at all. It drives much like it did before. I'm pretty happy.

[Murphenzo]

Hey T5 Double....just read in your intro thread that you fitted the diff lock to your T5. Can you tell me a bit more about how you did that? Guessing you just swapped in the whole diff? Did you also add the various control and actuator modules, or just rig up a manual method of actuating it?

[Das]

Hi Murphenzo,

Im thinking of getting a 4 motion van like yours for work and going up teewah beach camping.
Can you tell me what is the measurement of yours from the ground to underside of the lowest point ( maybe that's the diff prob)?
I have an old Rodeo 4x4 ute it is 215mm from ground to bot of diff.

cheers............Das.

[Big Bug]

Finally made a decision and got the Seikel Desert HD lift kit and had it fitted yesterday. So now do I just get a wheel alignment and wear out these original tyres or do I get the van yet another Christmas present of some slightly larger tyres, very tempting. Decisions-decisions......

Bruce CQ

[Transporter]

Finally made a decision and got the Seikel Desert HD lift kit and had it fitted yesterday. So now do I just get a wheel alignment and wear out these original tyres or do I get the van yet another Christmas present of some slightly larger tyres, very tempting. Decisions-decisions......

Bruce CQ

I'd say get the tyres before you do any serious off road driving.

[Murphenzo]

Agreed. Just do it.

[Big Bug]

OK, 235/65/17's it is then......
Bruce CQ

[Big Bug]

Well..... Ordered 5 Yokohama 235/65/17 AT GO12's from Bob Jane as they had a deal, buy 3 and get the 4th free. Finally arrived this week and booked in to get them fitted today. Went off to the doctor and got a phone call to say they couldn't fit them as they were too big. They were illegal as the VW wasn't a proper 4WD with low-range gearing. So I need to do some research into this or can anybody help with relevant documentation. I see on the compliance plate it is Category NA Vehicle which is a Light Goods vehicle but haven't worked out yet where that fits into the 50mm larger tyre rules. There must be something in those rules somewhere.

Bruce CQ