First off; Un-fortunately I don't have pics to post yet, but I'll get them up for you as soon as I can.

I put the 15x8" 2.5" backspaced steel wheels with 235/75/15 on the Sporty last week.

The wheels stick out about 3" from the wheel wells and I have the stupid body moldings on my sporty too.

This is the love it or hate it styling. The wheels are so far out to the corners; looks like a prerunner got crossed with a import tuner. I like the looks. would be better with wider tyres though. Every body stares at the Sporty now. I have had lots of compliments. They like my car they say. Mudd slinger is what it's been getting called lately.

I had to chop the hell out of the backside of the front wheel wells; and still need to do some pounding.
I cannot go above a 235/75/15 without major rubbing. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Handles like a dream around corners now, and does not feel tipsy at all; even when the truck is tilting at 30 degrees.
I can whip the heck out of it at higher speeds and have no fear of tipping. The wheels are out there so far, I spit mud, rain, snow and rocks all over the place, all over everything, to include myself. I love punching it and watching the rooster tails.

Oh - I recommend no less than 3.75" backspacing if you want tyres bigger than 235/75/15 and want full steering articulation and tyre wheel well stuffing.

Hi Guys,
I have a 2dr Sportage (the SWB) and a couple of questions.
I've installed TJ springs in the back with KYB shocks but I wasn't able to fit the 2" spacers in the front, I wasn't able to close the 4 bolts on the strut's mount.
Could someone please write the instructions to the installation? Do I need to remove the lower control arm?

In addition, after lifting the rear, the car started to vibrate at about 20 mph and it only stops at about 50mph, I figured it's because the new angel of the driveshaft. Did anyone came across this problem? What are my options?
I thought about dropping the transfer-case a bit, but on one side it's "sitting" on a bracket that is welded to the chassis, any ideas?
Thanks,
Lior

you shouldnt need to remove the lower control arm.i was able to fit the 2" spacers and couldnt even remove my forks,only the 1 side...it is a real pain and takes time and patience,also somebody to help is real handy too...start on the drivers side as it seems to be the easier of the two...after the strut assy with spacer is in place start the upper bolts and thread in quite a few threads but dont tighten all the way up so that you have a lil movement,then concentrate on getting the back upper bolt into the forks...after that you can pry and jack the rest of it into place and then tighten everything up...this isnt something that is just an easy bolt on replacement you do need to work at it and use some muscle or in my case lots of muscle since the sway bar end links are seized in place not allowing me to remove both sides of the forks...be patient and you will get it...the drivers side took me about 1-1.5 hours by myself and the pass side took abou 8 with at least 1 person helping...i had nothing but troubles and did have to remove the pass side cv to get that lil bit of extra space i needed to jam it in there,probably wouldve been easier to remove the lower arm and replace all of it so i could take of both forks but didnt want to spend any more money than i needed to...good luck and no i dont have a vibration but im lifted front and back so dont know if its just because the back is lifted but i wouldnt think that would make a difference...good luck

Never heard of anyone with vibration after a lift. Make sure your lugnuts are torqued properly. As far as your spacers, pm me a pic of them and maybe I can offer you some advice to make install easier.
Londart had a very difficult install but made it. They don't drop in like the rears.
Everet <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Thanks guys,
Everet, if I'm not mistaking you have a 4dr Sportage (as most of you have, at least according to the pics), while mine is a 2dr.
Because of the shorter wheelbase, the drive-shaft is shorter too, and that makes the angel between the drive-shaft and the diff bigger than in your cars (it's like you do a 5" lift).
My lugnuts are torqued properly and the vibrations started after the lift.
I guess that when the front will be lifted as well, the angel will drop a bit but I'm starting to re-think this lift and maybe to settle with just 1-1.5" spacers.
I'll try to take some pics and send them to you in the next couple of days.
What about the transfercase drop, did someone do it before?
Thanks again!
Lior

If you removed your drive shaft then you might want to check everything you touched to make sure everything is seated properly.
I couldn't see how a lift would make your rig vibrate.
Also I can't see the angle of drive shaft making it vibrate unless the u joints are hitting as they are turning but then it wouldn't be only between 20 and 50 mph.
Interesting, I am really looking forward to finding out what this is.
Keep us posted!

I took some pics of the driveshaft angel but I can't figure out how to attach them.
Anyway, strange as it sounds, it seems like the vibrations are a lot less noticeable after about 30 minutes drive, so what I'm going to do is to go back to the old springs and see if it changes things back or I was looking in the wrong direction.

If you did not separate the two halves of the driveshaft then they should still be in phase. My guess would be the pinion angle may have changed with the lift, more likely that the pinion nose is pointing down. You may need to get an adjustable upper link made. An adjustable upper link from an old 80-90's Hilux/Tacoma with new bushings to suit the bolt size is available that may work (it did in mine, but mine is a 5 link longbody). Be careful how far you tilt the diff back as you will come very close to fouling the shockers.

Thanks, that is exactly what I was told by a friend that saw the car yesterday.
I was thinking to get an old upper link and extend it a bit (it would probably cost less), but first I want to make sure that this is what is causing the vibes, i'm starting to think that I have a problem in the transfer, and that the lift just increased it, since after a short drive (20 - 30 minutes) the vibe are becoming less noticeable, i think it be cause the transfer oil (or the diff's) gets warmer, does it make any sense?

Yesterday I went back to the stock coils and the vibes stopped.
I think I'm going to stick to 1.5" spacers.
Thanks for the advices.
Lior