First, no...A Sportage want not what I had always wanted.
Just happened to inherit it when my mother passed away. Since then, I have grown to appreciate it. It is much like a Suzuki Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara, with similar power and weight, ladder frame, true 4x4, with low range, etc.
When I first took possession of the little trucklet, I began to get it caught up on deferred maintenance.
Fluids, etc. Then, things started breaking down. Hub bearings grenaded, the hubs themselves fragged and melted, the ECU fried itself. Twice.
Since then, it's been utterly dependable...
Until it wasn't. Started misfiring randomly. Then frequently, and then under any load placed on the engine. Coil packs were saying goodbye. Changed them, had to replace the ignition harness that connects to the coils, as Kia does use proprietary connectors of course.
So, the upgrades I have done are minimal, for now. Mostly just some KYB GR2 shocks,. Warn manual hubs, and General Grabber AT2s.
I did have a Thule cargo basket for a bit, but have since sold it.
Plans right now, include making a locking tool to nest down behind the driver's seat, in the rear passenger footwell, as I typically only travel with one or two passengers anyways at any time, and the vehicle is really only suited to two people plus gear for getting outdoors.
I want to organize my gear in the back more than it is right now...basically all shoved into a crate, and general things like that.
I am going to look into getting in contact with a dude who lives in Korea who has supplied other Sportage owners with 40mm extended strut forks. I guess I should explain this a bit: The first gen Sportage is obviously an IFS rig. But it does not use a MacPherson strut front suspension. It uses a double A-arm design, with a strut/coilover shock that is mounted centrally over the axleshaft. Because of this, it uses a clamp-on fork to straddle over the axleshaft, to the lower A arm. So an extended fork, will give me a little bit of lift, which is really, all I should need. In the rear, people tend to use left over Jeep TJ coils...an RAV4 shocks I think it is.
I may also see if I can get a locker from this guy as well, since, as far as anyone can tell, it's the only path i have for a locker, unless I want to swap out the rear axle for something else.
Also need to look at getting bumpers made, with recovery points. As....the Sportage really doesn't come with any recovery points from the factory. It has a couple of points for lashing it down during shipping, but they are not intended for recovery, and are not easily accessible either.
I plan on adding a carrier to the spare tire gate, for my 3 gal rotopax, and make a fold down table to increase its useablity for kitchen work. On that note, looking to add light to the back end of the vehicle, with LED light strips eventually. The rear cargo light is both dismally dim, and low mounted, making it essentially useless.
There's other plans of course, but these are kind of the "priorities".
Just happened to inherit it when my mother passed away. Since then, I have grown to appreciate it. It is much like a Suzuki Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara, with similar power and weight, ladder frame, true 4x4, with low range, etc.
When I first took possession of the little trucklet, I began to get it caught up on deferred maintenance.
Fluids, etc. Then, things started breaking down. Hub bearings grenaded, the hubs themselves fragged and melted, the ECU fried itself. Twice.
Since then, it's been utterly dependable...
Until it wasn't. Started misfiring randomly. Then frequently, and then under any load placed on the engine. Coil packs were saying goodbye. Changed them, had to replace the ignition harness that connects to the coils, as Kia does use proprietary connectors of course.
So, the upgrades I have done are minimal, for now. Mostly just some KYB GR2 shocks,. Warn manual hubs, and General Grabber AT2s.
I did have a Thule cargo basket for a bit, but have since sold it.
Plans right now, include making a locking tool to nest down behind the driver's seat, in the rear passenger footwell, as I typically only travel with one or two passengers anyways at any time, and the vehicle is really only suited to two people plus gear for getting outdoors.
I want to organize my gear in the back more than it is right now...basically all shoved into a crate, and general things like that.
I am going to look into getting in contact with a dude who lives in Korea who has supplied other Sportage owners with 40mm extended strut forks. I guess I should explain this a bit: The first gen Sportage is obviously an IFS rig. But it does not use a MacPherson strut front suspension. It uses a double A-arm design, with a strut/coilover shock that is mounted centrally over the axleshaft. Because of this, it uses a clamp-on fork to straddle over the axleshaft, to the lower A arm. So an extended fork, will give me a little bit of lift, which is really, all I should need. In the rear, people tend to use left over Jeep TJ coils...an RAV4 shocks I think it is.
I may also see if I can get a locker from this guy as well, since, as far as anyone can tell, it's the only path i have for a locker, unless I want to swap out the rear axle for something else.
Also need to look at getting bumpers made, with recovery points. As....the Sportage really doesn't come with any recovery points from the factory. It has a couple of points for lashing it down during shipping, but they are not intended for recovery, and are not easily accessible either.
I plan on adding a carrier to the spare tire gate, for my 3 gal rotopax, and make a fold down table to increase its useablity for kitchen work. On that note, looking to add light to the back end of the vehicle, with LED light strips eventually. The rear cargo light is both dismally dim, and low mounted, making it essentially useless.
There's other plans of course, but these are kind of the "priorities".
