Rita A.K.A Desert Fox

1998

Kia

sportage

white

ex

Not much I have only Removed The first plastic air intake duct that goes over the radiator. It was taking in hot air so the engine ran super rough on hot days. I want to mod it to be a snorkel air intake. I have no muffler just a 1 foot pipe after the catalytic converter. she sounds great and not too loud.

I removed the back seat, the center console, the door panels and other various items. I am going to strip most of it and redo the interior but leave a lot out. Removing those items have helped a lot with weight reduction plus fuel consumption has gone down allowing me to get around 220 miles on a full tank. Before I got about 170 miles on a full tank.

Well I have removed a couple things such as the grille, some plastic pieces, and the roof rack. I removed them mainly as weight reduction. Also I am going top make a better rack with an off road light bar. Plus I am going to add a snorkel air intake. Well I not add a light bar however I did install 2 utility lights on my roof. I plan on adding two or three more up top. Plus two on the front bumper. I also want to add a light or two on the the spare tire carrier. I want to connect them to the reverse light but add a cut off switch for regular driving. The purpose of those are so I can see while I am reversing off road in the dark.

Nothing.

No mods yet... I am currently looking for a system to lift the ride height. I may switch the axles and swap in a straight axle on the front for max ride height.

I chopped the front fenders about 4 inches to clear the tires. I put on steel wheels from Suzuki XL-7s and grand vitaras from the mid 1990s. I got the rims from U Pull & Pay. The rims I believe come with 215 60 R16s. however those tires were too low profile for my taste and application. The rims can take 70 R16 tires as well as 75 R16s I currently have 225 75 R16 tires which are similar in size to 235 70 R16. the 225 75 R16s came off a ford explorer. those are common ford tires. The 235 70 R16 are common on older Land Rover and Ford tires as well as Dodge and Chevy. The bore on the rim is slightly larger than the hubs on my Sportage however the lugs match up perfect. Plus I did not have to use any spacers. That rim size can be found on various vehicles such Chevy trackers, Suzuki Grand Vitaras, Suzuki XL-7s, Suzuki Sidekicks and possibly the Geo Trackers (1990s). There are various designs from those vehicles I went with simple steels. I believe steel rims from the KIA Sorrento First Gen Sportages. The aluminum do not because the rims have a tapered bore that won't allow the locking hubs to clear. I haven' been able to lift the suspension yet so the bigger tires rubbed on the fenders. So I chopped them so the tires can clear plus when I do lift it I can fit even bigger tires (I'll probably have to cut the rear fenders).