2nd gen Kia Sorento XM - Halfway between great Potential and downsizing production Costs.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

 

Addressing the Harsh Ride on the Sorento

 

This is how the SUV looks like, with the Smaller tyres, and here's the Difference:

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

With thus tire downsizing, not only the Vehicle's Stability has improved, but being driven like this, also has improved acceleration and accelerator pedal reaction, a lot. How could I explain it? ... let me try.

The car feels like if it was previously being driven with oversized tires and now it feels natural, somehow, with the smaller tyres, bringing a faster response.

From zero speed to movement, the RPM's with the Big tires were climbing a little, prior to feeling the car moving; while with the smaller tyres, the Car's movement is immediate after touching the accelerator; also it feels pretty lightweight and makes the tires to spin faster to the point that seems like if it is going to burn tires easily.

Mechanically feels better with the Smaller tyres, like if this was the way the engineers wanted it to be, originally... in fact, also the fuel consumption improved for good, noticeably.

The only downside with smaller tyres, as reported by my mother, is the Steering Wheel that became a little harder to turn while Parking; the reason is the smaller tire size meaning less leverage effect; plus the increased width of the tyre; however the car feels like a more sports inclined car, rather than an SUV, for sure, even road sensation for the driver, has improved.

The tire downsizing addressed part of the harsh ride problem while also improved other areas, but not resolved the extremly harsh suspension, because that problem lies physically on the coil springs themselves...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

...let me explain: the Travel of the suspension on these models, is very Short, we've experienced certain troubles due to this; in example, someday we went to visit a relative and had no choice of parking, except placing half the car in the inclined part of the sidewalk (where cars enter to the garage); so the Sorento lied with two wheels from the passenger's side in the inclined part and the other two wheels in the street. After the visit, we started the Sorento and it won't move at all; like if the transmision were not conected to the wheels... after some checking and testing, we realized that the problem were the slight inclination of the passenger wheel and people had to push the sorento out from the incline in the sidewalk, to get it to work as it should.

The Rear suspension is the area were it has more Problems; the rear suspension travel is way too short and even Unloaded, the car hits its rubber stoppers by bottoming out, because roads where I live are way too mountainious and had too much curves, downhills and uphills, and My Mother has a digital Pacemaker on her heart; (regarding it, I joke with her, saying that it turns her to be a cyborg, somehow); every hit from the road transmitted by the Sorento's suspension, is also transmitted to her body by the Rigid, unconfortable seats, but I want to addess the seats, after the suspension.

After a decade, these Sorentos tend to sit Lower in the Rear than in Front; it has to do with the weak coil Springs they have... thus reduces the Suspension travel for sure to have even less, which already was short...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

 

Suspension Woes!

 

I investigated online regarding how long was the travel on the suspension of these SUVs when they were new, and found information and also threads from people in other online forums, stating that the rear had only two inches from factory, of total suspension travel; and people changing their old, worn struts (Coil Springs and Shock Absorbers) with brand new ones, reported a total travel of two inches in the rear with fresh parts, new from factory and / or aftermarket brands, all measures the same.

Front suspension has stronger coil springs than the rear suspension, because it bears with engine and transmission; but still is limited to such a tiny amount of travel of two inches, barely.

I measured our Sorento, and also the other two from known local persons, (I asked 'em kind permission) to have a data basis, and all of them, with similar average mileage, age and usage, had only one inch left, of total Suspension Travel available in the rear! ...  ... Front suspension travel isn't much better too.

After that, I removed one of the rear shock absorbers and it was in great shape, but compressed by the weak, worn coil spring; I measured the total travel of the Shock Absorber and it is all good for letting up to near five inches of total travel; so the mere root of the Problem, are the Coil Springs themselves. That's it without any doubt.

 

Here is an example of what you will find online, regarding the subject:

The same that I've found.

 

But using stock parts will only return the SUV to its original two inches of travel from factory, which clearly isn't enogh, at least not for me nor for the Honduran crazy roads.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Like every other Sorento from this model, at this age and usage, also our Sorento was having less than an inch of total rear suspension travel left, after a decade / beyond 100,000 miles of regular use with the original stock (weak) coil springs.

So, to fix the problem, among other options, this three were the outstanding ones:

1. - to Swap the old worn coil springs with new standard ones, which will bring back the rear to the stock two inches of total suspension travel.
2. - to Swap in coil springs from the Hyundai Veracruz; as they're thicker than the stock ones, giving around two and a half inches of total rear suspension travel and improving load capability a little... or
3. - to improve the whole Sorento's suspension, obtaining the special Eibach lift coil springs, which are thicker, stronger and almost have two more turns than the stock ones, improving suspension travel and load capability much more.

Obviously I chose the third option for sure, as I live in the Rural area of the Honduras' outback...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I kindly suggest you all, to take a moment and Read this article, it is very plenty and illustrative regarding Suspension on cars, specially about the Rear suspension:

~► How to check what gives rigidity in the suspension; Soft suspension for your car: is it worth it? - Rear spring problems

 

Remember: You can not simply get the Suspension too Weak / soft, nor too Stiff / strong, as it might lead to loose Control of the Vehicle which is very Dangerous, you know... 

This is why, instead of trying by myself many different coil springs' options from other similar vehicles from a junk yard, until finding the right ones, as I did on the past with other many cars including mines; this time I chose this lift coil springs' Set as it was already built, tested on and off road, proven in Germany by professionals, for the Hyundai Santa Fe III / Kia Sorento II which shares same plattform.

Obligatory Disclaimer:

Despite I really hope, that the information, experiences and images which I freely share, would be Helpful for other Sorento II owners who might need to correct the Bottoming of the rear suspension issue and the harsh Suspension of these models; I am not telling nor suggesting you to do what I did, so, be aware that you will use all the information and images that I share, solely at your very own Risk.

Furthermore, I kindly suggest you to take your Sorento to a certified mechanic to do any repair, especially related with suspension, because working with coil springs might be dangerous to your health, if you don't know what you're doing and / or not having the appropriated tools and experience to do so.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Even our Golden Cocker Spaniel, Mr. Honey was Happy of receiving this Set at home.

 

 

 

 

 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

 

Here it is on the Sorento's trunk.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

So, that weekend came and on early morning right after taking a breakfast, I started to do the Swap job, you know, removing the old coil springs out and install the new ones in, one by one.

Some surprises appeared on the way, such like finding the Notorious difference between the Stock Coil Springs and the Eibach new ones; basically talking, the new ones are Thicker, Stronger, much Heavier and got a protective silver Powdercoating. Furthermore, the Eibach coil springs has almost two more turns than the stock ones.

Another surprise was to find that the stock coil springs were so wear out, especially the rear ones, that the rubber dampening travel stops, were crushed and crumbling away from the continuos hits...  ...in my own personal opinion, the relative use of these cars mainly as grocery getters / by one person only, in certain markets, made Kia to decide to install weak (cheaper) coil springs, mainly on the rear, as these cars almost never gets heavy loads, so they get wear faster than other car models and thus explains why all these Sorentos II XM tend to look taller in the front, with age... and they're around a decade old by these dates.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Here, one of the front Struts, out

Strut = the Shock Absorber plus Coil Spring assembly, MacPherson Style.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The Rear suspension has the Shock Absorbers appart from the Coil Springs,
there are suspension travel stops on the inner side of each Coil,
They has a dampening Rubber at their Bottom, and as you can see, it was Crushed:
 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Comparing the Rear coil springs: one image worth 1,000 words.

stock coil spring on the Left and Eibach lift coil spring on the Right:

 

These are not scientifically accurate measurements, but you can see that the difference, is Notorious.

The same happens among the Front ones, but those are bigger.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Prior to do the coil springs' Swap, the Rear suspension travel on the Sorento II unloaded, measured on a flat surface terrain, was less than an inch; So, after the four coil springs were Swapped, I drove the unloaded Sorento to the same flat terrain and measured the suspension travel again.

The suspension travel on the rear with the special Eibach lift coil springs, went up beyond the three and a half inches of total travel, nearly four inches maybe, as they stretch the Shock Absorbers almost fully up, gaining a Wonderfully outstanding suspension travel, beyond factory specs, as they adds more tallness over the original factory stock coil springs' size. Also they adds more load capability.

Just about the same increase of tallness happened on the Front suspension travel.

Eibach claims a gain of 30 milimeters (equals to 1.20 inches) over the two inches that the original stock suspension had, meaning having a total travel of 3.20 inches, however, I measured a suspension travel of three and a half inches, maybe because this set was enginered for the Hyundai Santa Fe III instead of the Kia Sorento II, whose body might be a little heavier than the Sorento is.

Going from having an actual suspension travel of less than one inch to having more than three and a half, is really Beyond Awesome, in fact the car Feels Pretty Tall but Solid, despite of being running on Downsized Tyres, as I explained before.

 

Remember: underlined words are links to web pages with further information about the underlined subject.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I've went to test drive the Lifted Sorento, with some offroading at first...

 

...here are some images of the Rural area where I live...

...Wanna see more images from the Rural Honduras, Click ~► Here and enjoy a little travel  with us.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

That day I drove in unpaved roads for a total of 120 miles round trip. During the next days we used this car as Grocery Getter and then the next weekend we did a 376 miles round trip on paved roads and highways with the family. This sorento Definitively outperforms any other of these models on the Road. Suspension feeling now went from Hell to Heaven, to the Point that we don't feel like it is the same car anymore. 

The very only regret that I have with this Suspension Coil Springs' Swap, is why the heck I didn't done this before; especially before many very long travels that we did, such like the one to Costa Rica some time ago, before the horrid pandemic times.

Before the Coil Springs' Swap, this Sorento felt unconfortable, not only by the rock solid chairs it has, but the pretty short suspension travel which felt like if the seats were installed on a planck with wheels for sure. The change on the Sorento is unbelievable, somehow; as the pretty long suspension travel and the firmier sporty response, has changed the overal vehicle's feeling, to the point that doesn't feel like a regular Sorento anymore... except for the hard chairs; but that is, another subject.

Now the Sorento feels Taller too, but without loosing stability, it is Amazing how a car could change its feeling and confort, just by a simple coil springs' Swap, now feels like a Luxury European or American SUV feels, confortable and the Passengers are now isolated from road hits and bumps.

Greetings from Honduras, Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Update: we've traveled several hundreds of miles with this Modified Sorento and it really feels and drives better than New, never was so confortable, yet smooth and Safe. Everything is working Flawlessly, thanks to God.

 

Now is time to pamper it, so I'll change the Power Steerin' Fluid, Cooling system Fluid, oil and Sparkplugs, as it still has been running with the factory Sparkplugs, it is time for a fresh set.

Kind Regards.

[1 Lucky Texan]

you do way more with a bad knee that I can with 2 good ones.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

On 8/3/2022 at 7:40 AM, 1 Lucky Texan said:

you do way more with a bad knee that I can with 2 good ones.

Thank you for your Kind Words which I really appreciate.

in fact, I just had a surgery on the other Knee too.

_____________________________________________________

 

Greetings fellows, I have Just a Little Update and a simple Question:

- Update: Thanks to God, this Lifted & slightly modified 2012 Sorento has been Running Flawlessly, we have done hundreds of errands locally and also too many weekend voyages of hours on highways too, with all the family and even our paranormal Dog involved. The engine runs equally on Super gasoline and Regular Gasoline, despite the low quality of the fuels available locally, I guess the GDi computer adjust the fuel / air mixture on the fly...

- Question: as far as I know, the two Timing Chains on this 4 cylinder, GDi 2.4L (G4KJ) "Theta II" engine, are intended to be used during the engine's Lifetime, theres the main timing chain and a smaller one for the oil pump; However, local mechanics has emblazoned the idea of changing them, along their tensioners and related paraphernalia, somewhere around the 100 K or 150 K miles, depending on age and usage. The user manual is not clear regarding the subject.

So, what is the best interval to servicing the Timing Chains on these engines?

Any information / experience \ suggestion about this, will be welcome.

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

On 1/28/2023 at 8:01 PM, Loyale 2.7 Turbo said:

... Question: as far as I know, the two Timing Chains on this 4 cylinder, GDi 2.4L (G4KJ) "Theta II" engine, are intended to be used during the engine's Lifetime, theres the main timing chain and a smaller one for the oil pump; However, local mechanics has emblazoned the idea of changing them, along their tensioners and related paraphernalia, somewhere around the 100 K or 150 K miles, depending on age and usage. The user manual is not clear regarding the subject.

So, what is the best interval to servicing the Timing Chains on these engines? ...

 

I already obtained the complete Timing Kit but I decided to don't change it yet on this Sorento, until it starts to make noise or until the engine needs servicing. So, I will store the Timing kit for the THETA II 2.4 GDi engine for this USDM 2012 Sorento, untill it could be needed; however I will share here a photo showing the part numbers for each component, as it might be useful in case of someone seeking for such information online:

 

 

Thanks God the modified Sorento keeps going strong as a Champ.

Kind Regards.