The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a pick-up truck designed by Hyundai that was released in 2022. Several months later, modifications became available for the Santa Cruz, including a Lift Kit to allow proud Santa Cruz owners to put bigger wheels and tires on their Hyundai Santa Cruz trucks.
Perhaps allowing them to turn the Hyundai Santa Cruz into an off-road playtime truck rather than just a solid asphalt utilitarian truck. If you’ve ever looked at your Hyundai Santa Cruz and imagined bombing down your local dirt roads with the thing, then maybe you’ve considered getting a lift kit on there, too.
This is the ultimate guide for you – everything you need to know about fitting your Hyundai Santa Cruz with a lift kit.
Can You Lift A Hyundai Santa Cruz?
Billeted by Hyundai as their “sport adventure vehicle,” fitting your Hyundai Santa Cruz with an all-new Santa Cruz Lift Kit will allow you to turn a light-duty pickup into a heavy-duty off-road beast. The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a unibody vehicle – meaning that its body is all one piece. This means that you are able to life the Hyundai Santa Cruz, but you must do so by adding shock extenders on both the front and rear of the light-duty pick-up.
Adding a lift kit will decrease ride harshness and allow you embrace back-country camping life like never before. Several different manufacturers offer lift kits for the Hyundai Santa Cruz, each offering a different lifted experience.
Should You Lift a Hyundai Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz’s unibody design makes it easier to install a lift kit. As it’s body is all one piece, a lift kit will give you 2 – 3″ more ground clearance without issues. You’ll need to accompany this with a heavy-duty front bumper and trail-terrain type tires, as your stock tires are unlikely to fit safely in the wheel well.
If you’ve been looking for a way to get more enjoyment out of your all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, then adding a lift kit is one way to do so. However, here are some considerations for after you’ve added your lift kits.
Before You Lift Your Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited
Before you lift Hyundai’s new mid-size truck, you must ensure that you have the right parts.
You’ll want to make sure you have a vehicle-specific kit. Having a vehicle-specific kit will allow you to achieve superior ride quality and reduce or minimize rubbing issues and any other suspension problems that may arise.
Post-Lift Considerations
Tires & Wheels: One of your primary considerations is that your original wheels will no longer safely fit in your wheel well. You’ll need to get a different size wheel. You’ll also need a different tire – we recommend a 255/70-17 size tire. This behemoth will replace your original road tires and is perfect for the larger wheels and two-inch lift increase that’s making a splash with Santa Cruz enthusiasts.
Re-Aligning Your Wheels
Given that a lift kit affects how your vehicle’s suspension behaves, you should book a realignment of your wheels and rebalancing your new tires while at it. Your factory wheels will likely need to be replaced with aftermarket wheels that suit your new tires.
You’ll want to get your new tires after lift install to ensure that you get the right size. Whether you’re getting the front lift, the rear lift, or both, realigning your wheels and re-balancing your tires is one of the most important post-lift things you’ll need to do.
Give It A Test Ride!
Engaging your adventurous nature with a test-ride is the perfect to break in your exclusive all-new 2-inch lift system and make sure that it works safely with your mid-size truck. This allow you to make a adjustments as necessary and iron out any kinks with the system.
Best Hyundai Santa Cruz Lift Kits
When it comes to lifts for the Hyundai Santa Cruz, there are a few different options. We’ll cover each one in detail below.
The all-new 2″ SST lift kit from the folks at ReadyLift should be your first option when looking for a rear lift kit for your Santa Cruz. This provides an all-around two
-inch lift increase and is a completely bolt-on SST lift kit. You just need your trusty socket wrench to install this bad boy on your truck!Made by a Canadian company, Truxxx’s 1.5-inch front-only leveling kit allows you to install aggressive tires and aggressive wheel offsets, allowing you to install a wide wheel and wide tires such as the 255/70-17 size tire. While providing you with less of a lift, the Truxxx kit maintains a center of gravity and stability that’s important for safety in your new play toy.
Can the 2022 Santa Cruz Go Off-Road?
As a mid-size truck, the base model of the 2022 Santa Cruz isn’t well-suited for offroading. It can handle gravel roads and dirt roads, but anything with significant elevation or jumps is going to wreak havoc on your vehicle’s shocks and suspension.
Lift kits for your 2022 Santa Cruz include all of the things to get you on those previously-impassable roads.
Which 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is Best?
If you’re looking to get off-road in your Hyundai, then 2022 all-wheel-drive Santa Cruz Ultimate is your best option. The stock 20″ alloy wheels are easily replaced and adding 2 extra inches of clearance will make it easier to find aftermarket parts. Combining that with the heavy-duty Cargo D-rings, the lightbar on the roof, and other off-road-friendly features make the Santa Cruz Ultimate your best bet.