ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: museboy07 on April 21, 2007, 12:55:13 PM
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Im gettin 2in coil spacers and 4door springs on my 94 2dr track. dont worry im gettin all the drop brackets and spacers but do you think i could clear 31in AT's or should I just go with 30in MT's? Its a weekend wheeler/DD so what would you do?
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If it's for the trails I'd do a cheap 3" box tube body lift, cost you less than 40bux! Or just trim the fenders a bunch.
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you prob can clear 31's with very little trimming or rubbing, your choice.
I would make or buy a 3 inch body lift and then you wont have to worry about rubbing or cutting. I have a 2 inch spacer lift with a 3 inch body lift and can fit 32's
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see the thing is my rig is rusted underneath..pretty bad..i would have a hard time getting the body mounts out..and dont wanna put 150 bucks into it for a bodylift..anyone know a link to a homeade 2 or 3in bodylift? thanks!!
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I agree w/fletcher. I use a 2" spacer and 3" body lift and with a little trimming can fit 265/75/16 MTs. They are 32", so you should be able to fit them or 31s easily. If you are going to drive it daily you might want to only go with the 31s. I have the dohc 1.8L and it does not like pulling those 32's very easily. With the 1.6, and daily driven, I'd stick with a little smaller tire!! By the way I hope you like your spacers!! You should get them the first part of next week, I shipped them on 4/20.
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i can clear 32's fine with just a 3" suspension lift and minimal trimming, but im currently running 31's. so...i say you can easily clear the 31's. and why spend money and time on a body lift when you can just trim a little off the front fenders? i trimmed mine with a dremel. :) just cost me about 45 minutes.
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see the thing is my rig is rusted underneath..pretty bad..i would have a hard time getting the body mounts out..and dont wanna put 150 bucks into it for a bodylift..anyone know a link to a homeade 2 or 3in bodylift? thanks!!
http://www.granitepath.com/~irving/suzuki/budgetbodylift/index.htm
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If your rig is rusting, I think you should stick to a suspension lift like you said. Before i did the 2'' body lift i ran 31x9.50's with just 1.5'' coil spacers and had minimal rubbing on the firewall, and on the rear mud guard.
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Get yourself a can of PB BLASTER and start squirting all the body mount bolts .
do it once a week for three weeks. clean the bolts with a wire brush.
all should come off with ease. you can make a body lift pretty easy. 1",2",3" or 6"
do what you want. mine I un-bolted and blocked it up temperarily with different
thicknesses to see what I liked.Why chop the fenders if you do't need to.
cheaper is not always the best way.
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Trim it a little, beat the floorboards back JUST A LITTLE, and skip the body lift.
I know it's a well accepted method of fitting a little bit bigger tire, and moving your rockers a little bit further away from damage... but..
it might just be me, and no offense to those with body lifts.... but....
yuck. I just can't do it. I really hate the look of body lifts. All that frame showing, and no ground clearance gained, and center of gravity raised.. (I know, I know, you guys with body lifts have never had a problem with that and all...) Shifters sitting lower, or extended, geometries changed.. I know I sound like a broken record, and I am mostly a trail guy, I do drive my "turtle" on the street, but I certainly don't care about dents and trail rash, or trimmed fenders, etc... but, did I mention I hate body lifts??
Since you have a rusted buggy anway, skip the body lift, and do a little trimming. Do you think my green Kick looks horrible with the trimming I did? I am certainly no body man, but I think it looks just fine for a trail rig, and with a little more care, and some fender flares, it would look pretty freaking nice done this way/..
I guess my point is, why get a body lift when you don't really need one? 31's will fit without one, so... what is the benefit of screwing around with a body lift, when you don't need one, and they especially since they don't really add any function or advantage that isn't more easily accomplished with a little trimming, and rocker/rock slider innovation. There are several methods that looks good, to protect your rocker areas, that don't require a body lift, and don't detract from ground clearance and breakover angles.
The only time I would consider a body lift is if I had a mint vehicle that I wanted to put big tires on without trimming... uh.. oh yeah.. what point is there in putting big tires on something you aren't going to take off road? So, in other words, I don't think I would ever put a body lift on anything, as it doesn't add anything to trail riding, and detracts plenty, in my opinon.. but then again, I am a hard head, and not too politically correct.
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Quaddawg makes some good points for sure.
I am in the same situation as Museboy. Right now I have a 97 4 door Kick with a 1.5" coil spring spacer lift and 29" tires (235/75/15). By the end of the year I want to be sitting on 31" tires, but I don't want to shell out big bucks for a Calmini or Boondox lift. I was thinking of making a 2" body lift but I seem to have quite a bit of tire-fender clearance as it is right now. I took a look at the rear fender area and it doesn't look like you can trim that much without screwing up the part where the rear doors attach to...maybe I'm just looking at it wrong, can someone explain?
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I have a 97 4dr also. A body lift will help, and you are right you can't trim much off the rear fenders. If you look closely you can just trim right where the plastic molding meets the front corner and you can cut at least an inch from both front and back. You really do not need to cut much out to get 245/75 or even 265/70-75 under it. But with the 4drs. a 2-3" body lift is almost needed to get bigger tires under it. The trouble with 265 tires is also the width!! They will almost for sure rub the shocks, coils, brake lines and anything else inside the wheel. I ordered 1.5" wheel spacers and with these I should be able to put on the 264/75/16s. That tire is considered a 32" so it is possible to get those under a 4dr. As far as body lifts go, Masterkit makes a pretty good one, it was easy to install and includes front and rear bumper relocation brackets.
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As far as the body lift goes, the PB Blaster and wire brush method is very effective. I did the same with my 94 kick and they spun off easily with an impact. I made my spacers out of a piece of 3" x 4" light gauge tube 2 1/2 " long. I got the metal from a local pipe and tube place in Columbus, Oh (Columbus Pipe and Supply on Markison Ave) I would PB the crap out of the body bolts and try to loosen them all before commiting to a body lift. If they won't come loose forget the body lift and do something else. Also, since the body bolts stay in the body and stick downwards, I cut a slot in the top of the tube sections and slipped them in so I didn't have to jack up the body as far. Make sure you either replace or Locktite the nuts on the body bolts so they don't come loose on you.
Junkman
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If your rig was as rusty as mine was then stay away from a body lift ! My 89 was very rusted and I was able to get the body mounts loose whith PB Blaster and some work . After doing the homemade body lift though my rig only lasted about 3 months before every body mount either rusted loose or shoved up through the floor . I would never do a body lift on a rusty trail rig again. Maybe on a clean mall crawler but thats about it !
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I have a question, I just ordered the calmini 3" body lift kit, I have a 96 Kick 4-door, will I need to extend the steering shaft or should it be fine, and also, what would happen if I left my shifters the same?
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If your rig was as rusty as mine was then stay away from a body lift ! My 89 was very rusted and I was able to get the body mounts loose whith PB Blaster and some work . After doing the homemade body lift though my rig only lasted about 3 months before every body mount either rusted loose or shoved up through the floor . I would never do a body lift on a rusty trail rig again. Maybe on a clean mall crawler but thats about it !
After experiencing similar problems on both of my offroad rigs, I agree with this all the way. Getting the bolts loose is not the problem, the problem is getting enough support around the body mounts to keep a softening floor intact under the added stress of the body lift... In stock form there are at least 4 more contacts between body and frame than just the body mounts. Even though they are basically just rubber cushions, they still help distribute the weight of the body over 50% more area. Even if those soften up, they will only allow the body to drop 3/8" before it is resting completely on the frame. Not so with a body lift. The lift blocks will push right through the floor and add stress to places not designed to handle anything like that. If you live anywhere with potential for rust, I would advise against a body lift on an older rig. Find other, more creative ways to lift it. With the increasing availability of diff lowering brackets and strut extensions, as well as coil spacers in all sizes, fitting 31's really isn't too hard without a body lift.
If I were to start over with a fresh, unmodified Track/kick, it would get rear lift springs for 2-3" of lift, diff drop brackets, a rear Y-link spacer, 2" front spacers for 3" of lift with strut spacers, longer rear shocks and 31's. I would do slight trimming or floorboard pounding and call it good. I already know that I will probably not see any Track/kicks around here without rust issues unless they came from further south and are really pricey...
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I have a question, I just ordered the calmini 3" body lift kit, I have a 96 Kick 4-door, will I need to extend the steering shaft or should it be fine, and also, what would happen if I left my shifters the same?
The best I can tell you is that you'll have to see once you start getting it done. Sometimes you need one or both and sometimes you don't need either. Just about every one is different...
You will probably need to re-bend the shifters a little to clear the floor opening and they might be really close to the floor once the lift is done.