ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: derekj on March 25, 2008, 11:09:20 PM
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Anyone have any feed back on these lift kits? Was looking at the 4" kit for the truck.
Derek
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Have a link you can post? I have not heard about Zukination before.
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www.zukination.com
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You must be from around Calgary? I live in Rimbey a few hours north. I've been to Zukinations site but they didn't have anything on there for my Samurai.
John
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I live in Whistler, BC.
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Oh a couple of canuk's eh! ;D :laugh: :laugh:
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Man, look at how much they want for that 95' Tracker. Just a bit on the steep side.
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Man, look at how much they want for that 95' Tracker. Just a bit on the steep side.
It is a bit steep, but it will sell. I bet it's rust free, plus it's in great condition ;)
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I live in Whistler, BC.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Does anyone else think that's funny???
Not that you live there but that, oh never mind...
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I live in Whistler, BC.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Does anyone else think that's funny???
Not that you live there but that, oh never mind...
Am I missing something here ???
Derek
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sounds like somebodies never had the fortune of visiting the whistler area! bc kicks ass!
anyway, i don't get it either ???
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sounds like somebodies never had the fortune of visiting the whistler area! bc kicks ass!
Never been there, but I did meet a few "buds" from out that way. ;)
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They posted some pictures for the Zukination lift on the board a few months back. It looked like a pretty nice setup.
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Hey Derekj are you wanting to replace your BDS setup? Your the only other person ive seen with the BDS susp lift besides me
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The pictures they posted on here were of their top of the line kit, the 4.5" Alter Ego lift with new front control arms that move the front wheels forward 1.5".
The only thing that puzzles me on the 4" lift is that it doesn't come with new arms. How is it even possible to run a 4" lift with stock arms? The springs would be so bowed out that they would pop out, no? And also, the track width in the front would probably be a bit narrower because the wheels pull in when the A-arms go down. I sent them an email once inquiring about this and they said that it's still 100% alignable to within factory specifications and they haven't had any issues with springs popping out. I'm just waiting to see some pics of someone running the 4" kit, because as far as I know, nobody is running Zukination's stuff as of yet.
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The only thing that puzzles me on the 4" lift is that it doesn't come with new arms. How is it even possible to run a 4" lift with stock arms? The springs would be so bowed out that they would pop out, no? And also, the track width in the front would probably be a bit narrower because the wheels pull in when the Alarms go down. I sent them an email once inquiring about this and they said that it's still 100% alignable to within factory specifications and they haven't had any issues with springs popping out. I'm just waiting to see some picks of someone running the 4" kit, because as far as I know, nobody is running Subornation's stuff as of yet.
That is exactly what i wanted to know as well. With the the price of the 4.5'' wouldn't it be better to go with the solid front axel swap?? I dont see the point of the spending all that money on an IFS front end but what do i know
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I haven't bought the lift, but I stopped in at the shop and visited with the owner. Real nice guy. They have spent a lot of time building a nice setup. It's quite over-built. I don't think you could ever break it. It really sounds like the owner knows what he's talking about. I'd buy one if I wasn't a designer/fabricator myself.
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Hey Derekj are you wanting to replace your BDS setup? Your the only other person ive seen with the BDS susp lift besides me
I have been wheeling my BroncoII over the winter and love the softer ride than the kick. The BII gets about half the gas mileage the kick does so I have decided it needs to go. I love the kick off road but after driving the BII the kick rides like a tank with the BDS kit. So I just would like a softer riding lift kit and would also like to add another inch or two so I can fit some bigger tires. I would love to do the sas but school and a mortage payment have put that idea on hold for now.
Derek
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It's been stated before, but I have a Calimini 3" lift and it road very hard. I changed just the rear shock and what a difference it made. I can't wait to change the front.
So that might be a cheaper option.
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A Calmini lift with Hyundai front struts, would that work?
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I'm guessing the kit will somehow have dropping arms with brackets or something like that. Why nto just spend an extra few hundred and do an SAS. THat is what I'm doing this summer. I love my 99 tracker but I don't trust the front diff with the lift kit, I've already cracker a front diff...and that was just spinning in snow trying ot get un stuck.
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I'm guessing the kit will somehow have dropping arms with brackets or something like that. Why nto just spend an extra few hundred and do an SAS. THat is what I'm doing this summer. I love my 99 tracker but I don't trust the front diff with the lift kit, I've already cracker a front diff...and that was just spinning in snow trying ot get un stuck.
The 4" lift is only $1100. A SAS kit from Trail Tough is over $3000. I guess if you fab your own SAS it won't be too bad, but for those of us who hate figuring everything out ourselves (the hard way usually). If you're worried about the front diff, swap in a steel unit and reinforce the pinion mount. Search it, it's on here somewhere.
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It looks like they make some nice kits, but for that price, I'll pass. The Extreme kit looks like a nicer version of the Calmini kit, but I just don't think is worth spending twice as much money on.
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It takes almost no thinking at all to make spring hangers, shackle hangers, and a pair of shackles. You could make it all for under 200 bones.
Depending on the axle you are going to run, you could do it up for pretty cheap (compared to any of the vendors prices)
Someone needs to start making and selling a budget SAS kit, like an SAS version of Jeff's coil spacers.
Ill have to look into this 8)
Amilla
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What if you want to run coils in the front though?
And the next BIG question is steering...I know a guy who did his own SAS and he said it was alot of work, mainly the steering.
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Regardless of price for the 4.5, I want to know if it is a good kit... I would love to see it in action...
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What if you want to run coils in the front though?
And the next BIG question is steering...I know a guy who did his own SAS and he said it was alot of work, mainly the steering.
Ya a coil kit would be a different story, I'm not super coil savvy.
What would be the hold up for the steering?
You could mount up a Toyota P/S box to it, drag link, and tie rod.
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Hi everyone,
I have the 4" zuki nation lift kit installed. I would have liked more info before I bought it but I didn't find much so I'll post a few thoughts here in hopes that it can help some people out.
In a nutshell, I love how it transforms the vehicle's look and performance. In terms of performance, Breakover angle and approach/departure angles are excellent, and best of all you can achieve this without getting huge and heavy power-sapping tires. But installing the kit wasn't a simple bolt-on operation as I had envisioned it and some problems remain to be solved once the kit is in.
The good:
-Heavy duty components. very overbuilt.
-Rear end gets a LOT of flex. Lots. The rear shocks are 6" longer than stock so you get an extra 2" of down travel, and there's definitely more up travel though I haven't measured before and after. All the extra space in the wheel wells from the lift is taken up during articulation.
-lots of extra frame clearance even with small tires (I run 235/75 R15 and there's about 12.5" of frame clearance.)
-softer ride. Much more comfortable.
-With the sway bar disconnected I get 22.5 inches of artriculation on a 4-door, up from 17" in the stock form. 20 degree RTI score goes from 509 (stock) to 673 with the kit, if that's of any interest to anyone. I think the stock 17" figure is also with the sway bar disconnected. All of this is running fairly high tire pressure - something like 28 psi. I like my gas mileage and yes, the ride is still soft!
-I can still get under 9.5L/100km with mixed highway/off-road/city. Much better than I expected.
The bad:
-the front springs are so bowed out that they hit the front struts, which isn't so bad, but also the brake calipers if the steering wheel is turned too much. As a result, I have to watch how much I steer... Nothing more than 1 1/4 turn of the wheel in either direction, and it'll probably get worse as my pads wear down and the calipers move closer to the spriongs. The steering stops won't adjust far enough to prevent this, and even if they did, the turning radius would be nothing short of horrible.
This is a major pain in the ass and probably only fixable by modifying the a-arms so that the springs are seated horizontally.
-The muffler hits the driveshaft when flexing severely. The fix for this is to get a bullet-style muffler. Not a big deal, if you can deal with the noise.
The spring problem can be fixed - it's just annoying that I bought a "bolt-on" kit and now I have to bring my truck into a shop to have some mods done. Just keep that in mind when you order, and you'll be a lot happier with your purchase. I stuck with 235/75 because I didn't want to lose too much gas mileage and power, but there's a LOT of room in the wheel wells for more rubber, and the rear end flex is awesome.
Some notes:
-I didn't need to use my driveshaft spacer. It barely fit so I left it out.
-MAKE SURE to re-tighten all bolts after 100km!!!!!!!!!
-make sure to add washers to the diff drop bracket bolts if necessary. The new mounts are not as thick as the old ones (they're not flimsier - they're almost as thisk, except they're made of steel instead of aluminium).
-equip yourself with an angle grinder with an 8" disc before you begin. You'll likely need to cut out the old trailing arms. I also had to drill out the seized remainder of the bolts from the welded-on nuts. That was a major pain in the ass and it would be much easier for someone with a body lift as the body gets in the way.
-also get a die grinder. You'll have to elarge some bolt holes on the struts to make the alignment work. Some alignment shops will do this for you, but very few as I found out. find out before you send your vehicle in.
Benoit
Vancouver, BC
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Thanks a Bunch gyppo for a very thourough and detailed evaluation of this lift. Thyis should go into the archives.
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Nice write up. Now we have a thread to reference when people ask about the Zukination lift. :)
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Thanks for your post Benoit - that was just what I was looking for. I would love to see the truck in action one day. I live up in Whistler and go wheeling in the lower mainland almost every month. Do you go on the 4WDABC maintenance runs at all? Thanks for the pictures.
Derek
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Picture problem solved, apparently!
Thanks,
Benoit