ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: dustybadlands on February 08, 2009, 10:20:55 PM
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A friend of mine is a master electrician who is contracting in Iraq. He likes my rig and wants his 2nd generation 2dr convertable Tracker done up right. He said he's coming back on leave in May so i gotta get busy. I told him I'd post up on here to see what you guy's would suggest. The criteria is this: 31" tires, 3" susp. lift, bumpers, sliders, lights, some cutting allowed, and must be good for the long haul. Ok , so how about some suggestions? ???
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A friend of mine is a master electrician who is contracting in Iraq. He likes my rig and wants his 2nd generation 2dr convertable Tracker done up right. He said he's coming back on leave in May so i gotta get busy. I told him I'd post up on here to see what you guy's would suggest. The criteria is this: 31" tires, 3" susp. lift, bumpers, sliders, lights, some cutting allowed, and must be good for the long haul. Ok , so how about some suggestions? ???
3" susp lift = calmini, (possibly OME hybrid???) 31's of your choice, bumpers choice, (arb??) sliders, again chice of yours, lights.... adventure accesories has hella 500's for 45 bux...
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As a master anything working over seas....I doubt money is an issue. Not saying you should try to break his bank...but I wouldn't waste time looking for deals. Buy quality parts from well known suppliers.
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My .02, I make 2" suspension lifts for the 2nd Gen now. $155 to the US or $170 to Canada.
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Suspension & Tires:
3" of lift is WAY over-kill, and will make for a top-heavy rig. If he's looking for a mall-crawler, or mudder that's fine, but it's crap in real off road situations.
For a lift, use Jeff's coil spacers (cheap), or OME lift (if he's flush with $$$). Calmini's ride quality & longevity (springs, struts & shocks) are CRAP compared to OME. Fender cut from there.
Engine / Drivetrain:
If it's the 1.6L, you'll want to do your typical CIA & high-flow exhaust (2" or 2 1/4") stuff. A 2.0L could benefit from these as well, but won't 'need' it with 31" tires (2.0L is 30% more powerful than 1.6L).
Put 4:1 low-range gears in the t-case. Beef up the straps on the front diff (the housing is aluminum, and doesn't like to move much without breaking), or upgrade to steel front diff (Some Grand Vitaras are steel, Toyota will work, or modified Samurai housing).
Armor & Recovery:
Rock sliders (under door) are a must. Best way is to get 2x4 box tube, cut the area under the door, and re-weld the box tube in place. This keeps stock clearance, and gives great protection. Get front skitds & under-belly, and gas tank armor too, but don't get crazy with the thickness (weight).
Get the tire off the rear door, it won't survive with the weight of 31" M/T. Get a bumper with swing-away carrier (should hold tire, gas tank, and hi-lift at minimum, 2-doors need the storage out there). I like light bumpers (I believe strongly it's the light weight of the Suzuki that gives it's biggest advantages), some people like crazy tank bumpers. Front bumpers look cool, but I'm re-thinking their usefulness. Most are pretty heavy - unnecessarily so. A custom lightweight winch bumper (and cheap harbor freight winch) is the way to fly.
Consider a good cage too. At minimum an extra triangulated sch 40 pipe for the area behind driver / passenger's head (b-pillar I think it is). More if he wants to save the body in a flop / roll.
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A good place to start. Mike Hagen's rigs are the shiz:
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_010105/feature_operationrockstar_partone.htm (http://www.zukiworld.com/month_010105/feature_operationrockstar_partone.htm)
(I can't find part 2)
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_050105/feature_rockstar_part3.htm (http://www.zukiworld.com/month_050105/feature_rockstar_part3.htm)
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/feature_rockstarfinale.htm (http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/feature_rockstarfinale.htm)
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oh man, i just had all these suggestions and then i realized it was for a 2nd gen and by 2nd gen you do me 1999+ right? Lifting 2nd gens without swapping in a solid axle is all but left to calmini or spring spacers, via the rack and pinion steering set-up. At which point, 2.5" is the largest lift available.
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Suspension & Tires:
3" of lift is WAY over-kill, and will make for a top-heavy rig. If he's looking for a mall-crawler, or mudder that's fine, but it's crap in real off road situations.
Great info here but I have to disagree with Jeremiah on this point. I personally ran a Calmini 3" lift on a 2 door convertable for years and it was, without a doubt, the most durable, longest lasting addition I did to my turck over the 14 years I owned it. Now it has been passsed on, after years of abuse for someone else to use. It was in no way top heavy and worked great in the rocks, side slopes etc. It is by no means the smoothest ride you can get, but if your looking for performance and durability, it is top notch (snd with a little tweeking, will ride smooth too).
Good luck on your build, keep us posted,
Zig
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A good place to start. Mike Hagen's rigs are the shiz:
[url]http://www.zukiworld.com/month_010105/feature_operationrockstar_partone.htm[/url]
(I can't find part 2)
[url]http://www.zukiworld.com/month_050105/feature_rockstar_part3.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.zukiworld.com/month_080105/feature_rockstarfinale.htm[/url]
http://www.zukiworld.com/month_020105/feature_rockstarpart2.htm
there ya go
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I'm with Zig on this one too. 3 in. of well built suspension lift is not only a good amount, it's almost too small for serious off road work. I have almost 4, the Tracker is still quite streetable,very stable off road, and still rides well, and fits 32's without cutting up the body work. Nothing wrong with quality suspension lift.
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Well I talked to the guy today and money's not a prob, He busted an axle last month snd now realizes the stock rigs are not indestructable. I wanted to get some better axles than stock, is there a difference between 1st and 2nd generations? He says he already has some OME springs and shox, I just hope they're the right ones I'd wanna use with the CALMINI or ?? kit.
Here's one for you budget builders: He needed a quick way to lift the rig to fit some tires he had on his old Tracker so he crammed some wood blocks in there! Did it work? Well that was in California, the car is here in Michigan with the original wood !!
So yeah, the California emissions crap needs to go for more HP. Can this stuff be removed and made functional? Easily?
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Let me re-phrase....
3" of lift is too much for 31" tires "done up right". I KNOW experienced wheelers disagree, but I've wheeled OME lifted kicks with fender trim on 31", and I've wheeled Calmini's 3" lift on 31" tires, and there's a significant stability difference on rocks, or any off-camber situation. Calmini has done a FANTASTIC job of creating kits that are bolt-on. No welder, or crazy fab needed - just some hand tools and a day or two (depending on how hungover you are ::) ). That means they made compromises elsewhere (center of gravity). OME is the best possible ride quality out there, and their springs are known to last longer than Calmini's (I've heard you can't buy Calmini replacement springs if they start to sag, but maybe that's changed). I thrash my OME in rocks, mud & sand dunes. They LOVE the dunes. They eat up wash boards, and have perfect valving for jumps. Even in my heavy 4-door I've beat lighter 2-door samurais with the same engine I've got (except mine's 100% stock, they had intake & exhaust goodies). The only super-cool thing about the Calmini is their lower A-arms, but the price of the kit isn't worth it for just those (and no - they aren't sold separately). I question how hard it is to make your own lower A-arms anyway, and have thought about making my own (anyone want to share measurements?)... that wider stance is sweet.
You already have the best springs / shocks / struts (OME - made by ARB!), so don't worry about it. Either add a small (1") spring spacer, body lift, or (my favorite) fender trim to get the clearance for 31" tires. Fender trim keeps the CV angles happy, keeps your COG as low as possible, and looks stock if you take your time (2-4 hours with simple hand tools). In fact - I think it looks BETTER than stock with big tires. You don't get that "huge tire, small wheel well" look that I think is fugly.
It ultimately comes down to personal preference of course... but there's my $0.02
1st gen is (something) - 97
2nd gen is 98-99
3rd gen is 2000 +
I forget when they switched to Rack & Pinion, but that can be a weak link from what I've read. If you have the 2.0L, don't worry about the emissions stuff right away, just do intake & exhaust. You'll likely have GOBS of power (IF you do the 5.125 diff gears). If you need more, add a turbo - follow bentparts & sean devinney's build. They're sweet.
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gee, never thawt of 98-99 as being it's own generation. I'm used to complete body style changes ( ie Camaro/Firebird "f"-body generations). Now I'm afraid I've confused everybody. This is a Tracker with it's last body style, '01 or'02 I believe. Anyway, i sent him the link to this discussion and I'll see what he wants. For my sake, I hope he would go with Jeremiah's low COG and slight fender trimming. So far i'm gonna suggest OME's all around, springs, shox and struts. Add 1"(+) spring spacers (Jeff's), Tube bumpers, rear tire carrier out of 1 1/2" ERW. Welded on sliders, some belly armor. Trim out the fenders, BFH for clearance issues and 31's. maybe BFG's new MTs. He does a lot of traveling so it's gotta be a roadie too.
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I stand corrected: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Tracker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Tracker)
1" spacer MAX with 1.5-2" of spring lift already. Any more is too much CV angle, and again - too much lift for 31" tires.