ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: igaug on April 26, 2010, 12:38:50 PM
-
i just bought an 88 samurai and am new to samurais in general. have always been a fan though. the samurai i bought has a cobbled together lift on it and i want to do the SPOA lift but don't know much about the manufacturers that sell the kits. i have looked at petroworks and rocky road quite a bit. what are your opinions on them? are there other manufacturers that are worth looking in to?
-
sky mfg
-
I agree, the basic SPOA kit from Sky will give you everything you need to get going.
-
with stock axles, and transfer case gears are 32's too big?
-
also how what size of tires can you fit with the sky kit?
-
Standard is 31" tires for most SPOA lifts, but I was able to squeeze 33" tires on my SJ-410 with a bit of trimming of the rear fender wells back in the day.
Depending on what you are planning on using the rig for you can probably get away with the larger tires, but the freeway will be a bit beyond your grasp. I would recommend looking at the 5.8 or 6.5:1 t-case gear set.
There is a really good write-up at http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/general-suzuki-forum/basic-spoa-on-a-lwb-sj-413-using-stock-parts/ (http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/general-suzuki-forum/basic-spoa-on-a-lwb-sj-413-using-stock-parts/) of Kahn-Sultan did of his own SPOA lift. It should cover a lot of your questions.
As for the Sky Manufacturing kit, I recommend picking up the State 2 kit at http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=92 (http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=92) to get started. It gives you everything you need to get going quickly and easily.
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_86HP5-adsWc/SlQWm3PeRZI/AAAAAAAAEzk/xZ45ECBIS6w/s512/DCP_0118.JPG)
-
why do you guys like sky better than rocky road or petroworks? just curious...
-
I like their wrap around spring pad's. Having ripped a normal one off the axle the extra bracing is a nice touch. Plus it makes it easier to mount as it is already lined up. The new steering setup is a nice touch as well.
But any of the companies kit will work. The Sky pads are just nicer in my opinion.
-
the sky stage 2 kit does not come with shock or mounts... will my stock shocks work with this kit or should i just look in to the stage 5 kit that does come with shocks and mounts?
-
Your stock shocks will work just fine. You just swap your spring pads from left to right and everything bolts right up, you just won't see the long travel.
I would wait on the longer shocks and instead look into a traction bar for the rear end to avoid spring wrap.
-
the rear is already sprung over with stock shocks that bottom out everytime is hit a crack in the road. the front looks like someone cut the leaf mounts off the body and welded 3 inch square tubing to the frame, then reattached the spring mounts. looks terrible and i want to redo it all. what exactly is spring wrap? ive read a lot on preventing it but not sure what it is? thanks for bearing with me here!
-
Can you post some pictures so we have a better idea of what we are looking at? There might be something off in how the rear shocks are mounted and it would help to be able to figure out how your front end was hacked up.
Spring Wrap is when your rear springs turn into an S instead of a gental curve. It usually comes from hill climbing when the back of the rig rig starts bouncing around, the springs were not designed to be in a spring over axle configuration so they are kind of weak against the axle rolling under the spring. I bent up two sets of rear springs before switching to a 4 link in the back.
-
here is the rear shock setup
(http://)
-
and this is the cobbled together front, let me know what you think of this work! lol
-
Looks like some solid work to me. ::)
Amilla
-
yea its somethin alright
-
The rear shocks are bottoming out because the bump stops are gone. Normally there is one on that pad that sticks out. I would just put a new bump stop in place, some new shocks in so you have dampning again and call it good for right now.
As for the front... I'm with Amilla. It's work. With some additional welding it is probably solid enough that it won't break. :D
-
i really want to get rid of the front set up completely, the leaf mounts hang down way too low and hit whenever crawling up and over something. im thinking pretty seriously about the sky stage 5 kit and getting some 31's for now and upgrading to the yj spring kit from trail tough in the next couple years depending on how the sami holds up. the front just doesn't flex the way it is set up as is. im pulling the tires up left and right when crawling in the creek and i havent even left my house with it yet, ive got a tagging issue.
-
my rocky road kit is in the mail, ill post some before/after and during pics when i dive into it
-
please do, it would be much appreciated! im looking to order in the next week or two, just don't know which one yet. are you going with the 5 or 6 inch?
-
im doing the 5" bc i need new leaf springs and ill prolly do 1.5" springs