i'm hoping to get some feedback on something. i have a 1989 chevy tracker 2dr 4x4, i would like to lift it and add bigger tires obviously. I'm not a fan of that large gap between tire and fender at the top, and want 32's or 33's, does anyone know the best lift kit out there to keep the gap to a minimum. also plan on adding  1" wheel spacers and dont mind doing a bit of trimming. Tires will be mtr's or baja claws. thanks

by lifting a stock tracker with stock wheels and tyres, you are increasing the gap between the tyre and the fender, and this is what you do not want.

so isnt it the same if you fit 33"s, with lift, and a lot of fender trimming. you still need to clear the tyres so the wont touch on anything.

is this going to be wheeled? or just a urban toy thing?

do a 3" suspension lift, and a 3" BL, and with a bit of fender trimming, you can fit 33"s with-out them touching, and the gap wont be so noticable because a tracker on 33"s is a pretty good sight.

a calmini 3" lift is good, but you can also just use parts off other makes if you have a tight budget.






33" MT/Rs

thanks for the input, it will be wheeled, not just a "cool looking" street ride .The pictured green truck of yours is exactly what i'm hoping to get. what lift do you have on it? I was considering either a rockyroad 4.5 or calmini 6" combo.

i have a budget hybrid lift. the pics were taken a while ago when i had the 33" MT/Rs, and all it had back then was a 3" BL and a 3" sus lift.

now its sitting on some SIMEX extreme trekkers, 31"ers tho. but if you compare the actual size, they are about the same. but basically, its:

Front:
OME struts
65mm/2.5" Coil spacer
stock front coils
3" lift total

Rear:
commo shocks
180SX coils (Nissan)
30mm/1.25" coil spacer
75mm/3" ball joint spacer
4" lift total

A BL is simple to make, and you can make them as stong as the ones you buy in a kit form. over here in Australia, we have some strict rules regarding modifications of vehicles. one of them is with BL, you are not allowed to have any for of open block, such as square tube. so i had to change my original BL. still the same height though.

as for sus, there's no way on earth i would ever be able to afford anything calmini, so i just looked around, and tried out a few things. seems to work good the way it is now.

i plan on doing a few more mods to the front of my Vit, but i need time and more importantly, money.

COIL SPACER: (ON 180SX COIL)



OLD AND NEW BODY LIFT BLOCKS:




BASICALLY HOW MY VIT IS NOW:

That is a sweet ride.  Where did you get the soft top and who makes it?

That is a sweet ride.  Where did you get the soft top and who makes it?

ok here goes again... and thanks for the compliments.

the soft top i have now is a custom made top. its like a fast back style, like hummer styles. anyway, all the mounting hardware was removed from my old top (which was slashed) and grafted on to the new one, so basically, everything mounts up the same.

it looks good. but thats about it. you can seat people in the back, unless you zip out the back window, which isnt too good in winter or rainy days. anyway, zooks are meant to be 2 seaters only, anymore seats and it becomes a taxi/cab.

a few people have this style top on their sammy's too, but because of the boxy nature of a sammy, highway/freeway driving creates a lot of wind drag on the top and back of the sammy, and eventually slows you down a bit or you use more fuel. i have not experienced any of this on my vit.

any good canvas or upholsterer can make a custom top for you. just drop your old one off and they should be able to copy it. sometimes they might need the car as well.

there are many types of canvas materials you can choose from, heavy or light gauge, thick or thin, marine grade, UV grade etc etc. some types will attract more heat than others, so be careful or wary of this. i just got some light-weight basic stuff, and it has held up great. its been attacked by trees and so on, and its proven to be very tough.

you should also be able to get a clear window stitched in, and these days the plastic windows come in tinted varieties too.

another thing is, make sure, if the canvas place can, is to heat-weld the back window in. mine is double stitched, but because of the angle the window is on, water will leak through the bottom stitching of the window and inside. i'm not fussed, as my vit sometimes becomes a submarine, and i have nothing inside. and no carpet either. heat-welding is basically fusing the window to the canvas with heat, and its a proper seal from water.

so yeah, thats about it on the top. i have had 10 private messages on zuwharrie, and they are all asking about my soft top. i've had a few people ask me here too. its pretty funny when you have to type out the same things 10 times. i'm not worried.

as for pricing..... a new replacement soft top for my vit, like the original one, was $595 AUD. i got this top made for just under $300 AUD using all the old mounting hardware from the old top. (AUD=Australia Dollars)

anyway, i thought this was a lift and tyre thread. sorry for hi-jacking in that case.

cheers.

Hey, what is the exact height of those Extreme Trekkers?  I  LOVE that look..  I like the way you can stuff them under the rear fenders in a flex.

The 33's looked good too, but those Trekkers just look perfect... how tall and how wide??

Thanks..

Here's the Simex specs

http://www.simex4x4.com/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?

Thanks CJ

If it were me and you want a 6 inch lift...

I would go w/ Calmini...

I have some pretty bad things in regards to rockroad's kit...

Do you have a reduction transfer case or anything to turn the 33's?  If not how well does it do on the highway?

Tough turning 33s on stock cogs
best look for some 5.62s or 5.83s
when they come available again

Thats what I figured....I have the 5.12's and I have toyed with the idea of putting 32's on mine....but afraid the truck will suffer running down the road compared to the 30's and it does a decent job now.

That is it did until I tore my transmission up....

I have some pretty bad things in regards to rockroad's kit...

Really? Like what? I've run both suspension setups on a lwb and a swb and the only issue with the RR kit is is won't get the same amount of flex as the Calmini. I now run the Calmini and I don't think that that is the ultimate either for a couple of reasons. As for a bodylift I won't use anything that isn't a solid spacer.

As for a bodylift I won't use anything that isn't a solid spacer.

Why?