i thought i had started one here... i guess not...

this post is from january 21st.

WELL ITS ABOUT TIME!!

Finally got a chance to start my buildup today. It will be on the street way more than offroad, so i want a stable zuk. My plans originally were 31s with SPUA YJ, then i got a REALLY good deal on some 33" Swamper LTBs and changed plans to SPOA YJ, but was just never really sold on the idea of running 33s every day. So I looked and found a buyer for the 33s and went back to my original plans.

In the meantime i got a deal on a 5.14 Calmini tcase and a 1.6L 8v motor... Well, my stock tcase went kaput and so i put the 5.14 case in and have been running it on stock arms for sometime now. I have been wanting to put the 1.6 in, but have been told i have to have a lift for it to work, so i wanted to get the lift installed first. And that is what i have been working on today.

I will start by giving an overview of my goal.

Parts already installed at this time are:
Rock 4x Fabrication rear roll cage and Tracker Seat belts.
Heavy duty front bumper i designed and had built.
Bama Zuk tube and half doors.
Open Air cleaner i designed and had built with the help of friends at the muffler shop and my welder buddy.
5.14 Calmini Case with stock arms and Rock 4x Fabrication poly tcase bushings
A little bling coutesy of Redidbull
Blingin reupholstered seats from Triple B Upholstery up near Winona, MS
Late model Samurai/ Sidekick 3 spoke steering wheel
Shrockworks gas tank skid plate
Spidertrax battery tie down

I have some parts in stock that i havent had time to put on. They include:
Hardcore 4x4 belly pan
Spidertrax t-case arms
1.6L 8v motor
and most of my suspension

My plans for the suspension are as follows:
1" lift Superlift YJ springs installed in spua configuration (should be good for 3.5" lift plus or minus
Sky Mfg. YJ kit front and rear from Rock 4x Fabrication
Sky Mfg shockhoops, again from Rock 4x Fabrication
Spidertrax rear upper shock mount from Rock 4x Fabrication
Longer brakelines
Bumpstop brackets designed by me and made by my welder at Fabricated Steel Supply in Clinton, MS
Bumpstops came from my buddy Josh over at Offroad Innovations in Monroe, LA
And if my rear driveshaft isnt long enough in stock form, I am going to have my buddies over at Jackson Powertrain modify my Toyota CV shaft i have to use it, and i will have the front lengthened.

Other plans include, but not limited to:
Heavy duty rear bumper and rock sliders designed by me and built by my buddy over at Fabricated Steel Supply
Petroworks dash and gauges
Superliner bedliner sprayed by me when i remove the dash so i can go all the way up the firewall.
Upgraded sound system
Upgraded headlights and offroad lights
Stinger built by someone who has not been determined at this time
Some sort of selectable lockers
power steering
I am sure i am forgetting a TON of stuff...

But anyway, onto the pics.

Today's progress:

Flexed it out to see what it would do in stock form. the shocks limited me BIG TIME. I had RRO missing links on front, but with the short shocks, i couldnt get the front tire more than about 12" off the ground before the other front tire came up too. 


Here it is preparing for surgery.


This is the kit I am using. Bought it from Rockrat here on the board. His buisness is Rock 4x Fabrication and he has the BEST customer service of anyone I have dealt with. [thumbsup] Thanks Scott!


Leaf spring removed. This is the FIRST sami have ever worked on that i didnt have to cut the springs out of the hangers. I removed the bolt and it dropped right out. Every other time at least ONE bolt has been seized up and had to be cut or grinded out. Maybe the rear will be as smooth as the front.


These boogers are VERY TIGHT!! I beat and smacked and cussed and groaned until i got the missing links assembled. Should be good for the street tho, but that still doesnt make it any more fun to assemble.


Got the hanger hung. Heres a tip: You have to grind the stock hanger a tad bit to keep the bushing in the YJ spring from hitting against it and chewing it up.


Here is a comparison of the springs. Stock front below the YJ spring. 1" Superlift spring i bought from Superlifts Ebay store for $40 each new. Bushings not included, but still a heck of a deal!


Springs under the truck.



Got the springs attached to the axle in this pic. Got the brake lines on and calipers attached to truck.


Then i bled the brakes, put the tires on and let it down for a couple shots.





Need a drop pitman to clear up that bad angle...



Still lack for front:
drop pitman arm
install lower shock mounts
install bump stops
buy and install upper shock hoops and long travel shocks.

After the lift, I measured from the bottom of the drag link at the pitman arm down to the top of the tierod, and got a measurement of 4.25".
From the looks of this pic, the bottom of the drag link sat just on top of the tie rod, so i am guess right at 4" lift before the springs settle. it will be interesting to see where it settles at for good. If i have rubbing issues with the 31s i will install a 1" body lift to make up for it.


Monday night i hope to get the rear done and sometime this week get it over to the welder to get the lower shock mounts welded on, then in 2 weeks start my motor swap.

from today

ok, finally got a little more done today and started the rear. i got the rear suspension out (the bolts on the springs were not as friendly as the fronts )






and i got the rear bumper and dirt digger off to get ready for the new rear bumper.






hopefully i will get it finished up this week so i can get it to the welder to have my bumpstop brackets, shock mounts, and rear bumper built and installed

looking good but ya really should clean up the greasy looking axle.
Maybe a little Engine Gunk on it since people are able to see it now.

i am going to as soon as i get everything finished up. once the front clip is off for the motor swap i can get to everything in there better and that is when it will all get a good cleaning.   

How come you kept spring under?


Millski

i love the ride YJs give a sami, but i didnt want the height i would have gotten with the YJ spoa. so i decided to go YJ spua.

I cant wait to put the YJ life on my sammi, im so sick and tired of the bad ride that the stock springs give.  Right now they are so woren out that they are about an inch from the bumb stop, so every bump...you really feel it hahha

Looks very nice, cant wait to see it with the rear all done up.


Amilla

well, i worked on it some more today. just didnt feel like going to work. so here is what i did.

first thing first, i got a new toy!!


got the rear done:




i had to cut the bushings down cause they were WAY too wide for the sky shackles. i dont know what kind of bushings sky uses, but this thing was a good 1/8" or more too thick!




also trimmed the rear corners.





put the tires on and took it down the driveway for a spin. no shocks or bumpstops yet, but man does it ride better than it did!

the rear wheel looks like it may need to move back an inch. i am gonna get the shocks and tires mounted and if i have room i am gonna move it back.






brought it back and got to lookin underneath and noticed this. will it hurt anything with the brake line like it is?


i am trying to think of my bumpstop setup and have come up with this. (rough sketch, sorry...)



this is the bumpstop i am gonna use on all 4 corners.


My question is: how up movement should the spring have before hitting the bumpstops? i have heard anywhere from 2" to 1" up after the spring levels out...

i am thinking 2.5" uptravel. will i be ok there?

AND

ok, the Sky Mfg kit comes with the missing links and the rest for them. it has a bumpstop on it that is about this thick.

they are about 1/8" to 1/4" thick, depending on who ships them i guess. (i have seen both thicknesses.)

my question is, you think it would be ok to run these? about 1" thick, maybe a tad less...

well, i got back late last night from the fab shop. i have it home, but it is still on the trailer. im tired and will work on it this weekend some...

here are some pics i took last night of it coming together.

bumper fab








front shock mount fab
the first set he cut out was too short and was gonna give the shock a bad angle, and then a TERRIBLE angle once i can get some hoops, so we went back and made these.





and bump stop fab






still have to paint, and get the bumper wired for lights and mounted and then measure for shocks. i think the front bump stops are gonna be too low tho, so i may have to grind em off and shorten them... i will see once i get the tires mounted...

Coming together nicely 

tonight i got the tires and wheels installed, the rear axle moved back an inch, the bump stop brackets painted and bump stops installed, and the shock mounts installed. also got the bumper bolted up and rear brake line installed.

all thats left now is to trim the bump stops to desired height, cut out two more light holes in bumper, rear tow points, hitch pin holes, measure and install shocks, and bleed the brakes. once this is done, i will be able to tell if i will need driveshafts lengthened or just install some spacers. and i THINK that is it for now. oh yeah, gotta install my spidertrax arms to the tcase and my belly skid. also will need some sort of diff armor, but i could possibly squeeze by without that right now...

i still have to get upper shock mounts, better shocks, and a stinger, but that comes after zuwharrie.

pics:




and i ordered some more low profile bump stops and slid them in tonight.


up front i have 1 1/2" uptravel and out back i have 1" up travel, so i am just gonna cut the bump stop part instead of pulling the brackets off since they are welded to the frame.


i think the stance of my truck is a good one. after zu, like i mentioned i will get upper front and rear shock mounts, and diff guards, rock sliders, and try to install the kick power steering off my parts truck. just dont have enough money right now.

Can you take pics of rear shock mounts? I'm going YJ SPUA this summer, and trying to figure out what to do about the shocks.

for the rear i have just your basic angle iron shock mounts welded to the axle. i was gonna use tabs, but i use the spidertrax bolt on upper shock mount and cant rotate the shocks inward with the tabs, so i had to use the stud type. you can get these from most vendors. mine came from petroworks.

you can also make them if you ahve a welder.

Did you have to end up angling your shocks like this  / \

Or, were you able to go straight up and down? I keep hearing the more verticle I can keep the shocks the better?

for now i am running the stock upper mount. i got the spidertrax upper rear mount to kick em in just a little but am not gonna install it just yet. gonna buy different shocks later on when i get my front hoops made, so for now i am gonna run stock rears too. dont want longer shocks out back than up front ya know.

I gotcha. Thanks for posting all the pics, and "play by play", it's helped give me more confidence for when I do my install.