Steve,

Here's picture's my wife's sami with 4.5" SPOA and 1.5" Rancho springs

http://www4.50megs.com/rvwroccrawlr/SueZuki.htm

Wayne

 

Thanks for the pics Wayne, but I'm actually looking for the how to. I just picked up my 88 sami and I need to do some work to it. So I figure while it's down I'd like to go ahead and lift it, but I also don't have a ton of $$ to spend. Am I correct in understanding that I can lift my sami for under $100 or did I mis-understand?? Any help would be greatly appreciated (especially the "what to watch out for" kinda information)
Thanks all,
Steve

Wayne,
btw... your wife has a nice ride. hope mine turns out that good. /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

 

steve,

my advice would be: go to the vendors that offer a spoa kit (RRo, Petroworks, breeze, etc...) and see for youself what the kit consists of.

most have:
spring perches,
longer brake lines
steering correction (pitman, z-link)
lower shock mounts
driveshaft spacers

hope this helps
alfred

 

i did my complete hybrid SPOA for about 20 bucks canadian. 12 bucks for the steel, which i made very nice, tall 6" long perches with. Basically all the rest is ez crap i can make, like shockmounts i just cut them off with a toch then rewelded it, steering arm, i got a length of free steel from my friend, used his bender, welded in braces, and put everything togeather, it is better than glenn's. So, it didnt cost much but did take lots of time and labour. I did it during the summer so i dont have school, got all the time i need.
Anton


87 Suzuki Samurai JX, Hybrid SPOA, expander shackles, removable doors, coustom bumpers, gator guard 2 interior, fast back top, rear locker, 31's, clean interior.

 

You did your SPOA in one Canadian summer ah? That must mean you did it in about 48 hours.

 

Check out the suspension page on www.northcoastoffroad.com where you will see the complete Breeze SPOA kit, and individual links for each component. The basic spoa is $169.95 which includes the four perches, eight HD U-Bolts, drive line spacers, and the four lower shock pins. In addition, you will have to do something in regards to brake lines, either longer lines, or the extensions, longer shocks, and some form of steering correction. We maintain the Breeze kits in stock in both the 4.5" & 5.5" lift. Give me a call, we will be happy to discuss your individual needs, and can fax you a very comprehensive set of instructions along with a computer generated drawing of the component locations. Our phone hours are from 4:30PM to midnight EST.

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

http://www.off-road.com/suzuki/samurai/ukspoa.htm Has info on a cheap method.
You should weld some 2" X1/4" stock between the two mounts. this will prevent the axle from bending
/cracking. To do it right and safe you should either have help from someone who has done it before
or get a kit.

Glenn Loud
87' Zuke Spoa, 31's, 4.16 tcase, Camo,Header,2"exhuast, Cam.
Locked both ends, 8klb winch, Snorkel -Wildweasel2
NE4WI- club

 

It might be an unrealistic goal to achieve it under a hundred dollars. I dont know how Anton did it, but just the lines for brakes where 77$ for the four of them. Then i got some cross refrenced shocks at 45$ for all four which I considerd a good deal. The rest of the stuff was built by hand, like Anton, I built my own shackles and z-link, glenn helped me bend it in a bender. Welded on the spring perches & 18$ for a set (need two sets) and gusseted them with left over scrap steel from glenns suburban shackles by tying it into the bottom spring under perch. Sawzalled off the upper shock mounts, and glenn made a knock off (by design) upper rear shock mount and fronts as well. I think I did mine for about 275$ when all was said and done. 25$ for cj springs, 78$ for ML's and maybe some small stuff I cant think of, ill say 300$ to be safe. Thats cutting it on a realistic note. Unless your a fabrication king and can weld in your sleep, set aside some time and prepare to put it to use for this project. Best of luck. Max

Just one more of the elite Samurai!/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif External cage on a hardtop, x8ki wrn winch, M/L's,pny crb,98amp alt,32's, lckd f/r, j**p eater

 

Well, I'm beginning to think this is a bit outa my league. I have absolutely no welding experience and I've never lifted any vehicle before. I'm not afraid to do the work myself, but I don't know about welding. Any thoughts or advice?? I really would prefer not to have to spend a ton of money to get this done, but I refuse to go without a lift. I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed. Any advice???
Thanks guys,
Steve /wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif

 

Call me, will be glad to talk you through it.

419-732-0060

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

Well I guess you had better ask if you have a friend who can weld and if he has the time to help or teach you. If you dont, your gonna pay out the wazzoo for a bolt on kit, and most of them dont supply the actual shocks and springs. Its a tough position to be in, I hope you can find the help because a great sense of pride and accomplishment comes from building your rig. Being a "Bolt on Boy" is ok too, if you have the money its a time saving way to go. But most sammi owners fabricate, ive found. I'll try to help as much as I can, and Im sure youll find an endless line of verbal support on this bbs. but the first part is to make an assesment of where you are at in the project. Do you have parts and await instructions? That kind of thing. Where are you located at? Just wondering. Max

Just one more of the elite Samurai!/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif External cage on a hardtop, x8ki wrn winch, M/L's,pny crb,98amp alt,32's, lckd f/r, j**p eater

 

Tim,
I will be tearing it down in a couple weekends. I will give you a call when I'm ready. btw... the 4.5 breeze kit that you have, will that work with the stock shocks (for now)? what are the pros and cons between drop pitman arms and z links?

Max,
I was told by Petroworks that a bolt on kit was a bad idea and they were dangerous? Is that true? I think my wife would let me spend money (600-800), but I want to make sure it is safe. And really to be honest, I'd rather learn how to do it myself, even if that includes welding. I think my grandfather has a mig welder, will that do the trick? Is the welding part really difficult? Oh yeah, I'm in So. Cal.
Thanks you guys, I'm starting to feel better. Just need to pull my head outa my butt and grow some ba**s. /wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif
Thanks again guys,
Steve

 

You said the magic words "MIG WELDER" its about as idiot proof as point and shoot. Jeez im jealous, Ive got a mig, but its the cheapest lamest thing on the market, itll work for thin stuff but not really what I need it for. No the bolt ons are not dangerous that I know of, many people use them and petroworks is a good place to shop. Messed my order up once, but I got it soon enough. Should be real quick for you. Your grandfather could teach you to weld with a mig in just a few hours. Be careful not to crank the heat up on the axle tubes, I hear they warp easy. Now that we know you have access and lessons on the way, get your pads from petro works. I would REALLY consider doing the cj spring route and move your stock rears up front with a missing link set up if you are wanting to flex it up off road. dont worry about shocks, their the 45$ type its the brakelines that will cost. Another important question is " is this your daily driver?" that might affect how you build this up. Max

Just one more of the elite Samurai!/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif External cage on a hardtop, x8ki wrn winch, M/L's,pny crb,98amp alt,32's, lckd f/r, j**p eater

 

Cool, sounds like things are looking up for me. This rig will be a daily driver, and I don't intend to get to crazy with it off-road, at least not right away. For now I just want something that will get me into Silverado Canyon, and some of the narrower trails in Big Bear area. I'll have to see if my grandfather can give me the basics.

 

Oh man, I just thought of something. My next door neighbor is a welder by trade and he would do anything for a 12 pack. Hell, I'll just get him to help me with it. I can't believe I didn't think of that before. I'm close to being stoked now. /wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif

 

now the addiction is building up a head of steam. CAUTION,CAUTION,YOU ARE FALLING IN TO A NEVER ENDING TRAP!!!!! if i had it to do all over again i would have done it a lot sooner. yea i am hooked real bad later mike

88ht,two87s,88.5 spoa,33X12.50,5.12 f&r,rock cage,4.16 T case

 

You can use the stock shocks with the 4.5" kit by switching the clamp plates from side to side, but not the best way to go. If $$ is the issue, and you need to wait for really good shocks, don't let that be the deciding factor of the 4.5" or 5.5" kit. I can cross you over to part numbers for some really cheapo shocks that will get you by for a year and not break the budget. The 4" drop pitman arm works well for up to the 4.5" lift, and is a nice piece. For just a few dollars more ($78 vs $94) you can get a Drop Drag link that is formed in a press from 1" billet rod. It works well, and doesn't have the flex that many of the cut and weld links have. I have numerous customers that have replaced the cut and weld units and raved over the improvement in the steering. Besides it's about $20 less, no core charge, and no shipping for the core. So you save almost $50.00 for a better piece. Besides, we keep them in stock. If your friend is a welder, he will love our instruction set. He can be done before you drink a 6 pack once you have the axles on the floor. Let me know if I can help, we are here in the evenings and are glad to answer your questions to get you in the correct components for your usage.

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

There are only two bolt on kits out there, one from RRO, and the one from Calmini which is not released to the general market yet. I am not familiar with the RRO kit, so could not comment on it. The Calmini kit that I saw on the Rubicon was killer. No problem with it coming apart. No release date has been set yet. It doesn't quite flex as much as a weld on SPOA, but pretty close. With anything bolt together, there is a chance of it coming apart, but I guess your U-Bolts could come loose as well. That is part of knowing your truck, and doing frequent preventative maintenance.

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

TGT, just checked out your profile which led me to the website, nice internet deal on those shackles, I love the look of the gold plated shackles. Glenn has some on his (not wakefield) and I made my own copying those. To easy to make so I dont buy them, but if I did, id get those. And its funny you should mention u bolts coming loose, I had two peacock fans with my leaf springs under neath cause I re used my old u bolts when I should have gone new....

Just one more of the elite Samurai!/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif External cage on a hardtop, x8ki wrn winch, M/L's,pny crb,98amp alt,32's, lckd f/r, j**p eater

 

you guys are the best, I really appreciate all the insight. when I'm ready to go, I'll give you a call Tim. Probably about 2 weeks. Thanks again.

 

if you want to go really cheap. i bought glens spring purches. those went in great. then i welded the front shock to the rear and have great travel once i made new shock mounts. i bought the longest shocks i could find for the front. and made new mounts there. you don't need to do anything with the steering if you don't want. three of my brothers are running that way without any problems. also i welded some brake lines together and have extra long travel there. you have to be careful not to get them to hot or they will melt. i also welded extensions into my driveshafts. this took some time to line it up straight. but every thing has been running for a year and works great. i really have abused this setup and nothing broke yet. i know a lot of you are laughing, but it was under a hundred dollars and works great. you just need to find someone to weld for you or like me, buy a wire welder and learn yourself.

 

New u-bolts are one thing that is a must. Why risk it trying to reuse rusty nuts and U-Bolts. I had two customers that bought components together, but skipped on buying the spring perches. I nstead they saved twenty bucks, and bought trailer pads like the confer pads. The first day wheeling, both crushed their axle tubes, and had to buy the correct perches, and replace their axle tubes. Getting an engineered kit whether complete with everything or just the basics is worth it's weight in performance, ease of installation, and long term reliability.

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

New u-bolts are one thing that is a must. Why risk it trying to reuse rusty nuts and U-Bolts. I had two customers that bought components together, but skipped on buying the spring perches. Instead they saved twenty bucks, and bought trailer pads like the confer pads. The first day wheeling, both crushed their axle tubes, and had to buy the correct perches, and replace their axle tubes. Getting an engineered kit whether complete with everything or just the basics is worth it's weight in performance, ease of installation, and long term reliability.

TGT - NCO

www.northcoastoffroad.com

 

I agree with you 100% Tim. I see trucks that have bad jobs done to them and
it makes me sick. There is not "cheap" way to do something the safe way.
I know my life is worth doing something the right way. In the words of my mom
" if you're going to do something, do it right the first time "

DannyL
Pony Express



88.5 5.5" SPOA,8K Warn,4.16's,TuffySkid Plate, Custom bumpers,nerfs.
New>>Now on 33's!!!

 

I performed my SPOA swap and reused my old U-bolts while waiting for my new U-Bolts to come in from NCOffroad. In the 500 miles that I had driven with the old ones, I have had to retighten the left rear pair twice. I have tightened them down with a 250lb. impact wrench making sure the U-bolts stay aligned and they still came loose from normal street use. My new U-bolts arrived Monday and I can't wait to get them on. Thanks TGT.

Did they built the Samurai with a removable top so it is easier to shovel money into them?!?! My wife tends to think so...