DENT MY RIDE - My 'Kick Stuff

« My 'Kick Stuff »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
Sept 2, 2010, 11:00pm

DENT MY RIDE :: TECH DEPARTMENT :: Suzuki :: My 'Kick Stuff

Author

Topic: My 'Kick Stuff (Read 1,323 times)

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

My 'Kick Stuff
« Thread Started on Oct 6, 2006, 2:04pm »

Hey all
My parts finally came in from Boondox Motorsports today. I got 4" lift shocks for the rear... 1.5" coil spacers... 2" strut extensions and also a set of camber bolts. Heres what the "stuff" looks like...
[image]

As I go along and get things going on this project I will post pics of the before and after of everything I do from here on out for those interested in the Track/Kicks.
Here is the plan so far... I have Chevette diesel coils that will be used as well as the coil spacers. Looks like around 4" of lift with the parts combined.
I'll have to make a spacer for the third link to mount to the top of the diff but will make that as I go so I will know the proper height to make it.
As for the front... I am not sure if the diesel coils will fit but will sure try and see what happens. If the coils don't fit in the front I will have to do more figuring.
I want to avoid a body lift as much as possible but if need be it will come at a later date and most likely the body lift kit from Trail Tough as the body spacers are polly or UHMW or whatever but not steel... (MOT not like tube body spacers so I hear)
I have not decided what tires I want yet and am still searching for a good tire that will perform on and off road for now as this will still be driven on a daily basis till I get a new daily.
Thats all for now but will kepp updating this thread as I go along... Stay Tuned... LOL
Kelly

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #1 on Oct 31, 2006, 6:46pm »

So Ya Wanna Do A Suspension Lift On Yer Track/Kick eh?

Well when I got My Stuff... I told ya's I would keep you informed of whats goin on.

This past weekend, Kevin (aka. Stick) and Jake (aka. Evolvocane... CuteZuk :rofl: Sorry man!!) decided enough was enough and seeing as the parts were there and sitting about it was time to lift the 96 4dr Sidekick. Never have I tackled an IFS style lift so alot of this was all new to me. (Used to full size chev's)

Here is a couple shots before the lift...

[image]

Sorry about the quality of the pics as my camera is a POS!!

Before the undertaking I had aquired the parts needed through researching what I wanted to do... Here is that list of things that we used to get 'er up in the air:

Chevette Diesel coils...
1.75" Coil Spacers
Camber Bolts...
Rear Shocks...
Strut Extensions...
4 Chev 2.25" 3-bolt exhaust flanges
.25" plate steel
.25" wall 2"x2" tubing 1' long
.25" wall 2" pipe 1' long

Pics of Parts...

[image]

I had read in a few forums that the Chevette Diesel front coils would work well in the Track/Kick's while doing my research when I stumbled upon 4 of them on Zukpower from one of the other members. I bought them off him and had them sit here untill the rest of the parts came in. The other stuff (shock's, spacers, camber bolts, strut extensions) came from Boondox Motorsports. http://www.boondoxmotorsports.com/BMS_home.html

Ok so back to the install...

It's hard to take pics and get shit done so pics are limited of the actual buildup unfortunately.

We started in the front knowing it was going to be the difficult part and it was best to get it done and out of the way... Disconected the sway bar from the lower control arms and also disconected the tie-rod ends from the steering knuckle... Disonected the cv shaft from the drivers side by taking the 3 bolts out and letting it hang loose... Then off came the brake calipers as the brake line would have gotten in the way of lowering the control arm on both sides.

A floor jack was put under the control arm and raised just till the weight of the vehicle came just off the jack stand under the chassis. The top 3 bolts holding the strut to it's top mount were removed and very slowly the jack was let down to avoid injury from the spring if it was to go for a fly... (or avoid taking out the neighbours basement window)

Once the stock coils were out, the struts were removed from the steering knuckle and the strut extensions were added on with red loctite and torqued up in a vice. (Note: If using strut extensions you may need to take the top of the shaft at the smaller diameter to get the extension over the shaft with a bench grinder in a rotating motion... Not much... Just a little to remove)

While the front end was all apart it was decided to put 5:12 gears in so out came the front driveshaft and out came the whole differential housing with the 4:62 gears and in went the housing with the 5:12's.

Once all the parts were prepped for re-install... the Vette coils were put up against the stock front coils and noted they were about 4" longer than atock. So it was decided we try putting them in without the coil spacers just to see what effect they will have.

The top strut mounts were flipped to gain back an extra inch of strut travel and also a top strut mount spacer was made with 2 chev exhaust flanges and 3 large nuts to space them apart 3/8"... Had to re-drill the top 3 bolt holes for the new grade 8 longer bolts as well as drill the holes in the top strut mount to match as well...

Here is a pic of the Vette coils being installed...

[image]

All was put together again in the reverse order of taking it apart and the wheels and details were to be done after a quick test and to turn it around to do the rear end.

As I was turning it around i heard this... "Bang... bang.. BANG" from the front end and all i did was hit the road at the edge of the driveway... Uh-Oh... Something not good here at all!!!

Back in the driveway it goes and turned for the work in back, but before we took the rear apart we had to see what was up in front. Well it seemed with the mix of the top strut mount flip and the drop spacers made from the chev flanges as well as the softness of the vette coils, the struts bottomed out at the end of there down travel... Pulling up the boot on the strut was showing less than an inch of chrome showing on the shaft... NOT GOOD!!!

On top the rear and give time to think about the front...

The rear is simple to lift... lift the truck onto jack stands supporting the frame. Disconect the breather tube from the axle housing and also disconnect the rear brake line from the bracket. put the jack under the diff and raise it up till the weight of the axle housing is on the jack... Un-do the top nuts for the shocks before you do the bottom as it will be easier to hold the shock shaft from spinning while getting the nuts off... (If not replacing the shocks like I did, then just un-do the bottom bolts)

Before we re-installed all the stuff, 5:12's were installed in the rear by taking the drums off and removing the axles with a slide hammer... Third member was dropped out with the 4:62's and the 5:12's were put in it's place and reinstalled with silicone for a gasket.

Back to installing the rear axle... With the amount of lift calculated with the mix of vette coils and the 1.75" spacer, it was decided a diff block was made to hold the pinion angle and keep the driveshaft in phase. I fabbed up plates with the correct alignment of the bolt holes to the top of the third member out of 1/4" plate steel. The top plate got a hole cut in it about 1.25" to accept the bottom of the ball joint without interference. 2" of 1/4" wall 2"x2" tubing was cut and stick welded in between the 2 plates for a 2.5" spacer between the third link and the top of the diff.

shitty pic but hop ya get the general idea...

[image]

New shocks were bolted to the axle housing and it was jacked into place with the vette coils and spacers carefully put back into the coil pockets. All was bolted up and ready... check and double check and the truck came off the jack stands. Looks good... Sits nice... Jumped on the bumper and bounced... Not bottoming out... COOL... 4" of lift

(Some things do go right!!!)

Some pics while on the ground...

Pinion angle...
[image]

Chevette coils and spacer, Rear
[image]

Spacer showing over 225/75/15 tire
[image]

OK now Back to the Front...

We took the front apart again after some thought and figured maybe the coil spacer would help correct the strut from botoming out with the vette coils. In went the coil spacer and while we were at it we thought what the hell... Pull the strut spacer made from the exhaust flanges as well. Put it all back together and went for a tour to Burkton for a test run... (The Pit side... Not the hill... :brows: ) All was somewhat ok till I hit an ashphalt patch in the road... BANG... BANG... BANG. damnIT... Same shit different way. NOT GOOD!!! So the rig was parked and I went riding for the day in Tim's full size Chev...

After all the fun for that part of the day was over it was back to Kevin's for another shot and to put the stock coils back in. After all was said and done on the front it was propped off the jack stands and off for a test run I went.

Ok now the ride feels good. Like riding in a Cadillac almost cept tis still a zuk

Took it around the block and hit some bumps... No strut noise... Only downfall is I never got the amount of lift I wanted in the front. I was hoping for 4" with the combination of the chevette coils and the spacers but they are too soft to hold the weight of the front of the 'Kick. Ya it's a bummer but I guess the spring rate is no where close to that of a stock front coil.

Well thats what happened this weekend... Drives fine on the 401 even though I still need a proper wheel alignment done. I have a couple ideas to fix the front and will do the trial and error thing until I get it the way I want.

Here are more pics of the setup...

Strut Mount Flip
[image]

From the top
[image]

Rear Shocks... Pro-Comp ES1000 for +4" of lift
[image]

Only one thing I do have to do in the rear... With the shocks for +4" of lift and at full droop of the rear axle I can drop the top of the coil springs right out of the pocket... While this might be excellant for a full on trail rig... This to ME is not safe for daily driving. I will make a bracket or retainer for the top coil pocket as well as the bottom to hold it in there good and snug.

When I go to work tomorow I will pick it up with the lift-truck and take some picks of the droop.

Here are the before and after pics...

BEFORE...
[image]

AFTER

Hope you enjoyed... Will keep ya's posted...
Kelly

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #2 on Oct 31, 2006, 6:49pm »

Now for rims and to mount these on it...

[image]

31"x10.5"x15" Pro-Comp XTerrains

Kelly

« Last Edit: Oct 31, 2006, 6:51pm by whateverworks »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lwbzook
Administrator

member is offline

[avatar]

rockrash on my dash

Joined: Dec 2005
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,303
Location: Deseronto Ontario

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #3 on Nov 3, 2006, 12:06pm »

cool,, they look like nice little meats.. nice wright up Kelly. I got a story for ya that involves an illness and the last 3 days in the hospital not fun...Love the kicks new look tho

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

BUTTERCUP

spiritseekers
Krawler

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Oct 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 37

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #4 on Nov 4, 2006, 1:48am »

...Looks good Kelly , better when the new tread is on it , might have a bite on mine , $2500 , takes everything other then all the M.S.D stuff and tach...Ebay will see that....Ron whats up , let me know...My email is on there now for a little while............

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lowrad
Chief Krawler

member is offline

[avatar]

County4x4 Head Chef

Joined: Jul 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 496
Location: Ameliasburgh(Belleville)

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #5 on Nov 4, 2006, 11:52am »

Looks good...good write up too...With those new meats that thing should just about be unstopable....love those little rigs man...good work....think it's great that you used parts from other stuff tomake your rig look/work better.....always great when you do a little research and work and it all pays off.
Good Job man

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

The things that come to those who wait where probably left by those that got there first.

I do all my own stunts

RIP Waggy...RIP

NEW XJ Named Wilson
6"lift 35" ProComp XT's
Winched and Locked
County4x4.com
TEAM Uni-Body Division

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

Re: My 'Kick Stuff... UPDATE
« Reply #6 on Nov 4, 2006, 8:09pm »

Ok so yester I went to the metal market and bought 2 pieces of 4" round UHMW and got them to cut the slabs 1.5" thick. Today I finished work and borrowed the shop and made a 2.5" hole with a die grinder... (drill press at work is fawked) and went to install them.
Well I found out how much of a hassle with the 1.75" coil spacer plus the 1.5" UHMW spacers were gonna be to install.
All I wanted to do was level out the truck but could not get in another full inch let alone 1.5". So heres what I did...
I got my cut off wheel on the die grinder out and scored a mark exactly .75" all the way around and made 2 spacers out of 1.
Then the install... I put the UHMW spacers over top of the Boondox coil spacers and the fit perfectly... Put it all back together and drove it up and down the yard a couple times to re-settle everything in the front.
Looks great... Camber looks decent... no big issue there.
Now the rig looks even from front to back... No more Hot Rod look.
Drove it home on the 401 and the front is a little more stiff on the bumps but it's still softer than the stock ride. I'll live with it!!!
New rims arrived today so I will install them tomorow morning and get pick... Then I go get it dirty.

Maiden voyage for my lifted kick...
Kelly
P.S... Did I mention the g/f is pissed because I lifted it? "You Fawkin ruined it!!" in her words... LMFAO

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lowrad
Chief Krawler

member is offline

[avatar]

County4x4 Head Chef

Joined: Jul 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 496
Location: Ameliasburgh(Belleville)

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #7 on Nov 5, 2006, 2:24pm »

Sounds like time to get a new Girlfriend..lol...J/K

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lwbzook
Administrator

member is offline

[avatar]

rockrash on my dash

Joined: Dec 2005
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,303
Location: Deseronto Ontario

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #8 on Nov 5, 2006, 4:26pm »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

BUTTERCUP

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #9 on Nov 5, 2006, 11:09pm »

Picked up the rims today and got the tires mounted so it was definately time for a tear at the local playground. Off we went and the drive with the 31's was great. A bit of front fender/bumper rub in the front but nuthn a bit of a trim won't fix... Rear rubs at full stuff but the ole knockometer and die grinder will take care of that as well.
Pro-Comp tires work great too... no more hard throttle over obstacles... just a touch more on the skinny pedal and up she goes.
Because of 2.5" of coil spacer in the front... when at full droop in front the cv's make a bit of noise. I was expecting this and will have to get some spares soon enough for those days when... ya they will break there is no denying it.
Other than a few small details and bugs to get out I am very happy with the way things went in the lift. I like the way it drives and behaves on and off-road.
I won't be doing much more with the IFS other than repairs and shit when it breaks so from here on out it will be facts, figuring and collecting parts for Toy SAS.
Heres a few pics...
[image]

Kelly

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

whateverworks
Moderator

member is online

[avatar]

WorkinOnIt

Joined: May 2006
Gender: Male

Posts: 517

Re: My 'Kick Stuff
« Reply #10 on Feb 5, 2007, 10:38am »

So a week or so ago I got rid of the rear coil spacers and put Cherokee (XJ) coils in the rear. This gave me 1" more frame clearance in the rear and a ton of flex. I tried this out with the lift truck at work and can now stuff a tire in the wheel well without scrubbing body panels. The coils no longer pop out of the pockets even at full flex... This is good as the springs will keep the tires in traction. I have a pic to add but it's kinda dark. It will give the general idea of the amount of flex I got from the XJ coils. Ride is a little softer than the combined Chevette coils and spacers wich is good on the highway. I still have to try these off-road as it's been pretty fawkin cold out as of late. I will try em out next Sunday.
Here is the pic...

[image]

Kelly

« Last Edit: Feb 5, 2007, 10:39am by whateverworks »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free

This Board Hosted For FREE By ProBoards
Get Your Own Free Message Boards & Free Forums!
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Report Abuse | Mobile