is anyone using the 6" or 8" lift kits offered by www.extreme-machines.net ? what are the pros and cons? any problems?
Welcome to the forums. If you do a search on "extreme" you'll find quite a few interesting threads. lookie here
wow. looks like these things are a good idea with poor quality and craftsmanship. Is there anyone here who has successfully installed and currently using these lifts? I was thinking about one of these lifts but I would hate to pay $350 for simply a steel pattern to fab my own with. Do they have patents on this? If not I could easily make drawings and fab up some quality products.
Lift Problems I don't currently own a Kei, but will soon. I have learned a lot from everyone on this site and appreciate the work done to put it all together. My question is about what is safe for lifting these trucks? I see two and three inch lifts on a lot of trucks. I also hear of problems with camber and u-joints etc. What's the deal on lifts and when can you run into problems? Any help will be appreciated.
We only lift our trucks 2 to 3 inches and have to realign the front end is all. I don't think I would go any higher than a 3 inch lift if it were me.If you are lifting them higher then all you will do is cause more drive train problems.
I actually bought one of the "Extreme Machines" lift kits. Don't waste your money! They are absolute garbage. Get this . . . I contacted them about returning the kit and they wanted to charge me a 25% restocking fee ($87.50) plus shipping to return their junk kit! I fabbed up my own 4" lift. It could easily be converted to 6" or more by increasing the height of each of the spacers accordingly. Here is a partial message I sent to another guy who was asking about my truck . . . "As far as the lift goes, the back end was fairly straight forward: 1 - Flipped the axle to the bottom side of the leaf springs. (You can find new spring perches at your local Tractor Supply store) 2 - Swaped sides on the spring clamp plates so that the stock shocks will work. 3 - Measured both sides to make sure that the axle is centered on the truck, set the differential angle, clamped down the U bolts, then welded the spring perches to the axle tubes. (Read up on driveshaft/differential geomtry before welding the perches) 4 - Cut and re-welded the emergency brake brackets on the crossmember to allow enough slack for the new axle location. 5 - Replaceed the 10" brake hose from the frame to the rear axle with a 13" long one. On the front end, 1 - I made my own 4" strut spacers with built-in camber adjustability. 2 - Lowered the crossmember that mounts the front differential 3". 3 - Made a bracket to lower the front radius rod mounts 3" to match the differential drop. 4 - Lowered the motor mount crossmember 2" to clear the front driveshaft. (this also included making spacer blocks to keep the motor in the same position as stock). 5 - Measured and set the toe-in and camber, then headed for the nearest mud hole! I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I've heard too many stories of guys blowing the CV joints in their front axles (particularly the left side) by just stuffing 3" spacers on top of the struts and leaving it at that. My front suspension geometry has only been lifted 1" from stock and I won't have to worry about ruining axles. The truck drives exactly as it did before the lift as far as steering and ride are concerned. It wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth it. Hope that helps, Bill" It sounds a bit involved, but it's really the only way to get any kind of life out of the front-end. I'm considering putting this set-up together in a kit and selling them, but I want to put it through it's paces for a while first. So far, so good! Later, Swoop
thanks swoop. you gave me exactly what i was looking for. if you can just give me a sketch of what you have i can get cad drawings made and give you a free copy. you have done the work and described exactly what i was after.
deepstep, I've already got a set of CAD drawings on Solidworks. I'm in the process of getting quotes on fabbing the parts in quantities. I'll post an update when I'm ready to go with it.
i was reading and it says you have to realign the front end for a 3 inch lift. i want to purchase a lift but know since you have to align them/because i have no clue on how to do that . is it easy thanks
Swoop, I have a 92 Suzuki and have built almost the exact same lift kit for mine! I built 4" spacers for the struts, with camber adjustment. I dropped the front diff by 3" to maintain the geometry. I have built new radius rods with 4" of offset that bolt to original mounts. And I cut my motor mount crossmember and welded in a u-shaped piece of tubing that allows my front driveshaft to pass below the crossmember. I did a spring-over in the rear and made the same mods you did to the emergency brake cable mounts and swapped sides with the springs plates in order to use stock shocks. Mine works like a champ. I am running 23" tires with plenty of clearance. I think 25" tires would be no problem. You would not want much taller tires anyway, or else the clutch will rapidly fail! This is the only way to lift a truck correctly. If you get much more than a 1-2" difference in the offset of the hubs to the front diff, the CV joints are working in too great an angle. They are not designed to be at much more than a 15 deg angle max. A 95 Suzuki is a little different under the front, but not much. For instance, the steering linkage on a 95 is connected to the front crossmember that mounts the differential. On a 92, it is monted to a frame member. My tie-rods are at a little greater angle than I like. I am considering flipping the tie-rod end on the back of the hub. I will have to drill the mounting hole oversize, then make a bushing with a tapered ID. As you can tell, I love sharing ideas and information on lifting these trucks. I think that as people gain experience with lifting these trucks, we will see clever and reliable approaches that don't cause the problems that the current designs have. I have made several extra pieces during the course of my research and design phase. I have also made AutoCad drawings of most of the pieces and have pictures. I will be glad to help anyone if I can.
Hey Swoop Do you still have the Extreme Machines lift kit? It looks like to me it is a body lift more than enything???
There is not a noticable bump steer. But, the rack and pinion steering unit will dampen most of that. Usually bump steer comes from excessive offset in the wheels. I have used 12 x 7 wheels with 2" offset on the inboard side (5" to the outside) and there was noticable bump steer.
don't get quotes. send me the drawings and i will give you the first set free. i have a full time fab shop at my hands here. access to laser machine also. i can have all pcs. laser cut / punched and i am a mig welder. call me 770-617-5214
Jrintx, would you mind sharing your cad drawings with me? I would like to build a lift for my truck. I can also quote you on the kits if you would like for me to fab more of them for you to sell. All components would either be laser cut and mig welded. I do not have a good source for powder coating but that would be the best. Thanks, Sam
I'm interested in building my own lift kit as well. The rear end is easy to do, but the front is hard. Could you fellows who successfully built your own lift kits attach some photos of your end products. I don't want your cad drawings, just some photos to give me an idea of a way to build my own.
I intend to post pictures and drawings of the lift kit I have built for my 92 Suzuki. I will be glad to share the drawings and any other info I have learned from my research and design project. I seem to have very little spare time right now, but I will make an extra effort to get that info together soon.
This sounds good.. I have an extra mini truck in my yard I was going to cut the front end off and make a trailer. Maybe a 4wd swap and lift would be a good idea. Keep us posted!
well i am giving up on these forums. i have sent pm's to those who have fabbed their own with no response. off to fab my own
And some have not typed in the their email address correctly. I've been trying to get a hold of some of the people here and the email bounces. Like Acerguy said, don't give up now. Its the holidays and people are more out an about.
6 inch lift for Suzuki Hey JRinTX I would like to see pics and cads of your design for lifting a Suzuki Carry. I have a 1990 i want to lift but cannot find anything that works, I am hesitant to purchase the Extreme kit as there is all this negative feedback about it Also on a side note I have started a club on facebook for mini truck owners and those who are just interested the network is Mini Truck Club of Canada - MiniBrutes you are all welcome to join, thanks
built my own body lift Hey all New to this site glad i found it !! Just bought my first mini truck yesterday and started mods today lol . I worked out a body lift today. I haven't completed it yet but it is turning out really cool and pretty easy. It is a 3" lift in the back and a 4 1/2" lift in front. I built spacers/extensions for struts, front diff, engine, tran, ect. same as some of you were describing. On the back I took the factory hangers cut them in half and welded 5" extensions on them which gave me 3" lift in the back by cutting them at a slight angle and welding them back on a diagonal piece of metal I got a slight s curve pointing towards the back the truck feels like its going to ride smoother than stock. The rear shocks still fit but I don't have a lot of travel so I might be in the market for some new shocks soon. The front body lift blocks that bolt in above the front diff are 4 1/2 and as you go back they get smaller. I didnt have to modify the rear axle at all and the drivelines look exactly like they did with the stock set up the only differance is the rear diff is at a slightly steeper angle than stock like maybe 8-10 degrees at most. The rear brake lines have plenty of play but I will have to purchase longer ones for the front. The only problem I have run into so far and havent been able to figure out is the shifter cables are too short to compensate for the 4+" or so of lift at the cab. Anyone have a suggestion for fixing this I would be glad to hear it. The other thing I would like to do is a gear ration reduction to increase torque but haven't found any aftermarket diff parts. Anyone else seen anything like that ? I will be able to run 25" maybe 27" tires on it but won't know till it is closer to finished. The best thing I see about lifting it this way is im not raising the center of gravity all the drivetrain is still in the same place as it is in a stock truck. The taller tires will effect it some but other than that I think it will be pretty stable. Any comments or advice is welcome, will keep you updated on the build. Here is a minor problem that will twist your brain. One last thing I have been trying to figure out how much changing from stock 21" tires to 25 or 27 inch will effect the speedometer reading. 1 kilo = .62 miles. Anyone have the knowledge to figure out 1 kilo = ??miles after the mods. chuckle
Answer: stock tire is 145/80/12 ---->> Overall Wheel diameter in Inches is 21.134" your proposed tire size of 27" will result in the speedo reading 51.2 when you are actually going 65mph or when the speedo reads 65mph you will actually be going 82.6 mph. For good tire calculator see here --->>> euroshina.com.ua/calc.php?lng=en Good Luck with your project
When you figure out the formula let us know how it goes splaining it to the cops... "You see Officer me speedometer is in k's and normally I have 145R12's but now with the 27 inch Super Swampers I calculated my speed by timsing the acutual speed in K's by .62 then dividing by the width of the tire but only after adding 3 because these are actaully 28's but the tire salesman gave me deal cause they were misprints that read 27....."
....I have a feeling they will be explaining a WHOLE lot more than the speedo/tire calc . Although, I did see a blue mini getting on the interstate down in Alabama recently... , looked like they were using it for a follow vehicle for a big truck w/wide load. Small towns get away with soooo much. Jeff-
Don-in-Japan A better project for your 'surplus' truck in my mind would be to separate the cab, and use it to create a crew-cab with suicide doors, and rear-facing back seats. As for the remaining frame and box, use that to extend the rear frame and make an ultra long- box out of it. That would be SA-WEET!!!! The 4x4 conversion could be added in too for more coolness!! On the other hand it it was left as a 2wd, you could SLAM the suspension!! (Unless that's too GHETTO for Japan.)
