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Lifting a Suzuki

Discussion in 'Suzuki Carry' started by JRinTX, Jun 1, 2007.

  1. WestEndAngler

    WestEndAngler Member

    Has anyone done a solid axle swap for the front end and just said screw the IFS?
     
  2. greg0187

    greg0187 Moderator Staff Member

    I did quite a bit of research on this many moons ago and couldn't find anything close that would match the mini's gear ratio. Thats pretty much what lead me to change the entire drivetrain in mine.
     
  3. toothandnail

    toothandnail New Member

    I think a front end out of a Samuri would be very close, my son sold the axels from his, but just looking at the rear axel, they looked identical. the Sammi may be wider.
     
  4. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    I thought about that. We actually have a pile of pucks. But they break easily when cold. Ive had a couple rigs with the puck body lift hahaha. I think above zero they would work fine. 20 below or colder.........I worry....... Ok dang it!!! I'm going to drill some holes in a puck........hahahaa
     
  5. spaner

    spaner Well-Known Member

    Dude, in the 70's, this is what was used for the first gen CV's.
    Google "triumph GT6 rotoflex"; you can still get these, and is a simple solution for guys trying to solve the front CV angle-VS lift when going crazy angle in the front.
    Short shaft, > 20 degrees.

    For the Sammy, solid-front-axle guys.
    Get a front, then you have to do the back. Might just as well get the tranny and transfer case. Wait a tic, the SJ came with all of that, and had the F10, which can be built up to about 200 hp easily.
    I think I posted a link to a full unit for sale, for $500 bucks...:p
    Still waiting to see someone pull-the-trigger on that one...:pop:

    Just a little easier than greg's completed monster. (locking front hubs too) for the FULL 4WD LOCK-UP.

    The puck,
    Make sure that the holes are just a few thou smaller than your new grade 8 bolts. Spin them in with an impact.
    Really cold, below -30c, you might have a problem, but I seriously doubt it.

    :cool:
     
  6. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    Right on!! Thanx!! Of all the hockey pucks we have here....... I can't find ONE that isnt signed.......go figure huh. Their all over and in the way when I dont need one......Hahahaha I'm looking for an sj to rob the engine out of. Soon as I find one local it'll be on!!! Hahaha
     
  7. MinitruckAZ

    MinitruckAZ New Member

    Hi all,

    I have read the entire thread looking for help and don't see an easy answer. I bought a 2" lift for my 1997 Suzuki Carry after seeing the problems with all the >2" lifts on this thread. Its supposed to be a 2" OEM lift with offset in the bolt pattern to compensate for camber, so that its a bolt on job with no adjustment required. When I put the lift on, no matter what direction, it changed the camber and toed out the tires really bad, which I can't figure out why.

    So my question is, what direction does the offset face on the lift part itself - the front of the truck, the street side, or the rear/opposite side of the truck? Pic attached with the way I thought it made the most sense (offset facing street side), and still causes camber and toe issues. (The toe I can deal with via alignment, but wondering if I screwed something up on the camber since it wasn't supposed to be a problem with 2" lifts or smaller.)
     

    Attached Files:

  8. greg0187

    greg0187 Moderator Staff Member

    I believe you want the offset to the inside.(top of the strut inward to compensate for the lower control arm being inward from angle).

    also take note of the piece if it's upside downand left/right side dependent.
     
  9. Puran Thakur

    Puran Thakur Guest

    There are several reasons why people might customize their vehicles with suspension lift kits, as well as quite a bit to know before you get started. And Give us details about the problems Lifting a Suzuki ?
     
  10. MinitruckAZ

    MinitruckAZ New Member

    Part 2 - i have attached the pics of the lift with the inside top of the shock and the lift kit. Maybe my ignorance is showing, but it seems like the lift should be pushing the shock out (second pic) and not in (first pic), but the shock has to fit inside the lift spacer. When I install it like pics 1 and 3, the camber and toe out is so horrible it has to be wrong, where they are fine pre-lift. Both lift spacers are identical; no left or right markings on them. 2015-08-11 21.59.36.jpg 2015-08-11 22.00.01.jpg 2015-08-11 22.00.17.jpg 2015-08-11 21.59.36.jpg 2015-08-11 22.00.01.jpg 2015-08-11 22.00.17.jpg
     
  11. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    I have 7 inches of lift on my 94 carry. All stock components.

    The short side of the spacer should be facing away from the street, in twords the body. Since you having issues.......... Have you changed the springs? Added heavier ones? That can add 4 inches of lift if you got Super heavy ones........... What I ended up doing was put the truck back to stock. Measure EVERYTHING. Height everywhere. Then put my new springs back on and the spacers on top of the strut. That gave me the new measurements............ And showed me where I had to drop other things.
     
  12. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    You might also try switching the side you try the spacer on.......... Some manufacturers make a LEFT spacer and a RIGHT side spacer. Hopefully that's the case
     
  13. MinitruckAZ

    MinitruckAZ New Member

    Tried that, the parts are identical. I haven't touched the springs - they look stock. Never had anything heavy on the front (no snow plows or anything like that) so I would be surprised if they weren't stock springs. They sure look stock.

    Update #3. I figured I am just an idiot, so I put the lift back on the front. Starting with the driver side tire, I kept the steering wheel straight and put the lift on and the tire back on. The tire toes out (probably fixable via alignment) but the camber gets thrown off. See the first pic where the bubble at the bottom of the level is all the way to the right, showing how crooked the wheel now is. I repeated the same process on the passenger side, except now the toe out is horrible and the camber off even more, see pic #2. Pic #3 is the drivers side tire at the same time of pic #2 - both are toe out significantly and the camber is significantly off for both. I only bought the 2" lift so I would avoid this type of problem, and everything I read said easy swap in, maybe slight toe -in problem. Ha ha. I would just leave the lift on the back tires and screw the front, except that the tires rub when I turn tightly, which was the reason for the lift in the first place.

    What am I missing or just not getting?

    2015-08-18 22.09.34.jpg 2015-08-18 22.37.20.jpg 2015-08-18 22.37.31.jpg
     
  14. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    That's crazy. I put 4 inch spacers and 275 pound springs on our 94 carry........ Springs and spacers gave 7 3/4" lift in front. The bumper/skid plate/plow mount/receiver built out of 3/8 and 1/4 plate dropped the front end Dow to a solid 7 inches of lift.......... I also had to block the entire front end down......... But...... My wheels stayed straight, level and true.


    Are your spacers taller on one side, when set on a table the top leans?
     
  15. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    Short side goes tword the truck, flat on bottom, angled end on top
     
  16. muddy moose

    muddy moose Member

    If they are mounted upsidedown they could do what your talking about
     
  17. LiftedSuzuki

    LiftedSuzuki Guest

    Ok, I have lifted a carry dd51t about 10/11 inches. Putting 30 inch tires, an could run 31s no problem, an with a little adjustment 33 inch tires. Went up to about 30mph I'm second gear with engine maybe half throttle. I still have a little work to do before it's perfected. It already drives great. I have pictures posted from a few weeks ago. I think I have a pretty god concept of getting our carrys way off the ground. Similarly to muddy moose, I started out going to block everything down, but to go as higher, the crossmembers where getting in the way, especially for the one with the engine mounts, front drive shaft wouldn't work with it in, so I removed it, the front one and the transmission one, I lowered the engine slightly, tilted it down so the rear end could be dropped even more, which worked great, I did lengthen my rear drive shaft about three inches, tilted rear end up, and shifted it to the rear about a inch an a half, an put the leaf springs on top of rear axle. rebuilt the whole front suspension setup where it's like a sub frame that bolts up where everything else bolts up, and also the engine mounts on it as well. Lots of modifications but nothing permanent to the truck, to be continued
     
  18. Fierce

    Fierce New Member

    I have a total of 7.5 inches of lift with lift and tires, everything is correct, camber, toe along with both front and rear pinion angles. Goes down the road great, 55mph hands off the wheel stays going straight as an arrow. I don't think I've done anything new here by any means but I have 27s on it with no issues all parts fabbed up by me and all work done in one long day with my 14 year old son.

    Best part is it will roll 55 w no issue at all and the RPMS are in check now. Drives way way better. Had it to 65mph today no issue other than me not being 100% comfortable with it lol.

    Rear axle spring swap, 2.5 strut spacers, 250 lb American made springs, modified cross member to clear front shaft, lowered front diff cross member 3 inches and adjustable front diff mounts for pinion angle adjustability in case I decide to go higher. Fenders are massaged. Tires are 27x8.5xR14 on 14x7 beadlocks with 4+3 off set NOT 5+2, 5+2 would have caused all sorts of issues no doubt. IMG_5516.JPG
     
  19. Rondogg

    Rondogg New Member

    Fierce, do you have any pics of the under body? (Spacers, springs, lift, etc.)?
     
  20. Petrich

    Petrich New Member

    Yes I am in the process of doing one myself and I'm almost done I took the axles, springs and transfer case off of a Suzuki Jiminy
     

    Attached Files:

    Wheelie likes this.
  21. KCCats

    KCCats Active Member

    I am about to start my lift!
    Does anyone have any warnings?
    I like the allum spacer on the drive shaft.
    I also like the droping the front dif and steering pivot the same amount!
    I am planning on adding a 2' X 4' of 1/2" plate steel to the underside of the cab all the way out to under the plastic bumper!
    My wife had a bad accident last Jan and I would be afraid of hitting a Deer at 60mph and surviving!
     
  22. fmartin_gila

    fmartin_gila Well-Known Member

    You asked for any warnings, so I will submit this:

    Do you realize that a 2' X4' of 1/2 plate is somewhat over 600 Lbs of added wt on the front end? Being on a flat plane if under the floorboard it will become a knife edge to anything you hit with any amount of speed. My 2nd Wife was killed instantly when a horse ran out in the road back in 1987. The impact broke all 4 legs but the entire body was high enough that it came over the hood and crushed the whole top of the car down on her and crushed her skull bad enough that she was unrecognizable & I had to have her Cremated. Sorry to be a bit graphic about it but it is fact. The deer you are thinking of is not nearly as heavy but still the major weight(body) is elevated enough that a plate under the floor will not do you any good as a crush zone for a collision and it will more than likely wind up coming through the windshield anyway.

    Just something for you to consider & think about.

    Fred
     
  23. KCCats

    KCCats Active Member

    Sorry to hear Fred!
    But what I want is something substantial to bolt the front brush guard too!
    The one I have on it now is the very minimum!
    I went as light as possible! Assuming this was just a UTV! I was wrong, it is really a truck!
    I am still thinking of switching the steering wheel over too?
     
  24. KCCats

    KCCats Active Member

    OK here is my next step in my lift?
    If I just put the rear end on top of the leaf springs and add a leaf while Im at it, the rear drive shaft is now an inch too short!
    I Plan on making 2 x 4 square 1/4" stock into spacers. I was just going to get 2" longer bolts, but what if I bolt the spacer in the stock location and then add a welded in bolt BACK an inch to move everything to the rear! This would include the mount for the front suspension and the upper dif mount!
    I plan on a large 1/2" plate steel across under the cab floor, so moving the front radius arms down and back no big deal!
    I would gain an inch more clearance on the bottom of the front doors?

    What would be the worst that will happen? I have to make the shift cables longer?
    I may have to do something like that anyway if I move the steering wheel?
     
  25. Wheelie

    Wheelie Member

    Just did my 2" eBay lift. Had to reset the toe but camber and caster seem the same. Definitely can't go higher without dropping cradle and diffs due to driveline and CV angles being near maxed. Add my 24" tires and that will give me 4" total lift. I noticed that the eBay lift doesn't raise the rear as high as the front but oh well.
     
  26. mtnxtreme

    mtnxtreme Member


    91 Suzuki Carry it's the same truck I have and the same size tire I'm trying to put on, you mentioned 2.5" front spacers and a 250 # spring, how about 300# would that help ? Also, what add a leaf did you buy ? And shackles ? The wheels I have are 14x6 +38 offset with a 5 backspace, you mentioned 5+2 being no good, is that what these are ? And what issues would they cause ? Appreciate any insite you can give me !
     
  27. KCCats

    KCCats Active Member

    I haven't measured any of my rims, but they are all stock from a Swift and a Nissan Sentra!
    Im still up in the air about what springs?
    I think I may go 300#?
     
  28. mtnxtreme

    mtnxtreme Member

    I talked to a guy today, he mentioned 250 and 300 will give you the same amount of lift, just a stiffer ride on the 300. He also said these trucks came with 2 different length shocks ? 12" and 10" so you need to measure before you order, and he recomended a combination of shackles and blocks in the rear. But he says that will only fit 25's. I wish I knew exactly what fierce used to get the 27's under there ?
     
  29. KCCats

    KCCats Active Member

    Those are 25's under my truck in my avatar pic!
     
  30. mtnxtreme

    mtnxtreme Member


    Do you think you could squeeze 27's under your setup ?
     

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