Hi. Thinking about lifting my 86 Samurai tin top. Looking at the calimini bolt ons. You see, where I live Ttey are into jeeps chevys etc. So I can't see having a weld on kit. I don't have the welding skills, so I think I better get a bolt on.

1. Would I have to worry about it all rattling off?
2. I see Calimini has a few different lifts available but which one?
3. Are there better or more affordable options?
4. Since I don't want to end up with too much of a money pit, What other parts would I need as far as z links, drop arms, etc. to make sure I can still go down the highway?
5. I assume I would have to get longer shocks, so which ones?
6. Would this necessitate the addition of power steering? ( I have a.c. but it needs a charge- I suppose I could remove it since all the apparatus makes it hard to work on the engine anyways)
7. Oh-oh, what's the biggest tire I could run before I was forced to swap to a lower geared transfer case? Maybe the lift would allow for a bigger tire later but still look o.k. with a smaller one?

I want to get all the parts together first so I don't go driving around with too short of shocks, bump steer, and way too small of tires for the lift. I don't think I want to go with too tall a lift, but I wonder if the shortest lift is enough. I don't want to go for the trash your rig rock crawl, but I would like to be able to go up a trail, and maybe over a small tree or rock without getting stopped cold. Ideally I would find a trashed donor vehicle with all the parts already to swap, but thats too much of a long shot.

As you can see, I am worried about getting in over my head and ending up with a money pit. I just want something that I won't lose my butt on too much but still have a nice rig.

Any suggestions or recommendations appreciated.

-Adam

It doesn't have . 
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I don't think you need to worry about it rattling off.  If you are worried you can just use Locktight on all of the bolts and double check them now and then.

In order to go more 'affordable' your best bet would be to find a friend who can weld.  The most affordable purchased lift is probably the Sky Stage 2 Spring Over Axel kit. Linkatude.

I think the best question before moving forward on your lift is to figure out what you actually want your vehicle to do.  Depending on your application you might be better off spending a couple hundred dollars on some lockers front and rear and getting some 29" mud tires and some slightly longer shackles.  You might want to get a pair of Lock Right lockers anyway, as they will probably take you further then any lift will.

I am a big fan of the SOA with the High Steer setup that Sky sells.  I actually ran my stock shocks for quite a while with a SOA setup, you just flip your spring pads when you do the lift and your stock shocks will bolt right on.  I still run stock shocks in the rear and it doesn't seem to affect where I can go.

As for changing your gears, Trail Tough has a special on their 6.4:1 gears currently for a good deal.  With those you should be able to run 31' to 33' tires without a problem.  I had to switch to heavier front axles with the 33' tires as I twisted the splines, but I blame the Detroit Ez-Lock partially for that.  If you stay with 31' tires you should be fine.

Do a search on the sight and you can read what people have done.  Everything from SOA to Coils to YJ Spring Conversions have been discussed on here.  Have fun.

It looks likes the only welding necessary would be on the pads. If I took the whole front and rear  drive trains to a shop, how much could I expect to pay to have those pads welded on? Also, Is it pretty obvious where to weld them? I assume they need to go in just the right spot or you end up with a bad fit and extra wear on the tires.

-Adam

I don't think I want to go with too tall a lift, but I wonder if the shortest lift is enough. I don't want to go for the trash your rig rock crawl, but I would like to be able to go up a trail, and maybe over a small tree or rock without getting stopped cold.

If you're not rock crawling, then your biggest problem is going to be loosing traction. To combat this, get a $200 lockright locker in the rear, and a $100 spool in the front. This $300 will do more to get you through the trails than ANY mild lift.

The next "phase" I'd get the 2" shackle reversal lift from Calmini ($300). And agressive 29 or 30" Mud Terrain aka M/T tires. If you want to get bigger tires, just get a bigger bolt on system from Calmini / Rockey Road / whoever and get bigger tires.

I'm 100% stock - no lockers, passenger tires - and I go all kinds of fun places on the trails with no problems:

Nice rig. I just like the looks of the lifts. If it's going to be a toy, I want it to look like a toy. I like the looks of a tintop lifted anyways. As far as the spool in the front, I don't know much about those or the lockrites. I thought it would be nice to have the arbs on both but I'm sure everyone would. Ha Ha! What does the spool in the front do, and is the lockrite more of a posi trac or limited slip or neither?

I like the clearance so I won't damage things by dragging across them. As far as the lockers, about a month or so ago, I was pulling my wu-tang trailer from harbor freight full of a dismantled 10 x 14 deck. The weight of the trailer and load was around 1700 pounds. Ground was damp under the 1 foot of leaves, and I ended up having to use a come-along to pull myself out of the hole that the trailer sunk into. I know it was wet, and a little bit of a hill, but I bet if I was locked, I could have pulled it all out no problem.

As far as the shackle reversal kit, I don't know how those work. I envision a friend of mines 73 ventura  with extended shackles and thought it looked cheap. Maybe the kit you're talking about is different.  Do they look good or jury-rigged. Do you lose stability?

I may need some sort of recipe for this so I don't keep opening cans of worms!

-Adam

As far as the spool in the front, I don't know much about those or the lockrites. What does the spool in the front do, and is the lockrite more of a posi trac or limited slip or neither?

This topic has been covered many times, so do a search for a more therough answer, but there goes....
Good: Spools, or welded gears (aka lincoln locker, welded diff etc)
A spool is true posi trac. The right and left wheels spin at the same rate. This is EXELLENT for trails, but can cause problems on the street. The tires "fight" each other in a turn (since the inside tire is turning less quickly than the outside tire) - the thing that ends up relieving this pressure is your tires... which eats them up faster. You'll also have to SLOW DOWN in wet / icy road conditions... or you'll spin out. Spools are available for $100. Welded diffs are free... provided you know someone with a welder. It does the same thing as a spool.

Better: Lockrites, or EZ Lockers. Stay away from EZ Locker brand. I've never heard of a Lockrite failing (and they cost the same, so it's a no-brainer). These are mechanical limited slips. During normal driving, they should allow your wheels to do what they need to do, and save your tires. There will be lots of clicking and poping sounds in turns - you'll get used to it. You'll need to slow down in wet / icy road conditions or you'll spin out. $200.

Limited slips are out there, but stay away from them as they'll just burn out with trail use.

Best: ARB or Electronic lockers. These are "selectable" lockers. They're open diffs for daily driving, and you flip a switch to lock them for the trail (or to get your trailer out of the mud). These are the premium way to go, but they're also $1000.... to me they aren't worth 5 to 10x the cost of a spool or mechanical locker. I can think of a lot of cool things that extra $800 (per diff) can get me. I'd go with the electronic locker (personal pref) because the people selling them right now are also including some really strong axle shafts (manufacturer is claiming they're bulletproof).


I suggested spool in front 'cause you'll only have the front locked when you need it, so $100 and you're done. I think a lockrite in the back 'cause it'll save your tires for when you're on the street.

Some people will suggest different configurations. Each one has their pro's / con's.

I ended up having to use a come-along to pull myself out of the hole that the trailer sunk into. I know it was wet, and a little bit of a hill, but I bet if I was locked, I could have pulled it all out no problem.

That, and tires. Street tires don't get much grip off-pavement.

As far as the shackle reversal kit, I don't know how those work.

Again - search, or check calmini's web site.

I envision a friend of mines 73 ventura  with extended shackles and thought it looked cheap.

Extended shackles are cheap, but I won't even consider them an option. They suck... really bad. I'd look into (in order of lightest cost / lift): Shackle reversal, Rears Up front, YJ SPUA, YJ SPOA. Each step up is a step up in cost and difficulty. If you have tools, and are willing to wrench the shackle reversal from calmini is easy to bolt on, a complete kit, cheap and will improve your ride quality while providing you with 2" of lift.

Be warned now that MOST kits out there (other than Calmini) are not truely "complete". Once you start going SPOA, MOST kits are missing SOMETHING (extended break lines, extended shocks, driveline spacers, new upper and lower shock mounts, steering correction.... the list goes on....). Calmini is not the "best", but they're good kits, and almost always complete solutions, and they offer more bolt-on solutions than most. I wish more manufacturers would follow suit. If you're a novice, and not going to do super-extreme rock crawling, Calmini is the only way to fly (for that matter, I know several people who have calmini's BIG lift kit, and they go to the Rubicon regularly).

Maybe the kit you're talking about is different.  Do they look good or jury-rigged. Do you lose stability?

I didn't suggest a shackle extension, I suggested a shackle reversal. Again - see calmini's site for explination on why this is so important for ride quality. As far as looks, that's always a personal pref thing.

I may need some sort of recipe for this so I don't keep opening cans of worms!

I understand that in the begining it's hard, as you're not really sure what you're looking for. But, if you check out the FAQ's, and do searches on "lift kits" and such - you'll glean a lot of information. Believe it or not, you're not the first person to ask about lift kits 


-Jeremiah

Thanks for the info. I'll search some more. I think I better go a.r.b. because I know how I drive and I think if I work some overtime and save up, and close my eyes when I'm paying the bill I think I'll be O.K. If one of my two counterparts where I work gets fired pretty soon ( and I think he will), then I'll have to work probably 20- 32 hours a week of overtime Then I deserve to put some cash into my sammy!

 I'm weary of locking the front because I know how hard it would be to steer. I would have a crappy turning circle too.  Maybe it would be hard to steer with the a.r.b. locked in up front too. I guess I better check and see if there is anything to be gained by an a.r.b up front. I'm sure other people have their own preference on what to do up front.

I'll search some more.

-Adam

go with arbs . they run between 600 to 700. plus air comp.  then you can air up anytime you want. add power steering.  switch on locked switch off open or unlocked.  well worth the money.  cheaper is not always better. i'm running the shackle reverse from calmini. i like it. bolts right on . 5" of lift. i like there products. they've always treated me real good.

It's only money! 
The only problem I could see with the spool and the e-z locker is this set-up seems more geared to off roading. If I was going to strictly off-road, I would want to go pretty cheap for something I was going to trash but since I don't plan on trashing this,  I may just want the convenience of the switch so I can flip it when I need it.

I gather that there is an a.r.b that runs off air, and one that runs off electric? I do believe in paying a little more and getting alot more. Like I said, I know how I drive, and I don't like to slow down too much in the snow( but I guess I better so I don't have another high speed flip and roll) Not too funny actually. Anyways, I was kind of leaning towards the arbs. Just not sure whether to go with the air or electric. I suppose it would come down to cost. I always thought that the air type was around 1000 per axle (complete kit with compressor?) and the electric costing a little more.

What's the best source for either one and what kind of cash would one have to come up with? I never heard of an arb costing as little as $700 but I'm game if there is one.

-Adam

The air lockers are going to cost you around 800 new, but sometimes you can find them cheaper.  I would call Hawk Suzuki at http://www.hawksuzukiparts.com/ for just about everything.  They have great customer service. (This view may be influenced by the fact that they managed to get a front differential shipped with 30 minutes to the deadline so I can have my front diff fixed for a trip to Johnson Valley next week.  )

You can't really get the E-Lockers for the Samurai.  There was one just released for the rear but I don't have a link to it right now. 

When you do a search for the Lockrights you can find people talking about their on-road handling, but like Daddyizzle said you can easily adapt to it.  I have a spool in the back of my SJ and it likes to push in corners, but with the ARB unlocked it turns no problem.  The two Samurai's I run with have the Lock right front and rear and don't have any turning issues.

hawk doesn't sell arbs i don't think. i paid 698 for mine brand new in the box.  allready had the air comp.  just added the tank (70.00)  and pressure switchwith gauge. rocky road has them for that price now. just gotta check around. set mine up myself. took my time wasn't hard to do. sure is nice to flip a switch and there locked. I drive mine everywhere and it handles just like stock rearend.wish i had done it years ago.

Go with the e-locker. It's about the same price as ARB (after you buy the air compressor), but it comes with beefed up axles of goodness. And, it's hard to repair a leaky hose on the trail (should the air line get nicked) but, it's easy to cut & splice an electric line that got nicked.

If you can afford it, everyone I know with a selectable locker has said, "It's worth the money"

I knew the E-Locker was on IZook somewhere, but I couldn't find it on a brief look at the site.

No idea if Hawk sells ARB's or not, but they have a picture on the front of the page, so I figured they might.  I try to steer as much business over to them as possible in thanks for their help. 

Since I only run the ARB on the front end I really don't need to worry about a leaking hose.  I only have the one 3 foot section and that's about it.    I have to agree about not going back to a selectable locker though, not for a Daily Driver at least.  Maybe if I had power steering...