how high can I lift before I have to start changing more stuff? could I go SOA without having to start messing with other stuff? thanks

On a what???

I'm going to guess you have a Samurai since you brought up "SOA" as in spring over axle if so though most of us use SPOA (SPring Over Axle), when doing SPOA on a Samurai you will need to correct your steering and put on longer brake lines at the least, it would also be wise to either get longer drive lines or get extensions for them. If you don't want to do any of that you might want to consider going with 1" longer spring shackles or 1.5" lifted springs which you can do with the springs under the axle.


Let us know what you have whenever asking questions here though so we can try to help you better.

sorry about that. its a samurai. ive already thrown on the calmini lift shackles, boomerang on rear and two inch on front. which really is about an inch and a quarter. i was thinking the three inch lift also from calmini but would rather go higher. im guessing that the three inch lift is prolly about the limit though before modding more stuff, right? i keep telling him that you have to "pay to play" when off-roading but he doesnt get it i guess.

heres one for you. the guy whos zuk this is wants to put on even longer shackles to get more lfit. im thinking thats not a good idea in any way shape or form. so do you have any strong points on why going with a long ass shackle isnt good?

thanks 

When you put to tall of shackles on the rig it throws off the suspension geometry.  It will also cause a lot of bump steer and make it dangerous to drive on the road.

The best bang for your buck for straight lift, in my opinion, is the Stage 2 lift from Sky Manufacturing.  Mainly because I really like the wrap around spring pads.  Having peeled a set of pads off of an axle due to spring wrap I recommend spending a bit extra and getting the pads.  And they are easier to install.  It also comes with longer break lines and OTT steering setup.

You can do a complete SPOA for around 50 dollars if you have access to a good shop and fabrication skills.  It just takes a bit more time.  There is a good thread on doing just that over at http://zukiworld.com/forum/general-suzuki-forum/basic-spoa-on-a-lwb-sj-413-using-stock-parts/