Finished installing the lift Monday night, got the tires and alignment yesterday and finally got home early to take some pics during the day.

and some more

Looking awesome maplebar

Any details on the lift .  I wouldn't mind attacking my GV sometime soon

Still not sure of which way to head

ZeusZuki

Did you have as much fun as I did with your install. Had a seized upper strut mount on drivers side(destroyed it getting it off - $53 at the dealer later, all of the lower strut bolts seized,broke off all four and  had to sawzall the rear shocks out. If it wasn't for that crap, could have done the whole shooting match in about 4 hours. No problems with the actual parts to install.
Your rig looks good, those tires look aggressive, how come you didn't go slightly bigger?

so is that a 2" lift?

how much did EVERYTHING run you?

(with alignment and all)
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Any details on the lift .  I wouldn't mind attacking my GV sometime soon

It's JDMCRX's 2" lift kit except I used the BDS Strut extensions instead of strut spacers so I wouldn't have to do anything with the strut brace.  I also have the BDS shocks (from www.boondoxmotorsports.com clearance section that I haven't installed yet.  I didn't want to break out the angle grinder at midnight when I realized I had to clearance the shock mounts.  I took notes of issues and tips I thought of from a mechanical dummies point of view.  I plan on writing up some stuff next week.  This weekend we are going camping and testing the Tracker 

Did you have as much fun as I did with your install.
Your rig looks good, those tires look aggressive, how come you didn't go slightly bigger?

Oh yeah, lots of fun.  This was my first time doing any automobile work other than minor maintenance.  My major issues were: wasted lots of time trying all of the shortcuts that involved NOT taking stuff apart before I finally bit the bullet and dismantled the whole front suspension, couldn't sperate the steering knuckle from the balljoint, and couldn't get the strut extension on one of the struts.  Oh yeah now I have the dreaded leaking passenger side axle seal so I get to take it all apart again and replace the seal.

so is that a 2" lift?

how much did EVERYTHING run you?

Yes, using 1.5"/2" coil spacers front/rear.  I think it was around $350 + tires.  I'll break it down better late my baby is screaming.

Looks great. Can't wait to see some pics of it in action.

Yes, using 1.5"/2" coil spacers front/rear.  I think it was around $350 + tires.  I'll break it down better late my baby is screaming.

by all means then... take your time 

Looks good man.
Mine was a problem child for us to rip apart as well. Took us all day to do the front thanks to seized bolts etc. The back was simple.
Did you have to unhook the rear brake line to get some slack?

Finished installing the lift Monday night, got the tires and alignment yesterday and finally got home early to take some pics during the day.

It's looking good Maplebar!  We have the exact same truck except mine is a 2004. Now I know exactly what mine would look like with a lift and some new 235's! Thanks for posting.

This weekend we are going camping and testing the Tracker 

Have a good time camping and let us know how your Tracker does off-road. I'll be testing my own, bone stock daily driver ZR2 next weekend when I go camping in the Adirondack Mountains. I'm going to be driving it off-road for the first time ever on a "Jeep Trail". I can't wait to see what my stock Tracker can do. 

Make sure you post some pics of your Tracker in action when you get back. 

Your rig looks good, those tires look aggressive, how come you didn't go slightly bigger?

I meant to respond before, guess it slipped my mind.  There are 2 reasons I didn't go bigger.  First I didn't have a way to test fit bigger tires and everything I have seen says you can run 29" tires fine with 2" of lift, if you go bigger than that some people said it worked fine but others had problems.  I didn't want to be forced into trimming or a body lift right now, and I want to be able to flex without problems.  Second is becasue the trackers come with skinnier wheels, only 15x6 (and that's the upgraded aluminum ones)  235/75 is the biggest common tire you can get and stay in spec with a 6 inch wide rim.  Not much of a reason, but that way I don't have to worry about a tire shop giving me grief.

Quote from: Gen-Erix on April 28, 2006, 06:31:54 PM

so is that a 2" lift?

how much did EVERYTHING run you?

Yes, using 1.5"/2" coil spacers front/rear.  I think it was around $350 + tires.  I'll break it down better late my baby is screaming.

So to finish up my thoughts... it ended up being more expensive than planned but isn't that always the case.
JDMCRX kit - $280
BDS Extensions - $70
BDS Shocks - $70
Camber bolts - $30
Lifetime alignment - $140
Tires - $650

Did you have to unhook the rear brake line to get some slack?

I followed the service manual and unhooked the eBrake cables.  Not sure if I needed to or not but probably since part way through the install I noticed that the other brake lines were getting a little strained too, so I paid a more attention to them and raised the axle up some.


Well, no action shots this trip.  The desert got hotter than forecast, at 105 degrees we were glad to be inside a 4 door with AC, so we stayed inside and didn't get out to take pics.  The tires did great, and the extra height helps out so much.

those new coopers look much nicer than my older version.  sweet.  btw, i have 30x9.5's and NO rub anywhere, and i didn't change my bump stops and only used 1.5 coil in back and 1.0 in front.  i'm thinking the 2dr with the badass 4banger is just lighter and sits higher?  who really knows!

you guys have been mentioning that your rigs have been headaches to pull apart, shoulda done like me and installed your lifts with only 20k on the ride!  just kidding, i wish my warranty was up cause of mileage not me messing with things..

anyhow maplebar, looks good, i noticed your front mud flaps look like mine right now with the discoloration from bending them.  i plan to cut mine, maybe tomorrow if time permits.  i'm worried that they will f up the fender eventually.

one question i had for you is did you need to do the grinding on the front end that jdmcrx shows in his write up?

No grinding, I just used camber bolts instead.  I'm not too worried about the fender flares, on mine it seems that the fasteners are pretty weak, they just pop right off.  I'm sure they would pop off before damaging the sheet metal.  Basicly the entire lower section is not attached at all, it's just hanging there.  Makes it bend out of the way real easy.  I supposed when they do come off completely it will be a good excuse to hack up the fenders a little and get some flexy flares from JCWhitney. 

Ideally I would like to get the fender flares shown on the Yellow Tracker at http://www.puresuzuki.com/grand_vitara2.htm site.  Anyone know where these came from?  That Tracker used to be in Calmini's Vehicle Pictures gallery when I bought my Tracker, but it is gone now.

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Oh and my rubbing isn't in the wheel wells, it's on the frame.  I noticed in the alignment specs that the steering angle is 35 degrees +/- 3 degrees.  A 6 degree difference seems pretty big and I wonder if that is where some of the variation comes from.

very nice truck!!!!