I made some more progress over the weekend and actually got to drive it around for a bit. Although it was only RWD I did some doughnuts to remind me why I'm doing all this work.

I have been waiting for the OME 956's for 4 months now... they finally showed up and gave me some much needed motivation. These have a 500 lb spring rate, I believe that the original suzuki front spring rates are something like 450. I also choose these as they are the tallest OME springs measuring out at a full 13"



This picture shows the increase in size over the stock coil.  This stock coil is actually out of a 4-door sidekick, I was running it for a little extra lift (not much) in the old 2-Door sidekick.


The install went smoothly, I have done this a number of times now so have a system worked out, even with the much larger springs I was able to compress them with only a jack (very carefully).


Lift installed


Clearly I have some camber issues, I took it for a test drive and adjusted the bolts. I expect it will all settle as I put more miles on it.

Finally out of the shop








I still have a ton of work to do;
1) Finish brake lines
2) Finish patching the rusty body
3) Weld the rear shocks on
4) Build and install the front differential w/ locker
5) Get the off road lights hooked up
6) Fenders and Hood
7) Skid Plates
ect.

To top the weekend off the UPS guy shows up with this; 

 

That is a nice looking box he showed up with. 

Nice kit.  Take your time and run that blue tubing carefully, it does not like ANY heat.  Also when adjusting the diff backlash if you do not have correct spanner socket for the adjusters (and are using a larger one canted) be careful not to gouge the longer shaft that the air seal rides on.  It is only a problem if using wrong tools, and can ruin your new toy not to mention your day when you figure it out.   I really enjoy mine, running them on both ends now.

Thanks,

I read through the ARB instructions last night, where did you end up mounting your pump ? I plan to run an air locker in the rear the rear when money permits and noticed there is mention that the pump should be mounted midpoint w/ two lockers. I imagine this is more of an issue with a longer truck ?

Do you have any pictured you could post ?

I had my compressor mounted on left side engine compartment, and ran lines down under automatic transmission and into front diff, and back along with other tubing to rear diff.  My automatic got hot enough to mostly melt the rear air hose.  It would open and close, allowing the diff to work and then dump all air pressure.  (First day of wheeling in Moab, very disappointing.)
During this session of modifications I am mounting the air compressor under the Drivers seat.  The air lines will go out shift opening along top of transmission to front diff, and out with emergency brake cables to rear diff.  I was using an old Lincoln air compressor, and the vapor separator tank from air conditioner as a surge tank.  I could get three front switches before air compressor would cycle.  It is about the same with the ARB compressor I bought when having the troubles in Moab.
The line running from air compressor up around front of Tracker then back along frame to back diff would cycle air compressor on second switch.  The shorter the line the less air and more switches before stating compressor.
You have enough air line, so experiment with a short section and a lighter to see how little heat is required to kink or burn hole in it.  Then you will know how you have to run your lines.
I mounted my compressor on some rubber bushings, which help isolate the noise.

My motor compartment is stuffed w/2.7L, so not a lot of ways to run tubing w/o getting close to heat. 
Get some extra ferrules from ARB (they are about the only ones the have them) to carry in your trail kit.  Fastenal has a reuseable 5mm splice/coupling you can order which I also recommend.

It will make you go a lot more places easily.  Enjoy.

Short update with no pictures.

After adding the front 4 door calipers and 2 door fronts to replace the rear drums, my 7/8 Master Cylinder is not pushing enough fluid, I'm having to do 2 pumps to get any kind of good braking at all. I have done some calculations and see that I will need to go to a 1" bore, after reading some more it looks like the Samurai guys are using a Mazda 929 1" bore, and others use the Subaru master cylinder but it is 1-1/16" too big imo for my application with a 47% increase in fluid flow. however, each of these options require some modification and running of new brake line / splitters.

I have done some searching online and see that the 1996-1998 Suzuki Sport came with a 1" bore master cylinder, also the 99-2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara V6 came with a 1" bore master. It looks like the Sport Master in the ABS version will most closely match the stock outlets, having to only bend the existing brake line a bit to make it work.

Just a little unsure about the plunger depth.


I also finished up the custom parts to complete the "Hagen Widening Mod".  The 26 spline stubby shaft and 6mm spacer are ready to go now.

As mentioned in the above post.

Stubby


This was set up on a lathe machined flat on both surfaces and a etch mark was made to ensure it is perfectly centered.

Despite the recommendations in the original "Hagen Build" I decided to go with a spacer rather than cut up another one of my half shafts. Its 6mm thick with a raised face on one side and a sunken face on the other.  I'll use some lock nuts and do them up real tight, I do not expect to have any issues.





We had nice (inspiring) weather last night, so I got back at it with the wire wheel in hand. After a bunch of hammering, tacking and grinding I had this... welded in and sealed up. While it may not look like much it is the second to last patch I will have to do on this truck.  Sadly this is the most rust free example I could find up here, I envy the guys in the southern states, but have a feeling that these trucks could rust in the desert.

Okay so I lied, I was poking around last night and found a few more holes  lucky me.

Rusty Patch


More Holes (Hard to see the difference in depth) 


A little later in the night


Anyways.. I don't want to fill this build with patch work and bore everyone, so some good news. I just got an E-Mail from the shipping company notifying me that  they have delivered the Master Cylinder I ordered. I'll do a comparison and some measuring so hopefully we Suzuki owners will have more viable options for M/C upgrades than the Mazda 929 and the Subaru Cylinders.     

its realy the same place of me your repair

its realy the same place of me your repair

I thought your repair was much more impressive. But I defiantly noticed that both trucks seemed to be rusting in the same place.

I got sick of welding and some of the rusty areas are in-accessible, so I finished up the last few holes with fiberglass. Threw the hood and soft top on.

The drivers side rear was jacked up in these pics.



Still have to: Weld on rear shocks, swap out the master cylinder, build front differential, build spare tire carrier. 

As previously mentioned I was having issues with my brakes, after installing larger front (4 door) calipers and rear disks. I only had a 7/8th master cylinder and it was not displacing enough fluid to put pressure on all of the calipers.

After some research I found that the samurai guys have a similar issue with their stock cylinder. Most go the Subaru (1-1/8th or something) route or the Mazda 929 (1" bore) route. I was looking to keep it Suzuki (and pray it is a bolt in solution), and after a few hours on the autoparts websites, decided I would try a 1999-2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara Master Cylinder from the V6 Four door option (1" Bore). I was torn between this or the 1996-199s Sidekick Sport, I do still think either would work. Also there is a huge cost savings here, the one I ordered was only $100.00, while the Subaru and Mazda 929 options are about double that. 

So I bit the bullet and made the order.  The Master came in and initially it did not look good. It only had 2 ports this is the worst case scenario that can happen but it is really not a big deal. I'm not sure what to tell you guys here, I cant remember if I ordered the ABS one or the non-abs one, but either will work.

Here is a comparison, Grand Vitara on the left and two 7/8 2 door kick masters on the right. 


I took come measurements and every thing looked good except for the push rod length. It was clear i would have to shorten my stock length by about a 1/4".

Highly accurate ruler 


I work by my self and knew from other posts it is very unwise to pull the push rod from the booster in a sidekick as it will not go back in. There are tabs that hold it in place and once removed it will not go back in. I put pressure on the brake pedal to extend the push rod.


And was relived to see that I could thread the end of the rod in a 1/4" to solve the issue. RESULTS MAY VARY (I don't know??)


So I got some Vice grips to stop the pin from turning and a 7mm socket and cranked the tip in.


Here is a picture of it bottomed out


Now all you have to do is bolt in bleed and come up with a way to tee the lines for the front brakes. The low level sensor even fit right in to the 1996 stock harness, no modification necessary !

I am going to use the stock splitter for the front brakes that is located on the Passenger Side of the Frame. I previously modified this anyways so I only have a single line running to the rear disks. Again, this may not be the case on your rig but there are other ways to Tee a brake line. Affordable easy solution.

The same night I made up some little mounts for the rear shock. Partially inspired by BRD HNTR's build and Talonxracer's ideas to mount them perpendicular to the axle. I wanted to keep them out of the way of rocks but didn't have tubing wide enough for the shock to fit into. These are designed by inventory, but I'm happy with them. Other than reversing into a rock they should be good.

   

Welded and Painted


Flex, not all the way. I didn't want to get to crazy in the shop.




To be honest the front is not flexing like I had hoped. I am thinking the springs will break in as I begin to put miles on it.

Just the Skids,  Front Diff and Tire Carrier to go.   

That is an interesting note on the brake issue.  I had an issue with the 4 door springs hitting my calipers during hard turns and stuffing the wheels, and fixed that with a modification of the spring pad.  The last time out 4X I noticed that the brakes were a little weak.  I have had the 4 door brakes up front forever seems, but off road you do notice the small things.  I am going to have to watch them now.
Just another modification to do.  Thanks for all the information.  It's a lot easier to do when someone has paved the way.

A lot of this build is inspired by others so I was happy to add the information.

If you can find a 4 Door Master (should be available for cheap locally)  I think they are 15/16 or a 14% increase in fluid flow over your 7/8 2 door master. It should help to stiffen up that pedal feel. I was originally running the 4 door calipers w/ stock rear drums and noticed it was not as firm as I would have liked.

 

Getting there albeit slowly.

I started on the tire carrier last night. I am using 1.5" X 1.5" X 1/8" steel. I'm not convinced it is as strong as a material as I should be using but I put my entire weight on the point near the hitch and the only thing that moved was the suspension compressing. So I will continue with what I have so far, figuring I weight about 3x as much as a spare tire. 

I am using a 31" tire to do the mock up but intend to leave enough room to throw a 33 on there in the near future.


I plan to tie back into the bearing for some additional strength.   


Then I ran out of material so I played around with the ARB.


And started making a tool to remove the old pinion.


Also ordered a tail gate latch from TMR customs and a New Bearing Kit from Low Range.

As an aside,

When I removed the rear gas tank protector / tow hitch hook thing I didn't take note that there were two different bolt sizes that hold this to the frame rail.  I took one bolt to Canadian Tire and picked up 4 replacements. The Altered ego bumper doesn't seem to accommodate 2 of them (the passenger side).. does anyone know what bolt threads size is needed for the passenger side ? Or did some on at Altered-Ego drill the wrong size bolt hole ?

Ill take the bumper back off tonight and take a look, just thought I would ask in-case anyone knew for sure.   

Here is what I am talking about (not the skid plate)

Keep working on the spare tire mount!!  I want to see if that single mount is going to be enough to hold a 33.

Thanks for the information on the 4 door master cylinder, I might have a handle on one.  And if he reads this he might use it, which is good also.