Lifting
my Zook.
By Jason M.
Before
Installing the
lift on the Samurai was not as hard as I thought it would be. The great thing about installing the lift was
that I did all the work in my garage.
When I got the
kit I pulled every thing out to make sure it was all there.
After I looked
every thing over I got started taking the Zook apart.
The Kit
I started by
unbolting every thing from the axles.
The best way to take the axles off was to unbolt the shackles and slide
the axle out. It is a good idea to have
a friend to help with this, Tim and I used a floor jack to lift the axle and
slide it out.
Wheeless
Rear Axle
When it came
time for the welding I called a friend up who owns his own welding
business. The axle tubes are thin so
extra care is taken not to burn through the tubes while still getting good
penetration. Don’t think that you have
to do the welding with a MIG welder, we did most of the welding with 6010
welding rod.
Getting ready to
weld the front axle.
Welding on the
front axle.
Rear shock
mount.
When the metal cooled off I cleaned up the
welds and the axles and painted them.
Rear Axle Done
Front Axle
Spring Perch
As you can see
the welds came out great and I don’t have to worry about them braking.
Rear Spring
Perch
When performing
any major modification you are bound to run into problems. The upper rear shock mount was the most time
consuming item to install. The exhaust
had to be pulled down to make room for the mount. The old shock mounts did not line up with the
holes in the new mount, so it took a lot of filing and pounding with a big
hammer.
Stock Rear Shock
Mount
Eddie took on
the over the top steering which can be a pain to install.
