SAS Isuzu Rodeo - redo

[Pike2350]

I haven't been on here in a LONG time. I'm not nearly hardcore enough for this place LOL. Anyway, Some of you may remember Troy and his 94 SAS'd Rodeo....well I wheeled with Troy for a while and worked with him for a little bit before he moved away. The Isuzu crowd in Utah was pretty tightly knitted in the past...but now, most have moved on to other platforms. Anyway, I ended up picking up a 96 Rodeo that was already SAS'd. It was done locally by Outerlimit Motorsports, and JR more specifically. I bought it from a guy that I wheeled with in the past for a screaming deal (I kind of feel guilty about it tbh) Anyway, I need to redo a few of the things that were done to it originally...and figured you guys may be able to give me some advice and insight. I have some skills, but fabrication is not a strong suit. I know some stuff, but some stuff am still clueless on...but i have sources at work that I can get info, but I figure you guys have a little more experience.

Anyway, here is the rundown on the truck as it is right now.

SAS....custom 4 link (not quite dual triangulate, but triangulated)
custom D44 with ford high pinion retubed to fit waggy axles
Sway -a- way air shocks (will get changed out to coilovers)
dual ARB's
Quick Aire 2 compressor
35x13.5x15'' Toyo M/T's
Teralows (3.07:1)
5.13 gearing
~92,000 miles
New red top Optima
CD player w/ 10 disc in back
CB radio
trailer brake controller
OBDII scanner included
Dealership service manuals/service bulletin books
receipts for the work done

The bad, is the 3'' body lift will be very difficult to remove...seeing as some of the crossmembers are built up into that space.
Paint job is needed
air shocks.


So, with that stuff in mind, some of my concerns about it are...the air shocks are first and foremost. I have bought 1 set of 14" Fox coilovers with springs (pretty close to spring rates I've calculated) I am also going to buy some 12" Bilstein Rockkrawler Coilovers for the front...I already have springs for those also. Where I run into problems is with the air shocks charged just slightly (~4" of up travel) this thing is TALL. Way to tall for my liking....so I want to redo the upper mounts to bring the truck down some. The front won't be too difficult....I just need to cut into the inner fenders and get new hoops...although I'm kind of leaning towards the 12" Ruff Stuff towers....hoping this would give me enough distance to lower the truck some. My goal is to get it to ~ 25'' to frame at ride height, which is where it was when the air shocks were discharged. The rear I need to cut out the floor and put in a hoop. I was looking at the Trail gear setup, and it looks nice, but if I can find someone local to bend the 2 hoops I can pick up the tabs and get them welded for less then the $130 shipped the TG kit would cost.

The other thing is that I'm not 100% sure the links are strong enough. The lowers are small. I think they are 1.5-1.75''. They seem to have a thick wall ~.25'' maybe. So eventually those may get replaced with larger tube. The steering is done via heims right now. Not sure the best way to correct this since I'm told at work it's illegal to run (although I doubt most basic shops know that) That can also get fixed later. Lastly, I'm not sure the link mounts are quite right. I threw the measurements into the link caluclator and got a little higher then I'd prefer anti-squat for the rear...it's not bad, but not ideal...maybe I just live with it. (I did the numbers with the air shocks discharged since that's the ride height I'm shooting for) The front, I'm kind of clueless as to what "good" numbers are on the calculator...Most "front" calculators are for a 3 link with panhard, but mines 4 link....Anyway.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Anyone know someone that could bend me some hoops similiar to TG's mount kit for some $$?

Here are some pics of the truck shortly after I got it...as well as the calculator numbers

Front link calc.

rear link calc.

 

[Pike2350]

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got some work done on this thing. I had already screwed up the mounts for the rear coilovers because I got ahead of myself. I finally found a way to get them mounted and work...however it's still too tall. I will go to 12" coilovers in the future, but for now it's driveable....although the front air shocks will have to go soon...at least those won't be nearly as difficult. knock on wood.

I didn't get a lot of pics of the progress...cuz I was rushing to get it done to take out wheeling yesterday. I spent M/W/T/F night on it....Friday I was working on it until 2:30am and back at the shop at 8 to wrap a few things to put it on the ground and hit the road...no testing at all....luckily it performed well...I just need to tweak the sway bar mounting..it's not stiff enough.

on to some pics.

On the rack getting ready for surgery.

Genright mounts I screwed up on....they don't work too well with Fox coilovers cuz the lower coil seat seemed to hit the mount no matter the angle.

pulled out the gas tank and made new mounts to push it back just enough to clear the new frame coilver mounts

friend of mine torching off the mounts

driver side inner frame rail....cut off the OEM shock mount and fuel line brace.

this is where I stopped taking pics. Here are the ones after I finished.

new axle mounts

frame mount

 

[Pike2350]

Here's how it sits compared to my DD Rodeo....it's already got a 3" suspension lift and 3" body lift, although the suspension lift is pretty old so I'm sure it's not near the same height it was originally, plus I'm on BALD 33's, so you can see it's TALL. I will drop it down another 4=5" eventually by going to 12" coilovers. I could drop it another 1-1.5" right now by adjusting up the top coilover seat...but it hits the brackets on full compression, so until I clearance it I just have to deal with it. Oddly enough it's not super tall compared to other SAS'd trucks...it's common for Toyota's to be roughly 24" frame height...but since this one already had a 3" body lift it's taller then those..but the frame is close at 25"

Here's a video the guy that did the torching did...it's the only bit of photos I have of it on the trail...but it did well

[edit] Can't get it to embed...so here is the link[/edit]

Below Eagles Nest 3-16-13 - YouTube

 

[Kiel]

I like it

 

[sixstringsteve]

sweet. I love SAS amigos and rodeos. My buddy Dave used to have a white pathfinder on 33's he took all over.

 

[zukijames]

Cool!

 

[Max Power]

Nice.

 

[TJDukit]

Very cool. We see a lot of toyotas(gross) and Sami's(even more gross) but not a lot of Isuzu's. It's cool to see something new.

I swear I'm not a toy or sami hater, I just like to stir the pot sometimes. I am a Jeep guy by blood afterall.

 

[Pike2350]

I like it

sweet. I love SAS amigos and rodeos. My buddy Dave used to have a white pathfinder on 33's he took all over.

Cool!

Nice.

Very cool. We see a lot of toyotas(gross) and Sami's(even more gross) but not a lot of Isuzu's. It's cool to see something new.

I swear I'm not a toy or sami hater, I just like to stir the pot sometimes. I am a Jeep guy by blood afterall.

Thanks guys. I like that it's different, but as you all know, being different creates a ton of issues all by itself.

My dilema now is the height...it's just too tall. I'm sure I wouldn't complain if it didn't have the body lift, but getting in and out is just a bit cumbersome. I knew I was going to change out the rear coilovers since they are just too tall. Currently they are 14" coilovers with only about 3-3.5" of shaft showing. So, where I'm stuck is will going to a 12" be low enough for my tastes? I am even starting to think 10" ones..but then I worry I may be limiting too much. As I sit now I'm ~25.5" from mounting hole to mounting hole on the coilovers. Going with a 12" coilover lets me drop the truck 2" and keeps everything the same. I have about 1.5" of preload on it now, so if needed I could lower it another inch...but them I'm lower like I want, but would only have about 2" of uptravel...which just doesn't cut it.

Has anyone here had experiences with a 10" coilover? The Fox list their 10" as 16.13/26.6 for length....and the 12 as 19.13/31.15. I really wish there was a middle one. The 10" would let me have a good height with about 3.5" of up travel and 6.5" of droop, but those seem kind of low.

Also, I notice they have a middle one if you go with their air coilover. Has anyone tried them? I assume it's just an airshock with coils? My air shocks are already too rough and jarring on the street so I'm thinking those are out.

Anyone have any ideas or experience with the 10" or 12"?