suzuki axle upgrades

[travK5]

Who has done it, and what are your thoughts on what you would have done different. I am thinking samuri or sidekick, but either way I want some comments. I am thinking of a sidekick with fullsize (or close to) axles with 33-35's.
How have you addressed the steering, brakes (front, and rear), ie. what master cylinder is on yours, how does it work, where could you cut costs, where should you have not cut costs etc? Do you prefer an automatic or a manual transmission? What parts have you broken? What parts as far as drivetrain have you upgraded, like drivlines, axles. What powersteering pump do you have? What type of pitman arm etc?

Thanks

 

[O'neal]

Are you dead set on fullsize axle's?Toyota axle's would be the best bet,there light,strong,offer excellent clearance for the tire size you want to run even more if you take the time and shave and plate the housing's,plus there is a big axle aftermarket for making them way stronger than stock.
I ended up using a set of scout d44's that I picked up off the board for a good price that were already geared,locked plus the front had been cut & turned.
I'm using toy adapter's at the t-case along with highangle driveline's flanges at the axle's and running toy driveline's.

I bought my zook with a aftermarket coil kit so the scout D44's went right in with out changing to highsteer and I simply put a scout forward throw ps box on.http://www.rockymountainextreme.com/showthread.php?t=38989

For brake's I used one from a subaru with a 1-1/16 bore....stop's on a dime. http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7368757&postcount=146

I perfer a manual tran's,I feel I have more control over wheelspeed.and if I need to break the tire's loose I can.
All in all the zuk work's great but I need to redo the suspension to gain more clearance at the belly,engine swap and put a offset wagg d44 in the rear,extend the wheelbase,comp cut the body etc....but like alway's there is something you can make betterHope this info help's you out a bit....Do you hang out in any of the suzuki board's????

 

[travK5]

I am not dead set on anything yet. I am just throwing my ideas out right now. I have read so many posts they all seem to blur together, mostly on zukiworld.com. I have searched a ton of posts, read forever it seems. I am trying to get as much information as I can.
Is it hard to find the right toyota axles for a swap like that? It seems that it is much cheaper to get some old 1/2 ton axles from an old junker pickup. I just don't see a lot of yota axles for sale.
Has anyone wheeled a sidekick with the calmini 3" lift? The one with the new lower a-arms?

 

[O'neal]

Have you been to www.zuwharrie.com and www.zukikrawlers.com BB board's.They have ton's of info on the samurai and the tracker/sidekick's....