AAPA questions

[mike lara]

i was lookin into the asian auto parts shackle reversal "kit", and im interested if anyone has any experience with it? does the instalation flow easily or are there some things to look out for? how well does it handle on and off road? body roll is not and issue w/ me as im more familiar w/ the i beam ford desert trucks.

[xxlf250]

I run this kit and I like it, It leans alot on road but on the rocks and in Glamis it is fun. It took some time to get use to, but I woudnt change it, thats just my opinon, and in no way do I daily drive my zuk, so someone that does may have something else to say about it.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/xxlf250/saltonsea080.jpg

[mike lara]

any one else?

[tdavis]

I had one on my zuk.

I over paid for it in my mind; I finally just cut it all off and made my own.

The front spring hangers on mine was too small for military wrap springs to fit; they has bent. The front tube between the two frame rails, well, mine is bent. I figure it is from the fact there is nothing in front of those hangers holding them together/apart.

the rear shackles, well, I snapped one in half in a parking lot. Thankfully, it was in a place where I could easily get it back on the trailer.

It has been posted on here how to easily make your own S/R setup.

[tdavis]

This really should be in a FAQ..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298156
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182318
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468994
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=463967
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271989

Enough information is those threads to build your own, custom S/R with Y/J springs that fits your needs.

If your really interested in a kit, contact Tusker. He has been threatening to make one..

[RockMolester]

I had it on my Samurai and absolutely loved it. It had a lot of body lean on the street (which I fixed with a sway bar for daily driving), but off-road it couldn't be beaten by any fancy-schmancy linked/coilovered suspension. I beat the piss out of it and never had any problems. I don't know why tdavis' shackles broke in a parking lot, but they couldn't have been the same gauge material as the ones in the brand new kit my roommate just received for his Samurai.

The current kit is a revised version of the CSC S/R kit I reviewed here (http://www.off-road.com/suzuki/reviews/cssuspension.htm).

When my roommate gets his suspension installed, I'll post some pictures on here and let you guys know what our opinion is of his revision of this kit.

[Vermin]

Never had any problems with mine. Handling was fine - on road and off. Sure - it leans a little more than stock - but c'mon..

[M.Martian]

I had the CSC kit on mine. I loved the way it performed but have since changed it out with the TT m/l setup. The only problems that I ever had with it was when one of my springs fatigued and started slapping the shackle hanger and over time the Chevy shackles just got beat to hell. With the flex that you get out of the setup the shackle bushings don't hold up well over time. Mine were destroyed by the time I pulled them out.

If the kit still runs those types of shackles I would recommend looking into swapping over to a standard 'H' type shackle.

[tdavis]

I had the chevy shackles.. and that's what broke on mine.

The rest of the kit was made with 3/16" thick material, and I bent almost every single piece of it.

[Vermin]

I had the chevy shackles.. and that's what broke on mine.

The rest of the kit was made with 3/16" thick material, and I bent almost every single piece of it.

3/16" is quite a bit thicker than any piece of factory steel on your Zuk - I hardly blame AAPA for your bent shit.

[mike lara]

When my roommate gets his suspension installed, I'll post some pictures on here and let you guys know what our opinion is of his revision of this kit.

thanx alot.

[tdavis]

Also, what size tires are you planning on running?

This kit works with tires < 33" in size; 35's rub badly on the firewall (can be fixed by ordering offset pin YJ leafs).

[RockMolester]

Also, what size tires are you planning on running?

This kit works with tires < 33" in size; 35's rub badly on the firewall (can be fixed by ordering offset pin YJ leafs).

AAPA also offers the kit with the front hangers another 2" (?) further forward to allow you to extend the wheelbase that much further. This would allow you to fit 35's no problem, even with maximum uptravel and wide-backspaced wheels.

[tdavis]

AAPA also offers the kit with the front hangers another 2" (?) further forward to allow you to extend the wheelbase that much further. This would allow you to fit 35's no problem, even with maximum uptravel and wide-backspaced wheels.

Do they also move the shackle forward 2"? Just moving the front hanger 2" would mess up the shackle angle pretty bad.

[RockMolester]

Yes, the shackle is moved forward too. They're not going to design a kit that has screwed up geometry.

[mike lara]

any updates on your roommates sami rock molester?

[RockMolester]

Well, he's a merchant marine so he's home for about 3 weeks out of the year. He just came back, we went on a 1.5-week 4wheeling trip, then he spent a couple days doing the basics of the install of the S/R, but he's also modifying it to work with his ARB Bull Bar so he's got a lot more work than what is involved with a typical install. He got enough of it done to roll it back into the barn, but it's going to sit parked until December at the earliest. Sorry!

But for what it's worth, it's still an awesome kit. The design has changed a bit since I bought mine 5 years ago or so, but certainly not for the worse. If I was building another Samurai, I'd definitely get another one of these kits. I'd never do a Missing Link front setup again.

[RocKrawler]

I'd never do a Missing Link front setup again.
I've had 2 of the TT missing link kits on my rigs and they work great, more flex, plenty stable and no expensive custom long travel driveshaft needed.

[zukatude]

I've got the AAPA kit on my rig, or least some of it. I installed it with toy axles. I had to rework all of the front end brackets (may not need to for zuk axles). The front end caster angle was terrible with the supplied shackles so I replaced them with standard frame mounted YJ style hangers and 5.5" long 3/8" plate shackles. I offset the spring pin holes on the spring plates by 1.5". This moves the axle 1.5" forward and with a little light hammering on the firewall seam, it fits and stuffs 35"s no problem.

On the rear, the supplied shackles were literally 8" hole to hole which was too long so I cut them down by 2" inches.

In retrospect I could have just made my own setup with the great info and pictures available on POR for about the same amount of effort and saved some money. Performance wise it works great and I don't feel that the rig needs anything other than more wheelbase for the big ledges in Moab.

[RockMolester]

I've had 2 of the TT missing link kits on my rigs and they work great, more flex, plenty stable and no expensive custom long travel driveshaft needed.

I had wayyyy more flex than I ever needed, significantly more than my previous missing link setup had. And I needed a new front driveline anyways, because I kept snapping u-joints and breaking the driveline yokes with the deep gearing I had, so the new driveline was a given anyways. My missing links needed a panhard bar for it to drive well and have any amount of steering when the front end was articulated. I was able to remove and sell the panhard bar once I did the YJ S/R. The increased castor gave the truck great straight-line stability on the highway. I have almost copied the setup exactly when I built my Toyota because it worked so damn well. I'm an S/R guy for life!