[ChappiesZook]

Hello Fellow Auszookers,
I have created this thread as I wish to throw around some ideas with the more experienced Zook Specialists regarding my build, what to do, what not to do etc. This will be a pretty active thread hopefully, featuring many pieces of advice in different build topics, so any and all “good” ideas welcome, especially from those who have built more purpose-built rigs before.

In the last month I have focused more heavily on building my Sierra into a weekend toy, no longer a semi-tourer/everyday rig.
I am now running 15x8 -25 sunraysias, 31” Comforser CF3000 Muddies, a “Full” RUF using 2” EFS Comfort Rear Springs and a 55mm chassis extension, have upgraded front brake lines to 4” Extended Braided lines, and am looking at what else to do.

When we designed the RUF we did it so I could run both standard or 2” extended Shackles (more designed for extended) and still have good shackle angles. What is your opinion on this? Good or nah?

I also am in the realm of getting longer shocks, as I have 50mm bump stop spacers (which I can’t touch even with straight wheels due to headlight buckets and flares) and at currently using cheap Ultima 2” shocks. From my calculations I am able to run 340mm closed length shocks easily. I was going to originally run KYB commie shocks but I decided to try and get the shock that best fits my closed length, not something that will kinda fit.
Still looking at KYB, as they are cheap but half decent for the money. Plus I can search using lengths. Looking at 340mm closed 385mm open.
Does anyone have any other recommendations or suggestions on what shocks I should run?
Will the ones I was looking at fit/work? Will they be long enough? Do I need shock towers?

[rpmwrx]

Going by your measurements of open and closed lengths it doesn't sound like your suspension is working properly. You have 45mm of travel.

I run EFS LWB rear HD springs in a modified pack with no chassis extension and extended shackles. It's a really simple setup. My open length was 565mm and closed length was 370mm. I'm running extended bumpstops to limit travel.


Here's a pic of Emu with no front shocks as I was measuring open and closed lengths on my flex wall.

From memory I ended up settling on Monroe rear Suzuki swift shocks 05-11 which work well in my opinion.

Maybe post up some pics so we can get a visual idea of what's going on.

[ChappiesZook]

rpmwrx wrote:

Going by your measurements of open and closed lengths it doesn't sound like your suspension is working properly. You have 45mm of travel.

I run EFS LWB rear HD springs in a modified pack with no chassis extension and extended shackles. It's a really simple setup. My open length was 565mm and closed length was 370mm. I'm running extended bumpstops to limit travel.


Here's a pic of Emu with no front shocks as I was measuring open and closed lengths on my flex wall.

From memory I ended up settling on Monroe rear Suzuki swift shocks 05-11 which work well in my opinion.

Maybe post up some pics so we can get a visual idea of what's going on.

Ahahaha I didn’t even notice that. It’s not supposed to be 385
It’s supposed to say 340mm closed 585mm open ahaha.

So my current shocks are 300 closed 517 open.
As mentioned I was going to go with shocks that 340mm and 585mm but I ended up going a set that are 360mm closes and 625mm open and just spacing my bump stops more. Gonna go for 75mm bump stop spacer so the shocks don’t bottom out.
Will these shocks be long enough? It seems like it but it has got quite a bit of flex even more so now with the extended shackles.
I’ll attach a photo of the current uptravel/flex (could have gone more but brake lines too tight) Will the extended bump stops make it more unstable as it can’t tuck as much? I’m running 50mm extensions as it is

[Andygoodbloke]

Is it worth the money for the sake of going from 517 to 585? on shocks?
I would think you maybe better to wait until the current ones wear out then replace.
Have you replaced all the bushes with new rubber or Polyurethane? PU is better and transferring the shock to the shock absorbers/dampeners where the rubber absorbs a bit on the way apparently

Instead of shocks I would be looking at diff lockers they will get you more places Mechanical ones tend to be around $300USD the likes of Spartan Lockers.

Thanks Andy

[laager]

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[Andygoodbloke]

Hi Laager
Fair point on the PU bushes - yes I prefer them, I do not care who makes them as long as they work and have learnt others prefer rubber - each to their own, the dampeners/shock absorbers job is to dampen the shocks on the ride and to absorb shock. The bushes job is to transfer the shock, not to absorb it. I learnt this in building rally cars and improving, subaru Legacy and Impreza's, Celica GT4's, Mk1 Ford Capris, Escorts, Mk3 Cortina's, Toyota Starlets, through to Nissan Xtrails. When a vehicle was in for repair and needed new bushes or bottom arms, the choice was given to customers and they would usually choose the cheapest option. All vehicles mentioned handled better with the PU bushes as they allow more movement without as much absorption of the shock which deteriorated the rubber bushes more quickly, the SJ50 I am building will get them over time. I cannot understand why everyone is so anti PU bushes; If you are building a serious 4wd comfort is not your first consideration.

The original post was asking for suggestions on how to make the suzuki more capable and about shocks, I gave an opinion and you are treating me like a Palestinian in Isreal.

"Hello Fellow Auszookers,
I have created this thread as I wish to throw around some ideas with the more experienced Zook Specialists regarding my build, what to do, what not to do etc. This will be a pretty active thread hopefully, featuring many pieces of advice in different build topics, so any and all “good” ideas welcome, especially from those who have built more purpose-built rigs before."

Are you saying all those who put diff lockers on just need to learn how to drive?
Or are you saying diff lockers don't make the vehicle more capable - I will challenge you on both
I reason people starting welding spider gears in diffs is to make the vehicle more capable of handling more terrain.

The great thing about building your own 4wd is you can make it how you want it, I am giving ideas to Chappieszook, not writing a new bible on how to build a suzuki.

I have been advised by a builder I have come to respect to watch my tone in replies and could pass the message on, just because it is different doesn't make it incorrect

"Learning how to drive properly will get you more places than both put together and it only costs commitment and time"

Walking will do the same.

[fordem]

Andygoodbloke wrote:

All vehicles mentioned handled better with the PU bushes as they allow more movement without as much absorption of the shock which deteriorated the rubber bushes more quickly, the SJ50 I am building will get them over time. I cannot understand why everyone is so anti PU bushes; If you are building a serious 4wd comfort is not your first consideration.

The vehicles handled better because the poly bushes reduced the undesirable movement.

Let's use the Mk1 Escort & Capri as an example - they had a particularly crappy lower front control arm design that used the anti-sway bar to control the "fore & aft" movement of the arm - with rubber bushes the ball joint could move several inches under braking & cornering loads, poly bushes, because they don't flex the way rubber does, reduces this movement significantly - the ball joint, which is the lower pivot in the front suspension can move up & down, but not front-to-back and left-to-right - it is this more precise location of the "king-pin" that improves the handling - and because the poly does not flex, it does not absorb the shock, but transmits it to the body instead, so the improvement in handling comes at the expense of ride quality.

Back to 4WDs - where flex is desirable - what does poly get you?

Less flex for starters - I believe your car is live axled & leaf sprung - if you can get access to an RTI ramp, try driving up it with rubber bushes in the leaf springs and then repeat with poly bushes - high RTI numbers aren't the "be all & end all" of the exercise, you need flex, you also need the weight of the vehicle on the wheel that is drooping to provide traction.

Let's move now to "deterioration of the rubber bushes", as you mentioned in another thread, poly bushes squeak unless greased - sand & dirt stick to the grease and form a "grinding paste" that reduces the useful life of the poly bushes - I ran poly bushes on my own daily driver and my experience on the street was that the poly wore out faster than the rubber deteriorated.

What are we left with - the greater transmission of shock, so you have a harsher ride, but this time, where is the beneficial trade off?

It's not that we are "anti poly", or at least I'm not "anti poly", I think it does a great job when used in the correct application, "street'n'strip" is fine, but that's not where I'm driving, and that is not where I expect to see a Suzuki SJ

[Gwagensteve]

I probably should have been paying more attention to this thread.

Whilst there’s lots of detail in here to discuss there’s a couple of observations I’d like to add.

For some context I’ve been working on Suzuki suspension for 30 years. I’ve seen all the whacky ideas from the 90’s, RUF converted a heap of cars and made a heap of mistakes. My own car now runs link suspension with 12” travel shocks and sits at stock ride height- 50mm of front compression travel and 75mm rear, exactly the same height a sierra came from the factory.

If a 75mm bumpstop spacer is required you need to reassess the build for a number of reasons. A) you’re leaving 3” of spring travel on the table. That’s close to 1/2 total vertical spring travel. B) Any spring with enough arch to retain adequate compression travel with a 3” bumpstop spacer will be extremely stiff. C) the car will be very tall and d) this is a bit complex to grasp but let’s say you’re flexed up on an obstacle with the nose high and the axle on the bumpstop- the highest point of the car is 3” higher than if you weren’t running the spacer. That’s a lot- think about it like side angle- If you had the car on a sketchy angle and then picked up the high side another 3” things might get very exciting. That’s effectively what the bumpstop spacer is doing. Getting the car to settle onto the obstacle as low as possible is a huge capability advantage. Wheel loadings are equalised more and the car is much more trustworthy to drive.

We used to build cars with 2” bumpstop spacers and 2” body lift with 35’s. nowadays my goal is to run the bumpstops up higher than factory. Yes, it takes more guard work and attention to clearances to achieve this but it’s totally worth it for capability. Even if you need a smaller tyre.


As for PU bushes, I’m all for PU. I run PU bushes in one of my road cars and I run PU in the lower control arms on my Suzuki where I don’t want bushing deformation. Leaf spring shackles require bushing deformation to work which is why PU is the wrong material. The “longer life” of urethane also transfers wear from the bush to the bolt and shackle.
The shock that urethane doesn’t absorb is transmitted into the shackle which causes the shackles to crack radially out of the bolt holes. I’ve thrown away a lot of shackles over the years from cars running urethane bushes. It’s the wrong application for urethane.

[laager]

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[Gwagensteve]

I don't really understand the idea that a certain sort of car/driver doesn't "need" lockers, however, there are lots of people who don't need the compromise of automatic lockers, which are mostly awful. Compromising a mild/daily car with auto lockers is pointless.

However, lockers let you drive the car slower as you don't need momentum to carry the car when the wheels are in the air/don't have good traction. Purely for their ability to let the driver tackle obstacles much, much slower they are invaluable. I've seen more situations go bad because someone is trying to bounce a car with open diffs through an obstacle than lockers causing someone to "end up somewhere they shouldn't"

Trying to gain capability through suspension work is very, very hard work and it's generally incremental gains only. These can feel significant if the car is still running open diffs but in the scheme of things they're minor. However, it's also completely possible to mess it up and end up with a car that's unbalanced or untrustworthy and this is why many of the 90's ideas like SPOA or whacky shackles didn't result in a capability gain even if the car had more static flex.

Once the car is locked the role of the suspension in capability is quite different - it's really about balance, stability under power and on big angles and preventing axle wrap - ensuring the car is trustworthy. Outright travel becomes less important than vehicle behaviour.

[ChappiesZook]

Thank you all for your replies. I won’t lie I’m probably more lost than I was before. I have no idea how to build a car, more than just basic lift and tyres, I mean I did (with help) do the ruf but that’s about where my knowledge stops. Yea I will probably have to change the way my shock setup works, as it definitely does have restricted up travel, however any less than a 50mm spacer and it rubs HARD on the top of the guard/headlight area when under flex. I MIGHT be able to cut and install shock towers but I’d really rather not.

I really don’t wanna cut and chop too much like guards etc, and I do not want to go coils or anything like that.
The tracks I do NEEDS decent articulation and lockers, I won’t get far in them without it. It’s essentially want a car that if I see something hard/sketch, all I gotta do is point and commit and let the car do the rest. Essentially a registered mini comp truck. I’m already in the process of organising a 6 point cage. But I’m at the point of which I’m stuck.
I have no clue what to do to be able to get Zook to the end goal.
As it sits right now in my driveway it’s on 31s, ruf, 2” shackles, 2” leafs, 10” shocks front. Standard shackles, 2” HD EFS leaves and crap Ultima in the rear.

If you were in my shoes, tell me, what would you do?
How would you build it?
What setup would you run?
Where would you go from where I am now?
I’m sure that this topic has been covered millions of times, but I really want to know what you Zook experts would do. I want to learn how, and I want to understand WHY. So any and as much details as possible would be greatly appreciated

[Beery]

If the car isn't geared correctly and/or locked, then that's where you need to start. Those things just catapult the car into another level of capability. The suspension can definitely be improved, but it's way down the list of things to worry about imo.

The fact that you're not really interested in moving shock mounts or cutting guards is also an issue if you're set on modifying the suspension, because they go hand in hand. It means you end up compromising the suspension and how the car behaves because you're trying to save a bit of Sheetmetal and work with factory suspension mounts, which aren't made to do what you want them to do. A 31 inch tyre doesn't fit in a guard designed for a 26inch tyre, and if you're not willing to modify the guards then you need to compromise, which in your case is a bump stop spacer. As gwagen pointed out, the car has to sit higher statically to retain the same compression travel as a car without, and it will always sit higher on an obstacle, which hurts stability.

Here's a picture of my car that hopefully gives you a bit of an example of that. we're all obviously just mucking around for a photo here, but it gives you an idea. the same thing happens on actual terrain.





My suspension is basically stock, and has a 20mm bump stop spacer in the front.

As you can see it's picked a rear wheel up and the car starts to get on a lean. Some people would look at this and think the rear just needs more travel. Could I put the some longer shocks in the rear, pull some springs clamps and get the wheel to touch the ground? sure. But it wouldn't make the car feel any better, and because my car is locked, it also makes bugger all difference to traction. All the weight is on that passenger rear tyre, so having the other side dangling there touching the ground isn't doing much.

Instead, If I cut the guards more in the front and removed the bump stop spacer (or better yet, narrowed and raised the bump stops) the front tyre could get jammed way up near the bonnet and the entire car would sit lower on the obstacle and also flatten out, which would make a huge difference to how it feels. This is also why a lot of us prefer to run the cars lower, as the suspension can more easily compress to the bump stop in all scenarios. If you imagine if my car had 2 inch springs installed, it likely wouldn't even rest on the bump stop in situations like this, which puts it even higher and on a bigger lean.

My guards were originally cut to clear 31's with no bump spacing, but since moving to the 32's I added the bump stop spacer to quickly get them on the car with minimal effort, however if I was going to play with the suspension on this car, (which I might) then cutting the guards again and getting rid of the bump stop spacer is top priority as I'm aware of the difference even 20mm can make. I would also use rear springs and narrow the front spring spacing to reduce roll stiffness so the front can work more freely, and it would give me more tyre to spring clearance so I could get back full steering lock. new shock mounts, bump stops etc.. etc.. Plenty of in-depth info about all this in the RUF thread.

I don't know where you are or what tracks you plan to drive, but a twin locked sierra that's geared correctly on nice tyres and completely stock suspension will do so much of what's on offer here. in a nutshell, that's basically all my car is, and it's driven some cool stuff. In all honesty I think a lot of the stuff I can't drive is more related to wheelbase rather than suspension issues, although after wheeling it for a while I can definitely understand where improvements could be made.

Anyway, that's my 2cents. Stop stressing about a shock that's 2 inches longer and get some seat time if you still want to modify it you'll have a much better idea of what you're doing and what you're trying to achieve.

[greenzook89]

Beery wrote:

a twin locked sierra that's geared correctly on nice tyres and completely stock suspension will do so much of what's on offer here.

This is Sierra wheeling in a nutshell.

[Gwagensteve]

Agreed.

As much as my car works very very well it doesn’t really do much a car llike Beery’s can’t. It will do it more comfortably and it’s a bit more elegant but we’re driving the same stuff.

[ChappiesZook]

Thanks Beery. You helped clear up quite a bit. Pretty cool ya car can do what it does with no suspension work.
Only reason it’s not twin locked rn is the immediate bill of 5k for the setup. But I do plan to twin lock the Zook in the very near future.
Can you give me a rundown on how you cut the guards?

Look I live in central Queensland, so lots of mud, but also quite a lot of off camber and crawling stuff, which is what I’m building my rig for cos screw only mudding.
I love crawling, and I love the really slow and technical wheeling, hence why I wanted flex. I watch a lot of Japanese 4wding with Zooks and the rock crawling that they do is what I wanna do, which I have managed to find locally.

The only reason I’m somewhat reluctant to cut and weld is because one of the places I wheel (my local 4wd club block) the car needs to be registered to drive there.
Hence I’m scared to get done and be unable to get it re registered.

What is all your opinions of Lowrange shock towers?
Would it honestly be a mod that you would endorse? Would it only be worth doing it if I cut guards?
(If you haven’t gathered it by now I am REALLY trying to not cut guards. REALLY)
Thank you all for your help on this matter. I’m starting to understand why people build zooks the way they do.

[greenzook89]

ChappiesZook wrote:

(If you haven’t gathered it by now I am REALLY trying to not cut guards. REALLY)

I built my red junk on 30s with no gaurd chop, I only flattened the seams on the front guards and ran a 20-25mm front bumpstop spacer. The only things I'd do different is a diff shave like Beery has done and NOT use EFS leafs again, however it worked really well and drove the majority of hard tracks at Glasshouse, Coffs and Watagans.

Have a gander if you feel like it viewtopic.php?f=4&t=53730

[Gwagensteve]

The more droop you build into the suspension the more guard work is required as the fulcrum is the compressed side bumpstop, so the more the drooped wheel falls away the higher the compressed wheel comes up into the guard.

[sideways]

greenzook89 wrote:

ChappiesZook wrote:

(If you haven’t gathered it by now I am REALLY trying to not cut guards. REALLY)

I built my red junk on 30s with no gaurd chop, I only flattened the seams on the front guards and ran a 20-25mm front bumpstop spacer. The only things I'd do different is a diff shave like Beery has done and NOT use EFS leafs again, however it worked really well and drove the majority of hard tracks at Glasshouse, Coffs and Watagans.

Have a gander if you feel like it viewtopic.php?f=4&t=53730

Why not EFS? Broke them?

Mine is also 30s no chop, no scrub.

I have a half ruf in the front with stock rear springs and 40mm extended shackles, I have roughly 20-25mm longer bumpstops (they're progressive bumps). I cut the bumper mounting outriggers off but no guard chop or hammering because the half ruf moves the diff forward a little.

I can kinda fit a 31 with more bumpstop spacing but with a 15x8-25 rim there's no way without going higher/way bump spaced, drastically limiting travel or cutting. It's not so much the extra diameter than the extra width. There's a lot less compromise fitting a 30x9.5 in.

FWIW the book says those ultimas are 300/517 but they're actually 320/517. They were way to stiff for me, I went to gabriel 81340s which from memory are 313/525 and much softer. That's also as long as I could go without bottoming them out.

Polyurethane is available in hardness ranging from bubblegum to solid plastic. It doesn't have to be harder than rubber, it is just typically marketed that way for road car performance reasons. About 10 years ago I got some flexy spec bushes from Bruce which where meant to be a bit softer than standard rubber, they worked exactly like the were meant to and have held up fine all that time.

Gwagensteve wrote:

The more droop you build into the suspension the more guard work is required as the fulcrum is the compressed side bumpstop, so the more the drooped wheel falls away the higher the compressed wheel comes up into the guard.

Indeed. Because of the extra flex my LJ80 with stock tyres/wheels and a 50mm bumpstop spacer it will -just- touch the guards when flexed up. Seems nuts to have a clearance problem with stock tyres and 50mm bumpstop spacing right?!!?

[greenzook89]

sideways wrote:

Why not EFS? Broke them?

Sure did, 2 main springs a couple weeks apart and they were only about 2 years old. Replaced them with an identical part no. EFS main spring and the rest of my old pack and the car was not the same on the new main leafs. I didn't break another main after that however.

[ChappiesZook]

Gwagensteve wrote:

The more droop you build into the suspension the more guard work is required as the fulcrum is the compressed side bumpstop, so the more the drooped wheel falls away the higher the compressed wheel comes up into the guard.

So what your saying is the more down travel there is, the more up travel is required to make it work?
And does that mean that cos I’m on bigger tyres and am running massive bump stop spacing, that that’s what’s limiting my down travel?
I noticed that even after doing the ruf, adding bigger tires, longer shocks and brake lines, and have massive bump stop spacing that I’m really not gaining much down travel… maybe a touch more but not what I expected.

[ChappiesZook]

You are all helping so much with this I cannot be more appreciative thank you so so much

[Gwagensteve]

ChappiesZook wrote:

So what your saying is the more down travel there is, the more up travel is required to make it work?
And does that mean that cos I’m on bigger tyres and am running massive bump stop spacing, that that’s what’s limiting my down travel?
I noticed that even after doing the ruf, adding bigger tires, longer shocks and brake lines, and have massive bump stop spacing that I’m really not gaining much down travel… maybe a touch more but not what I expected.

No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just explaining geometry.
Imagine this:

Look at your car facing the front. Now imagine lifting one front wheel. Once the axle housing on the compressed side reaches the bumpstop, it effectively becomes the pivot point of the axlehousing- more droop will cause the tyre on the compressed side to come up higher into the arch. With enough droop, even standard size tyres will require guard cutting.

Your issue with limited droop is more because you have standard shock mounts and big spacers, and I imagine you still have spring clamps in place. There just isn’t that much free arch in the spring or shock travel to make more droop, and your big bumpstop spacers are limited compression, so the working range of the suspension is small.

[ChappiesZook]

Gwagensteve wrote:

ChappiesZook wrote:

Your issue with limited droop is more because you have standard shock mounts and big spacers, and I imagine you still have spring clamps in place.

Hang on I’m supposed to remove the spring clamps?

[ChappiesZook]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Look at your car facing the front. Now imagine lifting one front wheel. Once the axle housing on the compressed side reaches the bumpstop, it effectively becomes the pivot point of the axlehousing- more droop will cause the tyre on the compressed side to come up higher into the arch. With enough droop, even standard size tyres will require guard cutting.
.

Ok. I think I’m starting to understand.
When one side droops, the other side is forced up against the bump stop, and that becomes the pivot point in relation to front travel, and that’s the point in which one sides amount of travel start to effect the other, bit like a off-centre seesaw.
And the mix of me having decent droop but very limited uptravel due to tyre size, bump stop spacing etc,is making it so my overall travel range js reduced, not allowing the full potential of the suspension.
Would I be understanding that correct?

[Gwagensteve]

Correct.

Removing spring clamps is, like everything, a compromise. It allows the pack to fan open so the weight of the axle and the downward force from the pivot against the bumpstop can make the main leaf attain more arch when drooped. However, it can result in bending the main leaf because it’s not supported.

The common leaf to remove on OME spring packs was the third leaf down. This was the leaf that contained the clamps so they disappeared when the pack was derated.

[ChappiesZook]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Removing spring clamps is, like everything, a compromise. It allows the pack to fan open so the weight of the axle and the downward force from the pivot against the bumpstop can make the main leaf attain more arch when drooped. However, it can result in bending the main leaf because it’s not supported.

I don’t remember which leaf I ended up removing but the clamp and bolt is still there. I belive the efs springs are slightly thicker than the other brands x or so I was told, would this help in stoping the main leaf from bending? Woudl you remove the whole clamp or just the bolt?

[Gwagensteve]

Yes, EFS leaves are thick. Check if the main leaf is being restricted by the clamp at full flex. If it’s not , leave the bolt in. It’s just one more thing that can help.

If I recall you have tyre contact on the headlight bucket before you’re reaching the bumpstop(?)/ if that’s the case most of what is being suggested can’t really help until that’s resolved. The suspension can only work properly once the axle is able to reach the bumpstop. As discussed, bigger bumpstop spacers aren’t the answer.

[ChappiesZook]

Correct, they contact on the front side of the guard/headlight bucket. I probably should redrill the front spring hanga, as after the ruf in which I moved forwards 40mm, it does have a few clearance issues especially with the 31”s.ive bashed it up a lil so it could contact on bump (with 50mm spacer for tyres) but still rubs a lil bit.

Also can someone explain to me, why both the US and Japan use drop shackles but us Aussies are so against them?
Like them jap trucks do some gnarly terrain and most of them run them in the rear at least. I follow jap Sierra (jimny) pages pretty closely especially a account called good4dice on Insta and I love it. Its shackles never seem to go funky or do anything scary. So I’m confused

[Gwagensteve]

There are a number of reasons that certain modifications are popular in other countries and not others. Local road rules and legality, and terrain are large factors, but there are historical and cultural factors too. Americans had been doing SPOA conversions on jeeps for probably 30 years before the sierra was released there so of course that was the only thing they could see as a solution.

The flex trend of the late 90’s promoted the idea that more flex was better than less under all circumstances and drop shackles give the impression of more flex even if it’s useless or counterproductive. Most importantly, drop shackles are theoretically a bolt in modification, giving the impression that with bolt on parts your car might be able to flex like something that was fabricated.

Japanese culture likes to emulate the west but with its own flavour. Very few people have the space to work on their car in Japan and workshop time is expensive. Bolt on parts are the most common. Additionally the car has to undergo a biannual inspection the “shaken” and the car must be basically standard. More reason bolt on mods are king in Japan.

I also challenge that Japanese sierras don’t do weird things on obstacles. I’ve seen some very strange behaviour from both cars and drivers on Japanese videos. Especially lots of rolling back and throttle punching that doesn’t end well.

[ChappiesZook]

Ahhhhhh ok gotcha. That makes a lot of sense. The Us builds are kinda stuck in the past, and the Japs like “bolt in” modifications.
I can understand fully why the us way to make a Zook is pointless here, as SPOA is just a lot of effort for not much gain when only running 30-31” tyres.
What is your opinion on the Raptor Rear Dynamic Shackles? They look a little different than others I have seen. They seem kinda popular, and they look a little more robust than the likes that I see on Japanese zooks