hey guys got a question on suspension. i just recently replaced the shocks on my 98 rodeo LE because the ride quality was horrible. it is better now but i still feel it can get better and also i dont have much ground clearance. the thing that shows the most is the fuel tank. it sits like 6 inches from the ground. is it supposed to be this close? i did some light off roading and i bottomed out more then a stock ford escape. and i feel i should have not done this. any sugestions is good. thanks

 

Sadly Isuzu dropped the clearance after the 97 model. You can do a number of things to increace your ride height. Here is a few:

 

For less money then the calmini kit you can get the stuff from Independent4x
The calmini kits includes stuff you really dont need and the redesigned control arms really arent all that much help.

Doing a 3" suspension lift on mine made a huge difference offroad. I hardly hit bottom anymore on rocks. Switching to rancho 9000 shocks also helped a bunch. I had monroe sensa tracs which were good shocks but ended up being too soft offroad. They allowed the body to slam down too hard when going over rocks.

If you do end up lifting it you should swap the front drive flanges for manual hubs. The increased angle of the cv's will wear out the boots quicker but with manual hubs you can prevent them from turning all the time and avoid that. It also turns better and has less drag then the stock configuration.

Without a lift you can fit 30x9.50 tires. With a lift you can probably fit 31x10.50 without any fender trimming. 32's would need wider wheels and some fender trimming but its not really noticable.

Here is mine with 30" tires and 3" lift..



Here is my buddy Mikes with 3" lift and 32" tires...


If you look at the back edge of the wheel well at the bottom you can see where it angles back instead of down, thats what had to be trimmed along with a bit of the front bumper plastic which you cant see.

 

Yes, thanks. I did forget about the ind. 4x4. Very good stuff. Installed their 3'' last year for a friend. The Calamini does come with alot of extras and is more$. But it is a very pretty blue[img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]. I did put 30x10.5 on mine and I had no rubbing. It wasnt left stock for long but I didn't have any problems. Mine is a 95 though, so you may have a problem. Best to listen to Gizmo.