I'm building a pretty non-traditional Amigo, using modifications that are more extreme and involved than most truck owners would be willing to make. I'm not sure any sane person ought to grind all the independent front suspension (IFS) brackets off a perfectly good truck and then start welding on brackets for suspension from another truck.

Custom modifications include: a front Toyota live axle with 4.55 gears, cross-over steering, long-travel shock towers up front, relocated rear shock mounts, spring over axle, secondary main spring with military wrap in the rear, front bumper, exhaust exiting under driver's door, full roll cage, and rocker panel armor.

More mainstream modifications which required less fabrication include: CALMINI lift shackles, CALMINI exhaust header, BestTop full soft top, cropped stock bikini top, Blaupunkt CD, Uniden CB, and Hella replacement headlights.

Stay tuned or check back regularly -- I'm driving UZI as we speak, and most of the modifications required by the live axle conversion are near being finished. I'll be documenting this swap exhaustively so that other folks who consider it can have a full understanding of what lies ahead. Would I do it again? Can't say for sure, right now -- I'm still working too hard to bring the project to completion, and everyone knows that the last 10% of a project takes 50% of the time. Based on the travel measurements that I've made in my garage, no wheels on the truck, just using a hydraulic jack to cycle the front suspension, I've got at least 12 inches of travel up front. Adding the weight of tires and the truck crossed-up should only increase this. So in answer to the "do it again?" question, I'd tentatively have to say yes. I can't wait to take UZI out on the trail to see what we can do. It was a pretty nice rig even with the IFS, and it should be even better with the live axle. Keep your fingers crossed, and like I said, stay tuned....

Please mail the Isuzu ORC Staff if you have questions or comments about this page.