It's apparent now--in the realm of Suzuki-ism--that suspension systems have come a long way from simple 3" lift springs. With the advent of SPOA conversion kits, one can have a very flexible rig without spending a fortune in engineering costs. Since we're all crazy for flex and more ability for our little buggies, that wasn?t good enough. Glenn Wakefield pioneered the Missing Link system that debuted at the '98 Top Truck Challenge. With his amazing 42"+ of flex he went into production with the system that put Rocky Road Outfitters, LLC (formerly known as Summit Off-road) in the books. Since then others have developed enhanced versions of his original product idea. We won't get into the $500 versions… they're a Jeep thing, I don't understand.

I contacted Brent at Trail Tough a while back inquiring about his ML kit. He described for me how it worked and what set his kit's design apart from the others. He adds a frame mount portion that keeps the rear axle close to the stock position. This enables you to keep your rear drive shaft from falling out or having running a 2" spacer. I ordered the complete kit and in less than a week it arrived.

I was missing directions, but since I knew the principle of how it worked I didn't think there would be a problem. Well, problem. There were so many custom parts and pieces that I had no idea what went where. One e-mail and 15 minutes later I had the directions. Pretty responsive for a Saturday.

Installation was a straightforward remove and install with the exception of the front shackle rests. I have a Summit Crawler front bumper. Glenn was thinking ahead when he made this bumper. With the idea that a ML might be mounted up front at sometime, the bumper was designed so it already lined up perfectly. All I needed was a 1.5" square tube welded and I was there. There are little rectangular pads that need to be mounted onto these metal tubes… no problem. They keep the shackles from twisting outta shape on turns and from clanging around off-road.

After those were in I mounted longer shocks and everything was a go! 

First impressions

No noticeable increase in sway on-road, no sloppiness at all. Ride was drastically improved! I used new CJ springs from JC Whitney in the rear and a set of '87 rear springs courtesy of Doug “Airtime” Frey. The reason behind the '87 springs was because I wanted a stiffer ride up front. Brent let me in on a secret about the front spring packs and how to set them up.

Note: I run the Calmini crossover steering. In order to keep the tie-rod from banging into the springs due to a castor increase I used a piece of 3/8" flat steel as a spacer, including into the spring pack itself.

Off-road impressions

Ok, the whole reason I did this. Wow! That's about how to sum up the performance. Where I would go “tire up” before, I was now stable, near level and still moving. Being open/open I need to keep the tires on the ground in order to keep going. This system does the trick! Well hey, the pictures speak for themselves.

I did manage to tear both front shocks off the upper mounts, but that was my fault. Back to the drawing board for those pesky things? Without the shocks I could achieve 40" of travel, with the 33" long shocks I got 36" of travel, limited by the rear drive shaft. My ZukiSouth set-up had been purchased for standard SPOA, not Missing Link type SPOA.

You can also see that the rear tire isn't moved back to a silly-looking position and the custom frame mount for the rear incorporates Trail Tough's Nerf bar attachment. Bonus!

My specs

• Travel: 36+"
• Wheelbase before: 80", after: 81.5"
• Stock CJ springs plus Sami overload leaf in rear
• Stock rear Sami springs up front with a little extra
• Rating: 5 swampers! (outa 5)
• Front brake lines: Hawk Strictly Suzuki super long
• Rear brake lines: doubled-up Hawk Strictly Suzuki super long
• Front spacer: 1.75"
• Rear: ZukiSouth DGD (needing new wider adapters)
• Spring wrap: Nope, not yet. (GRSI, Stock 3.73)
• Was it worth it: Can I get a “Heck Yea!”