This is my 1998 Isuzu Amigo. I loved the truck when i bought it, but lets face it. in stock form these trucks are too low and the tires are too small for any wheeling beyond driving on dirt roads or hopping curbs.

The first thing i wanted to do was a manual locking hub conversion to try to save my cv axles for a few more years. i was able to locate a pair off of a 91 rodeo at the pick'n' pull for $20. if you do buy junkyard hubs, ensure that they work properly. The aisin hubs from pretty much any isuzu would work, as long as they are 6 bolt 17 spline hubs. So i did a little research and with a few nights on the internet and a couple of phone calls to the guys at independent4x (independent4x.com), i was ready to start lifting my truck. I wanted to run the wheels and tires I had left over from an old blazer project i had, and not break my wallet on this project.

i ordered a pair of ome 919 coils for the rear, and a pair of pro comp 3000 shocks. i converted the peg top shocks to loops using a pro comp adapter, which installed in about 3 minutes after i had removed the old shocks. this combination gave me about 4 inches in the rear, and all that was left was the front end. For this, since it was cold and rainy outside, i just took it to a local front end shop and they cranked my torsion bars and did an alignment all for $80. Money well spent. I was able to re-use the stock shocks since really all that was adjusted was ride height on the front.

After a little fender trimming, i was able to fit my 33/12.50r15 pro comp a/t's under it. i had to trim a considerable amount of the rear part of the front fender as well as "massage" the inner wheel well to prevent rubbing at full turn. I also had to trim the lower corners off of the front bumper.

The way i trimmed the fender was to cut tabs and fold them in. i am no body man and i was somewhat disapointed at the way they came out, but i guess it wasn't too bad for an amateur and will allow attachment of possible fender flares in the future

At the time of writing this, i have removed the running boards and sprayed the front wheel openings with rubberized undercoating to prevent any rust from forming. (poor man's fender flares)

So far i have been pleased with the performance of my truck. It handles better on road than it did stock. All in all, i have about $3900 invested. 3500 for the truck and $400 in repairs and upgrades. im pretty happy about that.

Finally managed to get her out on the beach, no real wheeling but at least a little sand. Did great, just floated on top. i would like to go to some 4.56 gears but still had no problem turnin the tires with the stock 4.10's.

The wife on the beach.