Okay, I can see these are pretty awesome little wheelers and I've built a nice Land Cruiser so I know what to do & expect, but first and formost I need to run this as a daily driver back & forth to work. My concern is this ... I commute about 29 miles each way ... 18 of those miles are on the freeway and I'd have to be able to go 65-70 mph ... and I've read several times that this is a strain for the 1.3 motor.

So what is a normal cruising speed? Stock & with 31" tires and a 5" lift?

Thanks SO MUCH for all the awesome info I read here on this site.

I have a 4.5" lifted Samurai with 30" BFGs, 4.625 difs and a Weber-ed 1.6 8-valve that I occasionally drive 26 miles round trip to work.  I also occasionally deliver pizza in it.  Otherwise OEM drivetrain.

I can maintain 63mph (GPS) at 4,000 RPM on the Interstate with this setup - a mite scary to those unfamiliar with Suzuki engines - with the added bonus of NO constant downshifting!  I've been doing that for 7 years on a nominally professionally-remanufactured engine.

If you are looking for comfort and you are over 40, give up now.  Even with Tracker seats - which raises the driver enough to make it hard to keep track of overhead traffic signals, the ride is rough.  Dropping the tire pressure helps, but mileage also drops and tire wear rises.  

Don't let the above comment discourage you, though.  I put it there in case you were expecting a ride found in a full-sized pickup truck or a decent car.  It's pretty much a given that to consider owning a Samurai, you must have a few screws loose!

A stock 1.3 with 31" tires (disregarding the lift - which, at 5", is too close to the unmodified stock design limit of 6" for my tastes) will be a big disapointment for you. No engine power combined with the OEM drivetrain (with those big tires) will do a poor job of getting the engine's powerband to match the driving conditions.

Try using a gear calculator to play with tire size and gearing using 3600 RPM as the "meaty spot" for a 1.3 or 1.6 8-valve.

Here is one that I wrote and recommend:

http://www.acksfaq.com/gearcalc-01-04-07.php

It has many of the commonly-available aftermarket transfercase and differential gearsets built into it.

Play with it and get a feeling of what you are getting into!

I hope that this helps!

Ack,

Thanks for the info. I truely appreciate it. I didn't figure these things had any power for street driving. I am hoping for a 3" to 5" lift. Re-gearing the frt & rear ends for sure with a 30"-31" tire set up. Of course a low geared transfer case too. I'd like to wheel the heck out of it .. to save my lifted Tacoma truck I have which is my daily driver now. It's got a 3" lift & 33" tires. Runs nice. Stock gearing so it runs great on the hwy and off road, but can't break it down or no work on Monday. Lol.

I'll check out your link in the responce and play with the gearing thing. I'd like to swap in a 1.6 due to keeping it smog legal here in Cali.

I think a realistic top cruising speed with 30" tires and the 1.3 is 60-65mph.  60mph is more realistic with 31" tires.

Stock Samurais, if the engine is strong, can cruise at 70mph on flat, windless roads.  The later fuel injected 1.3s along with the .865 fifth gear (88.5+ in the US market) really help on the highway.

I would also consider a Sidekick/Tracker. I was looking for a sammy for some time, but their prices surely have jumped for what you get, in alot of cases LOL, and then I looked at a Sidekick. A little more room and far better suited as a DD/part time wheeler in my honest opinion.

Yes, I would agree that the Sidekick/Tracker is much better on the road-wider track, smooth ride, etc.  They also seem to be much more aerodynamic and travel down the highway much easier compared to the brick-like Samurai.

That being said, a stockish Samurai on 235/75s (29") and a 4:1 case is a pretty good little on/offroad machine as well.

Awesome stuff. I started looking at a couple of sidekicks and trackers too. I could see the little bigger rides being better on the roads & highways, but do they wheel as good too?
I do like the look of a Sami with a nice lift & decent tires. The mini jeep-ish look is pretty cool. I'll keep looking though. The 3 I've already seen have sold in 2-3 days before I could even get to them to see them. Hot item this close to Spring/Summer.

I'd like to wheel the heck out of it .. to save my lifted Tacoma truck I have which is my daily driver now. It's got a 3" lift & 33" tires. Runs nice. Stock gearing so it runs great on the hwy and off road, but can't break it down or no work on Monday. Lol.

Funny, sounds exactly like me, same reason I got a samurai, including the lifted daily driver Tacoma on 33's that I need for work lol. I liked the idea of having a small solid axle wheeler. Unless you have the time, money and know buy one that's already built or close to how you want it. I boaght a basically stock one that needs a some tlc and found that I really don't have the time or money to put in to make it that fun wheeler that I imagined.

I put a suspension lift on my Sidekick and have no issues keeping up with a sammi off road that has similar mods(just a suspension lift) and I am far more comfy. Now when going further on the sammi's suspension and tires it will eclipse the sidekicks IFS, the Sidekick also responds well with a SAS swap though gearing can be an issue with very large tires.

I think the 1.6L 16v is hands down a better running engine and why it is so coveted for swaps.

Now that I have wheeled both a Sammy and a Tracker with the same tires, it's a different style of wheeling with the IFS.  It is certainly more comfortable, especially running down the road, but you get to pick different lines and have to think out your approach differently.  The SJ I just pointed and went up things.  The Tracker I pick my tire placements a bit more and have to make sure I don't clip the sides since it's such a wide vehicle.  It's like a tank! 

The Sidekick/Tracker body does sit considerable lower than a Samurai.  Most notably in the rocker area.    For wheeling, I definitely prefer the Samurai, but the Trackers are quite capable too on most terrain.  I kind of look at the Sidekick as the street tuned version of the Samurai.

IMHO, the biggest negative against the Sidekick is not the IFS, but the lack of gearing options.  Whereas the Samurai can easily and economically be regeared at the t-case to run 32" tires on both the street and offroad.

I must say this is some real good info on both the Sami and Tracker. I still like the Sami and would like to find one more done up like I'd like to build only because I don't have the room to build one right now.

My Tacoma wheels great, but is in the shop for a new complete paint job and now is no longer allowed on the trails. Lol.

I'm still looking at everything right now, but keep leaning towards the Samuari. Also, is the 1.6 easy to be a smog legal swap in Cali?

Now that I have wheeled both a Sammy and a Tracker with the same tires, it's a different style of wheeling with the IFS.  It is certainly more comfortable, especially running down the road, but you get to pick different lines and have to think out your approach differently.  The SJ I just pointed and went up things.  The Tracker I pick my tire placements a bit more and have to make sure I don't clip the sides since it's such a wide vehicle.  It's like a tank! 

Wide only compared to a Sammy. Every time I'm out in the woods I laugh at the guys in full size rigs ( Jeeps, trucks etc ) that can't get through the tight spots without leaving paint on the trees or dents in their bodywork.

Ha, so true. My old Land Cruiser would go anywhere, but I sure hated scrapage. That's one reason I'd like to have a Sami. The full crawlers are cool, but I need to have one that's street worthy 75% of the time.

Keep it up guys. I love seeing what you have and what you've done to your zukis.

on the cali thing, as long as your putting in a newer engine than stock and I would keep it obdI  because of the gas tank sensor on obdII  (your engine light has to work) and keep it looking stock with the stock looking (to them) air cleaner and such you should not have any problems.