ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: mverley on May 18, 2009, 07:06:39 PM
-
I sold my truck last month and was getting a little antsy about not having a spare rig to drive around...so I shopped for a few weeks and picked up this little gem for $1600:
-
it's a 1992 with 105k on the ticker, but estimated 30k of that was behind a motorhome. It has a few dents but nothing major. It was in a front end collision and needed a new grille and a few hours with some hammers, dollies, a slide hammer, and stud welder but after that it looks really good. It came with a 4" superlift kit and 31" goodyear MTR's.
Funny story about buying it though...I had to drive up to Lacey, WA to pick it up (3 hours away from me). I asked the guy if I could drive it home or if I needed to bring my truck and trailer...he said, "Sure! I drive it every day! No problems at all!". when I got there, I noticed that tags were expired, rear driveshaft u-joint caps were almost completely gone, no taillights, only 1 brake light and 1 turn signal (bulbs were good...turned out to be a ground issue), and the inside was DISGUSTING (motor and gear oil all over everything, with a layer of orange peels and little debbie wrappers on top of it all). I voiced my discontent with the situation and managed to negotiate the price down to $1600, and figured I would try my luck and making it home. I dropped the rear driveshaft in the Cabela's parking lot and started home in front wheel drive. Not 5 minutes down I-5, I saw the blue and red lights in my rearview mirror. Really? Already? After listing off all of the violations I was committing, the officer and I had a nice discussion about firearms (I have my CCW in OR and WA) and he let me off with a warning.
When I got home, I used my tractor to lift the sami up onto it's rear bumper and I pressure washed out the inside. After a thorough cleaning, I fixed all of the sami's issues: Leaky distributor o-ring, clicky starter, replaced one headlight and fixed the taillight wiring, and repaired the rear driveshaft. The rear driveshaft was another issue...it has been bad for so long that the u-joint cross wore through the caps and into the yoke...when I tried to press in the new u-joint caps they got stuck before fully seating. I broke one of the caps while trying to press them back out...so in true redneck fashion, I welded washers over each cap to keep the needle bearings in place. It will never come apart again, but at least it is on the road for no $$ out of pocket. I'll put a toy driveshaft in there as soon as I find one on craigslist.
Over the weekend I ordered a bunch of other cool parts: Stainless steel header (to replace a cracked exhaust manifold), various oem parts including some body plugs and glove box door, 6.5:1 tcase gears, upgraded front tcase output shaft, mighty kong tcase bucket, rear mini-spool, k&n air filter, a CD player and marine grade speakers to fill the holes left by the previous owner, and some ABS body panels.
I know I'm supposed to be working on the unimooki:
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=22577.0
(shameless promotion of my build thread)
but I'm tired of waiting on parts. I thought I was done with samurais when I sold my turbodiesel one...but here I am building another one. I figure this one will serve in its current form for a year or so and allow me to wheel occasionally until I'm done with the Vitara.
-
where r u at in washington i dont think u r to far from me ???
-
where r u at in washington i dont think u r to far from me ???
I live near seaside, OR. A couple of hours south of Lacey, WA. A little over an hour from castle rock 8)
-
Orange peels and little debbies... that is a weird combo. Looks good though, what you are you going to do for a front bumper?
-
Orange peels and little debbies... that is a weird combo. Looks good though, what you are you going to do for a front bumper?
I hammered the original back into relative shape with a 13lb maul...it's in place now. I painted it with a few cans of rust-oleum semi-gloss black. I'll build a custom bumper/winch mount when time permits.
I built this one about 5 years ago for an older sami I owned...was thinking something similar...
-
Nice. These little trucks are so much fun to work on. I've had my 87 sammy for almost 2 months and have countless hours tinkering and fixing all the little things that a 22 year old truck needs. I have so many things I plan to do I sometimes have a tough time deciding what to do next.
Lovin every minute of it to
-
Nice. These little trucks are so much fun to work on.
Agreed. This is my 6th sami; just can't stay away from the little buggers. Everything about the rig is familiar.
Gotta say too...this is the first EFI one I've owned (except for a brief week-long part-out of a 1990) and it is awesome. The TBI setup seems simple compared to the myriad of vacuum hoses and motors on the carb, and the engine has more power than any of the carbed ones I've owned.
-
Got all of my parts on Friday. I just need to say; I've purchased parts from almost all of the vendors that sell zuk stuff; had some good experiences and some bad. But Trail Tough and Low Range Off Road ALWAYS do a great job. From answering questions on the phone, to fast shipping, great products, etc. I've always had good experiences with both of them.
I installed the stereo on Friday evening; this will be the first Sami I've had a working sound system in. I flush mounted the tweeters in the dash. We'll see how those marine components hold up to immersion in muddy water 8)
I also installed my tcase gears; I forgot how easy these little cases are to work on. 5 hours from start to finish, including liberal amounts of cleaning. I used the 6.5:1 gearset made by trail gear. These are about 1/2 the price of the 6.4:1 Japanese gears. I was warned that they might be a little noisy, but it really isn't too bad. There's a bit of a whine that can be heard during deceleration around 40-30mph, but it isn't much and I expect that to diminish as the gears break in over the next 1000 miles or so.
When I reinstalled the tcase I put the mighty kong tcase bucket in. I actually had some fitment issues with it...thinking that maybe it got tweaked during shipping. I had to put it in my press and bend it on 2 different angles before the bolt holes lined up. Other than that little issue it was an easy install and looks like it will do a great job of protecting the tcase and certainly won't bend like the stock tcase arms do.
The spool didn't show up with the rest of the parts...hoping that shows up early this week so I can throw it in by the weekend. Maybe I'll have time for a few small rocks on Sunday 8)
-
Next up, bumpers! :)
-
Next up, bumpers! :)
Looking for a winch right now...actually 2 of them. Need one for the Unimooki and one for the Samurai as well. 9.5 XP's would be nice. Anybody know where they're giving them away for free?? 8)
I'll start on body armor soon...but I'm going to get the exhaust out of the way first and a few more days in on the unimooki before I start bending tube for the sami.
-
The exhaust on this sami was an issue from day one. I had to laugh out loud when I saw it. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about it, except for its ability to elicit laughter from anybody who saw it.
The leaks throughout the entire system left a constant odor of burned hydrocarbons in the cab, even with the bikini top and windows down.
The stock exhaust manifold had 3 large cracks.
The stock cat had been punched out long ago. I actually found 2 pieces of catalyst wedged in behind the tcase shifter when I pulled it last weekend.
There was one bend that I still shake my head at. For the life of me, I can't figure out why it was there in the first place...but I could have let it slide if it was done properly. However, it looks like the bend was accomplished using a BFH and an alder tree as a die. The pipe was crimped down to less than 1/2 of its original size. But I still don't get it...it would have made much more sense to keep the pipe straight.
The muffler was a dime store glasspack. Now, I like the sound of a pair of glasspacks on a v8...even owned a pair on one truck. But, (no offense to those of you running glasspacks on your zuks), I think that a burned out glasspack on a 4 banger sounds like a whoopie cushion inside a 55 gallon steel barrel. That's why my samurai sounded like. I constantly felt uncool while driving it in town.
The tailpipe was a piece of 2" shc. 40 sewer pipe. Now...I almost kept that. A rock would never have been able to damage my tailpipe. But...seriously, should an exhaust system ever weigh more than a passenger?
And, last of all, the welds. Ah yes...the welds. Somewhere out there is a welder capable of depositing welding wire solely as weld boogers. A booger welder if you will. One joint was literally 2 inches wide, over 1/4" thick, and STILL had leaks. It was amazing. The sheer amount of time it must have taken to turn a pound of welding wire into weld boogers boggles my mind. EVERY joint was like this. And they ALL leaked. No joke, I could have done a better job welding this exhaust with a coat hanger and a pair of batteries.
-
I bought a magnaflow muffler and two 180 degree mandrel u-bend from Jegs, and a 6' length of 2" exhaust pipe from my local Napa. I ordered a stainless Calmini header from Low Range Off Road. That header is a piece of art; I've owned 2 other Samurai headers in the past and this one puts them to shame. From the rectangular ports to the TIG welds to the 304 stainless material, in my opinion this is the best header out there for the Samurai.
So, for a few hunderd $$ and about 3 hours of my time I put together a completely new exhaust system (I added 1 weld booger for posterity's sake). All joints are welded, all bends are mandrel bends. I've owned 2 other magnaflow mufflers before this one; they're great mufflers and I'm just as happy with this one. They are reasonably priced (the one I bought was $64). And the sound they make suits the 4 cylinder motor; lots of low tones with a subtle bark on acceleration.
-
That looks good up there in place. Nice work. :)
-
Man, and I thought my first welds were bad! I think JB weld woulda been better. Nice rig.
-
Nice exhaust man! Looks very similar to mine except I put Cherry Bomb glass pack and back pressure before rear mufler/resonator. Is that strait flow mufler?
I love that Calmini header too! Great thing!
Here is mine:
-
Is that strait flow mufler?
Yep; it flows straight through. Little noiser than an OE muffler, but the sound is good, and it is all stainless so it should last pretty much forever.
-
Got my mini-spool installed this weekend. I did a write-up on how to install a locker/mini-spool here:
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=25590.msg209583#msg209583 (http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=25590.msg209583#msg209583)
Also finished installing my stereo...got an alpine 300w amp and anotehr set of 6 1/2's in the rear gate...this thing rocks now! Time to do some wheeling...
-
Beautiful welds on the muffler.... haha... but it looks good though. Experience in a body shop tells me you should have cleaned the rust first then you would have gotten a way nicer weld. Otherwise the welder will just spit.
-
Beautiful welds on the muffler.... haha... but it looks good though. Experience in a body shop tells me you should have cleaned the rust first then you would have gotten a way nicer weld. Otherwise the welder will just spit.
I'm assuming you're talking about the post at the top of this page by Dimitros; if that's the case, the pics he posted are of an existing system in his rig after some miles, not newly installed.
I do agree with you though...rust free welds are solid welds. My exhaust system was brand new, but I still ground off the mill scale from all the weld joints prior to welding.
-
Got a good wheeling trip in...and forgot how much it sucks to wheel without power steering. So I put in power steering. Check out the writeup here:
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=25822.0
-
I have had onboard air in EVERY vehicle I own for the last 5 years. Needed my Samurai to get with the program. So, here is what I did:
I bought a pair of viair 400c compressors (one for my samurai and one for my Vitara). I have run 450c's in the last 4 vehicles I installed onborard air in; the compressors are very similar in size...the difference is that the 400c flows about double the air, but only has a 33% duty cycle. Perfect for filling tires.
I needed a tank...in the past I have always purchased an air tank from Harbor Freight, cut the handles and feet off, and welded mounting brackets and air fittings on as needed. In this case, I wanted the air tank under the hood and none of the HF tanks fit the bill. So, I decided to build one out of 6" sch 40 pipe. After calling some friends, I scored a killer deal. I traded some of my homebrew Blackberry Wheat beer for 16' of 304 stainless 6" sch 40 pipe. It is worth almost $1k new. I cut a 16" length of pipe, and TIG welded some ends on it, then drilled and tapped a 1/4" NPT fitting. I bought an assortment of air fittings from HF, and used my stash of electrical supplies from JC Whitney. I used a 6-bay fuse block and a self-resetting circuit breaker.
Here are a few pics of the final result:
-
Spent about 10 hours over the last few days putting the winch in my Samurai; as I was working on it I decided to bend up some tube for a brush guard.
I cut out the stock crossmember, then extended the frame rails by 4". Then I added a new crossmember in the front, with a cutout for the winch cable. It is made out of 3/16" 2x4" rectangle tube. Then I added a 10ga bottom plate and welded it all the way around, and added a bend in the back to add some rigidity. I built the brush guard out of 1.5" x .120 tubing. It simply bolts to the framerails with eight 3/8" bolts. It came out pretty good; the new frame sticks out roughly the same distance as the stock bumper (although the fairlead adds a few inches to that). I loaded it up pretty good by dragging my truck across the driveway. That 9.5xp is an awesome winch! Quieter and faster than the M8000.
-
Nice looking work!
It's amazing how different the SJ's look with the newer grill up front.
-
Nice looking work!
It's amazing how different the SJ's look with the newer grill up front.
Yeah...my suzuki "S" fell off of the grill while I was wheeling. I am looking for a superman emblem to replace it with.
-
I scored a fiberglass hard top from craigslist a few weeks ago; quieter, warmer, dryer, etc. It took a couple of hours of fabbing some brackets to get it installed, but the result was worth it.
-
Nice. These little trucks are so much fun to work on. I've had my 87 sammy for almost 2 months and have countless hours tinkering and fixing all the little things that a 22 year old truck needs. I have so many things I plan to do I sometimes have a tough time deciding what to do next.
Lovin every minute of it to
Yeah they are fun to tinker with, almost therepudic. Beat the livin crap out if it for a few years, thats plenty good fun too! Although, you might change your mind about how much " fun" it is laying under a filthy oil splattered beater. Still better than a good day at work . Pretty clean sewerzuk, as usual.
-
I scored a fiberglass hard top from craigslist a few weeks ago; quieter, warmer, dryer, etc. It took a couple of hours of fabbing some brackets to get it installed, but the result was worth it.
can you post some pics of the brackets and stuff you did? I bought an 87 with the two piece hardtop the previous owner has the front piece held down with a ratchet strap and the rear held down with turnbuckles. I need to do something different there, and looking at your work I'm sure what you did is top notch.
-
can you post some pics of the brackets and stuff you did? I bought an 87 with the two piece hardtop the previous owner has the front piece held down with a ratchet strap and the rear held down with turnbuckles. I need to do something different there, and looking at your work I'm sure what you did is top notch.
Sorry I neglected to post the pics...if you're still interested shoot me a PM and I'll email them to you.
-
LIGHTS!!
Rock lights and 6 watt LED projectors, to be precise.
I installed them today, along with some Carling Contura switches for the dash.
Decided I needed a switch for the compressor after it turned on in the middle of the night during the fall classic and woke up half the camp.
-
Pics of the 6 watt front lights and the LED light bars for the rock lights
-
And, a few night pics. Stock lights only, LED's only, and both. They don't do the setup justice; the front lights make everything SO much more visible.
-
Right now I only have one strip on each side for my rock lights; 2 more are on the way, but even with the single strips they do an excellent job of lighting up the ground. And, even if I turned on all of the LED lights they would run for days before the battery was drained...
-
I like the rock lights. For a while now I have been thinking of putting blue lights under the SJ, similar to what you have done. Sadly, all the night wheeling has been shut down up here. So no real reason to...
-
I prefer to think of all the work I do on my rigs as preparation for the big earthquake we're overdue for here on the coast...and wheeling is just a practical exercise. Lighting will be useful then, for sure :)
I'm installing about $500 worth of lighting on my deuce and a half...it should be awesome when I'm done with it.
-
few pics on the bed of my deuce :)
-
And, a video:
Deuce haulin' my Samurai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2rDMdW7l-Y#)
-
Have a few updates to this rig!
A couple of weeks ago I got some new 31x10.5x15 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's and a set of Eaton 32 bolt beadlocks. I've used more expensive beadlocks before; the lock ring on these is a little flimsy, but being steel it should hold up to abuse just fine under the light weight of the Sami. I was able to get all 4 tires balanced enough to prevent any vibrations at freeway speeds.
Got some time this last week to sit down with Bend Tech Pro and bust out a little bit of tubing...I have been wanting to do this for a while but just haven't had the time. The fenders and rocker panels on my rig had several dents and bends from the previous owner. So, I took them off!
I drilled out the spot welds on the rocker panels, filled them in with the welder, sanded it smooth, and then painted it with herculiner.
I pulled the fender flare brackets, and then used the dimple in the fender as a guide and cut about 1.5" out of the fender (flush with the inner fender). Then I welded the inner fender to the outer fender, blended and sanded the welds, and repainted everything. It gave me a TON of extra room inside of the front fenders.
Next came the tubing; I was originally just going to build some rock sliders, but I got a little carried away with a master plan for an exo cage...the pics show the first half of it (still need a couple of main hoops and the rear fender bars). But, the front end is complete and it looks great!
-
And then I tested it out...
-
Ive welded a few times and stepped back to raise the helmet and say WTH? But, I haven't ever seen anything like those weld boogers Great job on your new rig!
I am / was particularly interested in your 6:5:1 installation. I have that on my to do list yet. I have installed the cradle (a Zor) but not purchased the gears yet. Like yours mine was purchased as a work in progress project and I am trying to get stuff done as time permits.
Did you install the marine grade speakers in the kick panels? I have them to install here and a AM/FM/CD player on the workbench to install. I didn't put it in this summer because I figured that it would get ripped off.
Since then I have purchased a hard top and still haven't put it in because it is lower on the Zuk priority list... LOL...
A few more pics would be great as you go along... Always like to gander at the kewl stuff other folks are doin!!!
-
Ive welded a few times and stepped back to raise the helmet and say WTH? But, I haven't ever seen anything like those weld boogers Great job on your new rig!
I am / was particularly interested in your 6:5:1 installation. I have that on my to do list yet. I have installed the cradle (a Zor) but not purchased the gears yet. Like yours mine was purchased as a work in progress project and I am trying to get stuff done as time permits.
Did you install the marine grade speakers in the kick panels? I have them to install here and a AM/FM/CD player on the workbench to install. I didn't put it in this summer because I figured that it would get ripped off.
Yep...those exhaust system welds make me laugh every time I look at the pics. Never seen a pile of weld boogers that big! What made it even better was how badly it leaked; it is truly an epic welding fail when you deposit an entire pound of welding wire on one exhaust joint and it STILL leaks.
I have done about a dozen sami transfer cases; they're pretty easy to do. The deeper gearsets often require grinding/clearancing inside of the case, so be prepared with a grinder, flap wheel, and a bunch of solvent.
Yep; I have some kicker 6-1/2" marine components in the kick panels, with the tweeters flush mounted in the dash. The tailgate has some marine grade Polk coaxial speakers. Both are driven by an alpine amp. Sounds pretty good...but still a little hollow and metallic (having no carpet in the samurai causes this).
-
Wow that is one nice sammy!! The thing you did with the frame rails and cross member blew me away! I can only dream about that kind of fabbin. Are you a machinist by trade?
-
Wow that is one nice sammy!! The thing you did with the frame rails and cross member blew me away! I can only dream about that kind of fabbin. Are you a machinist by trade?
Thanks! Nope...I was a nuclear Electronics Technician in the Navy for quite a while...now a general contractor, firefighter, and all-around tinkerer. But never did any kind of commercial fab work.
Honestly...the frame/winch project is a pretty simple one that most beginners could do. The tube work takes a bit of practice though.
-
My Samurai has spent the last few weeks in my shop; polished off a few more projects. I pulled it out of the shop this morning and snapped a few pics; here is what I got done:
1. Added chromoly front axleshafts
2. Added a lock-rite front locker
3. New Goodyear wrangler MT/R's on 32 bolt beadlocks
4. YJ SPUA with 3" light duty superlift springs and missing links
5. New shocks/mounts at all 4 corners
6. Extended SS braided brake lines
7. New poly bumpstops
8. Full exocage with 1-3/4" x .120" DOM tubing
9. New rear bumper integrated into cage with LED lighting
10. Quick-release flag mount
I flexed it out before and after the YJ swap; went from 13.5" of flex to about 34" at all 4 corners (with the missing links pinned).
8)
A little bit of road/offroad testing tomorrow...
-
well....im jealous
-
The "next one over" trip uncovered a few bugs with my rig; nothing that left me stranded, but I now have a new lit of fixes and upgrades before the next trip:
1. Add an additional exhaust hanger
2. Add a steering stabilizer
3. new lower shock mounts
4. rebuild transmission
5. new clutch
6. Add some front diff armor (mostly to cover up existing damage)
7. Add a leaf in the rear springs (sat too low with all of my camping gear)
8. door hinge mod (will be nice to be able to remove my doors for the base camp type trips)
9. add a single rear seat with 5 point harness (for my son)
10. New HID headlights
11. 1.6L 8v swap
All of the parts are here in my shop and the work is underway...need to be done by the end of this month for a planned trip, and the rest of the bugs need to be worked out for the Colorado trip at the end of this summer. I'll post pics as the work progresses!
-
That is a Great Looking Samurai, and you use it! Of course, your in Oregon!! Very good job. It is enjoyable seeing work that is well done and finished like yours. I have to play with mine before it gets to the finish stages (I know they are never finished).
-
found a donor vehicle for the 8 valve! Picked up a decent little 1993 sidekick in eastern OR. 140k on the odometer, but some of those miles were behind a motorhome. Runs and drivers perfect...good candidate for my project.
-
Got the Samurai's engine pulled today:
-
And, got the sidekick engine pulled from the donor vehicle and cleaned up. I was going to just replace the timing belt and drop it in my samurai, but I noticed a small leak from the front crankshaft seal. Much easier to change now...so I will be waiting for parts for a few days.
-
Got the new engine in!
Before I pulled it from the sidekick, I did a compression check. It looked plenty healthy, so I pulled it and put it on an engine stand. Then, I pulled the oil pan and pulled the road and main bearing caps and plastigaged them to check for wear. Everything looked good there. I put new front and rear main seals in, and then cleaned up the oilpan and put it back in place. The I changed the timing belt. I adjusted valve clearances, and put new spark plugs in. I bolted my Saginaw TC pump bracket on; the bolts lined up in the block, but the ones for the head did not. An bit of minor fab work had the bracket modified to work with both the 1.3 and the 1.6. I replaced both serpentine belts, and finished cleaning up the last of the clinging dirt on all of the castings.
I put the Samurai distributor with new o-rings on (the sidekick's plug didn't match the wiring harness in the samurai). I also put the Samurai intake manifold and TBI in, and dropped the engine into the samurai.
It fired right off, with a bit of a rough idle; I set the timing with a timing light, flushed the coolant system, and headed off down the road.
The engine had noticeably more low end torque than the samurai engine did, but it suffered from a low speed stumble and stalled occasionally. It also ran out of power at higher RPM; I didn't gain any top speed, and it didn't pull the hills much better than the 1.3 did.
I pulled it back into the shop and double checked my cam and ignition timing; both were still perfect. So, I pulled the Samurai intake manifold and TBI off of the new engine, and bolted the sidekick system into place. A few things had to be changed, but the system mostly plugged into the Samurai harness. The Sidekick's throttle body is significantly larger than the samurai's, so I had high hopes for more power. The engine fired right off and settled into a steady idle. I drove it for about an hour and it worked great! Plenty of power, no hesitation, misses, etc. I'll watch my fuel economy closely over the next few weeks, but it seems that the Samurai's ECM has no problem running the sidekick TBI.
I'll post pics of the new engine when I get some spare time...
-
Quite a few people have said that the 1.3L FI setup doesn't work well on the 1.6L engine. Interesting that you can just adapt the stock 1.6l TB and make it work.
-
Quite a few people have said that the 1.3L FI setup doesn't work well on the 1.6L engine. Interesting that you can just adapt the stock 1.6l TB and make it work.
Yep...I have done a few carbed 1.6 projects before, but this was the first time I tried to make a TBI one work with an EFI samurai. I got a lot of conflicting information from people as to whether or not it would work. My experience: It runs with the 1.3L intake/TBI setup, but not well enough to make it a viable swap. The power gains with this setup are minimal (although low end torque is noticeably better). Swapping the sidekick EFI in only took a couple of hours and was pretty easy, and it seems to run quite well with the samurai ECM.
I still have the 'kick donor ECM and may try swapping that in in a few weeks just to see if it changes anything.
-
Pics! It looks great right now...until the next wheelin' trip!
Next up on the list, a fast idle switch!
-
I've only run 1 tank of fuel through since the engine swap, but the initial data looks good! I seem to be getting better fuel mileage with the 1.6 than I ever got with the 1.3.
I completed a few more projects recently; I purchased some diamond tread rubber mat and cut out some pieces for the rear cargo area and the floorboards. It really cut down on the noise in the cab; I plan to order a little bit more and make some pieces for under the front seats.
I put a seat in the back for my Son; its a Jeg's poly seat with a 5 point harness. It is designed to be quickly removable with no tools. I designed it as part of a modular rack system; additional racks will secure rubbermaid action packer totes and my ARB freezer/fridge. The rack system is complete...but so far the only thing I have built is the seat frame. I'm trying to find time to build a bracket for my ARB freezer/fridge before the Colorado trip.
Also installed a fast idle system using existing engine parts. I just bought an additional Carling Contura switch (to match my existing ones) and wired it up to a relay. The relay switches ground to a vacuum solenoid that controls a small linear actuator on the throttle linkage. When I flip the switch, it bumps the idle up to about 1800 RPM for those extended winching and welding sessions. Video to be uploaded to youtube soon...
-
Video of the fast idle circuit:
Fast idle circuit on a sidekick engine in my Suzuki Samurai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUyIJzY-_pE#)
-
That's pretty cool. I was going to wire up an adjustable idle system from an outboard motor that my brother gave me, but I managed to break the electronic portion with a crossed wire before I had a chance to hook it up.
-
Sweet thread, thank you for sharing. :)
-
Made it through the trip to Colorado and 6 days of relatively mild wheeling. I did have one small issue; one of the shims broke and fell out of one of the rear leaf spring packs. The resulting free space allowed the axle housing to rotate; it damaged the hard brake lines and the spring perch on that side, and broke the spring center pin. Relatively minor issues...I'll have that fixed in the next week or two.
However, there are a few more design issues that came up during the trip:
1. Now that I have the 1.6L engine in there, I feel that the 6.5:1 tcase gears are too low. Even at 10,000ft. I was never short of power in high range, except on the steeper passes. And low range was just too low. I was routinely starting in 2nd gear, jumping right to 5th, and then double clutching a tranny/tcase shift from 5th low into 2nd high. I never used 1st low, even on the really rocky trails. So, I'm going to swap out my 6.5:1 tcase for a 4.9:1
2. The rear springs I used are still too soft, even after adding the extra leaf. It sits at a decent ride height with no cargo, but with almost anything in the back it rides just an inch or so off of the bump stop. I have some more 2.5" wide leaves...I'll be adding another leaf to each spring pack (making a 7 leaf pack).
3. I had the spidertrax upper shock mount to increase the travel of my rear shocks and reduce their stiffness. But, this mount forces the upper shock mounts inboard and contributes to body roll. With the extra weight of my exo-cage, I think that the shocks would be better off in their factory locations. I will be moving the exhaust and shock mounts around to accommodate this.
4. I have had several different Samurais with rear lockers in them; and (contrary to most people's opinions) I have always preferred a spool in the rear axle to an automatic locker (like the spartan or lock rite). I liked the predictability of the spool over the clicking, banging, and sudden lock/unlock of the locker on the street. However...the spool only works well when the inside tire is allowed to slip a little. My Samurai now has the added weight of the exo-cage, really sticky tires, and really flexy suspension. What happens is that the inside tire doesn't slip anymore...it drives forward under the vehicle and forces the body to lean to the outside of the corner (if I turned sharp left into a parking spot, the Samurai would sit with a lean to the right, sometimes a crazy lean with 3 or 4" more under one side of the axle). This was contributing to difficult handling on the street, and led to the "Aileen" moniker (or just I-lean) that my rig was dubbed with. I've never had an ARB air locker in a Samurai...so I guess that now is the time. I have one on the way, and I'll be dropping it into the rear axle. Lots of $$, but sometimes a selectable locker is just the way to go...
5. I will be adding a power steering cooler. High RPM slow speed inclines are tending to heat up my PS fluid, causing a loud whine from the PS pump. There were lots of these climbs in CO. I got tired of hearing the pump complain. Ordered a B&M plate cooler that I will be finding a place for under the hood...
-
Thank you so much for the great write up. I missed going on the Colorado trip. Besides spending a week of camping in the mountains I missed out on talking to Sami owners.
OK, so the gearing is too low right now. I didn't go all the way back through the thread again, but what size tire are you running and what diff gears do you have?
I keep thinking that with 33s and 4.57 diff gears, I might need the 6.5 or 6.4 t-case gears to keep things moving with the stock motor at first. I do think I want an oil burner at some point down the road.
I have a Sami picked out locally and am going to look at it this weekend. Right now it has 4.57 gears, a SPOA lift on 30" tires. No t-case mods as of yet on a stock motor running the stock carb; I'm worried that after tires it won't have enough oomph to move itself. :)
Rob
-
I'm running 31's and stock gears in the axles.
In a prior samurai, I had 4:16 gears in the tcase with the rock block. I felt that was really the ideal setup...3 low ranges to choose from. TT doesn't carry the rock block anymore, so that isn't really an option anymore.
In this current Samurai, I felt that the 6.5's were almost necessary just for the high range reduction. Now that I'm running the 1.6 in there, I don't think that reduction is necessary. I'm always pushing the tach in high range, and low range is often too low. Sometimes that super low gearing is nice for big boulders, but even then I find myself starting off in 2nd gear and jumping right to 5th.
I'm glad to hear you're planning on a diesel swap! I've run 3 different diesels in Samurais; if I could give you some advice, I would avoid doing the 1.6NA swap, unless you are strictly looking for great fuel economy. I ran 2 of them, including 1 fresh rebuild, and I felt like I gave up too much power over the 1.3L. If I was going to do it again, I would consider the 1.6L TD and be willing to mod it (minimum mods being an intercooler, EGT gauge, and cranking the fuel up a bit). The 1.9TD is an even better option...just more expensive and harder to locate. The 1.6NA just doesn't have enough seat of the pants power to make it worth the effort.
-
Thanks for the great response!
I was going to hold out for a 1.9TD. I figured it would have the power I require to get over the mountains on the road if I have to drive it over the Continetal Divide.
I sent you a PM with some more specific questions about the engine swap. I do have a question about tire size. I have talked to Jonny Rash about running 33s. He says that 31s on a Sami that is locked and protected would be a better option. With this one in your thread on 31s, have you done a 33" Sami and what are your thoughts? My family goes to Moab and does the steep slick rock trails. I'm good with either way at this point. 31s are going to be a cheaper route and easier to work with, but a little extra clearance would be handy too.
Thanks,
Rob
-
Thanks for the great response!
I was going to hold out for a 1.9TD. I figured it would have the power I require to get over the mountains on the road if I have to drive it over the Continetal Divide.
I sent you a PM with some more specific questions about the engine swap. I do have a question about tire size. I have talked to Jonny Rash about running 33s. He says that 31s on a Sami that is locked and protected would be a better option. With this one in your thread on 31s, have you done a 33" Sami and what are your thoughts? My family goes to Moab and does the steep slick rock trails. I'm good with either way at this point. 31s are going to be a cheaper route and easier to work with, but a little extra clearance would be handy too.
Thanks,
Rob
I have had 33's on 2 different Samurais; I really feel like 31's or MAYBE 32's are the limit of the stock axles, unless the vehicle is unlocked and is not driven through any real obstacles (even steep hillclimbs with no rocks are enough to break a rear axle). I have broken stock front birfield cups, front inner axle shafts (newfield shafts only) and multiple rear axleshafts all on 33's. I was NEVER going fast, or abusing the vehicle; every break happened in low range, 1st or 2nd gear. Throw in the torque and weight of your diesel, and eventually you'll break an axle if you're on 33's.
I have yet to break an axle on 31's; not saying it won't happen, but I've been pretty hard on stock axles with 31's and they seem to hold up fine.
-
I agree with you on the 6.5:1 sometimes being a bit to low, I was looking at doing a dual t-case setup using the Kicker 3 or Shogun conversion before I sold the SJ. That way you get that nice middle range for idling around on trails when you don't need the extra power or control.
For the issue with the rear axle twisting, why not go with a traction bar setup? It would also help with hill climbs.
-
For the issue with the rear axle twisting, why not go with a traction bar setup? It would also help with hill climbs.
I have considered it...but I don't think a conventional ladder bar would help much. The movement I am experiencing is not the same as axle wrap...in fact, being sprung-under with 2.5" wide springs and 6 leaves, I experience little or no axle wrap during hill climbs. The movement I need to eliminate is when one tire moves forward relative to the other...that motion would be exactly in the ladder bar's weakest plane, and I doubt that it would reduce that motion by much.
I also considered going with a 4 link setup (which is probably the ideal solution) but I didn't want to go through that effort and expense.
I am betting that, with the outboarded shocks (30 min of work, and $0), a selectable locker (easy project but a bit expensive...but with quite a few other benefits), and an additional leaf in the rear spring pack (20 min of work and $0) that my issue will be eliminated.
The other thing that I was hoping to address is the tendency to "push" through the corners on the trail. Having the spool reduces my turning radius on those tight corners, especially with the extra traction I am now getting with the cage weight and sticky tires. It will be nice to be able to wheel with an open diff and cut those tight corners again.
-
Thanks guys!
I'm looking at 31" tires right now. Finding some that I like shouldn't be an issue, there are so many good tires out there these days. I would like to run a 15 x 10 inch wheel, so that may cause some issues finding a tire that is wider than a normal 31x10.5 15. I see a couple Interco tires are wider ranging from 11.5-13.5".
OK, so to pick your brains for a minute; what is the minimum lift to run a 31" tire? I also need it to ride decent so a well thought out lift starting from stock would be the parameters. I found another Sami in my area that fits the bill and is totally stock.
Rob
-
You might be able to get by with a 3" spring lift or a YJ SPUA to fit 31" tire. It will likely require some inner fender seam massaging with a BFH though.
I would not go with a 15x10 wheel on a Samurai. A 7-8" width works really well and you can really air the tires down without popping a bead.
As far as t-case gearing and grunt, I have one Samurai on 31" tires with the 1600 8-valve and a 4:1 case. I think it's a great ratio match for that tire/engine combo.
I have the 6.5 gears in another rig with the 1600 16-valve and that engine needs lower gearing than the 8-valve version. The 8-valve has great torque off the idle and likes to lug. The 16-valve doesn't really start cooking until 2000 rpm or so.
-
I also don't like those shock-tilt setups. Everybody I've known that has one, has had a lot of excessive body roll.
-
Thanks Jonny. I know I need to listen up to you and sewerezuk since you both have been there and done the Sami so many times. For some reason I had all of these great ideas and I'm realizing that they just arent' so great. :)
First, I wanted to fit 33" tires. Second I wanted a good SPOA lift with the Jeep Eater YJ type of lift, maybe lookinga t 6-7" of total lift. Then I wanted the 6.5:1 t-case gears. I also wanted to have 15 x 10 wheels for all of the glorious deep dish that people love.
Pretty soon I will be driving a stock, teal Samurai with 27" tires on 15 x5.5 steel wheels with a furry steering wheel and Hello Kitty seat covers...
OK, here is what I have landed on for sure based on this thread and others where advice has been given: ARB lockers front and rear, chromoly axels, 4.5:1 t-case gears, Shrockworks front/rear bumpers and tank skid, 1.9TD engine swap, Viair on-board air tank and compresor, full roll cage, new Truck-lites LED head lights, 31" tires, Rocky Road HIROCK slider kit, Bushwacker 6" fender flares. Fold down windshield, door hinge mod, Safari top, Tuffy security console ans some other goodies are on the list too, but can wait.
I still need to nail down a suspension, under armor/skid plates wheels and what actual tires I want.
Rob
-
crewcabrob; its always good to do your research! But...keep in mind, although I've built about a dozen samurais this doesn't mean that what I like, or what worked for me, will be the same for you. Take the suggestions you read here with a grain of salt...your wheeling style won't be the same as everybody else's, and what you like under your hood might not be the same as what I like!
Shoot...every rig I have built has come out differently; what worked in one didn't seem to work so well with the different combination of parts in the other (the spool is a great example; I have preferred a rear spool in every samurai I built, until my latest one...the combination of weight, springs, and tires have made it undesirable in my current rig). I'd say to build what you want to build, and wheel it! You'll find out what you like and don't like, and it might not be the same as the rest of us...
-
Picked up a stock tcase from a craigslist seller yesterday, and heated up the credit card again!
4.9:1 gears, a 26 spline ARB air locker, and a few other parts are on their way to my shop.
And, yet again, I'll be stripping a bunch of parts out of it in a mad scramble to "make it right" before the next Zukiworld event. Powerfest is my deadline!
My Dodge is up on the lift right now minus one NV4500 transmission; if I can get that back together this weekend, then the Samurai will go under the knife next week.
-
Good points SZ. Did you get the recently revised locker? I know that the price jumped up about $200. >:(
As far as Samurais, I like the Keep It Simple Stupid type of builds that use many Suzuki components and do not drastically alter the vehicle. There were a lot of good write-ups on these types of build 10+ years ago on the Off Road.com and Izook pages, so you might want to dig around there.
http://www2.izook.com/?page_id=31 (http://www2.izook.com/?page_id=31)
I am not really a technical wheeler by any means, much more of an explorer type, although I do like many of the Moab trails. Out of all of my Samurais, I think the ones that are most fun to drive and offroad are the stockish ones or the ones that are slighlty modified (a small spring lift, slightly larger tires, and some t-case gearing.) I have actually removed YJ SPOA lifts and downsized the tires on rigs, because I didn't like how they performed on/off road. That is excessive body lean, axle wrap, and too high of a COG. Of course, all the reviews were glowing online, but reality was a lot different. IMHO, bigger is not neccearily better on a Samurai.
I would see if you could go wheeling with a group of Samurais to see what works and what doesn't. Then maybe you can drive one or two of them as well.
I would hate for you to spend a lot of money on a build up, just to find out it doesn't perform anything like you thought it would. I've seen more than a few guys do that: read up on the internet for their buildup, spend several thousand on it, build it up, hate how it drives/handles, just to turn around and sell their built up Samurai for a big financial loss.
-
Good points SZ. Did you get the recently revised locker? I know that the price jumped up about $200. >:(
I didn't know there was a revision to the ARB...I'm not sure what will be showing up! I paid about $820 including shipping...
-
That's a great deal! :) Where from may I ask?
-
I would like to know also, I will need to buy a front a rear ARB when I get my Sami picked out.
JR, what changes did they make to the lockers?
Rob
-
That's a great deal! :) Where from may I ask?
I purchased it off of ebay; it was the RD208 p/n (not the older RD88). The locker hasn't been relisted yet...
-
I would like to know also, I will need to buy a front a rear ARB when I get my Sami picked out.
JR, what changes did they make to the lockers?
Rob
I believe the sealing collar parts have been changed. I think fewer parts for less seal area distortion and problems sealing.
-
The Samurai is back off of the lift! Here is the list of modifications that I have completed:
1. Re-routed the exhaust to allow the shocks to be moved to their original upper mounts.
2. Added 1 leaf to the rear spring packs (now a 7-leaf spring).
3. Rebuilt a donor transfer case with 4.9:1 gears and the Trail Tough twisted-t shifter mod
4. rebuilt my rear bumper/exo cage mounts. The rear shackles were making contact with the mounts at the same time the axle hit the bump stops, resulting in a loud "clunk" every time I hit a bump. Now they have about 3/4" of clearance.
5. Replaced front spring clamps with some low profile Rancho units (the front tires were rubbing on the old ones at full lock if the suspension was compressed at all).
Still to do:
1. Install the ARB in the rear axle (it still hasn't arrived yet, although I've been assured it will be here next week)
2. Switch rear shocks out for DT8000's (I think the stiffer valving will be a better fit for my setup)
3. Install the PS cooler
Other notes:
1. The rear of my Samurai sits a little higher than the front now. I don't really like this...I was happy with where it was before. Hopefully the rear springs will settle a bit in the coming months. If they don't, I may pull my extra leaves, and set up the rear with some 4" air bumps instead of the poly bumpstops I am using. What I really need is an overload-type spring, so I get the soft ride and long travel of the YJ leaves without the constant bumpstop contact.
2. The trail tough twisted-t mod is pretty cool...being able to shift into 2L will be nice for those tight, slow trails. It comes with a snazzy machined knob for the shifter showing the new pattern. However, it requires a little bit of finesse when going from the neutral side to the hi-low side. I understand the reason this happens (the installation requires longer slots for the shifter in the shift rods and this longer slot causes some slop, and a "ledge" it needs to go over when moving left to right). I don't see any way around it. It works fine, its just a bit of an annoyance...
3. The combination of the extra leaf and outboard shocks has reduced the body roll, but not eliminated it. Hopefully the rear ARB and stiffer shocks will reduce it further.
4. My $150 craigslist donor case turned out to be a pain. When I pulled it apart, it was evident that it had run low on oil at some point. The bearings were all damaged, and the speedometer gear was seized. I spent hours trying to get the main shaft and speedometer gear out of the case half, and ended up breaking the speedometer drive gear, the driven gear, and damaging the threads for the output flange on the mainshaft. I found another case in "unknown" condition on CL for $80 and took a gamble on it...that one was a score. It was completely rebuilt (all new bearings, seals, thrust washers, etc.). So I dropped the 4.9 gears and Twisted-T mod in, and kept the parts from the other case as a spare. Now I have two complete transfer cases; a 6.5:1 and a 4.9:1, and mostly complete "parts" case. Eventually I will sell the 6.5:1 case, but for now it sits on the shelf as a good spare...
-
You should check out the Daystart Stinger bump stops. I saw them at Moab this year and they look like a nice, and much cheaper, alternative to hydro or air bump stops for rigs that aren't racing.