I am a converted jeeper, well not yet. I am in the process of buying an 88 sami. What I want to know is how strong are the axles? What is the largest tire I can run on these axles before I have to worry about something going "snap"? Also, how large of a lift would I have to go to run 32" or 33" tires? I have looked at the CALMINI 6.50:1 Rockcrawler kit to fix the gearing that will be hurt from these tires. Also, what else would I need to upgrade (ie. stearing)?

Ok now that I got the basics out of the way let me ask some questions about recovery. My brother in law, who I will be wheeling with, has a 88 F-150 on 35's. If he were to get stuck could a sami pull him out? I know a lot depends on how stuck, lets just say he is burried. One option I am thinking of is getting a 9000lb winch and just strap the rear end of the sami to a tree and run the winch out to his truck. What are your ideas? Thanks for the help.

haha, that's funny, i'd like to watch that... i don't own a sami, or know anyone that does... but just my common sense says that if you do that, the winch will rip off the bumper like it was held on by wet spaghetti noodles....  also, i think of a slingshot... if there's X amount of tension on the cable and the winch mount decides to break, how much does a winch weigh? i don't know, but i'm assuming they're pretty heavy... just imagine that winch flying through the air towards the truck and smashing through the window and smacking your bro in the back of the head...  i could be wrong though... like i said, i don't know, i'm just imagining it... winches may have some kind of safety shutoff thingamajig that when there's so much tension on the cable, it quits pulling to relieve some of the tension...  i know i shouldn't even post a reply because i have no actual knowledge of anything you're talking about, but i just want to see how close i am to being right...

other people have posted on here as to the lift questions,  I dont recall at this time but just do a search.  I currently have two sammys.  one lifted with oversized tires and no front bumper at this time,  and one pretty much stock except for the shrockwork front and rear bumpers.  Gearing is the best way to go for oversized tires, and it always helps for on road as well if you do that. 
    As for the winch question,  my bumpers are secured to the frames very well.  If I were to secure my sammy to a tree by the back bumper and secure the winch to someone severely stuck, there is no way that my bumpers or winch would come off the vehicle.  About the only thing that might happen would be an overworked winch....elevation would be a possible issue, since my winch sits about 18-20 inches lower than the anchor point on my f-250 4x4 truck, so I would actually be pulling a bit down on the truck as well, unless it were buried that deep into the mud, in which case I might be in a bit of trouble there....
  If a 9000 lb winch on the front of a truck can pull it out when the cable is around a tree or something,  why wouldnt it be able to work if it were secured to the same tree with the cable back to the same truck?  If there is a sammy secured to that tree as part of it, that wouldn't change the dynamics I wouldn't think,...but then again,  I havent tried it yet,...perhaps I need to find some deep mud to try it out....

The 6.5:1 should be enough to get you going well enough with the 32" tires.  A standard SOA with some fender clearing, or with an add-a-leaf should be enough to get you going.  Below is a picture of my Cousin's Sammy running 33" Swampers, a SOA and an add-a-leaf kit with no front bumper.

As for the winch, you should be ok with a 9000 as long as the bumper is well made.  I have pulled Cherokees up a hill with the Superwinch 9000 on the front of mine without a problem.  But if he gets really stuck, I don't think a 9000lb winch will do the job without using a block.

I run 33" tires with Calmini Heavy Duty front axels as I twisted the splines with my locker in the front end.  But others have run the 33's without a problem.  But I think that is really the breaking point, if you push it you will start snapping the front birfs.  Especially if your not carefull backing up with the wheels cranked.  The birfs love snapping in that situation.

I would try just a standard SOA lift and 31" tires at first, just to get a feel for what you can do with the sammy.  You might not even have to go any bigger.

31's / 32's and you won't break too often. Install some lockers and do something that puts all of the effort onto one or the other of your wheels you can get them to go.

I've seen a samurai winch a door deep humvee out of the mud. Almost pulled the silly little trees it was tied up to out of the ground.

I've seen a samurai winch a door deep humvee out of the mud. Almost pulled the silly little trees it was tied up to out of the ground.

I don't suppose you have any pictures?