I am pretty new to Sammys, but I am looking at buying one for as cheap as I can (hopefully under a grand) and making it a trail slayer, because from what I hear, if you build these things right they will go anywhere. So I am asking all you experts out there what I need. What are the necessities for a samurai to be awesome on the trail, but also driveable on the road. I know it all costs money, and you get what you pay for. But I have about $4,000 I can put into one. What all should I include? I will be driving about 60% offroad and 40% on.

A cheap lift will cost you about 10 dollars.  You cut off your spring pads, weld them back on the tube on the opposite side.  Then you take your to dollar tube and use it to extend your Z-link to fit.  Flip the spring pads so your stock shocks still fit.  Pop your brake lines out of the standard mounts and use zip ties to keep them somewhat close to the frame, this way you don't have to buy extended brake lines.

Now a $1000, for that you can start looking into a Missing Link with YJ springs or a 3 Link Coil setup

For 4K of investment I would probably spend some extra and put Toyota Axles underneath.  Throw a 1.6L engine in it and a set of 6.5:1 or 8:1 gears in the transfer case and 35" tires and you are golden.  Lockers front and rear, probably Aussie Lockers or Lock Rights. 

If it was going to be more of an adventure rig then straight up hardcore wheeler I would probably go with Sky's Spring Over kit, then put Rear Springs up Front (for a smoother ride) and a set of 31" tires.  4.8:1 Transfer case kit (To bring the gearing back in line) and Lock Rights front and rear, stock Sammy axles.  If I broke a front axle, switch over to the Newfield ones Low Range has in stock just so I don't have to do any grinding on the front axle.  At that point if power is an issue drop a 1.6L into it.  Mind you, you can go just about anywhere with that setup.  But I do love my 33" tires and my rig is far from street worthy over long distances. 

As for the bumpers, fab some up.  Then throw a nice dependable winch.  Doesn't need to be all that fast, you aren't going to be using it much anyway.   

So you think I should start with Sky's Spring Over Axle Conversion Kit, and run stock rear springs in the front? Then slap some 31"s on it, but is that big enough? I want to put lockers in it, but I have 33"s on my Bronco right now and I like the size, but since sammys are smaller i didnt know if 31"s would be alright, or I should go with a couple more inches of lift and 33"s?

31's on a sammy are plenty fine .... and your axles will thank you for it.

if it's gunna be 60 on/ 40 off road, lockers are gunna be the hard call. Ideally you would want an ARB in the rear, but I wouldn;t put in ARB in a stock sammy rear (perhaps in a hybrid or toy tho). Up front I'd leave it open and get a winch.

SnowFalls is right, your axles will thank you.  If you want to run 33's, save money in the long run and swap over to Toyota Axles now. 

If it's a budget thing I would go with a winch over a front locker, but if you have the two hundred to drop on the front end you might as well put a locker in.  On road you are going to have the front end unlocked and off road it will make all the difference in the world.

I would recommend the Sky's Stage 2 Samurai Spring Over Conversion if you want a base lift.  You can re-use all your stock shocks and it gives you the longer brake lines and half of the OTT steering.  This gets rid of the bump steer issues and is probably safer on the road.  It's a great starting point.
http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/suspension1.htm

If you want to keep it on the budget you can cut off the spring pads like I mentioned earlier, but I would really recommend at least buying some new pads.   The Sky Suzuki Samurai HD Spring Pads are nice because they wrap completely around the axle and tie into your lower pads.  This helps avoid the possibility of peeling your pads off the rear axle when you are bouncing your rear end around on a really loose dirt hill.

I've got 33" Boggers under mine with RRO 6" SPOA kit.  At stuff I do get rubbing in the back of the front fenderwells!!!   Still stock axles and gears but I do have a 6 to 1 t-case!!  Hope it helps!!

I run sky's spoa with the ott steering correction a set of 31x11.50 ltb's and 4.62 gears with lockrite lockers and It works really well.
my front is the stock housing and my rear is the hybrid axle from trail tough. I would also recommend gearing down the transfer case since your clutch is still going to complain after a couple of years of steep uphills.
This is my rig with 32" all terrains with just sky's spoa lift and hybrid axles.

I would also swap over to Wrangler springs much better flex.
Just a note I have not broken any drivetrain parts with this setup.
cost of my buildup
$500 samurai
$400 spoa lift
$550 tires
$230 rims
$1000 trail tough third members(4.62 gears and lockers) and hybrid axle housing (from locjaw)
Free Wrangler springs from jeep buddy
$250 front spring mounting from sky's
$200 rear spring mounting from sky's
$3130 total cost
Planned upgrades
$600 Davesport roll cage
$600 and up transfercase gears not sure how low I want to go
upgrades if I don't park it and build a 4 door sidekick
toyota axles and bigger tires
Anyway hope this helps if not oh well
Hello to Sno and Drone how goes it.

Hey Bash, it's been a while.  I forgot that you had the hybrid rear.  You should grab your Tracker and join me on the Fall Adventure run down in Oregon coming up in a couple weeks. 

I think I'm in the 5K range for my buildup counting the new tires.  Still, not bad considering what all I have done.  There are a few things I have done or replaced a few times, and building a 4 door is tempting.  Luckily my brother took the 4 door of my hands for a family car.  So much for that temptation. 

heya bash ... I just got back from a shakedown cruise with my 4dr project ... found some issue to deal with, but nothing major. checkin at www.wazuks.com ...

You cut off your spring pads, weld them back on the tube on the opposite side.

Instead of the hack job, pop for some axle spring pads from Dexter or any other trailer manf. then you will not need to mess with trying to save the stock pads when you try to cut them off. And a set of four is fairly cheap. When I first did the SPOA on my SAmmy I think they were less than $20 for the four. But that was a couple of years ago. Ok, maybe ten.

Quote from: Drone637 on October 31, 2007, 08:07:58 PM

You cut off your spring pads, weld them back on the tube on the opposite side.

Instead of the hack job, pop for some axle spring pads from Dexter or any other trailer manf. t

Yea, that is why I recommended buying the Sky Suzuki Samurai HD Spring Pads in a later post.  I like them because they tie into the existing pads making it easier to not throw off the angle when you do the lift.  Bit more expensive though.  You can just call Hawk Suzuki and they have a pair of pads for pretty cheap.