I've owned my stock Samurai for just over a year now and have had a great time with it on the trails but it's time to do some modifications.

First I have been in several spots where I needed a little better low end power so my first investment will be for low end gears for the T-case.  My question:  How low and where do I find the best ones for the money?  I'm see 4.13:1's, 6.5:1's, etc.  how does a man know?  I would assume 6.5:1 would give me the best low end power but I'm reading that I should strengthen the T-Case mounts if I lower the gears.  Is that true.  I could use advice here.

Another thing I would like to do is raise it some.  I've bottomed out more than once.  What is the most cost effective and simplest way to do that?  Are longer shackles for the leaf springs sufficient or is there a better way that isn't too costly?

And a third problem I have had with it on the trails is the carburator.  It works great unless I am really needing the power over rough terrain.  It floods out when the going gets real bumpy.  Its a Weber 3236 DGAV but there must be some way to help it to not flood so much.  I've gotten myself into trouble more than once when the engine flooded out and shut down just when I needed it most.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.  I'm not made of money though so think 'cost effective'.

Thanks all,
George

Hi,

I'm just starting a Samurai build right now, so a lot of the questions you have are relevant to my predicament too.  Here is what I know so far to help with your questions:

If you are planning on running lower t-case gears, know going into it that it not only lowers your low range but also lowers the normal hi gears as well.  If you are not going up to a 33" tire or above, I can't see that you will want any gears in the 6.4:1 or 6.5:1 range.  Something more mild like the 4.16:1 range of gears will be better if you splan on running a stock tire or only slightly taller. 

I'm not sure what to tell you about the lift.  Longer shackles will live it about 1-1.5 inches, but may have undesirable consequences.  People with more experinces in this area will have to chime in.  I'm going for a modestly big lift, something in the 4-6 inch range to clear a 31-32" tire, so my reseach has been on those lifts and I still don't have a clear winner.

I hear the Weber is a good carb for street use, but offroad it has some limitations.  Flooding being one of them as it doesn't handle off camber situations well.  Maybe someone has a fix for it.  Mine is injected, so hopefully it won't suffer as much offroad when I need it the most.

Good luck,

Rob

Do not use longer leaf spring shackles they will alter your camber.
As far as cheap goes, you get what you pay for.
As far as easy goes, nothing will be as easy as it seems.

I'm finding that everything is costing more than I expected and it sure aint easy either.  I thought my Sami was a little better than it is too, it just adds a little frustration up front.  I hope it gives be rewards in the end.

Rob

My 2 week $4500 project is at $6500 at week 6. I am estimating a 7 week finish at $7000. I started off by paying $1600 for a truck with a rod knock worth about $800.
Check out my build http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/saving-an-87-samurai-from-the-wrecker-budget-daily-driver-plus-trails-build/

Do not use longer leaf spring shackles they will alter your camber.
As far as cheap goes, you get what you pay for.
As far as easy goes, nothing will be as easy as it seems.

Damn, that's encouraging.   
He's right though, but the harder it is the more rewarding it is. Do it right and it'll it work. 
Search and ye shall find, there really is a ton of Sammy info here.

There is no such thing as a cheap build. There are proper, and crappy builds though...Actuallyy thats a bit harsh....
 Study this and other web sites. And ask questions first. Plan every thing , set budgetet , add 10% for unforeseenen problems.
Take a week or two off from work.............. Then build.
To try to answer your questions: Go for the 6.4:1s
That way you will only havre re gear once. If your like most, you will increase your tire size at some point, no sence buying gears twice.
 Any type of lift will alter caster  angle. So plan on correcting the caster.
The Webber is just about the last carb I will ever use off road. At this point I'd recommend a CV conversion.
I run the Toyota carb conversion they have become very hard to come by.
......Boxcar...

I bought my Sami for less than $2k.  I set a fairly realistic (what I thought was realistic) $6k budget for the build.  For me, I had to plan on purchasing a lot of aftermarket parts as I can't build bumpers/sliders/skid plates, and such the way I want to.  Right now in addition to those three things I already mentioned, I'm staring at wheels and tires that are as much as I paid for the Sami, new seats, suspension, roll cage, body work, linex the tub, new top, t-case gears, new head lights, and a ton of time.  I know there are ways to cut corners with used seats and other bits, but I am planning on doing this right the first time and making it what I want right from the get go.

Even if I add 20% to my estimate, I bet I'm in trouble.  And that is just for the minimum to make it a daily driver.  We haven't even got to ARBs front and rear, 26 spline front axle, chromoly for the rear axle, brake upgrade, on-board air, auxilary lights, 1.9TD conversion and removable hard top.  I would easily double my $6k estimate for the build.

All this money into a 20 year old trucklet that ain't worth more than $1800 on Edmunds or Kelley Blue Book.  No way I can insure or get anything more than $2k if an accident happened, and if it goes up in flames I would be out everything as I couldn't even buy it back and strip it down or rebuild it.

I must be way sicker than I thought.

Rob

Welcome, please close the door once your eyes have adjusted to the light.