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New to Suzuki and New to Offroading

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Offline Yosemite_Sam

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New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« on: April 10, 2019, 01:00:40 AM »
Hi everybody, this last weekend I picked up this '86 Samurai from some family friends (they had owned it since new). They were moving and wanted to see the car go to someone who would enjoy it so I got it for a pretty good price. The most it was ever driven in the last ~10 years was to go get smogged every two years, but it passed every time so the registration is current. Because of this lack of driving it only has 83k miles on the clock. Thus far I've just started doing all the normal maintenance stuff (need to do some searching here to figure out what the trans, diffs, and t-case take for fluid) but today it passed smog with flying colors so needless to say it runs well. I'm new to offroading and Suzuki, so I was hoping to leave it stock and have some fun in the dirt, but with the limited tire choice for the stock size some buddies of mine who do some offroading have suggested I raise it enough to fit a more common size tire underneath it. I just need to figure out what the minimum lift I can get away with is as I would like to keep it as stock as possible for now.

Heres some pics.

Pre-Wash:



Post-Wash:


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Offline Yosemite_Sam

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2019, 02:38:47 AM »
Also, forgot to mention that the car came with a bunch of lead substitute for the fuel. Do these have problems with unleaded fuel or was that just the previous owners being paranoid? I tried searching for this but came up empty.

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Offline ebewley

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2019, 12:14:20 PM »
Great ride!.... The lead substitute doesn't make sense. The car is designed for unleaded fuel. It has or had a catalytic converter in the exhaust. (which by the way can be one of the first failures resulting in low power)

I look forward to seeing your journey.

Happy trails, Eric
Eric L. Bewley                               
Editor, ZUKIWORLD Online                   

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Offline Yosemite_Sam

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2019, 01:42:14 AM »
Ok, cool. I won't worry about the lead substitute then. After doing some research and looking under the car I have a good list of maintenance that I need to do, but I'm going to have to park the car untill I can get wheels and tires. The tires on the car right now were made in 1994, so they aren't exactly safe. I also had one of the coolant hoses split and leak out a bunch of coolant on my way to work the other day so I just went ahead and ordered a whole new cooling system (hoses, heater valve, and radiator). As far as tires go I think I'm going to go with some 235/75/15's and some small amount of lift to clear them (possibly an OME kit, not decided yet).

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Offline Yosemite_Sam

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2019, 11:30:20 AM »
I got wheels and tires, so I can now safely drive it. Now I just need a small lift and to install all the cooling system stuff I have and then she'll be all done.


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Offline JollyZuk

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2019, 07:49:18 PM »
Nice looking ride.  Those tires and wheels really set it off nicely.  Good luck with your adventures!  I am sure the “keep it stock” but will pass soon enough!
1995 Sidekick JLX
16v 5 spd, milled head, LROR Stage 2 clutch
2" Spacer lift, XL7 rear springs,  2nd Gen front springs, W-Body GM Struts on front
OEM ROOF RACK!!!

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Offline TrophyMoto

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Re: New to Suzuki and New to Offroading
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2019, 10:19:29 AM »
Wondering if anything else has been done since?
I’m looking for something just like this!
I do like the “just slightly modified “ look and attitude!