Build 1988 Samurai Turned Buggy

When I flexed it out it left about a 1/2” of shaft showing. So I realize full bump isn’t going to be a full 5” or 4”. But it still affects my overall belly clearance.

I’m going to leave it where it is for now.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
How much pressure in the shocks?
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I can’t remember. I use Tydes equation. So it has to do with adjusting it by like 10 ml of oil to 10 psi of nitrogen to get where you need it.

I have it saved somewhere. You have a baseline and then add above to get ride height. He said it works great.
 
Steering and coolant are pretty much done other than adding more hose clamps and adjusting my mounting on some.

Ended up getting a heck of a deal on my hydro hose, but it’s 5,000psi. Pretty hard to work with.

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FleshEater said:
You weren’t joking when you said you can run out of room fast. Passenger floor underside is getting full.
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Yep. I always try and somewhat plan ahead of where everything is going to roughly go. Makes it a little easier when the time comes if you already know you’ve left yourself some real estate for misc. stuff.
 
Byro said:
Yep. I always try and somewhat plan ahead of where everything is going to roughly go. Makes it a little easier when the time comes if you already know you’ve left yourself some real estate for misc. stuff.
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I’m doing the same, but also trying to plan for a possible Dana 300 swap.

I know if I swap the engine it’s just going to cascade into a whole new drivetrain mounting headache.
 
FleshEater said:
I’m doing the same, but also trying to plan for a possible Dana 300 swap.

I know if I swap the engine it’s just going to cascade into a whole new drivetrain mounting headache.
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Not sure why you would swap a Dana 300 in with your current setup unless you change to an auto.
If you put in a Dana 300 even with 4:1 gears, you will only have 84:1 first gear if nothing else changes. Your current setup should be 224:1 first gear with lots more gearing options. Unless your doing an auto or 300/doubler setup, this is a downgrade from what you already have.
 
2 86s said:
Not sure why you would swap a Dana 300 in with your current setup unless you change to an auto.
If you put in a Dana 300 even with 4:1 gears, you will only have 84:1 first gear if nothing else changes. Your current setup should be 224:1 first gear with lots more gearing options. Unless your doing an auto or 300/doubler setup, this is a downgrade from what you already have.
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I was just going to swap out the rear Toyota case and run a Toyota/Dana 300 doubler with the manual. Just for a stronger case and front wheel drive.
 
That's a thought but without building the Dana 300, I'm not sure if it's much of a strength upgrade. If you plan to do front digs without worry, you will want a 32 spline front output. Then you want 32 spline rear output, then you'll consider 4:1 gears and soon you are in Atlas territory. It can be a can of worms.
Your Toyota cases are as built as possible. I would suggest getting this running and wheeling before deciding on what you want to change for it to be what you want.
BTW, your rig is looking sweet and I really dig it!
 
2 86s said:
That's a thought but without building the Dana 300, I'm not sure if it's much of a strength upgrade. If you plan to do front digs without worry, you will want a 32 spline front output. Then you want 32 spline rear output, then you'll consider 4:1 gears and soon you are in Atlas territory. It can be a can of worms.
Your Toyota cases are as built as possible. I would suggest getting this running and wheeling before deciding on what you want to change for it to be what you want.
BTW, your rig is looking sweet and I really dig it!
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I mean, a built Dana 300 is expensive, but not $4,200 expensive. :laughing:

Decisions will be made AFTER wheeling this, but at the plumbing phase I had to plumb around a possibly larger t-case. Just in case.

Now if the whole drivetrain gets swapped in 5 years that will be a huge endeavor.
 
i forget how deep of gears in the axle you have but if they are deep then your current tcase will last. and if i was ever gonna change i would go full ****** and do the atlas. but again your stuff should last a long time. i mean a long time. front dig is cool but its not upgrade to a dana 300 cool. upgrade all the way. but this is just my 2 cents. and again your **** is plenty of awesome so enjoy the cool buggy. :smokin:
 
FleshEater said:
I mean, a built Dana 300 is expensive, but not $4,200 expensive. :laughing:

Decisions will be made AFTER wheeling this, but at the plumbing phase I had to plumb around a possibly larger t-case. Just in case.

Now if the whole drivetrain gets swapped in 5 years that will be a huge endeavor.
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2spd atlas is $2850 with shifters, pretty easy to hit that with D300 upgrades
 
YotaAtieToo said:
2spd atlas is $2850 with shifters, pretty easy to hit that with D300 upgrades
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This has made me question why people start with a dana 300 for years.

Also, in my uneducated opinion, wheeling with friends that had front dig, and I never have. You’ll rarely if ever actually need it or use it. Especially in a buggy this small.
 
the only time i ever saw front dig used was at SMORR. true grit i think. there is a big ledge with a nice bit of under cut and pain in the ass to get up. well randy pulled up to, engauge front dig on the 205, put rig in reverse and proceeded to scoop a good amount of rock in front of the ledge making himself a better approach. clever i thought.
 
Covecrawler said:
This has made me question why people start with a dana 300 for years.

Also, in my uneducated opinion, wheeling with friends that had front dig, and I never have. You’ll rarely if ever actually need it or use it. Especially in a buggy this small.
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My biggest concern is the steering of the Toyota axles compared to tons. 30-35 degrees is limiting, so figured front dig could be a good compromise.
 
FleshEater said:
My biggest concern is the steering of the Toyota axles compared to tons. 30-35 degrees is limiting, so figured front dig could be a good compromise.
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Eh, you get used to it. My Yota axles are spooled front and rear, so I'm just used to it turning like crap. Still get by without front dig. I'll build a rear steer axle before I switch out my doubler setup.
 
Covecrawler said:
This has made me question why people start with a dana 300 for years.
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Same way guys end up with ~$5k Toyota cases, one piece at a time, or just stupidity. :laughing:


Covecrawler said:
Also, in my uneducated opinion, wheeling with friends that had front dig, and I never have. You’ll rarely if ever actually need it or use it. Especially in a buggy this small.
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I think it's useful, but also not magic. You need to be set up for it or it can just dig holes or just drag the rear tires.
 
FleshEater said:
I mean, a built Dana 300 is expensive, but not $4,200 expensive. :laughing:

Decisions will be made AFTER wheeling this, but at the plumbing phase I had to plumb around a possibly larger t-case. Just in case.

Now if the whole drivetrain gets swapped in 5 years that will be a huge endeavor
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I may be slightly off but I think a BUILT Behmouth cased Dana 300 with gears, 32 spline outputs and all the case upgrades is in the $4,800 range. I love 300's and if you listen to he gear makers....the strength is on par or greater than an atlas. The weak link on a "built" 300 was always the case.....now that's no longer an issue.

FLAME SUIT ON. LOL
 
Blase said:
I may be slightly off but I think a BUILT Behmouth cased Dana 300 with gears, 32 spline outputs and all the case upgrades is in the $4,800 range. I love 300's and if you listen to he gear makers....the strength is on par or greater than an atlas. The weak link on a "built" 300 was always the case.....now that's no longer an issue.

FLAME SUIT ON. LOL
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This is their new cast case

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I'd still go atlas personally.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
This is their new cast case

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I'd still go atlas personally.
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If they did a cast replace a case for a reasonable price I’d do one. I did the “build a 300 $500 at a time” trick. It works and I’ve not broke :knock on wood: it even behind a warmed over V8 and a heavy foot. After unboxing my Atlas there is a noticeable size increase to the Atlas so I see the draw there. In a smallerish buggy the Apex case would be a good choice.
 
Well, my pot of spaghetti is down to a single serving bowl. :flipoff2:

Plan is to go through this and clean it all up as perfectly as I can. But, everything is cut off and I think I got the harness figured out. My buddy, who knows electric like no one I’ve met, is coming over Saturday to map out everything.

Still messy.

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Choppy, choppy.
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Check fit.
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Mounted some important things.
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Still have this to deal with.
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FleshEater said:
Not done yet, figuring out the switch panel, and maybe the ECU location…just not a fan. Big fear is a roll wiping out the ECU.

Plan is also to wrap the aluminum edges in some sort of rubber to try and limit dust and water.
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What about when you roll your buggy into some water? I would mount it on the middle up under your “not dash”.
 
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