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YotaAtieToo

YotaAtieToo

Thick skull
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
142
Messages
12,026
Loc
Bonners Ferry, ID
My first vehicle was a samurai, and I quickly went down the path of bigger, longer, more, ect. I'm not sure I even made it a year before I swapped in toyota axles. I always wanted another stockish Sami to put some sxs tires on and use as a sxs. I tried doing the same thing with a 99 4 door kick, and the 2.0 is nice, but the ifs and over all size missed the mark.

Well thanks to Lil,yota i got a mostly complete sami
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Came with a ton of calmini stuff, front and rear bumper with swing out tire carrier, belly pan, diff guards, lift springs, shackle reversal, lift kit, braided brake lines, ect. Plus as it sits it has a YJ spring kit on it.

I'm not sure what combination of parts I'll end up using, but I do know it needs to be lowered quite a bit. I'm thinking spring under in the rear with the YJ leafs and maybe use the stock rears, calmini rears or a combo of them in the front spring under to help with approach angle. Oh, I also have a pair of 44044 wagoneer lift springs that are the same length as the yj leafs but the pin is offset forward, so that's an option also.
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I also have a bunch of kick diffs I can use to regear, I have 2 rear 4.62 diffs I could use in hybrid housings, or a 4.88 front and rear diff I could just use the kick rear axle and the r&p in the sami front. Still up in the air. I'm leaning towards the 1st gen kick rear complete in the sami, with a wider hybrid front.

I'm still undecided on weather I should try to get the 1.3 running as is, or just dump it for the 2.0/3spd :evil:

BTW, most of the calmini stuff is for sale, except the belly pan. Pm me if you're interested.

​​​​​​​I'll upload more pics later.
 
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Well I had to wonder if the tcase was stock with all the other shit done to it. I crawled under and rotated the drive shaft, looks like 4.16 gears :grinpimp: so now I have the option of 4.16 or the 6.4 gears on the shelf.

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got it running off a gas can pretty easily. For some reason the starter turns really slow, even with a charged battery and jumper cables hooked up. I had oriellys bring in a starter just in case. It's also puking fuel out of the pump, damn ethenol fuel:rolleyes:

Still need to do a lot before I can drive it, I have no steering links for it at all. I just ordered some 3/4" hiems for the side shit, so I'll probably order 2 more and just do heim steering, the knuckles on the axle are drilled out anyway.
 
Mine had those same graphics on it when I got it. Do you have the doors with the matching stripes?
 
Whatever you do, properly mount the t/c. I didn't and it completely dismantled my case. I broke and stripped every mounting hole off of it. That Snatch thing was popular back when I built my rig. Never got around to installing it; parted it out before I could.
 
DirtRoads said:
Mine had those same graphics on it when I got it. Do you have the doors with the matching stripes?
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Yes, I have the matching doors. Got to love the 80s graphics :grinpimp:

woods said:
Whatever you do, properly mount the t/c. I didn't and it completely dismantled my case. I broke and stripped every mounting hole off of it. That Snatch thing was popular back when I built my rig. Never got around to installing it; parted it out before I could.
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Yes, I've been down that road a bit as well with my first Sami 15 or so years ago. I thought I could get away with gusseting the stock mounts :laughing:

​​​​​​I installed a snatch on a friend's rig, it was a huge pain and I wasn't a big fan. Buuuuut, it does seem to do the trick. What's the other options these days?
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Yes, I've been down that road a bit as well with my first Sami 15 or so years ago. I thought I could get away with gusseting the stock mounts :laughing:

​​​​​​I installed a snatch on a friend's rig, it was a huge pain and I wasn't a big fan. Buuuuut, it does seem to do the trick. What's the other options these days?
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I made my own at first, but ripped the mounts out of the frame. I then got a Kong Mount, that didn't hold up either. IIRC, there's a rectangular mount on the bottom with four bolts. That block got sheared off and completely busted. Once that goes, the entire thing falls apart. I honestly think that Snatch is going to be your best bet. Something that attaches to the spine of the case.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
. What's the other options these days?
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I have the EOS cradle from Low Range with 6.5:1 gears. It has held up pretty well, I did have to pull it and re weld several spots after a few years. That might be because I am using a really solid poly mount. Some of my friends are using the same mount, no complaints from anyone. I'm also running beefed up frame mounts, the stock ones started to fail.

The snatch also is highly regarded
 
woods said:
I made my own at first, but ripped the mounts out of the frame. I then got a Kong Mount, that didn't hold up either. IIRC, there's a rectangular mount on the bottom with four bolts. That block got sheared off and completely busted. Once that goes, the entire thing falls apart. I honestly think that Snatch is going to be your best bet. Something that attaches to the spine of the case.
Click to expand...

I thought about making my own starting with the zuk parts spine. Probably wouldn't be too hard to just add a few rubber mounts to.

DirtRoads said:
I have the EOS cradle from Low Range with 6.5:1 gears. It has held up pretty well, I did have to pull it and re weld several spots after a few years. That might be because I am using a really solid poly mount. Some of my friends are using the same mount, no complaints from anyone. I'm also running beefed up frame mounts, the stock ones started to fail.

The snatch also is highly regarded
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I just found the eos, I had seen it before, but forgot about it. That's probably what I'll do as I like the style more than the snatch.

I'm surprised that TT hasn't really stepped up. The mk was cool 15 years ago, they have the mk2 but it's barely different.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I thought about making my own starting with the zuk parts spine. Probably wouldn't be too hard to just add a few rubber mounts to.



I just found the eos, I had seen it before, but forgot about it. That's probably what I'll do as I like the style more than the snatch.

I'm surprised that TT hasn't really stepped up. The mk was cool 15 years ago, they have the mk2 but it's barely different.
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The only thing that sucks is that you are buying from trail gear. Not much you can do about that though.
 
DirtRoads said:
The only thing that sucks is that you are buying from trail gear. Not much you can do about that though.
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Ya, I try to go with the little guy when I can. I just personally did not like the snatch design. It seemed like something that was home built, then added to and added to. The eos looks way more clean and easier to install and get to the case for service or repair.
 
Runing TT 6:1 gears and original bucket with oem mounts, I tried the hard mounts and the hinged mounts both wallored mounting holes, went back to stock oem mounts and added weld washer passenger side and a panty liner on drivers side. Toy axles with nitro 4:88's nitro spool and a lunch box front. stock shafts and birfs, front cut and rotated. I built the axles five years ago, the tcase I built in 05, Synthetic gear oil and retorque case every year.
fyi Wheelers offroad has 20% off today only. edit; just realized that Wheelers got bought by TrailMart, The VS of offroad parts.
Get that bitch running and wheel the shit out of it, 2.0 is a finicky interference timing chain kluged up pile of shit imo
 
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I have been reading about sticking with the stock mounts, funny how not too long ago everyone said to throw away the stock mounts.
 
yep, and there are crappy china mounts made to look like oem jap. purple stripe added and bs born on stuff.
 
I also run a full belly skid. regardless of which direction you go, turtle on the t-case mount and shit will break.
 
Well I ordered the eos, i first found it on Amazon so I threw it in the cart. Later I went to order some wheel spacers (lame I know, but these wheels need them) and when I went to check out I was like fuck it, what better time than now :flipoff2:​​​​​​

I hooked up the brake lines (the soft lines were on the floor board for whatever reason) and started gravity bleeding the brakes.

I forgot, the fuel pp wasn't bad, i just didn't put a hose clamp on the temp hose when I was running it out of a 5 gal can, everything hooked up, it's all good now.

These axles are in shitty shape, so I think I'm going to just put my other set in. I think I'm going to try just spua with the YJ leafs in the rear and stock Sami rears in the front. I have multiple interested in the calmini leafs so I'll skip trying those. I may end up just picking up some ome leafs or similar. $400 for front and rear leafs that ride decent and don't make it a monster truck is hard to beat.
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A buddy did his ruf with cj fronts in the rear. It is a hunting rig and rolls 32" bfg alterrains on stock axles with lunchbox lockers front and rear, he made washer spacers for the rear so that it won't unlock. Stiff rig, he likes it.

I ran a Calmini s/r for a short time, great on FR terrible in the rocks, Guys started breaking Calmini springs regular, most switched to yj's.

I have purchased a bunch of aftermarket yj's over the years, they were all offshore, expect them to sag a bunch. a five pack may actually have a sixth helper spring.

The OME's sound interesting.
 
crisbee1 said:
A buddy did his ruf with cj fronts in the rear. It is a hunting rig and rolls 32" bfg alterrains on stock axles with lunchbox lockers front and rear, he made washer spacers for the rear so that it won't unlock. Stiff rig, he likes it.

I ran a Calmini s/r for a short time, great on FR terrible in the rocks, Guys started breaking Calmini springs regular, most switched to yj's.

I have purchased a bunch of aftermarket yj's over the years, they were all offshore, expect them to sag a bunch. a five pack may actually have a sixth helper spring.

The OME's sound interesting.
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I ran 3.5" bds YJ leafs in the front of my 4runner. They were great springs, made in Canada. They even have a lifetime warranty, which I used once. I liked how they were double. Military wrapped also.

I just don't like the idea of that long of a leaf in the front spua with 32s.

For now, I'm going to use what I got. I also have the 44044s that I can experiment with.
 
Purchase price (weaver fab 99-04 high steer set up) -$540
Fuel -$40
Misc auto parts store run (fluids, starter, filters, fuel line, ect) -$200
Sold calmini bumpers +$300

Total as of today -$480

Apparently I posted all that stuff too cheap, I had 4 people asking me to ship the bumpers :laughing: I'm expecting to be right around even into the rig once I off what it came with
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Got the stock rears loosely mocked up. Trying to use as much of what I got as I can. Calmini shackles, and 1 leaf from the calmini lift springs. I couldn't find bushings for the shackle hangers in all of the stuff I have, but I did find steel slugs :laughing: probably for the gay ass shackle reversal brackets. I figured it should keep the shackles from laying over when I steer, we'll see. :laughing:

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I also had to mess with the brakes a little, the front soft lines got plugged up somehow, after I cleaned them and the hard lines they attach to out. I said screw it and robbed the lines off the spare 4 door. Well, they're definitely long enough :laughing: they use a bit different attachment, just a tab with a ~1/4" bolt hole.

While I was there I figured I'd see if the later calipers would fit. I already knew from some previous fuckery that the bolt spacing was the same from the samurai, 1st and 2nd gen track kick. The 1st gen track kick calipers are a direct swap on the Sami axle, and physically looked bigger.

IMG_20200616_175533.jpg


The 2nd gen calipers are much bigger and use a vented rotor. The weird thing is the rotor has almost no "hat" and basically makes you have to run spacers for anything but stock wheels.

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2nd gen track-vitara caliper wouldn't fit between the tabs and the Sami rotor. With the vitara rotor on I would work with about a 1/2" spacer and either trim or remove the dust shield. I might try this later, but for now I'll just use the stock shit. I'd like to try and see if the vitara master will work on the Sami booster.

Also, since the vitara caliper is mounted in the more traditional 3 o clock position vs the Sami 12 o clock, I think bleeding might be an issue. Might have to bleed at the banjo bolt.
 
Ya, I remember those from 15 years ago :flipoff2:​​​​​​

The shocks I have are stem top, so I might just build something simple for now. I have a swag press brake and a ton of 1/8" so why not. :usa:​​​​​
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Ya, I remember those from 15 years ago :flipoff2:​​​​​​

The shocks I have are stem top, so I might just build something simple for now. I have a swag press brake and a ton of 1/8" so why not. :usa:​​​​​
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Nah, get some shocks with eyelets on both sides. I tried shocks with the stem top and it was awful.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Ya, I know, like I said, trying to use what I got. I have some 14" bilstiens, but I don't think those will fit :laughing:
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I hear yea, and I can relate. I fabbed up some mount for the shocks with the stems on them. Seemed fine at first, but when my tire came up on flex, it actually hit the mount. It was all wonky as shit. Honestly, the shocks and mount were really cheap to do. I tried making the stem shocks work, but it was more of a pain than it was worth.
 
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