Sam I am

[SLOWPOKE693]

That thing had some weird axles in it that Trail Tough had built for him. If I remember correctly they were Sidekick housings and 3rds with a full float kit on the rear and D44 inner C's & knuckles with an adapter to run Sidekick? bearings hubs and brakes. In fact it had the same setup on all 4 corners. They looked pricey.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

That thing had some weird axles in it that Trail Tough had built for him. If I remember correctly they were Sidekick housings and 3rds with a full float kit on the rear and D44 inner C's & knuckles with an adapter to run Sidekick? bearings hubs and brakes. In fact it had the same setup on all 4 corners. They looked pricey.

The super purist guys crack me up. Spend a dick load of money just to say you have "suzuki" axles. :rolleyes:​​​​​​

I might build some semi dumb suzuki axles, just because I have so many parts. Not planning on some crazy hybrid made up of a bunch of one off parts though.

Why adapt the zuk spindles to the D44 knuckle?

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Why adapt the zuk spindles to the D44 knuckle?

The reason I was given by Brett at Trail Tough was because the D44 knuckles gave them more steering angle without binding than a Toyota axle would have.

Seemed like just running a narrowed 44 would be the easiest solution, but like you said...... Suzuki purists are a special breed.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

The reason I was given by Brett at Trail Tough was because the D44 knuckles gave them more steering angle without binding than a Toyota axle would have.

Seemed like just running a narrowed 44 would be the easiest solution, but like you said...... Suzuki purists are a special breed.

Could just redrill a Toyota axle to 5x5.5, run the samurai dials and just tell everyone it's a suzuki axles.

 

[Kowboy]

I built a Sami for a customer like 8yrs ago ...

Looks and sounds familiar ... do believe I've done drove that rig sir. If'n it's the one I'm thinkin', he had it up for sale 'bout 6 years ago I reckon and I test drove it at his house in CT before I bought my JK. Nice build for damn sure.

Just too small for my big ass. And WAY too slow goin' down the road.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Looks and sounds familiar ... do believe I've done drove that rig sir. If'n it's the one I'm thinkin', he had it up for sale 'bout 6 years ago I reckon and I test drove it at his house in CT before I bought my JK. Nice build for damn sure.

Just too small for my big ass. And WAY too slow goin' down the road.

Thanks!

Yes sir, that was the rig. Don't feel bad, my big ass didn't fit in it either. And slow was an understatement! Great wheeling rig, horrible street rig though.

First day it hit the trails after I finished it. You will probably recognize the driver....

 

[Kowboy]

You will probably recognize the driver....

Yessir. He was a really nice man and very proud of the rig. Don't recollect why he was sellin' but I know the good sellin' price is why I paid him a visit.



OP .... my apologies for the hijack.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Gee, that looks like it sucks.


I'm totally jealous!

 

[Wulf]

I'm totally jealous!

Me too!

 

[YotaAtieToo]

So I've been pushing my luck cruising this thing with nothing but head lights :rolleyes:

I ordered these 2/1 lights from Amazon, to make things simple. They also make a red with amber center if you don't want to do the 5/4 converter and run separate reverse lights. I kinda wish I would have went this route because the reverse section doesn't look super bright (I haven't actually had them out at night though.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NRYDSBH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_F0ncFb2VQ7GQC?tag=91812054244-20

Then I had to add a 5 to 4 wire converter. Jap rigs like to run a separate blinker and brake light. Just picked one up from napa in the trailer section. $15 and it does the job fine. You do loose hazards if that matters to you.

Then I had to fix the fast blink with the low resistance LED's. Used an ep35 from autozone in place of the stock relay. Works perfectly

https://irate4x4.com/suzuki/67159-fast-blink-led-fix-for-samurai#post67159

Now I just need to build the bumper to house them.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

finished this up today. Would have only taken a few hours, but the dimple dies got away from me

 

[Slander]

Sweet!! A sami build is on my wheeling bucket list, I always thought they would be fun. Like the direction of the build!

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Sweet!! A sami build is on my wheeling bucket list, I always thought they would be fun. Like the direction of the build!

It's so much fun, a Sami was my first vehicle and I always wanted another.

I can't drive it anywhere with out smiling like an idiot.

 

[Slander]

It's so much fun, a Sami was my first vehicle and I always wanted another.

I can't drive it anywhere with out smiling like an idiot.

Yea I bet, looks like a blast!!

 

[2big bronco]

Looks good and looks like you did a fancy job copying my bumper. Why didn't you make it out of box tube though? Oh and simple front bumper I made

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Looks good and looks like you did a fancy job copying my bumper. Why didn't you make it out of box tube though? Oh and simple front bumper I made

Copy? You think you're the first to make a 2x4 box tune bumper for a samurai ​​​​​​

It is box tubing, I just butchered the shit out of it for the dimple dies.

I'm waiting on the front. I really want to cut the frame at the motor mount, go straight out and run some soft leafs with enough arch to get the shackles out of the dirt.

Thinking about toyota front (all poo or trail queer) with a few leafs removed.

 

[2big bronco]

Copy? You think you're the first to make a 2x4 box tune bumper for a samurai ​​​​​​

It is box tubing, I just butchered the shit out of it for the dimple dies.

I'm waiting on the front. I really want to cut the frame at the motor mount, go straight out and run some soft leafs with enough arch to get the shackles out of the dirt.

Thinking about toyota front (all poo or trail queer) with a few leafs removed.

It was a pain in the ass to dimple. You could have bought a lot of sami parts for the cost of a rattlesnake bite

 

[YotaAtieToo]

It was a pain in the ass to dimple. You could have bought a lot of sami parts for the cost of a rattlesnake bite

Verdict is still out on that bill. I told the wife she better be catching every mouse in the area when she comes back.

Pretty amazing how a ~7 lb animal can take a snake bite to the face that can kill a 200 lb human.

 

[2big bronco]

Verdict is still out on that bill. I told the wife she better be catching every mouse in the area when she comes back.

Pretty amazing how a ~7 lb animal can take a snake bite to the face that can kill a 200 lb human.

Heard it's not looking good. Hoping for the best

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Heard it's not looking good. Hoping for the best

Ya, it was looking like she was fine, then blood work came back bad. Keeping her overnight and may try another dose of antivenom in the morning.

I'm not a cat guy by any means, but she was pretty cool. Kept the mice population down and out of the house.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Spent some time getting this thing a little winterized. The plan is to use a "Windjammer" and a bikini top for a truck cab type setup. The problem I'm having is the only bikini tops available are what they call the strapless version, they end right at the targa and strap to the stock roll bar. This leaves a gap between the targa and the roll bar that the Windjammer also hooks to. I have some rubber strips I'll use on the sides either way, I may have to use it up top also.

I did have to clearance the side pieces of the targa to fit around the cage, wasn't bad at all. The top piece I just gave a slight bend and it all bolted up.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Adapters showed up, I'm normally not a fan of 2 piece adapters, but since this thing is so light, I think it will be fine. It's got 6 bolts holding the halfs together that are larger than the wheels studs.

Bolted one up, had to sand down about 1/8" of the Sami studs since I got the thinnest adapters I could (1.5")

 

[YotaAtieToo]

So I decided to spend a little bit on this thing.

Ordered TG rear Sami springs to try in the front, a spartan locker and fricken RCV's!

Also, I highly recommend using the Irate parts counter. I spaced on doing it untill I got the rcv's, but was able to get a great price on them.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Your going to need hydro assist to turn those tracks crawling around in the snow.

I know a guy........

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Your going to need hydro assist to turn those tracks crawling around in the snow.

I know a guy........

I'm trying to convince myself I DON'T need hydro assist for them the talon turned them fine with no other electric things running. The wiper and heater fan was enough to drop the voltage and trip the steering shut off. That was even trying to be easy on it.

I'm thinking just regular power steering *should* be fine. My buddy has everything off an 8v for $100, including the alternator and pulleys to just go to serp belts.

Only actually trying it will tell.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

I switched from manual hubs to drive flanges because the tracks don't have a through hole and I didn't want to run a 4" adapter. The stock flanges off the 2nd gen tracker are a perfect fit. The only thing is they don't use come washers. I was a little worried about just regular bolts coming loose or breaking so I went with some arp bolts. P# ARP 134-1002

On my last toyota axle, I drilled it all out to 7/16" and then used arp bolts, even though these hub locking hubs will interchange with the Toyota, the wheel hub and drive flange just didn't have the meat for that.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Little more progress, plan is to go up for new years. Got the TG springs in, of course the mil wrap wouldn't fit in the new hole I had drilled for the stock rears, so I had to chop off stock spring hangers and weld on new ones.

Did some other random shit like had the wife help me sew up some strips to fill the gap on the Windjammer deal.

Also got one of the front anti rotation brackets finished. Tomorrow should go fairly quickly

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Not enough snow to really need tracks, but a good test for everything either way. All worked like it should, most importantly the heater kept us warm

The gearing is decent, (4.16 case and effectively 14" tires) lower would be better though as it won't quite idle along. I may throw my 6.4 case in and try that. The only thing is that in my old Sami, sometimes reverse was too slow. I'd like to put the 4.88s I have in, but I'd need to do a hybrid rear for the kick 3rd.

 

[JR4X]

Not enough snow to really need tracks, but a good test for everything either way. All worked like it should, most importantly the heater kept us warm

The gearing is decent, (4.16 case and effectively 14" tires) lower would be better though as it won't quite idle along. I may throw my 6.4 case in and try that. The only thing is that in my old Sami, sometimes reverse was too slow. I'd like to put the 4.88s I have in, but I'd need to do a hybrid rear for the kick 3rd.

How hard is it to steer it?