- Joined
- Apr 29, 2021
- Member Number
- 3864
- Messages
- 47
I've been lurking here for a while and figured I should jump in and do a write up on my Samurai. I bought it back in 2016, it was a rolling chassis (no engine, no transfer case and a basket of random parts in the back). I parked it on the property and it sat until late 2019, at that point I started tearing it down to do a full frame up build. It was painted black with a white soft top, it had been sitting in someones yard for a long time. Typical nasty interior from rodents and such.
However, it had almost zero rust and the body was straight so at the time I had found a really nice candidate for the build I wanted to do. At this point racing with Ultra4 wasn't even a thought in my mind. I had only seen King of the Hammers for the first time in 2018. So, come early 2020 I find out some bad news about my health and to make a long story short, I'm fine now, but at the time it was unclear how much longer I'd be here. At this same time I had watched Amber Turner race her Samurai at KOH, which to me was badass seeing a Samurai on such a grand stage. I thought well dammit I better do something cool and here I had a blank slate with my Samurai. Let's go racing!
From that point on it has completely snowballed out of control into what it is today and I'm still not finished with it...
I've documented most of the build up to this point on Instagram (the_ham_sami) so if you would like to see from the beginning thats where that will be. I'm going to pick this thread up where I'm at with the car today. I feel that I'm at a point where I can start to contribute some tech and I'm hoping to get some tech input/feedback from the collective hive-mind here at Irate
At this point I've got a solid suspension setup with some custom springs built to our specs from Jeff at Deaver. Tyler at ADS has a great tune in our shocks currently. We now have a solid engine package that Petroworks put together for us as well. Overall I'm very pleased with what we've managed to get out of this little Samurai, but I think there's more in it.
Our biggest struggle is the desert lap at KOH (no surprise). Short wheelbase and leaf springs makes for a tough first lap. Which brings me to our current goals for the coming year in preparation for KOH2024. Weight bias, unsprung/sprung weight.
On the scales at tech we weighed 2900lbs in full race trim, 53% front - 47% rear weight bias. From what I can gather the desert racing/pre-runner crowd hang some weight out back (spare tires) to shift some of that bias off the front. I'm wanting to do the same in hopes of gaining some compliance when we get into the rollers out on lap 1. We can hang with most of the class in the sandy washboard sections but we get left in the dust when the rollers start getting deep. I know our wheelbase will always be a hinderance but I think having other areas lacking as well it all compounds into a chassis that will get out of shape on you in a hurry.
First thing I've thought to do is relocate the spare tire. Up until now it has been stood up in the back on the driver side, directly above the rear axle. The logical place to move it is laid flat and hanging partially out of where the rear door/tail gate normally would be. Think Bomber Chassis style mounting. I've got the extra tubing laying around and some time these next few weekends so that's where I'm going to start.
Here's how its been for the last 2 years.
Here's what I have as a mock-up for the new location.
However, it had almost zero rust and the body was straight so at the time I had found a really nice candidate for the build I wanted to do. At this point racing with Ultra4 wasn't even a thought in my mind. I had only seen King of the Hammers for the first time in 2018. So, come early 2020 I find out some bad news about my health and to make a long story short, I'm fine now, but at the time it was unclear how much longer I'd be here. At this same time I had watched Amber Turner race her Samurai at KOH, which to me was badass seeing a Samurai on such a grand stage. I thought well dammit I better do something cool and here I had a blank slate with my Samurai. Let's go racing!
From that point on it has completely snowballed out of control into what it is today and I'm still not finished with it...
I've documented most of the build up to this point on Instagram (the_ham_sami) so if you would like to see from the beginning thats where that will be. I'm going to pick this thread up where I'm at with the car today. I feel that I'm at a point where I can start to contribute some tech and I'm hoping to get some tech input/feedback from the collective hive-mind here at Irate
At this point I've got a solid suspension setup with some custom springs built to our specs from Jeff at Deaver. Tyler at ADS has a great tune in our shocks currently. We now have a solid engine package that Petroworks put together for us as well. Overall I'm very pleased with what we've managed to get out of this little Samurai, but I think there's more in it.
Our biggest struggle is the desert lap at KOH (no surprise). Short wheelbase and leaf springs makes for a tough first lap. Which brings me to our current goals for the coming year in preparation for KOH2024. Weight bias, unsprung/sprung weight.
On the scales at tech we weighed 2900lbs in full race trim, 53% front - 47% rear weight bias. From what I can gather the desert racing/pre-runner crowd hang some weight out back (spare tires) to shift some of that bias off the front. I'm wanting to do the same in hopes of gaining some compliance when we get into the rollers out on lap 1. We can hang with most of the class in the sandy washboard sections but we get left in the dust when the rollers start getting deep. I know our wheelbase will always be a hinderance but I think having other areas lacking as well it all compounds into a chassis that will get out of shape on you in a hurry.
First thing I've thought to do is relocate the spare tire. Up until now it has been stood up in the back on the driver side, directly above the rear axle. The logical place to move it is laid flat and hanging partially out of where the rear door/tail gate normally would be. Think Bomber Chassis style mounting. I've got the extra tubing laying around and some time these next few weekends so that's where I'm going to start.
Here's how its been for the last 2 years.
Here's what I have as a mock-up for the new location.