Hi everyone. I've built some hardcore toyotas in the past, but I'm ready for a smaller vehicle, and am leaning heavily towards a samurai. I think I'd build it with a goal of running 33" tires, not in small part because I've aleady got a couple mounted sets (33x10.50 swampers and some 33x12.50 BFGs) and 33s seem to be plenty for the places I've wheeled (all over the NW and down into California for the rubicon and whatnot).

This vehicle will be a play rig only - not for daily driving. Plans are to lock both ends, put my winches on it, etc.

Can the stock axles handle 33s? i dont want to drop a lot of money into lockers for the stock axles, only to swap out axles later.

How much lift will i need for this, and whats the best way to accomplish this?

I've have a halfway decent shop - air tools, welder, etc...

Not speaking from personal experience, but..........

Trail only rig that will see some abuse? I'd swap in some Toyota pick-up axles. Your already familiar with them and can probably get parts....right?

Some guys around here are swapping 22Rs in as well. The little Samurai mill is pretty sad at times (proper gearing always helps though).

I would go with the 33x10.50s personally. Reason being, you don't have to lift quite as much and you get better contact pressure with the light weight of the Samurai (my theory anyway).

SOA would probably be the way to go for you.......and I always say you might as well go with a longer slightly more arched spring while your at it. '76-'86 Jeep CJ springs are easy to swap in. Others include Bronco, Corolla, Hyundai Pony, and with some work JeepYJ springs.

Front locker............how about Toyota power steering?[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

jo-jo
'77 CJ5 Fozzy Locker
20 degree RTI 1250
'87 Samurai Stock (for now)

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, axles are a big question. At what tire size do sami axles become 'not enough'? I'd probably go Toyota since I've already got some spare third members, lots of 6-bolt wheels, etc. And I do know my way around them
pretty well. On the other hand, Dana parts are pretty cheap. But best
of course would be to not spend the money on other axles if the sami axles
can handle it.

At last year's Team Trophy Challenge I met Al from bc4x4 with the
toyota/wrangler/sami. It was, IMHO, by far the coolest rig there. Total
toyota drivetrain too.

Do some sami's have power steering stock? I'm hoping to keep the stock
engine/tranny/transfer case. The Sami transfer case is a divorced setup,
right? Can it handle a bigger motor, or do you have to plan on
swapping the xfer case if you gt a different motor?

The 33x10.50s are a pretty likely combo for me, and they are great tires.

I do plan on lockers for front and rear.

Again.......I'm no expert on this stuff, but I'm full of opinions.....[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Ya, Al's rig is sweet. He won the Tough Truck here on the island last fall.

There are so many ways one could go.......

It used to be that you were stuck with trying to find a beefier "off-set" rear axle. Land Cruiser axles and old Jeep Dana 44s have been used. I would think the LC diff would be a little overkill for most applications (guessing, but they look damn heavy to me). The older "off-set" Dana 44s are not the greatest either. "10 and 19 spline two piece axles" just doesn't have a very nice ring to it.[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Lately I saw some Suzukis that had Toy truck diffs, and all they did was remount the t-case at a slight angle.

Will the stock axles handle the 33s? Probably for a while.........I'm sure there are tons of people running the stock axles like that. I personally wouldn't bother putting money into them though. I know a guy who runs 32s on stock axles........er....um.......I mean he used to run stock axles until he got sick of breaking them.[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

It's like the Dana 35s on YJs. Some guys have had no problems with 35" tires and a locker, while others of promptly blown a c-clip with 33s and open.

Me, I'm thinking I might go with a Dana30 front to elliminate those stupid Birfields. Then maybe a Toy rear or my Model 20.

Yes divorced.......I've heard the Sami t-case takes a lot of abuse except when they are hit hard. Plan on building a decent skid plate.

The Toy power steering can be mated to the stock Sami engine as far as I know.

jo-jo
'77 CJ5 Fozzy Locker
20 degree RTI 1250
'87 Samurai Stock (for now)

To clear 33's you'll need to do a spring over and add 1.5" or more lifted springs.The Samurai axles are somewhat marginal with 33"
tires and lockers depending on how hard you wheel.The Birfield joints tend to go first but these can be strenthened with reinforcing
rings from several venders or Trail Tough has heavy duty front axleshaft/Birfield assemblys.Calmini has stonger rear axleshafts and
Spidertrax has complete full floating rear axle assemblies.I'd give modified Samurai axles a try before going to a different brand,thats
what most people I wheel with are running.
For a unit you can pickup with one hand the Samurai transfer case is amazingly strong.Breakage is almost unheard of.There are two
different sets of reduction gears available,4.16 and 4.89 low range(2.27 is stock).
The1.3 liter motor is completely adequate for trail use if it's 100% but leaves a lot to be desired for the street.The most practicle swap
is a 8 valve 1600L motor from a Sazuki Sidekick/Tracker.
I dont believe Samurai's ever came with power steering.There's two conversions available,one uses Sidekick components and the other
uses Toyota parts.If you're going to spend a lot of time in the rocks the Toyota conversion would be the best choice since it's much more
powerful.
One word of caution,since Zuks have such a short wheel base they have a slightly greater tendency to do wheelies and endoes than a
long wheelbase Toy pickup.It's no problem,just drive accordingly and don't lift your rig any higher than what it takes to clear the tires.


rollerskate
(That's what I was told my Samurai resembles)[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/mad.gif[/img]