Well I finally got to take my Zuki in the mountains on Saturday. My older brother was going with me & my 14 yr old son, my brother has a fullsize 83 Bronco. Nothing against Broncos, I wheeled an 86 for about 3 yrs & it was one of the most fun, dependable vehicles I've owned. My brother likes to tinker with his Bronco constantly, due to diabetes for over 25 yrs, a kidney transplant & part of one foot amputated he's been on disability for several years. He has a lot of time to mess with his truck & has a lot of homegrown modifications.
We stopped by McDonalds on the way out of town, when my brother was leaving the parking lot his truck died & wouldn't restart. His Bronco is very heavy & was sitting in the middle of the parking lot, too heavy to push by hand so I pushed him out of the way with my Zuki. We got his truck started but once we were in the mountains he started to have fuel problems & it died again & again.
We managed to get his truck all the way down to Boulder, about 15 miles from home when it died on the street & we couldn't get it started. It was about 20 feet from a donut shop driveway so I hooked a tow strap to him & pulled him UP the driveway into the donut shop parking lot. Like I said his Bronco is heavy, he carries a lot of gear but the little Zuki pulled him to a safe place to leave the vehicle.
He got the Bronco home later that night with the help of a mechanic friend. Unfortunately I didn't get to put the transfer case into LO but we did manage to run a real easy trail/dirt road and the weather was beautiful. I must say as a new Zuki owner I'm impressed with mine, it's a tough little truck.



Andy Bridgeman Longmont, CO '87 Samurai (Shih Tzuki)stock drivetrain/Calmini 2" SR/235-15 Hi Tec MT's/rem. doors with quick disconnects/Robyn 23 Chan CB/

And it just keeps getting better Andy. The irony is that we love them so much we just gotta change them [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Scott Whitmore
"It's not that it's able to do the job. It's that it does the job so well"

great to hear your story man. been there before, gots to luv a zuk!!!!
BiLLy bOb



Do unto others as you want done to you!
If you pack it in, pack it out!

reminds me when i pull-started a big-ass TLC diesel monster in the center of santiag...

had to put it into 4low tho to get the elefant moving...(4 wheels spinning on asphalt)...

... but it made me a new friend.... ;o)

later
Alfred

Reminds me of 3 days ago, pulling my father's heavy cargo trailer up his driveway. We used my Samurai since has a shorter wheelbase and better turning radius than his Grand Cherokee. Unfortunately, the trailer weighs about as much as my Samurai. So pulling it up the driveway (trust me, it's the steepest driveway you'd ever see!) required 4wd low range. I got the trailer going, but then my front tires lifted up into the air. So I stepped on the brake, and the trailer dragged me backwards down the hill a couple feet, all 4 tires sliding! I finally said "screw it" because off-road I'm never afraid to have tires in the air...I just kept my foot down as the front of the Samurai lifed, and I pulled that sucker all the way up to the road. [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I probably won't do that again, but I had to do it once just to prove to myself that it could be done with a Samurai. That trailer's so heavy, my Samurai probably couldn't get it going more than 50mph tops on the highway. But of course, the 5.9 V8 in the Jeep has no problem. Sometimes I wish I had a big-cube motor in my Zuk, but off-road I think it's a detriment. Who needs the weight of a big motor if they have sufficient gearing? Just don't expect to be able to go very fast.

I've pulled out countless vehicles that seriously outweigh my Samurai. The only ones I've turned down helping were a Hummer and a 4wd tow truck, both of them chained up and buried to their frames in the snow. No way my little Zuk would stand a chance against those behemoths!

-- Geoff Beasley

i helped a neighbor. He has a VERY steep driveway. and it was icy, so he didnt want to gun it, either way he was stuck b/c he couldnt back out since there was tons of ice and snow there. he was stuck at the bottom. about half way up there wasnt any ice, i got up there on the zuk hooked up a tow strap and pulled him and his f150 (2WD) up until he could put er in park. was fun, b/c at first i couldnt make it up.

~GooT~
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Do not drink and park, accidents cause people.