Got a '87 sammy from the auto swap this weekend!

[Positive Vibes]

Picked up an '87 (I'm pretty sure its an '87) Suzuki Samarai this weekend at the Turlock swap meet this Sun. Has a little lift, I think around 2.5" with 32x11.5 Mud terrians in really good condition (no spare tire). Spare axles from a toyota along with leafs from a toyota and shock perches. He has more stuff from the toyota I have to pick up. The transfer case is a 6 to 1 ratio with 3.73 gears (I think) with open diffs. Its a soft top, comes with the doors and top. Needs some wiring tlc and some tuning of the carb. Drove it home (couple of miles) ran good except its missing the spring on throttle so it revs down real slow. Hopefully I can pick up the rest of the parts tonite.

Tom I will be needing your expertise advice and guidence with this project, hope you dont mind. Tom are there any good zuk sites out there? I have a ton questions for you!

I don't have a digital camera so no pics, at least not yet.

Thing is like drivin a tonka toy. I swear I felt like a kid driving it. Its tiny!

 

[Hokie]

awesome.. they look like fun toys

how much did you get it for? (if'n you don't mind me asking)

 

[Joey P]

How about some pics? Sounds like a nice toy!

 

[tdavis]

Why did you go do this for?

Good zuk sites.. hmm.. there's only a handful. pirate4x4, ORC, izook, and uhawarrie(?) is it.

I have the factory service manual, electrical diagrams and a frame diagram.

does it have round or square dash vents?

 

[Positive Vibes]

awesome.. they look like fun toys

how much did you get it for? (if'n you don't mind me asking)

He wanted $1200 got him down to $900.

Joe I will try and get some pics up in a week or two.

It doesn't have any manuals or any thing. I guess I need to buy a chiltons or haynes. The electrical is in pretty sad shape but its pretty basic to fix or replace with schematics.

I believe the vents are round. Is that good or bad?

Also found out he is throwing in another xfer case. I think this is off a toyota also.

Tom is it worth swapping axles. Or should I wait for it to break? What about lockers? They cheap? Or did you just weld the gears?

 

[JDraper]

Congrats!! Welcome to the Zuki world . I've been part of http://www.zukiworld.com for a while, but it seems to be heading more towards the Trackers/Sidekicks than the Sammies lately. There are quite a few of us with sammies on that board though.

If you're going to stay under 33" tires, the stock axles will hold up just fine. I've been on 32's and locked in the rear for a while now and no problems. HOWEVER, if you go with a front locker, purchase the upgraded birfield joint cups. If you don't you will grenade the birfield joints sooner or later. The Powertrax lockers are about $199 for the Sammy and they work great.

For parts, I'd recommend the following manufacturers. I got most of my stuff from Rocky Road.

Rocky Road Outfitters
Spidertrax
Calmini
Shrockworks

 

[tdavis]

If you've got the toy axles, swapping them will be good. The zuk axles are known as turds - and all you can do is polish a turd. Like I said - no need to buy any manuals, I have them in electronic form and can also print and bind them up if you need a set.

Lockers - weld the rear, leave the front open if it's the zuk axles. The toys - weld the rear, and lockrite in the front and it's golden (assuming this is going to be a trail rig)

The toy axles will also have a better gear ratio in them - 4.10 to the zuk's 3.73.

Round vents verify that's it a pre-88.5, which have minor differences. Does it have a tachometer in it? If not, those are easy to swap in (gauge cluster swap).

 

[Positive Vibes]

Thanks Tom. If and when you get a chance is there anyway I could get some copies of the schematics?

I'm thinking trail rig only but that means I need a tow rig?? Just don't know. I have 3 vehicles and a boat and I cant' afford them all. So I think the boat is going to go and not sure what to do about the Lexus. And I hate even thinking about getting rid of the X.

Nope no tach. which would be nice to have. Not sure how I'm going to get this thing smogged. He's changed the carb and has most the emission stuff disconnected. There isn't a air filter.

 

[tdavis]

Nope no tach. which would be nice to have. Not sure how I'm going to get this thing smogged. He's changed the carb and has most the emission stuff disconnected. There isn't a air filter.

Your hosed on the smog.. Technically, it's not yours till the seller smogged it.

You can green sticker it, but it should never touch the road then.

I'll check my private download area and get back on the manuals.

 

[Positive Vibes]

JDraper, thanks! I thought your post was from Tom.

I got a buddy who smogged my '74 VW for $100 I think I can get him to do it agian to the sammy. Tom your right he is going to have to smog it before I can buy, at least I'm pretty sure thats Ca law.

 

[JDraper]

For towing the Sammy, I flat tow mine behind my X. Works very well. Only problem is if you bust something that keeps it from rolling

The Haynes manual has a complete set of schematics in it for the Sammy. I can scan some if Tom can't find what you need.

I also now have a second '87 Engine and tranny if you need some parts. The rings in my motor are kinda shot, and it was cheaper for me to buy the new engine/tranny than it was to rebuild my existing motor.

 

[Positive Vibes]

For towing the Sammy, I flat tow mine behind my X. Works very well. Only problem is if you bust something that keeps it from rolling

The Haynes manual has a complete set of schematics in it for the Sammy. I can scan some if Tom can't find what you need.

I also now have a second '87 Engine and tranny if you need some parts. The rings in my motor are kinda shot, and it was cheaper for me to buy the new engine/tranny than it was to rebuild my existing motor.

COOL! Thanks! Not sure if my X would be very good towing. She already hates towing the boat and I think the boat and the Sammy are about the same weight.

 

[JDraper]

Flat towing the Sammy is a LOT more stable than towing a trailer. I've towed a trailer that weighs about the same as the Sammy, and there is no comparison. Because it has 4 wheels on the ground and much better suspension than most trailers, it isn't affected by cross winds, the Explorer doesn't "bob and weave", and I almost forget it's back there. I usually tow it about 2 hours to go wheeling, half highway and half 2 lane. I can run it on rt. 80 at 75 mph with no problems at all. I bought one of the 3500lb tow bars off ebay and it's been great. Here's a pix of my Sammy behind the X.

 

[Positive Vibes]

Is there anything that needs to be done to the sammy to make it towable?

Draper, dont you have a V8? With my winch, bumpers, lockers etc. she may not like towing the sammy but I want to give it a shot. That would be cheaper than buying a tow vehicle but then again it sure would be nice to have a truck with a camper??

 

[tdavis]

Flat towing a sammy for more than 50 miles - you need to disconnect the rear drive shaft (4 bolts).

Does this mean the Explorer is on the verge of being just a street queen? What happened at Frank Raines?

 

[tdavis]

PV - sent you a PM, with the links to wiring diagram, FSM, and Haynes manuals in PDF format. The manuals are LARGE files (200MB, and 65MB in size).

If those are too large, I can burn a CD with them for you.

 

[JDraper]

Actually, if you throw the xfer case into neutral, you can flat tow it any distance without disconnecting the driveshaft (according to my Zuki manual).

Nope, no V-8 here, just the 4.0 SOHC with 3.55 gears. I also still have the skidplates, step bars, and wraparound brushguard on mine. I have the TT/Shackle lift and running on 31's. However, because of the height of the Sammy, I have to use a 6" LIFT bar to get the bumper heights even .

When I tow, I put the zuk tranny in neutral, the xfer case in neutral, and turn on the ignition so the tires track. I've probably put over 1000 miles on the zuk towing it this way with no problems whatsoever. For lighting, I built my rear bumper so that it has a set of 1157 bulbs in it instead of the split lighting the Sammy came with stock. I mounted one of the trailer light converters up under the frame and I use that as the rear wiring harness in the zuk. It has a 4 pin trailer disconnect between the bumper and the wiring harness. I just run a wire from the trailer harness under my X back under the hood of the zuk and through the passenger's compartment. That way my Zuk rear bumper lights work off the X.

For towing, the stock Zuk bumper doesn't cut it. I designed and built my own bumper (with a winch platform in it) out of 1/4" flat steel plate, and it's extremely strong. It's almost identical to the Shrockworks front bumper, but only cost me about $60 total.

PM me if ya have any questions. Tom's Zuk is built up much farther than mine (and will work mucho better for rock crawling), but I've also done a lot of stuff to mine and still kept it road legal.

 

[JDraper]

Oh yeah, btw my Zuk doesn't look like it did in the pix above anymore

 

[Positive Vibes]

Nice rig Draper. What mods have you done to her? You have a roll cage? How long did it take you to make your bumpers? Would you make another one if the price was right???

Tom thanks for the manuals etc!

 

[JDraper]

Thanks!

Geez, mods...where to start...I don't have a custom roll cage...yet...I'm looking at doing one soon. My bumpers took me about 3 hours for the front and 2 hours for the rear. I have a local Amish machine shop that cut the parts out for me into the shapes I needed, and I welded 'em up and did the rest. I've already made another for a friend, but I really would want the vehicle to fit it up. Each fits a little differently, and it would be kinda hard to come to PA for ya....Check out http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72863 for the buildup (with lots of pix) of my Sammy.



Custom paint courtesy of Rust-o-leum Hammercoat Black Spray Bombs
6" Rocky Road weld on SPOA kit with raised shock mounts, extended brake lines and driveshaft extenders
Doetsch Tech Long Travel Shocks

With that combo I'm getting around 24" of wheel travel from full compression to full extension

Over the Top (OTT) stage 1 Steering
Old Man Emu (OME) steering stabilizer
32 x 11.5-15" BFG MT's
15 x 5 x 2.25" Backspace rims
4.16 Xfer Case
Powertrax Lockrite in rear axle.
Mile Marker 9000 lb winch
custom front & rear bumpers with D-Rings
rear light conversion to 1157 (makes towing easier)
custom rock sliders
Custom front track bar (MANDATORY with a SPOA!!! without it the truck wanders all over) I made my own. Let me know if you need the info on it.
Heavy duty gas tank skid plate
Hand throttle
Sumo stage II hi performance head
GM alternator conversion
No sway bars
Electric fuel pump with oil pressure cutout switch (kills the fuel pump in case of rollover)

Here's a shot of it on 31's flexing at Paragon. Wasn't quite fully extended, but you get the idea