I NEED YOUR IMPUT. If you were to build a new samurai crawler today what options would it have. I'm about to start building another one and would like some ideas.

Here is a list of parts I have WHICH I CAN CHANGE WITH SOME GOOD IMPUT
16 v tracker motor
tracker 5spd 4x4 tranny
sammy transfercase (future 6:1)
dana 30 quadratrack front axel
EB dana 44 front axel ( rear stearing)!!!!
ARB for dana44
power trax no slip locker dana30
4:56 gears ( 44 reverse cut)
SUSPENSION????
TIRE SIZE 35 or 36 or 37????
WHEEL BASE 90" 95" 100" ????
body has been choped behind targa

Rick D.:D :D :D

Toy axles with 5.29's and a Klune.

Sell the 'zuk, and buy this one:

http://www.recycler.com/asp/AdDetails.asp?iID=30319&sBAC=760&bSQ=0

Then do a KluneV, toy axles, ps, 1.6 tracker, full cage.

*poof* done, and everyone's jealous!

I'd do it, but I'm in the process of buying a house, and I can't buy anything of value till the house closes.. which is in another 3 weeks.

Grrrr..

dont know the width of the toy axels but the ones i have are 59" wide for better stability.

Rear steer is an awesome trick, but it's not always what it is cracked up to. Besides, if you plan to do real rock crawling the D44 will not hold up in the rear. You'll be replacing 297's every outing. Take it from me, I run a D44 on my front with 33" tires and I have blown up the joint. I'm running a high penion D44 for a rear with 9" housing ends and Moser custom shafts. I used my old Samurai front brakes on the rear and it has been a great setup (I've got drawings available for the bearing retainer/caliper mount if you are interested).

For wheelbase, 36" tires would work great around 90". If you try to go as big as 38's, you'll need to go up to around 95".

One thing to remember with the 16V tracker motor, the torque curve is about 1000 RPM higher than the 8V. With enough gear it should work good, but be careful about hop up parts that add top end. For rock crawling you'll want as much bottom end as possible. Consider retarding the cam timing for a little more grunt.

Personally, I'm a big fan of coil spring suspension, at least for the rear. Coil overs work great on Stadium trucks, but you need a captured spring to retain axle weight on off camber and down hill areas (same thing for 1/4 elips). Remember, on a Samurai the axles and tires make up at least 1/3 of the vehicle's weight. That weight is your stability, you cant afford to let it drop out of sight or hang under a ledge!

On your D30 front end. Get a local machine shop to bore the axle yokes for the 297 joint. It's just 1/8" difference in cap size, but will allow you to run the 297, a much stronger joint than the stock 260! Before you get too excited about Toyota stuff, remember the Birfield joint! The rear axles are just as strong a the D44, but the front just can't hack it. Believe me, my wheelin' buddy ran a Samurai with Toyota axles on 33" tires and he replaced at least one front axle every other trip!

If you go with the EB D44 front for your rear steer, I assume you will go with coils in the back? If you do & stay with the Bronco raduis arms, you need to the "wristed" arm trick or it will not flex worth a crap.

And if you're runnign coils in the rear, why not run them up front?

There- that answers your suspension question:D


Oh Yeah - Welcome Newbie :flipoff2: :D
Now get to work!

"wristed " arm trick? would that be like bolting the back of the radias arm through a three point hitch ball( farmers termanology) simular to a heom joint so it can flex up and down better and doesnt bind like the ridged stock eye set up on the EB. I like the captured spring therory it works for me.

Gotta get started this week end with hopes of finnishing before Easter safari. I would like to post some pictures of the zuk when i get it done. if some body could tell me HOW to get them from my floppy to the post would be great.
thanks for you imput.

Rick D.:D :D

sorry brain fade :zzz: for got to ask what weight coil should i use with stock EB radious arms?:D

There was a post just last week about the wristed radius arm - just surf down a little or search.

Not sure about rear spring rates - the going consensus seems to be #175 for the front, tho.

For a spring rate example, I'm running 5"x13" stock car springs at 150lb/in spring rate. This gives about 3" compression at rest. This assumes near stock weight body and sprung drive line (motor-trans-xfer case). You can get stock car (rear) springs in 11,13, and 16" lengths. I've got the coil bucket on the top of the axle, and bottom of the frame (+3/4" spacer) for about 6" lift over stock height. A 33" tire at full stuff (and articulation) come just inside the top lip of the fender well (with 58" width axles and 8.5" 3-1/2" back spacing {typical} wheels). For bigger tires or wider axles you will probably need a little more height, probably use the 16" spring. You can buy the springs from several online stock car supply places, and the 13" springs run about $35 each. I highly reccomend the stock car springs, they don't sag and you know exactly what spring rate you are getting. Also, think about making an adjustable height coil bucket. No matter how much planning you do, you'll want to go up or down later.... You can buy adjustable buckets for the race cars, however you'll need to modify it to capture the spring.

mark with the 5 " coils that work for you how long are your control arms(radious arms) . the length will make a difference due to leverage.
Rick D.

Actually, my springs are located on the center line of the axle, so the radius rod lengths don't come into play (force is directly inline with the spring). FYI, my lower arms are 30", and upper arms 31".

If I have a Klune I don't know if I would bother with a 1.6, I still think I would have to have EFI though.:)

the 1.6 is the only motor I have that runs, the rest need some work on them. Rick Gersch and I have been buying up all the wrecked or junked out sammys we can find in our area. 7 to date with 2 more located and both have good tubs.

Here is what my

crawl ratio should be 2.82 x 1.81 x 6.1 x 4.56 =141.97 looooooo!
(4.89) =113.81
with 35's
Rick D:D

Originally posted by zukstur
Here is what my

crawl ratio should be 2.82 x 1.81 x 6.1 x 4.56 =141.97 looooooo!
(4.89) =113.81
with 35's
Rick D:D



I'm pretty sure 1st gear in the Tracker 5 speed is 3.652:1. ;)



PS: 3.652 x 4 x 2.82 x 5.29 = 217.9:1 C.R. for Fatkid:D

i've got both a 5 spd and a 4 spd automatic for the 1.6 . been thinking about using the automatic since its a Gm product, hydro glide th 180. it would be easyer on the whole drive train. Not sure how tough it is? I ve been places where Ive started climbing a rock ledge and got most of the way up and need a littile more speed for bumping another ledge to finish the climb( not possibe to shift up ) but out of rpm. it also gives a wider range in each gear. Just something to think about.

Rick D

The Pro-fessionals aren't using slush-boxes for nothing....;)

hay you guys think you can write a book on this and mail it to me :)


just kidding dan:massey: