im doin a 1.6l vw diesel swap in my 410, and doin the yota axles at the same time..


my question is, how low is too low?

option #1: tracker 5speed/t-case to a sammi case *all stock ratios* to toys with 5.29's and 35's, crawl ratio about 78:1, and top gear ratio of 5.88:1

option #2: sami 5 speed, lj-80 case, sami case *all stock ratios* to the toys, 5.29 and 35's. crawl ratio around 130:1 top gear ratio of about 11:1

the second nets the greatest crawl.. but limis the vw powered rig to about 80kph *50 mph*

the alternative would be more speed friendly, but is 80:1 low nuff for 35's?




my last set up was a 16v to auto 4speed, to x-90 rear axle, sammi front with 5.13's and 31's, the 30:1 crawl was not an issue cuz of the auto, so i need a lil input as for how low is low nuff.

crawl is less of an issue compare to your high range. Shoot for a high range comparable to stock on 31's. The diesel has soooo much more idle torque, even the 1.6NA.
My 1.9 idled fine on 35's with stock gears, climbed hills too - but no rocks here - your 78:1 would work in rocks, I bet. The engine will pull it, question may be is the idle speed mph low enough for rocks? Again, I am no help with the rocks.

DeepMud,

What's your opinion of a 1.9TD as a daily driver in a Suzuki with 35's? That would be running Toy diffs of course to handle the tires.

I've got a stock case, and a 4.16 case also.

Thanks

I am extremely interested in this thread! I am thinking of doing the very same mod! I have had my beloved Sammy for 14+ years, and will probably give away 2 complete stock drive trains when this project is complete.

Deepmud... if you could briefly describe your drivability etc. of your Diesel setup, I'd appreciate it. I go 80 MPH easily now, and would at least expect that from a Diesel 1.9 TDI. Besides, I am running free grease in my F-250 and adding a Mercedes Diesel to my corral, and ditching my Crown Vic! I love free fuel, and don't want to part with Sammy! She's been very good to me for decades now!

Thanks!

It seems to me what you need to make the diesel a DD and a crawler is to get rid of the sami t-case and get a case with a 1:1 high range. I think the ideal would be dual Yota t-cases and 5.29's behind a diesel. That would put you at 3,000 rpm at 65 mph and give you a crawl ratio about as low as you could ever want to go.

Tusker's right. The Sammy t-case isn't diesel friendly.
Weird how these diesel conversion thread pop up "new" every so often. :D Make sure you search and read up Kac and Perry and K5 et al.

I DD'd my Sammy on 35's with stock EVERYTHING, broke a r&p in the rear when bouncing up a ledge, and two 5ths with my turned up 1.9td.
You get a TDI and 80 will be EASY. Especially a 1:1 tcase, and since you consider the 1.9TDI, you should very much consider ACME's Toyota/VW plate, which gets you the toy trans and case (or do the divorced toyota, but I don't give the sam trans much chance with a TDI). I got one, and it bolted up SWEET. I haven't got it running again, however, because I am doing locked 4.88 toys, toy pwr steering, coils w/one-link f&r, and bobbed the back, while cutting and lifting to fit the set of 39.5 boggers I picked up :D along with the stock toy trans and tcase so lots of crazy mods.

My old drive trains was about 3k at 65 I guess - the IDI 1.9td pulled it fine, and even better when I turned up the pump and boost. I may regret the 4.88's on the road when all is said and done, especially when I take off the 39's and try 35s as a street tire - gearing will be lower with 4.88's than the stock zuk, even with the 1:1 hi.

DeepMud,

What's your opinion of a 1.9TD as a daily driver in a Suzuki with 35's? That would be running Toy diffs of course to handle the tires.

I've got a stock case, and a 4.16 case also.

Thanks

If you put toys in it, get a divorce Toy tcase or an ACME adapter w/Toy trans - or you might try their Kick adapter - Kicks being 1:1 in high. In DD terms, the taller the gears the better. ACME doesn't recommend taller than 31s with the NA 1.6, I think 33's would work with it. With a 1.9td, I think a stock Toy diff would be great with a Toy trans as a daily driver, and would still work well off road. If the 4.88's I picked up weren't already wrapped around lockers, I would be trying the stock 4:11 - if I can't stand the 4.88, I may move the lockers to some stock diffs.

Thanks DeepMud. I just wanted to confirm the 1.9Td w/35's will be ok as a dd in my LWB. I do have a dual toy case setup sitting around, and I'll probably go that route eventually (w/Toy trans and axles). For the short term I may just run the 1.9TD w/Suzuki trans (rebuilt of couse and w/synthetics as recommended at the Suzuki diesel board), stock axles and a 34" Swamper.

According to David Kerr (Acme Adapters) the 1.9TDI is about 3" longer and 1" taller than the 1.9TD. Some fancy electronics also. It has amazing torque and hp (~145hp and 149ft/lbs if I recall correctly) but a more difficult swap. I haven't hear of anyone doing this into a Sammy yet. I'd love one!

there is a 1.9td and a 1.9tdi whitch needs a brain,'96 and newer,anyhow funny how this thread poped up now.i've been planning my next build up,i've always wanted to do the 1.9,and now i have just aquired some toy axles with stock 4.37 am considering 4.10's.with dual toy cases [4.7gears in one stock2.2in the other].one would still have a good crawl ratio[160to1]and still get low rpm's on the freeway[2692rpm@60mph]with 36" tires[accual measurment 34.9 irok's]
with this combo who needs overdrive?

We run a 1.9TD in one of our sam tin tops, 34's, stock R&P, trans, transfercase. We use it as a parts runner, DD and off road to go hunting and scouting around. Running 75mph is easy and the rpms are good too near 3000, the power is good as well with even more to give at that speed, I imagine with the 35's you'd drop your rpms another 75. With the option of the toyota trans and 1:1 case/cases you can use the toy axles with the 4.10's-4.56's and your 35's without carnage, especially if you crawl or wheel alot. We have been running sucessfully with synthetic lube in our stock trans and run it often on the hiway for 5-6 hours at a time, it does get hot but not as hot as with standard lube.

I have a buyer for your 4.16 case if you want to sell it

not to change the subject but i have to say hi to jeff,this is rice, i came up last summer and bought the adapter kit direct.well now i'll be running toyota transmission/t-case.is there any chance at swapping kits?

Hey there,

Give me a call when you can get reception, i'm sure we can work something out.

Jeff,

I'm going to keep the 4.16 case for those days when I need to be able to crawl, but thanks for asking.

I have a 70-1 crawl ratio with an auto trans, 35s and it does just fine.

hrmm, jeff, is there a way to use a 3speed kick auto with the diesel kits?

Yes , we have all the conversion parts you will need for the auto transmissions as well.
We can do the VW engine to any pre 1998 suzuki trans standard or auto, samurai or sidekick/tracker, Any 4 cylinder Toyota G,L and W series standard and auto up to 1996. Jeep and whatever else AX-5 and AX-15's.

if i were to make the engine mate to an auto, will i be running a flex plate, or a flywheel? i'm guessing flex plate...

has a diesel been put in front of a sidekick automatic yet? Just wondering how it holds up

how does the tranny when using an auto know when to kick down.. i was under the assumption it was vacumm based?
diesel's have no vacuum short of a pump.

The Diesels seem to work fine with the automatics, I will have another one running in the next few months after I finish a few other projects. On the ones we have done they have a kick down cable and the later OD's use electronics that you can use a simple switch for, some models may have used the vacum pod. All of the automatics we have converted use the original Flex plate that has been machined to accept the VW diesel. Toyota has been using their automatic trans behind diesel for years.

I am getting ready to go with a 1.6TD. I have stock trans and t-case, toy axles with 4.10's and 33's. Do you think I will have a problem with gearing on road/off road? What would my top speed be?

I was really close to getting 5to1 gears, now after reading this I am thinking no.

-Steve

Heres a simple numbers test to see what the rpms will be at a designated speed with the early trans and whatever gearing, tires you choose to run.

60 mph x .79 5th x 1.41 transfer x 4.10 diff x 336 = divide by 33 tire and you get 2790 rpms

We like to run a bit lower on the rpms but this is acceptable for the VW diesel and will work well for you off or on road.

Thanks alot Jeff. I will be in contact with you soon about getting a kit.

-Steve

my question is, how low is too low?

option #1: tracker 5speed/t-case to a sammi case *all stock ratios* to toys with 5.29's and 35's, crawl ratio about 78:1.

Gear-wise (high range), this is close to what I have been running for several years. I feel you could not get away with any less gear (as in eliminating the samurai transfer case).
If you ran Toy drivetrain, you might be able to run one t-case in low range & use stock 4.10 r&p - not sure what that would get you.

As far as low range, 78:1 isn't much to get excited about if you are doing any rock crawling - you need to be at least 150:1 (200:1 = ideal for me).

The Diesels seem to work fine with the automatics, I will have another one running in the next few months after I finish a few other projects. On the ones we have done they have a kick down cable and the later OD's use electronics that you can use a simple switch for, some models may have used the vacum pod. All of the automatics we have converted use the original Flex plate that has been machined to accept the VW diesel. Toyota has been using their automatic trans behind diesel for years.

do you need to run a computer on the tranny for this?

i've only ever run the 4 speed, but i'd use a 3speed on this one, and i don't know if a computer is nessary

With the early model transmissions you do not need the computer to enable them to function and the later models have OD and lockup function.

perfect, thank you for your help.
you'll be getting a flex plate from the okanagan very soon :D

Hi All,

I just wanted to tell you all that I have Perry's old Samurai now. 1.6TD with Toyota transmission. He took the transfer case, so I'm looking for a dual toy setup myself.

From what I read, going 1:1 is the best way for hi, but I want to get as low as I can for rock crawling.

Lucky!!! Gonna' try the pivot out?

Lucky!!! Gonna' try the pivot out?

Naa, I'm going to ditch the frame and crazy pivot and go coils and 4-link. I was going to ditch more of it, but now I'm going to stick with most of it and just build a buggy of sorts.