first hello and merry christmas to all. i am a recent new member but have watched the forum for several years,and have been inspired by all the great builds and tech out there ,so thanks.my main question is i am considering an auto swap to make it a little easier to teach my daughter to wheel. so far she loves it, but the whole clutch-brake-gas thing just isnt going so well, especialy on hills.any way how much on road daily driving power loss can i expect if any with the auto.pulling grades in the hills some times frustrates me as it is. not sure if iwant to do the whole 4.3 thing,i like how lite the sammi is now. thanks for any input,here are some specs. of my rig.
86 sammi
98 inch wheelbase ,custom stretch
1600 16v
5speed
6.4 tcase
toy axels 4.56 gears
lockers
4wheel disck
toy ifs powersteering w hydro assist
35 toyo tires

heres a couple picts.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/surplus143.jpg[/IMG]"]http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/100_0677.jpg[/IMG]"]http://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/Jaimie127.jpg (http://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/Jaimie127.jpg)

anoutherhttp://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/100_0677.jpg

http://IMG]http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/surplus143.jpg[/IMG]

http://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/surplus143.jpg

I Have no experience with the auto in my sami.

I do have one sitting on the floor of my garage and intend to put it behind my 1.3l at one time in the future. I think the control with an auto is awesome. I think it will out way the power loss you feel on the street.

Rich

Slap in a Vortec v6 TH350, and a dana 20 two stick with front dig, you'll love it.

Where did you get your top made? I want to biuld a lwb zuk so fawkin bad. It will have to wait until i get my house in Febuary. Looks Awsome.

I Would think a 2wd swap from a track/kick would be a great swap. I dont know anything about them though. Does anyone make upgraded shift kits or anything?

What trans are you runnin now? you could get an auto 4wd trans/case and do a doubler.

i would love a 4.3 but because of ca. smog i cant use the tranny and cases i would like to have. i am running a 2wd 5spd track/kick tranny now unmarried with a short intermediate shaft and tcase in the stock location.works well but brent at trail tough said with an auto i would have no need for a doubler if i was useing the 6.4 gears,so that sparked my interest.i have a 3spd 2wd track/kick auto also and a 5spd 4wd tranny& case to do a doubler just weighing my options and trying not to kill what little on road hp my toyos havnt already stole. had a local upholstry shop stretch my top. here is a side pic.http://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/surplus142.jpg

toykilla if you want ideas on doing a full body stretch come on up and look i have done three now. and even removed three extra inches from behind the rear fender wells on one. or if you want one done i might be able to help in that departmen to.:D

Hell ya! I have been wanting to do the stretch for some time. I finaly got a streetable zuk and want the wheelbase and body of a lwb.

so anybody else have any thoughts on the auto vs 5spd. i have allways been biased to standards but realy considering the swap.

anybody ?

good - bad-other ?

I'm partial to standards myself. What about a Klune? Mine is like driving an auto with 6.5 tcase and 4to1 Klune.Only thing I don't like is how warm the Klune gets when crawling,but I've never had a failure.

I wish someone would answer I want to change over to a auto also.

I can ad a FWIW just in general regarding auto vs. stick. Forever I have been a stick guy for all the reasons everyone is. I am now wanting an auto in my wheeler.

After plowing snow and then doing some DD wheeling (we get alot of snow here) I honestly think the auto is better. At least for snow wheeling etc. The smooth application of power etc. make it alot harder to get stuck than the stick.

I have driven my friends 8V Zuki wagon with an auto and it is not too bad on power for what it is. I like driving it and it moves around pretty good. It is also nice to wheel.

I don't know if that helps at all, but it is something. And keep in mind, I have been a hardcore stick guy for ever.........

ROB

i am not to worried about the wheeling aspects of the auto, all wheeling is different and what works good someplaces will change in otherplaces or conditions. as far as snow that is a crap shoot ,one time it takes hp the next smooth control, and i have even been in conditions when all you could do is put everyting in low and not touch the throttle an let it crawl up on top.

maybe i should have been more specific. my main question was realy how much power loss could i expect for on road driving with the auto compared to a standard. with a heavy rig and 35s the 16v is basically at its limit when pulling grades in the mountains, down to 3rd and somtimes 2nd feels like my old 1.3. would like to do 2.0l but the smog just makes it hard, easyer to do a 4.3 makes no cents as far as smog goes. :shaking:

I'm acquiring all the parts to go auto (3sp no computer control) with RockRat3x4 Shogun adapter. I plan to use either a 16v or 2.0 with 3sp auto, stock Sidekick tc with 1.8 lowrange, and 4:1 in Samurai case, stock axles w/3.73, TT chromo's. The tc ratio's look to be 1.8, 4.0 and roughly 7.5 for compound low. I figure with low and compound low I should have enough for most 4x4 rocky situations. It will be a dd and mud/snow mostly, some summer time rock stuff. Looking at 32" or so tire. I"m at my last step, waiting to get the Shogun in Feb or so.
I"m leaning to a 2.0 but may go 16v, depending on what is available at the insurance write-off auctions this spring.

Have a 3 speed auto with a 16 valve on 38's. Weight is 2900 with shogun box and 6.5's in sammy case. Coming from Fordyce entrance to cisco grove I was climbing that little hill doing probably 35mph with it floored. Shogun was not engaged and neither was sammy case. I imagine it would be hell if you did not regear the diffs I am running 4.10 I would go 5.29.

Just a secondary note with kids since I have two boys I think a stick forces them to clutch brake killing all power. A stick tends to always be in motion or stall. An auto can be still and engaged without dying. I think a stick is safer IMO I have seen my boys do both. Just another thing to think about seeing as how if you want power an auto is not usually the way to go. I wheeled stick for years and have driven split axle. I enjoy stick but I'm old enough now to say fawk it I'm lazy and want to drive one handed with my other arm resting.

Moveaside,
Is yours trail only or dd also? I'm thinking trail only with 38" tires?

thanks for your opinions all and i know the stretch of road your talking about moveasid, my 16v with 35s & 4.56s is that way also , well alot to think about maybe my daughter may just need to get allot more practice.


heres a pic of her in action in a friend rig on a closed course. he has a manual trans but with the torque of the v8 it makes it a lot easyer for her to handle.http://http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/samicrawl86/surplus087.jpg

Force her to drive the stick. She will be better off for it in the future.

Just because she is “gurl”, she does not have to be coddled. Not having her learn a stick is doing her no good.

i agree, she just needs more practice my rig just doesnt have enough torque and she hasnt got the hang of how to feather the throttle when coming up against an obstacle. looks like there might have to be a doubler in my future, best excuse i can think of to spend money.:grinpimp:

i love auto's sucks out some power but that's what gears are for.

I run a 3spd auto behind a 16v with 37's...my exact setup includes a samurai 4 to 1 as well and 4.56 gears....not sure I would street it long distance but short is fine...I would say that a free flow exhaust and intake equal the robbing horsepower of an auto...so if you haven't done that...then it might just all equal out....

I've driven and built auto and stick cars for years. I honestly don't believe it's easier to drive an automatic car off road. I love automatics off road (not a fan on road) but there's a fair bit to learn, and it's not "process" learning like learning a stick - it's all about "feel" and finesse, especially when left foot braking and working around converter stall speed. Sure, a stick with lots of gear reduction can be very easy to drive, but it will never perform as well as an auto.

Personally, I'd say your daughter needs to learn how to properly drive a stick. This is an important skill and teaches mechanical sympathy. Then convert to an AW-4 auto (not the three speed) and you can both enjoy the advantages off road. Because of your stretched wheelbase, you'd be far better with the AW-4 over the three speed. The 3 speed works well in stock wheelbase cars because of its length, but with wide gear spacing and no overdrive, it's hard to gear for both on and off road use. Highway revs generally end up too high.

Also, the AW-4 uses a steeper converter ratio (2.4:1 to 1.8:1 in the trimatic) which along with the closer ratio gaps and a lower 1st gear, go a long way to reducing the feeling of power loss once you go auto.

Just some thoughts.

Steve.

PS - Nice car.

thanks gwagensteve,

i have done some research on the aw71l that came in volvo cars, belhousings interchange , 4spd manual control (no computer) , lock up converter, so seems a easy conversion and has 2000 -2500 stall spd depending on what car and weather or not it had a turbo or was n-a .i know the aw also came in toyotas but not sure if they would be a better choice for doeing the conversion.

Force her to drive the stick. She will be better off for it in the future.

Just because she is “gurl”, she does not have to be coddled. Not having her learn a stick is doing her no good.Auto's are cool 'cause Suzuki never put one in a Samurai,go with it.My only issue is under the "kills me" thread!!

i have 88.5 sammy with a 1.6 8v and i have the 3 speed auto in it. i love it wouldn't go back to a 5speed. i have run it in 2 sammys. mine is for trail only.

auto? let see. the rig has gained wait and power steering is already sucking a little bit of hp out of the motor. do you really want any more parasitic power losses? my vote is stick. as far as the getting stuck in snow comment is concerned, i have a master's (maybe a phd!) in getting stuck in deep snow. it is easier to rock back and forth to get unstuck with a manual. you can time your shifts to get a pendulum action going, handy in snow or mud.

i have a master's (maybe a phd!) in getting stuck in deep snow.

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

that just took on a whole new meaning didn't it? :eek:

dammit! now i'm laughing too.