Factory LWB Zuk Roll Call

[RocKrawler]

A lot of Zuk owners, myself included, have a fascination with the factory LWB Samurais. Last time I talked to Gary at Petroworks, who has one, for sale, estimated 7 in the US. With mine, his, Steve from Calmini, and SCWAFISH there's at least 4 just in CA that I know of. I think the number is higher. Who has a factory LWB zuk, where are you from, and what are the details of what you have done to it? If possible, post the above info along with a pic and lets see whats out there. No cut & stretch jobs, just the LWB's that started that way: I got this one, sold it to the inlaws, they changed thier mind, & I ended up buying it back recently. Looks like SCWA's "before" shots. I'm just compiling parts now & want to have it done for Rubicon this summer, but here's what it looks like now...I know.. painfully stock:

[stonpny]

where theese available in the us??? im new to the zuk thing and dont know alot about 'em.

[TessaL]

Here are mine... blue/white is bone stock '86 SJ413 (FOR SALE)
Grey is my DD '88 SJ416 and red P/U is stock '84 SJ410

[RocKrawler]

Originally posted by stonpny
where theese available in the us??? im new to the zuk thing and dont know alot about 'em.

I heard rumor a few were brought in around 1986 when the Samurai was introduced officially to the US, but ended up never being offered at dealerships. I know a local dealership in Huntington Beach CA was selling SJ410's then that were used ex-rental cars on Hawaii. I never heard of anyone who has bought one here new, only those that have imported them from Canada or elsewhere. The trucks in the pic above are even more rare.

[sfrans]

scroll down and look at LWB Samurai Joe. He's in Issaquah, WA. Pretty cool rig. His shorty was pretty nice too.

[Root Moose]

I know of at least three other US based ones.

Tom Bentzen in WA owns one. He's stuck a Toy TD drivetrain in it and it is sitting on 40" tires. Looks pretty goofy actually, way too tall, IMO. Nice work done on it though (all by Davesport Dave?).

Mike Strickland in CO owns at least two. A LWB and PU (413k). He is putting a VW TD mated to a 200R4 inot the LWB. Not sure how close to finished he is.

I own three and am in ON (Canada). This is my "runner" (which looks a little different now):



These are my parts trucks (potential new project?):



My buddy Gerry also owns 3 or 4 LWBs and PUs. Here's one of his 410 LWBs after being deposited at my "Suzuki Ranch":


r@m

[HZJ60_Guy]

Here is my "Goophy" LWB. Dave LaTourette did the cage only! Jake Palmberg did the original build up, and a friend of mine and I did all the other stuff.



1988 long wheelbase samruai (the last year were actually left over '87's)

1985 toyota 2.4 liter 2L diesel motor(AXT trubo)
1985 toyota 5 speed tranny, t-case with Marlin 4.70 low range gears
1984 toyota front axle, 5.29 gears, ARB locker and high pinion 3rd member, Longfields
1984 toyota rear axle, 5.29 gears, ARB locker and V6 3rd member, Front Range full floater
All Pro 1.5" wheel spacers
Toyota IFS power steering
Marlin 4.70-1 transfer case (98 to 1)
All Pro T-case parking break
Toyota leaf sprung over suspension
42x15x15 swampers on Marsh racing 36 bead locked wheels
FULL herculined tub and partial exterior
Autometer gauges in the 5 vent holes
Extrememaire compressor with 5 gallons of onboard air
custom rear bumper, 5 gallon gas carrier, rear Ramsey 8000lb winch
custom rocker skids
Trail Tough front bumper with Ramsey 9500 Patriot winch and IPF lights
6 point DaveSport full cage with exo skeliton
Corbeau sport seats
Trail Tough fold down windshield
cut door hinges for door removal
soft top
15.5 gallon gas tank
TrailTough fender flares
Centerforce dual friction clutch
Amsoil bypass filter
One optima red top
One optima yellow top

[HZJ60_Guy]

Here's the Goophy cage for the Goophy LWB!





See the goophy extremeaire compressor and two 2.5 gallon air tanks. Runs the air tools really well.

TB

[Root Moose]

Hey bud, no offense meant.

I just think that the truck would work/look better if it was sitting on it's tires a little lower.

r@m

[HZJ60_Guy]

Just playing with ya. When you figure out how to fit 42's WITHOUT cutting the body away and ruining the LWB look, you let me know!

Im going to go with volvo portals and a four link hydrolic suspension this fall. At least that way I can lower the body for the street, and raise it up for the trail.

The weight is actually very low. It handles off cambre pretty well.

TB

[quebeczuk]

I' have a lwb. I'm from Quebec city (canada). There's some pics of it when I bought it on my website:Quebec Samurai
I worked a lot on the body. After cutting all the rusted area, I had to patch the holes on the floor, changed the fenders, hood and grille and made a square tubing flat bed for it. I have toy axles to put under it with yj leafs. I am planning on putting 4,16 t-case, 33 inch tires turned by a 1,6 l block with a swift gti head. There almost only mud here in Quebec

[StomperZUK]

I know of another one here in the midwest.
John Acuff from Logansport Indiana has a SJ413K p.u. He has a little website, Indiana John Acuff , but i don't think there are any pics of the LWB. I believe that John bought it from Bob Norman out of Wisconsin, i can't remember where Bob found it though.

Some of the folks that frequent the ORC bbs may be able to track down some pics... or try a search on izook.

I do know that in the past he has expressed interest in selling it...

[grimbo]

I have a 87 LWP P/U with the following

1.5 5K toyota engine & gearbox
6:1 Rockhopper
4.1 diff gears (Stock)
ARB air locker rear (soon in the front too)
2" body lift
2.5" Old Man Emu rears all round SPUA
Body trimming
External Cage
Custom tray
Custom Bullbar
34" Swampers on mucho offset wheels



In our club we have about 5 LWBs. They are a bit more prevalent you can still buy a factory lwb ute albeit a Indian version called a Maruti with a 1 litre engine and questionable build quality on some of them

[MuddMachine]

Originally posted by RocKrawler
here's what it looks like now...I know.. painfully stock:

I have an 86 that looks identical to yours, pinstripes and all, except its silver. Its in for patchwork right now so i have no recent pics of it lifted . Here's a few pics[url=http://groups.msn.com/ZookPower/longwheelbaseproject.msnw[/URL]

[Pappa Smurf]

You know you guys lucky as hell you guys fawking suck

[flatbroke]

I have an 84 that resembles root moose's black parts truck.....better go see if its still there!

[Pappa Smurf]

Hey Root Moose i'll have to go up there and get those rust buckets off your hands

[kd7srj]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...&highlight=lwb

it will be on the road est next week..drivelines allready made and its waiting for the 1.6 and trans to come out or the daily driver


kinda arrogant guessing how many lwb's are in the states but some people know it all no matter what

[Root Moose]

1.) Ride quality - doesn't feel like a painter shaker ride.

2.) Cargo room - enough for two adults and a couple kids for a long weekend easily - more with a roof rack or jamboree rack.

3.) Just something different/unique.

When I first got into wheeling beyond what a stock Sidekick would do for me, I looked around for a while to figure out what I wanted to build.

I had originally settled on a CJ-8. It more or less fit what I wanted to use the truck for - longish range and good cargo room. At the time Mark Werkmeister's build-up for a CJ-8 was being covered in 4WD&SUV magazine so that was sort of an inspiration. Remember the yellow CJ-8 build-up from around 1994? That truck really turned my crank - still does.

I wasn't a Suzuki zealot at all at the time, that is why I was thinking CJ-8. I thought the 'Kick was good for what it did but figured I needed a better machine for more involved wheeling.

Went down the road of a ProComp lift on the Kick, managed to get 33" tires under it. Still didn't do what I wanted. The aftermarket wasn't there at the time so there were no gearing options. 33" tires and stock drivetrain on a TracKick just plain sucks in the rocks - not that I'm much of a rockcrawler but you shouldn't have to drag your clutch so much that the heat makes the engine temps register higher on the dash. The alternative was stalling the engine every 5 feet.

I didn't know the long wheelbase Samurais existed but had seen a few Samurais around. I wasn't too impressed with them - lumped them in the same category as a Chevette. Who here hasn't sworn on a Chevette when following one on a four lane highway?

Then I saw a white LWB that was in pretty good condition sitting on 31s. I can't remember the specifics of what was done to it except that it had that LandRover "safari" look that I've always liked (see TessaL's truck above). It looked like it would suit my purposes pretty well and after doing a little digging I found that they were cheap/affordable.

The rest kinda fell in place. My only regret buying LWB Samurai is that I didn't do a frame off rebuild on my green one. My next LWB will be done this way. Won't be a radical build:

• 33s
• 1600cc 16V
• 4:1 t-case
• 3.90 axle gears
• lockrights front and rear
• full cage
• ARB bull bar
• coils (TJ) all four corners

But that'll let me do everything I want/need it to do.

r@m

[DannyL]

I have 3 at the moment and have had 6 LWb at one time or another. That being said, I have to say a couple where like Swiss cheese...
This is one I built up with all the doo dads.



Just a little more tweeking required and I'll move on to the Lj-81 I have. My wife has given me permission (it's her's) to modify the LJ as long as it can go back to the way it was..LOL

Now I have one for sale but it needs help.....email me if interested

DannyL

[RocKrawler]

Originally posted by kd7srj
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...&highlight=lwb

it will be on the road est next week..drivelines allready made and its waiting for the 1.6 and trans to come out or the daily driver

Kid... I kinda remember that thread a while back, Did you put it back to RHD?

Root... I know what you mean, I used to think these things were ridiculous, and my CJ was the bomb. Then I realized it was a pile of crap after repairs doubled the price of the rig in 6 months. I saw the buildup of a white Sammy in 4WDSU ( project Yee Haa or something like that ) called Phil Howell & he convinced me they were well worth building. After my first one, I was totally convinced it was a great rig on a great platform ( no massive frame cracking like the CJ, no 2pc rear axleshafts shearing on pavement & wheel & tire combos passing you, no clutch linkage needing to be rebuilt every 6 months, etc.. ) but lacked the much needed interior room... when the wife & kids came along there wasnt even room for a cooler in the back. The LWB is ideal and cant wait to finish acquiring parts & begin the buildup. Lukily the interior in mine is in good shape, so I can concentrate on the lift & drivetrain with minimal work on the body & interior.

[Root Moose]

Originally posted by RocKrawler

Root... I know what you mean, I used to think these things were ridiculous, and my CJ was the bomb. Then I realized it was a pile of crap after repairs doubled the price of the rig in 6 months. I saw the buildup of a white Sammy in 4WDSU ( project Yee Haa or something like that ) called Phil Howell & he convinced me they were well worth building. After my first one, I was totally convinced it was a great rig on a great platform ( no massive frame cracking like the CJ, no 2pc rear axleshafts shearing on pavement & wheel & tire combos passing you, no clutch linkage needing to be rebuilt every 6 months, etc.. ) but lacked the much needed interior room... when the wife & kids came along there wasnt even room for a cooler in the back. The LWB is ideal and cant wait to finish acquiring parts & begin the buildup. Lukily the interior in mine is in good shape, so I can concentrate on the lift & drivetrain with minimal work on the body & interior.

Yep, for our (the collective us) purposes it really doesn't matter what the vehicle starts out as - by the time we go through it changing engines/drivetrains/seats etc. the truck doesn't resemble anything remotely stock anyway so you can get away with starting with a POS as the base vehicle. It's all about attention to detail after that.

The other thing is that "modern" expectations of what a vehicle is supposed to be has kind of gotten out of hand. 20 years ago or so a Samurai would have been considered a pretty nice jeep type vehicle, if small.

Hell, you could still buy other simple machinery like original Honda Civics, Beetles, etc. The driving experience wasn't that great in those vehicles either. Might have handled better (different class, VW debatable) but noise levels were pretty much the same.

What am I trying to say? Just as well to be driving a Sam as any Jeep, TLC, EB, Scout, etc. Phil is/was right.

I almost got completely out of the Suzukis about two years ago. Basically, lots of major life changes and got tired of having to wrench all the time. Went down to the Jeep dealer to buy a TJ Sport ($30k CDN when optioned out) but luckily I gave my head a shake and didn't go through with it. Still been stuck without any wrenching time or progress but that will be corrected soon.

I can tell from your picture that your truck hasn't seen a whole lot of salt - no real signs of tin worm. British Columbia import? Looks like it has a little over 120,000-140,000 km if the wear on the door panels and seats is any indicator (yes, been around too many of these little trucks).

You'll be happy with the LWB once you get it where you want it. Any of my SWB friends that take a ride in mine always rave about it after the fact. The ride is that much different, even when built. I've got OME springs on my green one so that helps but still. Might not be quite as maneuvrable as a SWB, but then you are still in YJ/TJ range for that so not a big deal.

Natter, natter.

r@m

[Root Moose]

Oh, BTW, if you find that you don't have enough cargo space behind the rear bench when carrying kidlets you can always move the bench forward.

These trucks could be optioned out with two rear benches, that last one being situated more or less in the same location as in a SWB relative to the tail gate with the first one more or less in the same location as the bench in a SWB relative the front buckets. (does that make sense?)

I can't remember if the tub has the holes for the benches pre-drilled and/or embossed but if you want to play around with seat loacation for your kids (are they big or small kids?) I can get in touch with Mike S. His LWB has the second bench so he can tell us where exactly the second bench goes and where to drill.

I dunno if you care to get that precise about it - this ain't a restoration - but if you do (attention to detail) let me know and I'll get the info for you.

r@m

[scwafish]

I'd love to see a shot with a second bench.

[RocKrawler]

Originally posted by scwafish
I'd love to see a shot with a second bench.

I'll second that, I would love to see a pic of that setup... A couple of years ago at TDS there was a red CJ8 Scrambler with 2 rear benches. My wife dug it & think it could be real interesting if you used a 87 SE split rear seat at the very rear. I guess you could also flip the very rear seat backwards like the old GM wagons, 3rd row faces the tailgate & makes it easier for the kids to taunt the stuck Jeep behind you.