Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Suzuki Samurai/4X4 Enthusiasts

What was wrong with it?

Enlighten us.

Just sold an '87 Samurai soft top that was running for $300. No title for it and the inside was stripped out. But, after I picked up a '64 Willlys, I quit using it so I sold it for $100 more than I paid for it. Never failed to crank and run, just had to use jumper cables at times. Just a hunting lease rig.

That Willy's run good or is it more of a project?

The Willy's was/is in great shape. I'm the second owner and the original owner kept it parked inside all of the time. Runs like a top. I replaced the water pump, put on a new alternator and a hi-torq starter. Converted vacuum wipers to electric. Original paint and seats:

Holy balls! That's a gem.

Where'd you find that thing?

Thanks, found it about 8 miles from my house One of the few good things about living in the Texas panhandle = Dry climate and little/no rust.

Mainly use it for hunting, but drive it to work about once a month during the year and usually take it to Tractor Supply or other places close to the house. Little 4 cylinder runs nice and smooth. I did have to rebuild the carburetor once thanks to ethanol gas. But, great thing about these is that it's very simple to work on. I was able to do it in elk camp, ha. Had an extra rebuild kit for it in the tool box. Only run alcohol free gas in it now.

Awesome find.

Found this one local for $1500.

Had a very low mileage JeepCJ with the V-6. 3 speed tranny allowed 25MPH at idle in low gear. Never liked it and let my BIL have it. It is still on our deer property. I could go to all of our blinds in a Caddy now since the oil company came in and improved our muddy trails. Ain't as much fun.

Should read: "I can't afford to finish this project."

Yep ^ or WTF was I thinking. Be an amazing rock crawler if that's all you want. But with all that reduction is prolly a 45 mph rig flat out now. I get it, pretty cool toy but if I get one I'd want it stock to start and not have to worry about what Bufus did before me.. modest 3 inch lift, tires about 2 inches taller than stock and fairly narrow and call it done. Maybe mess with the plant down the road, a turbo or I saw a 2.0 litre engine swap from a 2000s Tracker that the guy raved about. Easy swap he said. A VW diesel wouldn't suck either.

That rig with 4:10's, a 6.5:1 low range (20% high side reduction 1.7:1) and 36's would put the high range reduction back to roughly factory (-4%) and the low side @ 128% reduction.


Myself I'd want 4:30's in the axles instead of 4:10's, but that kind of critter ain't my cup of tea.



Here is a gear calculator: http://www.zuk-n-ovations.com/gear_calc.html

Just look at the number of guys who've written about their "go anywhere" vehicles with either one or no lockers.

Open differentials and bragging about going anywhere is the offroading equivalent of bragging about shooting long range but not owning a range finder or knowing how to dial.

Gotcha.

These were very popular here in Oz, and there's still a fair few kicking around. When I was a kid the neighbours had a predecessor, an LJ50, which was even smaller, lighter and had a 500cc 2 stroke engine. There was a later version with an 800 cc engine too, IIRC. The neighbours' kids used to drive it down to the bus stop (about 7 miles away) to go to school, and we'd go bush in it too. Tiny, but near unstoppable.

The one you call "Samurai" was called "Sierra" here, and they are still fairly popular for off-roaders. For a long while they were also popular for delivering newspapers, given the low running costs and the ease with which you could toss a paper from the drivers seat on the open versions. Popular farm buggies as well. A mate of mine has one on his farm for a shooting buggy. A good little jigger for that, so long as you aren't tall. Slow and bloody noisy on the highway though, every one of them that I've driven, even as they upped the power on them over the years.

I liked my jeep. Got me where I needed to go.

Can't you guys still get them?

Still being made, here's the latest version.

Suzuki Jimny

I always thought the Samurais were a cool vehicle. I had a small Bronco II when I first started driving and while not as small as the Zuk they could fit down tight trails as well. I now have a '94 Landcruiser 80 series with an OME lift and factory lockers. It is definitely my go anywhere vehicle and always impresses me.