Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Suzuki Samurai

Anyone had/have one???Pros/cons?


George

They are GREAT! They will go anywhere a UTV will and you can be out of the elements with a heater! To get the full potential out of them you'll need a SOA lift, transfer case regear and some 31" tires.

One real nice feature is that if you get it stuck you do a recovery with a decent come-a-long.

I have built several. They go anywhere and are very easy to work on. They are nice machines!

R.

They are *extremely* popular over here for building dedicated off-roaders...

First, what do you want it for? As an ongoing 4x4 project/build, the yare great...as a means of transport for a hunter they are a bit limited by their size and lack of cargo space..

If you live anywhere thats wet, they rust...in fact you can hear them rust as you drive...

Talking of ride, they drive like a small truck rather than a car and can be "tippy" especially after a lift..

On the plus side, they are cheap as chips, theres lots of aftermarket components for them, and they are fun.

I drive a Jimny which is the modernised version..It retains the box chasis and the bean axels, but has coil springs inside of leaf springs..On the downside some of the build is not as strong as the Sammy, although I have not had any problems...

Make sure parts are available in your area. Around here they're hard to come by.

Samurai's rule! Parts abound on the internet!


Travis

I don't know about a Samurai, but 2 bigs guys in a GEO Tracker is a pretty tight fit.

JEff

Just got an 88.....Street legal...small lift.....
kid drove it from Tallahasee to P'cola coupla weeks ago....
All seems to work, even a/c....little bit o' rust....gf just picked it up tonite in p'cola
and is towing it to BR on Sunday......Two friends have
one each plus 2 parts cars....better than my Polaris Ranger 6 wheeler...
Heater, A/c, street legal....new tires....xtra top...2 spares...
have an 8000# winch...gotta build a frt bumper.....should be set.....


George

Thats the problem with my Jimny as well...Its worse in winter when you tend to be wearing heavy bulky cold weather clothing...

That said, even in its standard form, the Jimny will get me places off road that leaves the drivers of larger 4x4's shaking their heads..A Sammy with a few modifications is even better in that respect..

As always, its horses for courses...

I'm sure it will give you lots of fun...post a few pics when you have a minute...

one reason i like my full sized truck is i tend to stop and think before attempting alot of things.....in one of my Jeeps i just go cause they will get through some tight spots.....unfortunately it isnt till afterward when i get out and look back at what i got it through do i realize it was prolly i piss poor idea to go through it the first time, let alone the second to get back out

Rattler....... well stated!

My Dad years ago told me I was a fool to drive with the 4X4 engaged. I should only use the 4X4 to get me out of stupid places that the 2X4 could not manage.

Since I was so much smarter then the "old guy" I bought a winch. Now I could use the winch to solve any problem I found myself in!

But the winch usually only pulled me deeper into the area I wanted to get out of. So I bought a receiver hitch winch for either front or rear. HA HA........ now I have it made, especially with the high lift jack and a shovel as standard Equipment!

Then I moved to the desert............ Hmmm no tress, no nothing to connect the winch to. To your point, I've looked back many times or driven back out many times wondering WTF was I thinking to come here!

Kinda like goat hunting. Climbing cliffs and rocks is always many times easier then descending those exact same cliffs and steep rocks. I have had a lot of come to Jesus meetings looking down from where I came and thinking there was no freaking way I could get back down!

Good judement is diffinately a "must"...I tend to be quite "conservative" while out stalking as I want to be stalking, not doing vehicle recovery...

I have stretched things a little while out "green laning", but the beauty of that is you are usually with others, so there is normally help at hand to get you out..

Never done any extreme offroading (except in a track! ) as my 4x4 has always been my dail drive, so don't want to trash it playing at the weekends..

I'll take pics on Monday in the daylight...It'll be here Sunday nite.....


George

I have a buddy who has a lifted Suzuki, it works pretty well off road, but it is darn small inside. I have a Isuzu Trooper that also works well but has way more room. I would look for one of them over the Suzuki, especially the older, 4 cyl. manual tranny models.

Been checking Craigslist for one for some time. Decided I'd sooner spend a thou for a beater Samurai/Tracker, than spend 5 times that much for another ATV. Want it to thrash around on my hunting property. Since most of my trails are only six feet wide in spots, figure it'd work?

My son spotted one for $800 a few weeks ago, but it had a puffed engine. Told him I want one that runs, cosmetics optional. Next one he found was a canvas/metal top fer cheap, but it had been rolled and the windshield was gone.

Guy that owns the local karate studio, has a Samurai he parks there from time to time. Offroad only, as I don't see an inspection sticker in the windshield. All-metal "cab", mild lift and pretty tall gums.

For those interested in a Sammy, if you pick up a cheap one with a knackered engine, you can buy a kit for about $900 to drop a VW 1.6L or 1.9L Turbo Diesel engine into them..

The donor engine and other parts would be another few hundred dollars of course, but you then have the basis for a *really* great off roader...

I've had one for about 7 years, it used to be my dedicated hunting rig. Its been reliable and has held up well, will go anywhere, so light it doesn't even leave a rut in the mud to speak of.

But, like Jeff said, they don't have any room in the cab. Unless your a pair of chinese midgets, two grown men are stuffed in there like two pigs in a blanket. My CJ 7 feels like a stretch limo in comparison.

IMO they are a one man rig, hunting wise, basically a four wheeler with more room and a heater. Which isn't a bad thing.

Good little rigs otherwise.

Bill

I love my Samurai, but tonight I put a new starter in it and it the starter gear is staying engaged until I turn the motor off.

Anyone have an idea why?