zukijames' 86 sami

i guess i will put my rig on here (im pretty bored)

about 3 years ago i headed up to heber city with josh(toyotarockhead) and picked up a little zuk buggy

it had gears , lockers, yj spring swap, awesome 84 inch wheel base

I thought it was as built as i would ever need, i borrowed the money from my parents and remember telling them it was already built and i wouldnt have to spend any money on upgrade parts... hahaha

it was off road only and took some work to get it back on the road. i made some rear fenders installed tail/brake lights

i wanted more flex and josh had some toyota rear springs so i threw them up front

went to snakes to test them out

this pic was right after my first flop! dang waynes world. tried once more in the rain and didnt make it. finally i made got to try again this summer and made it !

Then i went to moab with josh and goose

decided i needed more wheelbase before i went down there so i got some more yota rears and put them on all corners and swapped to yota axles

i loved the new stance but still wasn't long enough to keep up with goose and josh



second flop at the snakes! i had no hydro assist so to be able to turn i had my arb turned off.. started tipping tried to throttle out and the tire in the air spun(bad driving im just making excuses)


tricky recovery just me and my gf on the trail and my 2000lb rear suspension winch mounted up in the frame rails

its never been a good camping rig

so i traded the yj swap for some old coil overs and radius arms and linked the front, the coils were so still that id did worse after linking it!

 

[chadschoon]

James, a couple questions....

How are you going to keep the rear lowers from rolling side to side, around in their mounts?

And why standard shocks in addition to the air shocks?

My question is the same. I think your going to be busting shock shafts with them mounted that way

 

[cjncustoms]

He can put wobble stoppers on them and that will solve the problem. Just like on millers new car. But I don't get why you have the additional shock on there so far up the link either. Enlighten us a little please.

 

[cjncustoms]

And why the reverse angle on the rear shocks? Why not angle them forward a bit? If your sole reason for mounting them that way and on the links is for more wheel travel, mounting them kicked forward slightly will yield you more wheel travel at full droop. The reason being is that when your axle droops its going to move forward not backwards and when you mount the shocks forward it allows the shock to move forward with the axle before it reaches full extension. Clear as mud?

 

[sixstringsteve]

I dig the sami hood. Does it run?

 

[STAG]

I've always been taught that a shock is ideally set at 90° from the LCA when at full bump.

 

[Cascadia]

That does look 100 times better with a hood. Even if its a Suzuki hood. Put your rover hood on.

 

[I Lean]

I've always been taught that a shock is ideally set at 90° from the LCA when at full bump.

^This.

Also, why is everyone surprised to see a Sami hood on a Samurai?

 

[zukijames]

James, a couple questions....

How are you going to keep the rear lowers from rolling side to side, around in their mounts?

And why standard shocks in addition to the air shocks?

the standard shock has bushings in it..so they keep the lowers from rolling .. Talked to a guy at the rock sports challenge and he was running bushings in his coil over and no wobble stoppers and had no issues. I had the old regular shocks sitting around and put them on to try it

And why the reverse angle on the rear shocks? Why not angle them forward a bit? If your sole reason for mountain them that way and on the links is for more wheel travel, mounting them kicked forward slightly will yield you more wheel travel at full droop. The reason being is that when your axle droops its going to move forward not backwards and when you mount the shocks forward it allows the shock to move forward with the axle before it reaches full extension. Clear as mud?

But wouldn't that mak it leaned back more when the axle is at full bump? And wouldn't it be more important for the shock to be working the best as the axle goes up? Like as its going through whoops or landing a jump?

also with the shock being mounted on the link it will have a slower shaft speed to accomplish the same thing..and that should result in less heat and less shock fade( wouldn't worry about it if I had coilovers and triple bypasses

 

[zukijames]

^This x3 I just The lower mount isn't fully welded yet I can move it if I need but I'll probably leave it, was done that way planning on my axle moving farther back during compression.. If I adjust the angle of my lowers ( with the mounts you made me) I could achieve 90* from lower at full bump

Also, why is everyone surprised to see a Sami hood on a Samurai?

I think they think my girlfriends rover and my Sami are the same rig maybe?

 

[zukijames]

Also with the lower links being mounted on the top of the axle tube there was not really room to mount the shock on the axle..I'll try it if it amuses problems I will change it

 

[zukijames]

I dig the sami hood. Does it run?

Panos said it does.. Hopefully I'll find out here shortly.. It never fired up when I was trying it out of the vehicle , but that could have been for several different reasons

 

[cjncustoms]

the standard shock has bushings in it..so they keep the lowers from rolling .. Talked to a guy at the rock sports challenge and he was running bushings in his coil over and no wobble stoppers and had no issues. I had the old regular shocks sitting around and put them on to try it



But wouldn't that mak it leaned back more when the axle is at full bump? And wouldn't it be more important for the shock to be working the best as the axle goes up? Like as its going through whoops or landing a jump?

also with the shock being mounted on the link it will have a slower shaft speed to accomplish the same thing..and that should result in less heat and less shock fade( wouldn't worry about it if I had coilovers and triple bypasses

I'll agree with the 90* angle but in all your pics your shocks are far from 90* with the LCA's. From what I can see you need to move them forward at the top mount or move them back on the bottom mount. Or is there something I'm missing?

 

[zukijames]

I mentioned I might move them, but I'll probably leave them your not missing anything, they are not perfect. Would be closer if a ran my lower link in a different whole.. Which I might do
Are yours 90* at full bump?

 

[STAG]

I'm setting mine at 90°, but my LCA's are pretty much level with the ground.

 

[zukijames]

Level at ride height and 90* at full bump?

 

[STAG]

Yeah everything is not set in stone yet I'm sure I'll have to change it a bit when I flex it out and check for tire rubbage, but hoping for level at full bump, and 90° from there. From my research it is the best performance of the shock dampening by matching wheel travel 1:1 of shock travel. This however is my first set of coilovers and I'm sure ill need some good tuning to make them reach their full performance potential.

 

[zukijames]

Nice currently my rear lower is higher on the axle side than chassis side. ( I think).. At ride height....but I can move the axle side down 3 inches and the chassis side up 3 inches

do you have a calculator showing your new suspension numbers?

 

[cjncustoms]

I mentioned I might move them, but I'll probably leave them your not missing anything, they are not perfect. Would be closer if a ran my lower link in a different whole.. Which I might do
Are yours 90* at full bump?

Negative. Mine are kicked forward at the top about 15* at full bump. Front are kicked back at the top about the same. I don't know it seems to work pretty damn good. Definitely no complaints here.

 

[zukijames]

Negative. Mine are kicked forward at the top about 15* at full bump. Front are kicked back at the top about the same. I don't it seems to work pretty damn good. Definitely no complaints here.

Sweet I will probably never get mine finished anyways so I could mount them upside down and it wouldn't matter too much lol

 

[zukijames]

Sitting on 2 jack stands now not 4. I need to get a nitrogen tank and fill kit so I can get it off jack stands in the back.

Changed front springs to 80 over 125

Was 325 over 350 before ( came off a land rover)

Front still needs to come down a inch or two . Thinking about setting up with only 6 of up travel in front and 21.5 frame height ( 2.5 lower Than in the picture)

Got driver side seat mount remade/ties into cage

Waiting on radiator (eBay) Monday I got an email saying it shipped that day would be here Thursday ..today I called and they said it should be finished today and ship outmonday