Blake's Samurai

[BlakeJ]

starting mucking around with some barwork templates. going to do both front and rear, plan is to use the middle section of the front bar as an air tank

[BlakeJ]

decided i did not want to mount my front bar to the factory mounting holes, even with crush tubes the steel is weak as and looks like it could tear, mine had already had some bad damage from a previous owner. so to mount there is going to be a 5mm plate bracket welding onto the chassis rails and then this will be bolted to the 5mm plate on the bumper using 2 half inch 12.9 high tensile bolts on each side


The middle air tank is 5mm 100x50 box section, the bumper ends i had Tu's draw up on solidworks and had the cut out and folded at prometal in chch. turned out looking quite nice. will make a pipe top hoop section later on, have the steel sitting there waiting .


Rear bar is simple, just 3mm 100x50 box, mounted with 6m gusseted plate. Is going to be a copy of the one on bobs winch samurai as i like the look of it. ill have folded corners in the same shape as the body and some verticle pipe to protect the body when time and f%#ks can be given

[BlakeJ]

now that i have moved my radiator bracket i can mount my sanden aircon compressor and powersteering pump. BenT made me the mounting plate for this and it is mint, drops the power steering pump down to allow room for the sanden compressor. still have to convert the compressor b4 it can be used for endless air. power steering works a treat, feels like a different truck. will need to sort a steering damper tho, not that it steers funny, there are no problems just when you hit bumps and jerks the steering wheel now that it is so light.


Again not finished but here is the air manifold i am using. will be fed at the front of the manifold from the air tank. the rear will go to a hose to the rear of the truck and to a tool connector. has am ARB pressure switch (on at 85, off at 105) and a 120 psi pressure relief valve. the blue hose goes to a pressure guage in the cab. hopefully soon there will be another blue hose going to an air locker in the rear Oh and yea the big arse air horn should be a bit of fun too dick heads walking to slow across the path wont think a suzuki can make that kind of noise

[BlakeJ]

[89pajero]

Thats an impressive air horn for a small truck. Like your bar work, looking good.

[BlakeJ]

Ok im after honest opinions, not so i can argue, so that i can be informed. Im looking at the suzuki boys who have past experiences as i dont. Want to get new tyres for the zook its not used as a daily driver but is road legal and will do the occasional trip to the supermarket while im down at uni.

got some 33" silverstones in really good nick for a reasonable price and brought them on impulse, their actual diameter is just over 32" (32.4 I think)

I am making a rocklobster T.case at the mo and i am getting OME 40mm lift springs and will be doing a substantial guard chop.

what are peoples expeiences with tyres this big on a zook, cowper has advised i just go to 31" which makes sense but i im young and stupid

heres some photos




aaaaaaaaaand go......

[zukmeista]

I would say go for it, you already have the tyres. Chromo C.V.'s are readily available, and some of the aussie guys run 35's with those. Heres a build with 34's and no lift: http://www.auszookers.com/forum/viewtop ... f=4&t=5148

[Dirtydog]

aslong as the gearings all good it shouldnt be much of a problem,

ive seen a few zuks down here with quite big tyres, even know of one on 35's, (but he has hilix axles under it)

it would allmost be a little overkill in some situations, cause i mean, well, they do go anywhere as they are lol

just remeber its your truck, and its up to you on what ya do with it, people here are just giving there opinions. and also it would look wicked on them

[QUADRACER]

Blake, you will struggle to fit these under without a body lift or guard chop.
my 1600 struggles in second with lockers in, on a steep climb, also under load in a bog.
have a 4.16 crawler box.
a lot of work for not a lot of gain, unless up want a winch/ trials truck ??
i run 32 simex, and if not a comp truck would rather go back to a true 31.
i will change back for club trips anyway.

[BlakeJ]

yea thats pretty much what dan was saying bob, its getting a good guard chop, to the top of the indent bit, and a good chunk out of the firewall. your 32 simexes are much bigger than 32, i think they are 33.4 if i remember rightly, so thats another inch.i think i might get the guard chop and springs done first and think on it for a bit and in the mean time look out for a good deal on some 31"s, if i did i would want to go federal couragia or KM2's i think. It wouldnt be hard to flick the silverstones off they have had very little work

[Sadam_Husain]

By all means give it a shot if you've already got the tyres sitting there but its not just a matter of getting the things to fit Blake you then run into the problem of the truck having no puff to turn them and spend all your time trying to burn the clutch out trying to keep the truck moving and getting frustrated that all the other zuks start running rings around you, nothing sucks torque out of your engine better than oversize tyres and you'll also find you start having problems with your turning circle like littlepeepee's zuk, all you end up acheiving is making your truck look cool and a dog to drive and if its a dog you wont enjoy driving it anymore

If you want to do all that shit keep your truck as it is and use it as a road legal run around and get another one and shove a commy drivetrain and some hilux axles in it and you'll be able to run big tyres and have heaps of fun in a really capable truck

Dan and Bob have been around for a long time and theres good reason they know what there talking about

[zukmeista]

If you want to do all that shit keep your truck as it is and use it as a road legal run around and get another one and shove a commy drivetrain and some hilux axles in it and you'll be able to run big tyres and have heaps of fun in a really capable truck

Worst idea ever, you might as well just buy a hilux. The whole point of a suzuki is small and light, a commodore motor will ruin that completely, not to mention it would take lost of effort to get it road legal, I would say use the tyres you have, if it doesn't have enough power NOS it. There was a white Jimny competing in the winch challenges with NOS.

[Sadam_Husain]

Worst idea ever, you might as well just buy a hilux

here comes the pissing contest

[Dirtydog]

isnt what your doing the reason why there was a big bitch fest on your thread zukmeista?

i know someone thats done it, wasnt hard to get certified at all, and more than capable with 35's on it. running a 1uz.

hilux axles arnt that heavy, try going for safari axles and a td42 then ya getting heavy.

anyway, back to topic.

It really depends on what you want to start doing with it.

if its a run around, as Sadam said, they do start to be a dog to drive with biger tyres on it, and it is alot of hassle to get little gain.

it does look cool though, but remember once youve chopped the guards its hard to go back. but by all means have a go with them and see what they are like

[zukmeista]

I would say there is more than a little to be gained, the extra diff clearance is a huge help in ruts.

[lilpigzuk]

[Worst idea ever, you might as well just buy a hilux. The whole point of a suzuki is small and light, a commodore motor will ruin that completely, not to mention it would take lost of effort to get it road legal, I would say use the tyres you have, if it doesn't have enough power NOS it. There was a white Jimny competing in the winch challenges with NOS.

worst idea ever. Notice how you said "There was"

[Dirtydog]

it depends if your letting air out of your tyres or not,

which should be the first thing ya do to get extra traction, its amazing how quick a 33inch tyre becomes a 30inch tyre.

[Ralfie]

[Worst idea ever, you might as well just buy a hilux. The whole point of a suzuki is small and light, a commodore motor will ruin that completely, not to mention it would take lost of effort to get it road legal, I would say use the tyres you have, if it doesn't have enough power NOS it. There was a white Jimny competing in the winch challenges with NOS.

worst idea ever. Notice how you said "There was"

Think it only ever did one event and then disappeared

[BlakeJ]

ok cheers for your input guys, i don't want my thread become an argument so i will ask that there is no more posting on the tyre question. I have not done this before and this is the reason i asked, i did not say i was definatly using the tyres i said i wanted advice from people that have done this before, i dont want peoples uninformed guesstimation opinions on what they reckon is the ducks nuts or not.

Cheers marty and bob, Im gunna flick the 33s off and get some good 31's. i want the truck to be light and capable, deep ruts arent my main worry. and bob your experience with your winch zook means a lot to me.

so yea thanks for your input guys, ill still do the guard chop and rocklobster and kill it with some 31"s
chur

[QUADRACER]

Wise choice, if it worked we would all do it.
Your build is going great, keep up the good effort.
Asking for advise is a sign of a wise man.

[Dirtydog]

saves ya finding out the hard way lol,

if i still had an idependant front terrano i wouldnt go bigger than 32's, puts alot of wear on everything.

[meatc]

Hey

I know you want the tyre thread to die but

I believe you have made the right choice in going back in size. I run 32 simexs on my race zuk on lux axles. With a bit of fire wall beating I get clearance with the axle moved 70mm forward. The gaurds are also cut up into the bonnet line (it is on coils) but you would still need a bit. I am with Sadam keep the mods on this one simple and road legal then get a trailer toy with lux axles and bigger motor if you want a off road weapon, its hard to do both in one wthout a reasonable size budget.

[niblik]

Asking for advice is a sign of a wise man.

No no fella. Any chump can ask, it's the wise man that listens to it.

[badnuz]

31 inch MT Baja Claw TTCs for te win!!

[BlakeJ]

well santa was good too me. Euan hooked me up with some OME goodies, went heavy duty for the front to compensate for slightly bigger donk

[BlakeJ]

hmm springs are all in now, completly different truck, the old ones were rooted, its sooo smooth now im a happy man. Only thing is im wondering if i should have gone heavy duty in the rear also, they are still new so i imagine will soften up some more and if i bounce on the rear bar it hits the bumpstops, dont even have to bounce hard can make it do it by pushing, what are you guys running in your rears Bob? DB?

[Madaz]

I had those springs in the back of my samurai and i dont recall ever gettin them to hit the bumps by bouncin on the back????????
(Did bend a few of the right rear though too much thrashin with the locker on and the blown 1600)

[QUADRACER]

Yeah, could not get mine to bottom jumping on it, but did bend a few.
Always the drivers rear, anti wrap seemed to help.
Don,t forget to lower bump stops, or they will bend real fast.

[BlakeJ]

well progress has been pretty slow as my finals projects at uni are raping all my spare time.

Started guard chop / virtual lift. THis is the rears, cutting just below the "indent" curve and then dollying the panel around to provide a little ledge to weld the strip onto between the panel and the innder guard, gives a nice smooth line that way with no weld on the outside. photo is before its dollyed around


Also started of the front, cut a little too much out but she will get filled in none the less


also aqquired some 15.8s, 2 of the centres had been shifted very shittly and werent the same offset as the other two and werent square, so i had them redone at elite wheels, just gotta re strip the rust off them and paint them now


over summer i was bored at home and made a drawer system for the back, works bloody well and ges some good storage room. even holds my Bacho

[dean zuk]

Looking good Blake

Any chance of a couple of pics of what you're doing around the headlight bucket area? thats where im clipping and not too sure how to attack it