Lift For 40's?

Ricky B

Ricky B

Wiiide Open
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
LKN - Tha Dirty Mo (Mooresville, NC)
Buildup Thread

Hey guys, I just got a Suzuki Samurai that I'm making into my Project Rig, there are some pics of it in the Truck Gallery Section. Ok, here's a low down on what I have to work with b4 I ask my question.
-It's a 88 samurai
-I already have a ford 302 that im going to rebuild and swap in
-I just bought these axles off a guy on pirate 4x4:
Dana 44
4.10 Gears
Eazy Locker
Warn Shafts
Reg. U-Joints
Warn Premium Hubs
8 Lug Conversion
Rockstomper Rock Rod (Heavy Duty)

14 Bolt
4.10 Gears
Detroit Locker
Disc Brakes
Rock Cage (like the ones on ebay)
8 Lug
New Bearings and seals

Now I'm going to do a YJ spring over conversion on the samurai (the kit from rocky road) with the b4 mentioned axles. My question is: How much lift do i need in the springs to fit the 39.5x18 Boggers with minimal fender trimming? Now rocky road claims that the wrangler yj springs themselfs have 2.5" of lift over the samurai springs, so with that in mind how much more lift would i need to clear those b4 mentioned tires? I got an estimate of 8" from one guy but i just want to confirm because while i dont really want to trim the fenders much, I dont want to roll the dang thing over every bump so i want as little as lift as possible that'll clear those tires.


PS: I'm sure someone's gonna tell me that the 40's are ridiculous with that short of a wheelbase and the Dana 44 wont hold up, I know, I know. ;)
 
this is silly. this post belongs in the newbie area, if anywhere on the board at all. gear it, lock it, throw some 31's on and go play. put the axles you bought in something they belong under, your truck. samurais aren't supposed to be huge heavy rigs, it ruins the whole point and fun of owning one. that said, to have anything worth a damn how much lift to clear those tires is the last thing you need to be worrying about. you'll need a sizeable wheelbase/frame extenstion, steering, driveshafts, and the list goes on and on. if you're still worrying about minimal fender trimming on a damn 17 year old samurai, this isn't the sport for you.
 
RufusTheRam said:
this is silly. this post belongs in the newbie area, if anywhere on the board at all. gear it, lock it, throw some 31's on and go play. put the axles you bought in something they belong under, your truck. samurais aren't supposed to be huge heavy rigs, it ruins the whole point and fun of owning one. that said, to have anything worth a damn how much lift to clear those tires is the last thing you need to be worrying about. you'll need a sizeable wheelbase/frame extenstion, steering, driveshafts, and the list goes on and on. if you're still worrying about minimal fender trimming on a damn 17 year old samurai, this isn't the sport for you.
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Yes I know alot is going to be involved, I never said this was gonna be an easy build up. Anyone want to actualy answer my question :rolleyes: ?
 
hell, with that narrow of a rig, and full widths, just get the right backspaced wheels - it should push those wheels out far enough where you probably wont even need to lift it...haha

Heres a question, why dont you mount the tires, then slide the axles under the zuk - grab a tape measure and answer the question yourself?
 
StudNuts said:
hell, with that narrow of a rig, and full widths, just get the right backspaced wheels - it should push those wheels out far enough where you probably wont even need to lift it...haha

Heres a question, why dont you mount the tires, then slide the axles under the zuk - grab a tape measure and answer the question yourself?
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Thats a good point with those axles sticking out, I'll have to check that out, as far as mounting up the tires, buying tires is probably the last thing i will do, I'll probably get everything else good then when I finish building the Samurai I'll buy the tires. That why I'm asking cause I dont want to not have enough room for the tires or have wayyy to much room.
 
a long ass WMS is gonna screw you in the end b/c most trails around this area are relatively tight. 40's on a samurai is pretty ridiculous. I hope you'd plan on extending the wheelbase like 11ty billion inches.
 
since is a project, build it right there is no point in having that tall ass sammy. its all about low center of gravity
 
If you want ot actually do some thing like this you would be much better making a "buggy" out of it by streaching the wheelbase. Something that short and tall on the trail would be a nightmare. I also recomend going with the 31"-32" tires first.
 
i see more sammys on 31-32'' kickin ass then any sammi on bigger tires. dint waste your time with all that extra work. just wheel it with sammi drive train.
 
jrraw23 said:
Yes I know alot is going to be involved, I never said this was gonna be an easy build up. Anyone want to actualy answer my question :rolleyes: ?
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Since you insist on this, you will need roughly 23-28" of lift to fit 40's under your Sami without trimming fenders. If I were you, I'd do it as one big body lift. Should provide just the right amount of Darwin factor.

Honestly, What the others have said is correct. This is silly. You will have to hack so much of the engine compartment out to put the 302 in that why should it matter how much you hack the fenders?

I know of several Samis that have Rockwell's, 44-54+" tires, Chevy 350's and the like. None of them have much Sami left to them.

Why not instead, put the stuff you bought under a Jeep or a truck that can fit a V8 under the hood without cutting? Heck, go out and buy a tube buggy frame and through the stuff in. It would be less work and you would have a better looking rig when all was done.
 
Well first off the samurai already has a calmini shackle kit, a 3" body lift and 32's on it anyway, but the reason why i want to do this to a samurai and not a jeep or truck is because i got the samurai for free. I was actually saving up for a Chevy K30 but since the samurai was free, well I figured i'd just beast this thing, so the $ I had saved I used to buy the axles, cause i also got the ford 302 engine for free. Anyway thanks for your input, but I'm not going to change my mind on this especially since i got all the stuff already.
 
Sami?

If you actually accomplish this project with factory frame and body, I'd propose we name it SAMZILLA. I just sold a rig because it's to big for the area I live in. Sounds like you are a novice wheeler. I may be incorrect but I had a 1982 jeep cj8 with a 302 and it didn't have alot of room for the radiator. Have you given any thought about your tranny options? Most common would be the C4, they are every where. Have you ever actually seen the C4 and 302 matted together? It will probably reach from the grill to the rear axle of your SAMI. If you think you can put the engine in and modify your current trans to work you sure have been smoking something. Now lets say you can modify the engine/trans to work. The fenders should be the last thing to worry about because you will have to cut out and replace-- Innerfenderwells and firewall inorder to fit this engine/trans. 39's sound great but they won't work with your rig. I know alot of people that use toyota axles and they are very strong especially with the SAMS lightweight. If you get lucky some one would be willing to trade. 33's should be the route you want to go. Remember the smaller the vehicle the less ground clearance you need. If you were able to get 39's under it that would look extremely stupid and evey time you turned the front tire would scrub the back. My jeep had a shackle reversal 35 TSL STX tires and it was to big to get around in some of the trails around here. I had fill size axles from a 1980's ford bronce and the tires stuck out atleast 8" so you wouldn't have to worry about anything but it looking stupid and expensive. But if still want to do it send me picks and :Rockon:
 
What transmission and t-case are you running? I'm assuming the axles are out of a chevy so the diff will be on the pass side. You'll have to figure out a ford transmission(or adapt a chevy trans to ford motor) so you can run a chevy T-case or a D300. All this can be done. As far as how much lift, it's really a question of how much body will you have left. I would look at building a link suspension with coils/air shocks/coilovers one of the three and extending the wheel base at least to 100" if not 110". This can be done, ridden with several sammis set up the same way, rode with one up at Windrock with a 350, rockwells ,rear steer and 44's. So it's really not that far fetched, though it may seem that way to some of the "bolt on" crowd here. As far as the MWS being wide and the trails around here being narrow, that's a load of crap you can take a hummer through every trail at Tellico,I've ridden with a few up there and most other trails around the southeast. Not to mention as you go up you need to go out as well for stability, narrow has its place in comp rigs, but that doesn't sound like what you're going for. So I guess we'll see if this happens or if the amount of work it takes will overwhelm you.Good luck
 
PM Yager, lizooki, blueridgerunner, and ask about their zukes, or talk to folks at zuwharrie. Ricky, you need seat time. The Zuk would give it to you. Take advantage of it before you spend a year working on a big project like this. We're just trying to suggest you have some fun before you jump into a project. You will do what you want, but many folks here are trying to be helpful and learn from their mistakes.

J
 
As others have said, what transmission and transfer case do you plan to use?

I see a possible flaw in your plan that I believe you may have overlooked. The front spring width spacing on a Chevy D44 is most likely at few inches wider than the Samurai spring spacing. You say you are planning on buying the YJ spring over kit from RRO. If I am correct, the springs will most likely not line up with the perches on the D44 with this kit. Your best option will be to fab spring hangers to accommodate the spring spacing of the D44. Just something to consider before you buy that kit from RRO. Might want to post this over on Zuwharrie.com. Lots of Samurai experts over there.

DK
 
hobie said:
PM Yager, lizooki, blueridgerunner, and ask about their zukes, or talk to folks at zuwharrie. Ricky, you need seat time. The Zuk would give it to you. Take advantage of it before you spend a year working on a big project like this. We're just trying to suggest you have some fun before you jump into a project. You will do what you want, but many folks here are trying to be helpful and learn from their mistakes.

J
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I see you edited your post, but to hit the highlights. I wasn't saying everyone on here is "bolt on" crowd. I was stating that it could be done with the right skills and tools. As far as me making mistakes, I've made a shit ton, if you would like a list I can provide one for you. I try to make my mistakes known to others so they don't make the same ones. If you want my god honest opinion , I think it's a bad idea to do all that shit to a ZUK, I'd personally put yota axles under it and wheel it, but that's not what he asked moron. He said he was dead set on using a 302 and 40's so WTF? I wish your balls wouldn't have shrunk up and you erased the first part of your post.
I only offered advice , wasn't trying to be a dickhead to the guy, like you were to me. As for you being a "member" that's great, I've donated to this board, met people trail rode with them and try to contribute a little bit of knowledge to the topics. If you'd like a list of my mistakes I'll gladly post them for you, cause there are plenty. I see you being a member gives you the right to try and shit talk someone (me)...always the badasses behind the keyboard.
And one other thing , since you edited your original post I can't give you the exact quote, but this will be close : Big "don't nobody ever wanna ride" woody....for the record, I'm college educated and using double negatives isn't my style moron.... :huggy:

I'm assuming you edited it because you were reminded that the rules of posting apply to you as well...way to get the shit stirring going again pal...
 
You choose, I think it would be more fun to keep it small.... :D
 

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As far as drivetrain i am most likely gonna run a ford AOD, and get an adaptor to mate it to a chevy np205, yes I know thats long, but I will most likely extend the rear of the frame to accomidate for this and run yj springs. As far as the Dana 44 not matching up to the spring width - of course it doesnt, I'm just gonna cut off the mounts and weld em in further to match. thanks for the zuwharrie.com I'll check it out.
 
jrraw23 said:
As far as the Dana 44 not matching up to the spring width - of course it doesnt, I'm just gonna cut off the mounts and weld em in further to match.
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The pumpkin might disagree with you on that one.;) I just don't think you'll be able to move the perches *that* far inboard...unless you don't mind the axle being offset to one side a few inches...
 
On running an AOD tranny you may want to do a little more research on it, I was going to run this combo and in my research I found that they sometimes have a problem on steep inclines losing their prime , ie: going into a neutral situation. A C6 is great but it's huge, A C4 might be the ticket. Look around on PBB and you'll find some info confirming this.
 
im not sure what you plan to do with it when its done, but like bgwoody mentioned id toss some toy axles under with some 35s and definity trim the fenders back some... Hell 33s on a zuke would still kick butt !!!! else the 30" lift option might work.. maybe set a deck on this and drive it through the swamps ? Ive seen those on tv...

seriously, you mentioned your saving for a k30, why not sell this and put that $ twords your true goal... These small, cheep projects will nickle and dime you to death ... else drive it like it is...
 
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