1989 Sammy (1 Viewer)

[The Proton]

OK, I'll post some pics as well...

Mine is an 88.5, I bought it after "discovering" nevada while going on some dirt roads in a Dodge Intrepid.

It was really my introduction to off- roading, and I still love it, although my Land Cruiser has become my primary desert trip vehicle.

When I got it it was bone stock, since then I have added;

Half doors
ARB Bumper
KC lights
Warn 6000lb winch
ARB Compressor
ARB Front and Rear air lockers
OME suspension
29" BFG mud terrain tires
Rocky Road rear bumper/tire carrier
replaced the seats with Suzuki Esteem seats
Spidertrax regeared transfer case (best thing I everdid!)
Suzuki fold down windscreen kit
I removed all the Targa bar stuff when I put in the WS kit as well.
and probably some other things I can't remember

It's now been over the Rubicon trail, and all over Nevada. My goal has always been to make a reliable trail vehicle more than a true rock crawler. I mainly use it to go deep into Nevada, I just did the Rubicon once to say I had, but that kind of hard core crawling is not my normal trip. Its always nice to know, however, whatever is possible to go over the Sammy will make it!

Sadly I may have to sell it soon, with the economy as is, but its my last resort.

Truly an amazing vehicle, even with the big Land Cruiser I love, there is nothing like the open top Sammy.

Here are some pics in NV and the Rubicon

 

[landcruiserjunky]

what suspension setup are you running?

 

[The Proton]

Since I have to drive the car over a lot of freeway to get to NV I wanted to keep the lift at the minimum, keeping the Sammy as stable as possible on road. I thought about a spring over or other higher lift, but it seems the chances of breaking things starts to increase the higher you go, and I get pretty isolated.

I have the Old Man Emu lifted springs & shocks, which give about a 2" lift. This allowed for the larger tires. After putting the front bumper and winch on I also put in a 1" shackle lift in the front with a drop pitman arm to keep things level.

I thought about a spring over or other higher lift, but it seems the chances of breaking things starts to increase the higher you go, and I get pretty isolated. Not to mention the Samurai is not known for its resistance to rolling over, so reliability and safety took precedence.

Honestly, after doing the rubicon I've realized the thing can go anywhere I would ever attempt, so I have no need to lift higher. Between the lockers and the t-case it is unstoppable on anything I would have the guts to try.

 

[Josh N]

If the stars were aligned differently I would be driving one of those instead of an FJ80 btu at 6'1" nothing doing. Nice rig.