Thanks Rob, I am going to try going fenderless I think with my samurai. My Jimny is just starting life. It's a 95 and unmalested as of yet. It's going to be my wifes mild offroad for those days friends don't want to go with me she can be my extrac...
Wow ... I have heard really good things about the Jimmy's ... rhose 660 Turbos are supposed to be great. You bringin it back with you? What year is it?
Sounds sweet! While you are on Japan you should find a couple SJ410K's and send em back to the states. Those little trucks Rock! I am dying to find one of those and trick it out for crawling!
I am working on my wifes Zuk right now ... upgrading it to linked coils and rear disc brakes, ARB locker in the front, etc. Also have been doing some work on the ignition, have to redo the exhaust (again) cuz of the new suspension. It has 5.13's in the axles and a 4.16 transfer case ... gonna be running 33" on it ... it will still be road worthy so we drive it around when we want rather than a dedicated offroad toy. It's a pretty sweet little ride now. What have you been up to?
Yep, it should go like a lumber truck. Locked up on both ends can't wait to get it done and take it out. Seems to be quite the oddball 'zuk, I have never seen one before. I guess it came with a 2 stroke 2 cylinder water cooled engine that is long gone. It now has a datsun 4cyl, but I might replace with a jeep 2.5. Other upgrades will be coilovers and 4 link with dana 44s.
Thanks. Wish i was as far along with mine as you are yours. just aquired a set of toy axles and ram acest power steering. that will be this winters project. havins to much fun to stop now. just got a new orv park only 30 minets from home.
I am not sure about the wheel base stretch either ... cuz I will have to re-design the coilover suspension that I have for my zuk ... I would have to add about 15 inches to the length of the rig to get it in the 100 inch range which is what I have been reading is the best range for off road driving. I don't know how much it will help with roll over though ... I can't wait to get out on the trails with it!
As for usage ... mud, crawling and street arewhat I want to be albe to run her in. I think I am going to try to keep the rear of the tub intact, but stretch it out some, so I can lengthen the wheel base some. I am hoping to get started on her in the next couple weeks. But we shall see have been wanting to get goin on it for a while now.
The yota axles have 3.73:1 gears and I have heard that they are fine for both crawling and street with the set up I am using. The 4.3 with the 200 R4 tranny will give a decent high range for interstate driving and with the 6.5:1 low range will give it a nice crawl ratio ... but the proof will be in actually trying it out. I am going to put a spool in the rear and a air locker (or something that allows it to be engaged and disengaged easily) so it will stear easier in tight turns on the trail. I am going to have rear disc as well and a pinion brake. (I love them!)
they are great when needing to stop on a slope. Locks all four wheels when the drivetrain is in four wheel drive (I am sure you knew that though) Whatcha think?