Sarge 3,463 #26 Posted July 31, 2017 Tons of potential with those Sami axles and gearing options . Sidekick/Tracker rear gears will fit Sami front/rear housings and many had 5.13 sets as mentioned . Disk brake swaps and all kinds of stuff is possible here , but be aware those axle housings are pretty light duty but under what you're proposing it shouldn't be an issue . If you could keep the differential and make it into a locking option that would be optimal for steering , or use turning brakes to control front/rear pulling power although that would be limited in usable time . Too bad you don't have the Sami's transfer case - they can be geared down in the low range to 8:1 with aftermarket gears and some case clearance work and combined with axle ratios some nearly idiot levels of gear reduction can be had easily . The Sami was a bit of a freak in it's design - lightweight but tough components , divorced transfer case and a very compact transmission with a short stubby driveshaft connecting them . They used 5 universal joints for the driveline , all the exact same part number . The axles are a simple 7.5" nearly identical version of the bulletproof Toyota 8" solid axles - both built of course by Aisin in Japan . Weak point was always the front axle birfield joints and the necked down spline area in the front axles - there are upgrades for that as well but the housings are a bit weak as I said , depends on what you're building . Keep it light with smaller tires and I doubt you'd ever hurt one . Tons of ideas out there and huge aftermarket support in the small Japanese truck parts - many parts interchange as well since all major manufacturing was done by one supplier - Japan doesn't have the physical room to re-tool and build plants like other countries - so stuff is kept basically simple and rarely changed . Sarge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim67 2,735 #27 Posted July 31, 2017 8 minutes ago, Sarge said: Tons of potential with those Sami axles and gearing options . Sidekick/Tracker rear gears will fit Sami front/rear housings and many had 5.13 sets as mentioned . Disk brake swaps and all kinds of stuff is possible here , but be aware those axle housings are pretty light duty but under what you're proposing it shouldn't be an issue . If you could keep the differential and make it into a locking option that would be optimal for steering , or use turning brakes to control front/rear pulling power although that would be limited in usable time . Too bad you don't have the Sami's transfer case - they can be geared down in the low range to 8:1 with aftermarket gears and some case clearance work and combined with axle ratios some nearly idiot levels of gear reduction can be had easily . The Sami was a bit of a freak in it's design - lightweight but tough components , divorced transfer case and a very compact transmission with a short stubby driveshaft connecting them . They used 5 universal joints for the driveline , all the exact same part number . The axles are a simple 7.5" nearly identical version of the bulletproof Toyota 8" solid axles - both built of course by Aisin in Japan . Weak point was always the front axle birfield joints and the necked down spline area in the front axles - there are upgrades for that as well but the housings are a bit weak as I said , depends on what you're building . Keep it light with smaller tires and I doubt you'd ever hurt one . Tons of ideas out there and huge aftermarket support in the small Japanese truck parts - many parts interchange as well since all major manufacturing was done by one supplier - Japan doesn't have the physical room to re-tool and build plants like other countries - so stuff is kept basically simple and rarely changed . Sarge A lot of people laughed at the Sami when it first came out as too this and too that. Now they are almost impossible to find. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge 3,463 #28 Posted July 31, 2017 Find a nice Limited that is rust free and they are north of $10k , above the original retail price . I'd love to find an early 90's stocker in good shape for a work truck , sure miss mine but I don't miss the expense of the parts that I broke fairly often . Bone stock they are amazingly capable and will embarrass most built Jeeps and such since they are so lightweight - stockers are around 2,000lbs new - mine was 3150 when it was done despite losing a lot of weight in it's body from rust . Consumer Reports and their stupid vendetta against the Sami is what killed it's NA market - left us with nothing here and it would be nice to have one of the later model diesel versions . Most folks never knew about them after Suzuki pulled the plug in '95 on our market due to that article . They were sure a best-kept secret - 30mpg and a very fun little 4wd that would go nearly anywhere a modified quad runner could go and still run on the highway just fine . Mine was built/beaten and driven to over 400,000 miles total , rolled/flopped well over 50 times and still managed to survive as a daily driver/toy wheeler that served me very well. After I got hurt in '06 , working and driving it was out - the guys that bought it got the spare frame and all the parts I had left - it was rebuilt from the ground up and lives to this day as far as I know ... My current '77 Land Cruiser FJ40 is too valuable to make a wheeler out of now , and it's gotten to where I can't do the restoration on it - so it's going away as well . Sarge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ranger 1,760 #29 Posted July 31, 2017 20 hours ago, Rollerman said: See this is the complicated part...."math". Easier for some to comprehend, complete mystery for those like myself. What I have....or brainstorming. A pair of Suzuki Samurai axles, an 8 speed in the middle & powered by a Predator 22HP using either a torque converter or simple belt with tension idler style clutch. Depending on what the ratio of the axles are I can set up the drive off the engine for some reduction. Really not looking for a lot of speed. Nice project, I don't think you'll need to gear down at all, with the gear reduction of the 8 speed, And your axles, you'll probably have to gear up to get to walking pace! You may be better off using a gearbox from a small front wheel drive car turned 90deg, driveshafts to the axles would also be easier to fabricate. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 2,595 #30 Posted July 31, 2017 doug is right, I think a standard 8 speed in 3rd high is about 40:1 and with 1:1 from the engine at 3600rpm you get about 8mph on 23" diameter wheels. it would be very slow in every gear! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rollerman 290 #31 Posted July 31, 2017 21 minutes ago, ranger said: Nice project, I don't think you'll need to gear down at all, with the gear reduction of the 8 speed, And your axles, you'll probably have to gear up to get to walking pace! You may be better off using a gearbox from a small front wheel drive car turned 90deg, driveshafts to the axles would also be easier to fabricate. I blame my math teacher... You are right, I was doing some math last night & realized this. I'm not looking for a lot of speed, but don't think I can safely overdrive the 8 speed to get up to 20/25MPH with the Predator engine WOT, (calculation between engine & trans here), the 8 speed in 3rd gear, Sami 3/73 drive axles on say 31" tires. Then there's the question, how much power loss would I get between the engine & rubber. Eh.... it's fun throwing around ideas. The main reason I considered the 8 speed... I have one, relatively easy to adapt to the Sami driveshafts, compact & gave me a reverse gear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,523 #32 Posted July 31, 2017 If you mounted the axles solid, you could always use drive shafts in pillow block bearings and run sprockets on the ends of the driveshafts and the pinion shafts of the axles. Gear ratios would be adjustable then. Not sure if you would still get the speed/power you are looking for. I'm not a mathematician either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littleredrider 409 #33 Posted July 31, 2017 Granted it will be lite, but Sammi's were turds with anything bigger than stock size tires. (Barely 26" IIRC) dunno what RPM the axles turn on the tranny, but a lot less than a sammi turns. Many don't realize the t-case was under driven to make up for the tire shredding 50-60 horse or whatever it was lol. So even in 3rd gear it would be crawling, almost to point of no fun..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,895 #34 Posted July 31, 2017 Should this topic be moved to another area??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
