I have never wheeled before.  However, my preacher belongs to a 4 wheeling club, and I really wanted to get into it.  But I still will not go as much that it would put me in the hard core reahlm.  So I really don't need crazy mods to climb rocks and stuff.  Mostly just trail rides.  I would like to run 31x10.50's though.  DEFFINETLY

I bought a SAMMY.  It is a 1988 and runs great and the 4 wheel drive and axles all work great, and it has 5 brand new stock size tires (They look like they would go well off-road, but they are still street tires).  However, it is bitten by the bad rust bug.  I've never worked on patching metal before so I'm not real sure how bad or how not bad it is for a 1988 SAMMY.

But now I'm wondering if I should put money into fixing the body, buying a new body, or if I should look into trading it for a Track/Kick.  I have a 3 year old daughter that may go with me wheeling sometimes so I need it to have a functional rear seat with seatbelts to anchor her child seat....UNLIKE my SAMMY at this moment.

What should I do?  Should I look to see what shape of Track/Kick I could get in trade, or should I just keep the SAMMY?

Anyone can chime in on this one.

If you happen to have a Track/Kick you would be willing to trade within a couple hours of Fairmont, West Virginia....SEND ME A PIC....maybe it will help me decide what I want to do.

I know a lot of guys with SAMMY's sometimes trailer their rigs.  If that was my case I could see keeping what I have with the rust problems and just wheeling it.  But I don't have a tow vehicle so I have to drive everywhere I go, and 50-55 mph on the Interstate is a little slow.  That is another reason I'm thinking of trading into a Track/Kick.

Anyway...let me know what your thinking.

Thanks

Clark (SUPERMANWV)

I have a 90 Tracker that I take my almost 3 year son in.  With no air bags he sits in front.  He loves the vehicle.  The Tracker can do 80 mph no problem.  What I like better about a Sammy though is that you can take all the targa bars off and make it as open as on old Jeep CJ.  I'd like to have a Sammy too.  Unfortunaly I'm in Chicago so a trade would be difficult.

I'm not so into running with the roof off.  I just want something small and 4 wheel drive mostly.  Yeah, Chicago is a bit far away.

Clark

Yeah, I like the look of the Track/Kick.   I might even go for a 4 door if possible.  I never see any for sale though.

Let alone any that people want to trade. 

The reason I would want to trade is....1:  I would deffinetly end up with another rig.  and 2.  Who ever traded with me would really want a SAMMY to fix up. (So I know it was going to a good home.)

Clark

Well, my DD is a 4-door, and my trail rig is a 2-door.  Both 95's.

I can't see me in anything else.

But Sammi's are very capable!

I have a sami myself, but if I were looking for a family wheeler, I'd look for a 4-door trac/kick of some kind.  Keep it mild, with maybe small lift, a locker in the rear and thats about it.  Would defantly be more comfortable than a sami.

Family is my first thing.  And I like having them around.  So I might test the waters then and put it in the Garage Sale area to see if I can get a trade going.  And see what I can get.

Clark

for a trail rig, samurais are better, for a DD or a mostly street rig, probly a track/kick..i DD a samurai with 31's and no gears yet and i hit freeway speeds no prob... its really personal preference.. im not sure either would be safer while off roading, but i could be wrong

Taylor

Clark,


I need to fix my fuel pump on the tracker and I'll take you on one of my test trails.....My tracker is not the biggest or baddest,but it has more mods than most. We need to hook up sometime. I have no one to wheel with.....Your 20 miles away...After you go in the tracker you will sell the sammy....I've had both...Not to make anyone mad but sammy on the hills around home stinks!!!! My tracker runs 70 mph all over with 33's.

Later Tom K.

for a trail rig, samurais are better, for a DD or a mostly street rig, probly a track/kick..i DD a samurai with 31's and no gears yet and i hit freeway speeds no prob... its really personal preference.. im not sure either would be safer while off roading, but i could be wrong

Taylor

I don't want to start an argument (again...lol)

Sammys are GREAT! I love them and want one... but... they aren't "Better" at anything. I can lose sammys, or take them places they tip over or get stuck, or just won't go.. everytime I go wheeling..  even at the melt I found myself behind very capable sammys that couldn't make an obstacle that I went right over/through when they finally got out of the way..

No biggie, but I just don't want the guy to think he is giving up capability by trading his sammy. Trackicks are actually MORE capable than sammys, or at the very least  AS capable as sammys as trail rigs. This isn't an opinion based on hearsay, this is an opinion based on wheeling with LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of different Sammys and Trackers and Kicks (oh my!)



SO, it breaks down to keeping what you like.  In this situation, with the family, sounds like a Kick is the vehicle for you... either a two door, OR a four door.  A two door is more nimble, better turning radius and better break over angle, a four door has a LOT more room and comfort..

I don't want to start an argument (again...lol)

Sammys are GREAT! I love them and want one... but... they aren't "Better" at anything. I can lose sammys, or take them places they tip over or get stuck, or just won't go.. everytime I go wheeling..  even at the melt I found myself behind very capable sammys that couldn't make an obstacle that I went right over/through when they finally got out of the way..

No biggie, but I just don't want the guy to think he is giving up capability by trading his sammy. Trackicks are actually MORE capable than sammys, or at the very least  AS capable as sammys as trail rigs. This isn't an opinion based on hearsay, this is an opinion based on wheeling with LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of different Sammys and Trackers and Kicks (oh my!)



SO, it breaks down to keeping what you like.  In this situation, with the family, sounds like a Kick is the vehicle for you... either a two door, OR a four door.  A two door is more nimble, better turning radius and better break over angle, a four door has a LOT more room and comfort..

You need to come wheel with the Bedford Boy's sometime then......lol 
There's a reasion some of us have the sticker "You can follow me, but it's gonna hurt"

I thought I HAD been wheeling with the Bedford boys??  at Haspin??


I ain't lying, I have never seen a Sammy do anything I couldn't do..  and most times they don't do what I can do..



This is at Haspin, 909, and Badlands and all through the Daniel Boone... maybe other places are different, I guess that I just meant that he isn't giving up trail ability by ditching his sammy

You gotta also remember, this poster doesn't have some highly modified super sammy with a NON sammy motor, or other stuff... stock or lightly modified sammy against a stock or lightly modified Kick is about even, with the nod going to the Kick for comfort and stability..   You can't imagine HOW many Sammys I have helped turn back onto thier tires... my Kick has never come close to flopping on the same obstacles..

Track/Kicks and sammy's are about equal as far as trail prowess goes. But, you do have to spemd ALOT more on a Track/Kick than a sammy. Having said that the Track/Kick is way more comfortable.

If I had a "DO OVER"
I'd done a Sammie with a 16valve and 33"s
But I have a cabable 2dr Kick and a D.D. 4dr Kick now.
I like the roomieness of the Kicks.

personally, i love my sidekick. its a 89 2 door with calmini 3" suspension lift and 31x10.5's, and im pretty sure it will go anywhere i need it to (i know my other one did, but im still waiting to get my new engine for this one). my other kick would easily outperform jeeps and some sammies.