Ok guru's, I know I'm a grown-up and can make my own decisions but I would still like a little input.  My last samurai was like ten years ago.  I sold it because even with a fresh engine I had no power on 235's. Im talkin like 55-60 was top speed.  Heres my dilema.  I want another sami.  I no longer drive more than a mile or two on the highway, almost all gravel road.  I found a clean sami with spoa on 33's. Truck is clean and solid and has 5.12 gears.  Question is will it still be sick on the highway?  Could I take it to the grocery store if I wanted to?  Will it pull my wood trailer around the gravel road?  Any input is appreciated, even the sarcasm.

The 5.12s are going to be a big help, but it's still a ~60 HP engine,
even with the gearing advantage there is a little thing called rotating
mass, the heavier the tires and wheels, the slower the acceleration.

Think of it as a heavy flywheel on an engine, it takes longer for the
engine to rev.

A clean truck on 33s, you can always put in a 1.6 in the future, but to
pull a wood wagon, yah, it will do that

Eric's sami I drive in the fall classic had 5.12's and 33's... It would do highway speeds but took a while to get there.. It was sluggish on hills but level to rolling terrain it was OK. The speedo was off but I'm thinking I ran her 55-60 at times on the trip to Christmas Valley....

I'm with Wild on this. If it's clean and a good price, you can always do the 1.6L conversion and get you more power.

Zig

I have stock gears, a tired engine that I have helped a bit with a K&N air filter and a Thorey header with 2" exhaust and 31'' tires and I can get up to 60 on flat ground in 4th gear at 3500-4000 rpm I don't use 5th gear and I get about 10-14 mpg

Oh how tempting to be sarcastic.... NAW... anyway you know you want it or you wouldn't be fighting with yourself about the decision. LOL

Pull a wood trailer... yep... go to the grocery store ... yep... a few miles on a gravel road ummmmn... yep.

Will it be sick on the highway??? Ummmnnn, maybe more like challenged than sick. She ain't gonna break no land speed records but them again you kinda already know that huh?

So here is my observation....

Buy it, enjoy it, maybe modify it some to make it a little more frisky. Then you will have your total package!

drop a geared tc case in it and you'll have all you want.

Depending on 4.16, 4.9, 5.x, 6.x, you will see 18 to 20% reduction in you high range which will put you where you need to be

If you don't have the $$ for T-case gears or motor swap you could always sell the 33s and get a set of 31s to get back a little power. Measure them both before making a sale though as the 33s and 31s may not be that far away from each other in height. Jim

or you could slays do the RIGHT thing and get a trackick. already have the better motor in a superior rig!

we couldn't have only serious answers now could we! (its true though)

Long live the sarcastic!

or even the better thing and get a grand vitara OR xl7...... 190hp v6

or you could slays do the RIGHT thing and get a trackick. already have the better motor in a superior rig!

we couldn't have only serious answers now could we! (its true though)

XL-7 is my next victim

Thanks for the help guys, I LOVE the sarcasm.  Of course it will be short on power, Im just glad it shouldnt be any worse than a stocker.  I do have a sidekick now, and on 31's.  Its a great rig but I really like the samurais.  The samurai is super clean and Im gonna buy it if its still there when I get paid friday.  T-case gears and a 1.6 will be in the works as funds allow.  I also thought about going back to 31's simply for reliability purposes, but the 33's look really good.