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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Technical Discussion - Beginner / Repair => Topic started by: retire on January 12, 2023, 02:45:26 PM

Title: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: retire on January 12, 2023, 02:45:26 PM
Can anyone tell me what the standard gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai would be and also if someone says the vehicle has 462 gears does that mean the ratio is 4.62? Thanks
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: fordem on January 12, 2023, 03:56:32 PM
Stock axle gears are 3.73:1, if it has 4.62:1 gears they came from a Sidekick.
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: Dughrt on January 13, 2023, 11:39:14 AM
Don't you need a hybrid rear axle in order to run sidekick gears in a samurai?
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: fordem on January 14, 2023, 06:24:14 AM
I'm not certain I understand the second question - what does how the gears were fitted have to do with it?  Samurais didn't ship with 4.62 gears, and the most common source of 4.62 gears is a Sidekick - whether you use a hybrid axle or not (I believe there is more than one way to do it), if you have a Samurai with 4.62 gears, there's a 99% probability they are Sidekick gears.
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: Dughrt on January 16, 2023, 01:44:05 PM
 Sorry for the confusion. I was always under the belief that sidekick gears did not fit into the samurai center section and so you needed a hybrid axle that was made with a larger center section (from a sidekick) in order to house the sidekick gears. If I am mistaken that would save me a lot of hassle when I go to switch mine over.
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: fordem on January 16, 2023, 02:51:34 PM
I've no personal experience but I was of the impression it was a matter of bolting the Sidekick ring & pinion onto the Samurai center and adding a "can" to prevent the cross pins from walking out.

The thread below lists a couple of different ways to do it.

https://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic,3177
Title: Re: gear ratio on a 1987 Samurai
Post by: Skyhiranger on February 03, 2023, 05:40:23 PM
Sorry for the confusion. I was always under the belief that sidekick gears did not fit into the samurai center section and so you needed a hybrid axle that was made with a larger center section (from a sidekick) in order to house the sidekick gears. If I am mistaken that would save me a lot of hassle when I go to switch mine over.

Rear trackick gears do not fit samurai axle housings. But 2 sets of trackick front gears will fit both the front and rear samurai axle housings.